Department of Pediatrics Annual Report - 2015

2015 Department of Pediatrics ANNUAL REPORT

Cover photo: Dr. Mercedes Chan (l) and Dr. Jennifer Lo (r) with patient Logan Sears during a musculoskeletal assessmentContributors: Katie Buchanan, Judith Chrystal, Janet Harvey, Sandra Kinash, Dave Von BiekerPhotos: Judith Chrystal, Sandra Kinash, Laughing Dog, Richard Siemens, John UlanDesign: Artsmith Communications

Our MissionTo deliver excellence in care for infants, children, youth and families by:

• Providing comprehensive health care• Educating health professionals for today and the future• Advancing knowledge through innovative research• Advocating for vulnerable populations• Promoting quality and patient safety• Developing leaders in child health

Our VisionTo be leaders internationally by improving the health of children, their families and communities.

Table of Contents

Message from the Chair .....................................................................................................................................2

EDUCATION

Walk on Your Tiptoes, Walk on Your Heels .........................................................................................................4Practice Makes Perfect .......................................................................................................................................6Advancing Medical Education .............................................................................................................................8Stepping Out of the Hospital ............................................................................................................................. 10Global Partners in Saving Babies ..................................................................................................................... 12A MatCH Made in Heaven ................................................................................................................................. 14Graduate Student Awards ................................................................................................................................. 15

RESEARCH

Shedding Light on Kidney Stones ..................................................................................................................... 16Technology Training .......................................................................................................................................... 18Early Exposures ................................................................................................................................................ 20From Guidelines to Lifelines ............................................................................................................................. 24Easy to Take ...................................................................................................................................................... 26

CLINICAL CARE

A Successful Transplant is Only the Beginning ................................................................................................ 28Gluten-free Guidelines ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Saved by the Sun ............................................................................................................................................... 32Taking on a New Challenge .............................................................................................................................. 34Breathing Easy .................................................................................................................................................. 36

ADMINISTRATION

RAW Challenge 2015 ......................................................................................................................................... 38Faculty Award Recipients ................................................................................................................................. 40Divisional Members .......................................................................................................................................... 42Partners ............................................................................................................................................................ 44

2015 DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS ANNUAL REPORT 1

Our successes have created a global impact

The 2015/16 academic year was one of wonderful internal successes and significant external reach. The entire department contributed to create a global impact – both in the sense of holistic contributions to academic pediatrics and wide geographic contribution.

Progress in strategic planning

The Department of Pediatrics is in the midst of our strategic planning process. The planning began three years ago and from this emerged our departmental vision and mission. The governance subcommittee spent a year creating a well-defined and accessible structure with associate chairs (research, medical education, faculty development, clinical affairs) and their committees. Over the last year, the committees have been busy ensuring clear terms of reference, standardizing and streamlining how we execute our teaching, research, administration and clinical care to achieve our goals.

The Human Resources Subcommittee spent several months consolidating a detailed account of exactly who we are in the Department of Pediatrics and how our composition, fiscal management and governance benchmarks compare to three other national counterparts. This essential knowledge will inform our future growth and development of excellence. We will continue to build on this foundation to identify themes of excellence that will become our national and international identity.

Greater knowledge and understanding of our goals, plans, progress and accomplishments

The department also is to be congratulated on our collaborative internal communication efforts. The change in three years has been transformational. The contribution from managers and staff in all areas of administration, our PedsCREW wellness committee, students, residents and faculty has resulted in a far greater knowledge and understanding of our goals, plans, progress and accomplishments. Over 85 per cent of the department now believe internal communications to be relevant, timely and accurate; we also better understand how each of us contributes to departmental success.

