Much to Celebrate!

Annual awards ceremony celebrates the contributions of several FoMD faculty members.

Amy Hewko - 24 September 2015

When Henry Marshall Tory first uttered the world, "uplifting the whole people" in 1908, he had little idea how much those words would continue to influence the University of Alberta more than a century later.

On Sept. 23, the university held the annual Celebrate! Teaching.Learn.Research awards ceremony. The event was created to honour those faculty, staff and students who exemplify excellence and received a major award over the course of the previous academic year. Among those lauded were 12 of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry's educators and students, listed alphabetically by surname:

It has been an exciting year for MD/PhD student Matthew Benesch. Not only did he successfully defend his PhD thesis-earning the Governor General Gold Medal, one of the University of Alberta's highest academic honours for graduate students-he was also named a Leader of Tomorrow by the Alberta Science and Technology Foundation (ASTech) for his promising cancer research.

Though her role at the University of Alberta is a vital one, many people may not be familiar with Margitta Dziwenka, the associate director of the Health Sciences Laboratory Animal Services. Her dedication to her role places her among top honours, as she's one of only two members of the University of Alberta to claim the Excellence in Leadership Award this year.

Edan Foley is a dedicated professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology with an avid interest in researching innate immune defenses. He's also interested in providing undergraduate and graduate students with comprehensive training in the skills needed use biomedical tools to identify novel drugs, live call imaging and DNA sequencing. Because of this passion, he is the recipient of the 2015 McCalla Professorship.

For three years, John Greer was the lead of the Centre for Neuroscience, recently renamed the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute. In this capacity, he oversaw the education of many students and the development of many more research projects. The accumulation of this work led to be one of two successful nominates for the Excellence in Leadership Award.

Amanda Newton, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has dedicated her career to understanding and alleviating mental health disorders in children and youth. Her passion has rocketed her to the top of her field: In May 2015, she was honoured with the 2015 Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Hasu Rajani knows that it takes more than knowledge to be a successful pediatrician: it takes dedication, empathy and passion. This UAlberta professor embodies these traits each day as he serves some of Edmonton and Alberta's most vulnerable children, and as he diagnoses and assesses children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, making him perfect recipient of the Canadian Paediatric Society's Distinguished Community Pediatrician award.

Richard Rachubinski, chair of the Department of Cell Biology, is no stranger to academic honours. This year, he added a new title to the already expansive list: Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Prior to induction, AAAS fellows must be a member for a minimum of four years and must have made scientifically or socially distinguished contributions to the advancement of science.

As a medical student, Jean Triscott was sure her career would lie in ophthalmology. But a single rotation in geriatric medicine was enough to change her mind and she made her career growing for one of Canada's largest growing populations: the elderly. Today she is the director of the Division of the Care of the Elderly within the Department of Family Medicine and the 2015 recipient of the Ronal Cape Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Geriatric Society.

Lorne Tyrrell's work has touched the lives of many. Not only did he influence the education of thousands of health professionals during his 10 year term as dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, he also influenced the health of millions of people worldwide when he developed lamivudine, a medication that treats chronic hepatitis B. He was awarded the Killam Prize in Health Science for this work 17 years after the drug was first licensed.

Adrienne Wright, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology, is a natural at the front of the class. In May 2015, she received recognition of her passion and talent when she was awarded the William Hardy Alexander Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Alberta Awards for Teaching Excellence.

Environmental chemistry has always been an interest of Xiaowen Yan, which eventually brought him to the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology in February 2013 as a postdoctoral fellow. His hard work paid off, and he was awarded Alberta Innovates Technology Futures Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Nermeen Youssef, then a PhD student in pharmacology, took second place in the UAlberta Falling Walls Lab, earning her a spot in the Falling Walls Finale in Berlin. She took second place overall and earned the title of Young Innovator of the Year for her research related to the use of blue light to simulate engineered fat cells in the production of insulin.