Regional and international contributions

Beyond the walls of the department and the university-affiliated hospitals, departmental members are realizing a positive impact with regional and international contributions. The development of a social pediatrics network and education provides a regional, holistic perspective on improving the health of Indigenous and vulnerable children and youth. Key community partnerships align well with the national goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Along with important regional outreach, our faculty members touch the world. Our efforts include Dr. Todd Alexander working in Paris (nephrology), and Dr. Khalid Aziz partnering with Ethiopia (neonatology); Dr. Allan de Caen leading the steering committee for North American PALS standards

Message from the Chair

2015 DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS ANNUAL REPORT2

and guidelines (critical care); and, Dr. Michael Hawkes (infectious diseases) pitching his solar-powered oxygen delivery project to the Clinton Foundation at a 10-minute “Dragon’s Den” with the World Health Organization. It has been awe-inspiring to be part of and to witness the global impact of our Department of Pediatrics’ members.

Partners in our journey

This academic year was one that witnessed numerous positive changes that came from the broad-based efforts and aligned vision of many. Our key stakeholders in the University of Alberta, Alberta Health Services and the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation have been important partners in this journey.

The Department of Pediatrics is a dedicated and collaborative group who, as a team, are working to improve the health of children around the world and our region’s most vulnerable. We are striving to improve the quality and impact of education, scholarship and research in a local environment that allows success to flourish.

This annual report reflects these great achievements – and much more!

Dr. Susan M. GilmourChair, Department of PediatricsUniversity of Alberta

The newly-formed Chair’s Council is composed of (l-r) Dr. Manjula Gowrishankar (Associate Chair, Faculty Development), Dr. Susan Gilmour (Chair), Dr. Carina Majaesic (Associate Chair, Clinical Affairs), Dr. Jennifer Walton (Associate Chair, Medical Education), and Dr. Gary Lopaschuk (Associate Chair, Research)


Third-year medical students at the University of Alberta are catching up to their colleagues in the United Kingdom, where knowing how to perform a musculoskeletal screening assessment is an academic standard for graduating.

“Up to 30 per cent of children who present to a general physician will have a musculoskeletal complaint,” says pediatric rheumatologist Dr. Mercedes Chan. A simple two-minute assessment is 97 to 100 per cent sensitive and specific in detecting joint abnormalities. Even so, many students, residents and physicians lack the confidence to properly examine children’s joints and are often more comfortable examining the heart, lungs or abdomen. Lack of a musculoskeletal examination on assessment can contribute to delays in accessing appropriate care as well as ordering unnecessary tests to “diagnose”

Medical students are learning a musculoskeletal screening assessment to develop a valuable clinical skill

Dr. Mercedes Chan (l) and Dr. Jennifer Lo (r) with patient Logan Sears during a musculoskeletal assessment

Walk on Your Tiptoes, Walk on Your Heels


conditions such as arthritis – which is a clinical diagnosis – including x-rays and bloodwork. The joint examination is called pGALS (Pediatric Gait, Arms, Legs and Spine) and was developed by Chan’s mentor, Dr. Helen Foster from Newcastle University in the UK.

Since learning the technique, Chan has taught pGALS to pediatricians, residents and medical students in several different parts of the world. In 2015 she teamed up with Department of Pediatrics undergraduate clerkship director Dr. Karen Forbes to include the screening assessment in the third-year medical student clerkship here. “It’s a great opportunity for us to share this skill and to train up and coming physicians,” says Chan. “It’s also an opportunity to have adult rheumatology and pediatrics residents involved in the teaching when they are with us on rotation in rheumatology. We know that when you teach a technique to others, you retain it much better.”

Placing the pGALS workshop at the beginning of a physician’s academic career is key because, although the exam is simple to learn, it does require practice to become proficient and confident; hands-on feedback is critical to ensure proper technique. Clerkship students learn pGALS under the supervision of Chan, rheumatology colleagues Dr. Dax Rumsey, Dr. Janet Ellsworth, and Dr. Lillian Au from the Department of Family Medicine. Learners then have opportunities to practise on the wards, in outpatient clinics (including rheumatology clinics), and in the pediatric emergency room during their pediatric clerkship. The hope is that the students will continue to make the pGALS

Sharing training worldwide

While Dr. Mercedes Chan is happy to teach the pGALS musculoskeletal assessment at the University of Alberta, her work to share more rheumatology training with as many students, residents and physicians as possible is spreading worldwide. Chan co-created a case-based resource during her master’s degree in health professions education through a joint program between the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Maastricht University and is refining it here with plans to make it accessible through an online forum. Her pediatric rheumatology learning modules are now in use in pediatric rheumatology training programs at UBC, with interest for use at the University of Toronto and McGill - as well as in South Africa, Thailand and Brazil. Last year Chan was invited to teach at the University of Cape Town and she travels regularly to China and Thailand, raising the profile of pediatric rheumatology education in countries where pediatric rheumatology is only just developing.

The joint examination is called pGALS (Pediatric Gait, Arms, Legs and Spine) and was developed by Chan’s mentor

assessment a routine part of examinations for all children, not just those who present with a musculoskeletal complaint, and that pGALS will be used well beyond the pediatrics clerkship.

Pediatric residents at the University of Alberta also now have the opportunity to learn pGALS during an academic half-day session, and the training was recently introduced at pediatric emergency medicine rounds and taught to family medicine trainees here at the University of Alberta.

“We want to help refine learners’ skills so that when they go out into practice not only can they do the exam themselves, but they may be able to teach others,” sums up Chan. When more physicians feel confident with including pGALS in their examinations, the ultimate benefit will be more timely access to care for children with musculoskeletal complaints and more comprehensive care for all children and their families. ~ JC


Dr. Jonathan Duff (r) provides feedback as Dr. Angela Bates (l) practises her intubation skills on a mannequin

Simulation is expanding throughout the department

Dr. Jonathan Duff is not a one-man show in the pedagogical shift to practicing with simulation; there are others in the Department of Pediatrics, and at the hospitals, who are learning how to incorporate the technique into teaching. Among them, Drs. Karen Forbes and Jackie Lee are involved in teaching undergraduate MD students; Drs. Melissa Chan, Andrew Dixon and others from pediatric emergency medicine use simulation for residency training and community outreach programs; and, Dr. Chloe Joynt leads simulation in NICU. Duff and his colleagues also coach other professionals such as nurses, nurse practitioners, and respiratory therapists as content experts to create scenarios and lead sessions. “It’s a way of expanding resources and practicing outside silos, practicing in teams; because that’s how we deliver healthcare,” he says, explaining the multiple benefits of the train-the-trainer approach.


Practice Makes Perfect

The use of simulation in medical education is becoming engrained in the culture of how physicians learn, and the Department of Pediatrics is embracing the teaching technique in some innovative ways. While MD students and residents have many opportunities to interact with real patients, it’s not always safe to practise all skills with them - nor does the opportunity to learn about less common scenarios present itself often enough for the learner to become proficient.

Dr. Jonathan Duff, pediatric critical care specialist and residency program director, sees local interest in simulation as part of a growing worldwide trend in medical teaching and learning. “It’s no longer okay just to be competent - we want people to get to a level of mastery,” he says. “We’re hoping to make it part of the culture of pediatrics.” And Duff has already been recognized as a bright light in this, receiving of the certificate of merit from the Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME) for his commitment.

Simulation can take many forms, from learning to place an IV line into an orange or a plastic arm, to working with a standardized patient actor, or being in a crisis scenario with a realistic mannequin. Duff believes that learning to manage a crisis, work with a team, and improve communication and leadership skills are some of the things for which the technique is best suited. He emphasizes that, “The idea of simulation is that you need to be able to practise your skills, you can’t just hear about something in a lecture or read about it in a textbook.” With simulation, learners can practise over and over again – and receive valuable feedback in the process.

Most simulation is still in a classroom or workshop setting, but Duff has recently begun to provide just-in-time training in the pediatric intensive care

Games-based learning

Dr. Jonathan Duff has been working with a graduate student in computing science at the University of Alberta to make it easier for the public to learn CPR by using games-based learning. The student developed an algorithm with X-Box Kinect, a video gaming system that tracks players’ movements in real time. The game records how well the player performs CPR, different scenarios are given, and points assigned. “Rather than sitting in a classroom for four hours, why not do it at home?” asks Duff. It’s another way to integrate technology into training and achieve better outcomes.

Incorporating simulation into teaching and learning is part of a culture change

unit with on-the-spot simulations that day to prepare the on-call overnight team for an anticipated scenario with a real patient. “The increase in confidence level is huge, because we can walk into a situation and say, ‘I’ve done this before, and I’ve seen this before’.”

For all the benefits realized, finding the time and space to set up and implement simulation can be a challenge. “I think acquiring and managing the resources is our biggest limitation,” says Duff. “That’s why we need to do the research and show if it’s better than the way we are teaching it now – or, show that it doesn’t work for some things and we’ll put our energy elsewhere.”

National and international research from the last few years is showing that simulation is better for learning in certain contexts and there is even data to suggest that the use of simulation versus traditional teaching is improving patient outcomes. Duff is currently leading two research projects (using simulation for high-stakes OSCE exams and traditional CPR instruction) and is involved in an international pediatric simulation research collaborative (INSPIRE) with over 50 countries that studies all facets of the technique. ~ JC


For Dr. Karen Forbes, a career in medicine without teaching would be unimaginable. “Medicine is first and foremost about the patients, but there is also such immense opportunity to teach and to learn,” says the associate professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine.

As director for pediatric undergraduate medical education and the pediatric clerkship, Forbes has helped shape the careers of hundreds of medical students since taking the position in January 2011. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed by learners and colleagues alike. In 2014-15 she garnered a clinical teaching award honourable mention from the Professional Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta, and a top ten teachers award from the Department of Pediatrics—the latest in a long string of honours recognizing her work in teaching and mentoring.

Advancing Medical Education

Innovative work on clinical reasoning helps lead the way


95 residents and fellows in 2014/2015

Pediatric residents and fellows come to the Department of Pediatrics from around the world. Future pediatricians can train in one of 13 Royal College-accredited programs, including general pediatrics and subspecialties, as well as many fellowship programs.

It is work that Forbes enjoys immensely—from teaching first-year medical students in large lecture theatres, to teaching in small group settings in the pre-clinical years, to teaching on the wards in the pediatric rotations of third-year students, to preparing residents for their licensing exams. But her favourite teaching by far is the “true experiential learning” that occurs at the bedside. “Teaching in the classroom is just not the same as seeing a real patient and working things through to form a diagnosis,” she says. “That’s what it’s all about.”

In fact, teaching this type of clinical reasoning is a passion for Forbes and was the focus for her master’s degree in education. Forbes now leads a clinical decision making working group within the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry to develop an undergraduate medical curriculum around critical thinking and clinical reasoning. She explains that much of the first few years of medical school focuses on teaching knowledge about organ systems and disease processes. But no formal plan exists for teaching medical students how to think.

“How do we rule things in and rule things out, how do we prioritize, how do we do that in real patients? We need to give learners tools and strategies for how to think through these questions,” explains Forbes. To highlight reasoning processes and the skills that help with that thinking, Forbes conducts interactive case-based teaching sessions at all levels that push students to “think about how they think”.

It is an innovative area and a hot topic in medical education. Yet few clearly defined curricula exist on the subject; the faculty’s work is leading the way. And to Forbes, clinical decision making is integral to the competency-based training the faculty is also moving toward for undergraduate education.

“Medical students are our future colleagues and the future of medicine,” Forbes says of her tireless efforts to not only teach, but also improve how we teach. “It’s exciting to be a part of their development. And we learn from them too. They bring different perspectives and that makes us all better doctors.”

The work on clinical reasoning is just one of many “hats” Forbes wears. She represents the department on a variety of undergraduate medical education committees. She is also chair of Paediatric Undergraduate Program Directors of Canada (PUPDOC)—a group of pediatric clerkship directors from across the country who have developed a national curriculum for pediatrics called canuc-paeds—and an executive member of the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (COMSEP) which champions pediatric education in the U.S. and Canada. ~ JH

Undergraduate medical students Aida Raissi (l) and Samantha Lam (m) join Dr. Karen Forbes (r) on the ward in the Stollery Children’s Hospital


A busy teen mom questions a rash on her newborn but doesn’t have transportation to get to a clinic. A child with asthma keeps getting sick because she lives in a moldy home. Second-year general pediatrics residents will have more time to reflect on cases like this in a new mandatory four-week social pediatrics rotation that takes place in various community-based placements in both urban and rural settings.

“The biggest factor that determines an individual’s health is not how good the health care system is. Things like income and education, the social determinants of health, have a much greater impact. If we, as physicians, aren’t aware of those issues and their impact, we’re missing out on significant aspects of people’s health and well-being,” says Dr. Hayley Turnbull, a second-year general pediatric resident who helped establish the rotation.

Turnbull recognized residents were thirsty to get more of this type of experience after they worked in Aboriginal health at the Maskawacis Pediatric Resident Outreach Clinic. She began to establish the rotation and became

Stepping Out of the Hospital

Residents develop a new social pediatrics rotation to reflect on the social determinants of health

Dr. Ola Rydz (l) and Dr. Hayley Turnbull (r) are general pediatric residents who helped establish a social pediatrics program that will place learners in the community


the first of two residents to complete a pilot. All second-year residents will complete the rotation in the 2016-2017 academic year.

“There were populations it seemed we weren’t getting much exposure to, like inner city youth and immigrant and refugee children, populations that have unique needs and barriers to health care,” explains Turnbull.

She started emailing colleagues at Canadian and American universities that have existing social pediatrics rotations or fellowships programs to find out what other sites were doing in this area. Additionally, she made contact with local staff already working in this field. Co-residents Dr. Jessica Nicoll and Dr. Ola Rydz soon joined in developing the rotation.

“I connected to our faculty with experience in this area and got feedback from them in terms of what they do and what would be valuable,” says Turnbull. “We are lucky to have so many knowledgeable staff that were very supportive in providing feedback for the rotation, and involving residents in the work they are doing.”

The pair approached Dr. Bonnie Islam, assistant professor and a general pediatrician who works in the pediatric clinic at the Northeast Community Health Centre Clinic in Edmonton. She agreed to oversee the rotation and help get things organized. They presented their plan and received approval from the resident program committee. “Learners will reflect on a case about a child and family that stood out to them during the rotation and map out health disparities and community assets that they believe have influenced that child,” says Islam. “We all unconsciously reflect on our interactions with families but never take the time to do it properly.”

During the pilot social pediatrics rotation, Turnbull learned more about existing services in Edmonton and Northern Alberta and the issues families in each community face. She saw common pediatric concerns like asthma and skin infections but also witnessed the impact of the social determinants of health, such as toxic stress and trauma. “I attended a few clinics at Youth Empowerment & Support Services (YESS) where street-involved youth can drop in to see a physician. Often they don’t have ID or a health card and no insurance to cover medication,” she says. “Because of the social circumstances, there’s more you have to ask. You can’t just write them a prescription and think they will be able to get access to, afford and store medication.”

During the new social pediatrics rotation for second-year pediatric residents, learners can participate in the following community clinics:

Adolescent Health• Braemar School Clinic – Dr. Scot Lappa

Child Protection and Kids in Care• Child and Adolescent Protective services –

Dr. Lionel Dibden and Dr. Michelle Harvey-Blankenship• Pediatric Kids in Care Clinic – Dr. Tami Masterson

and Dr. Kieran Talwar• Kids Kottage• CARRT (Child at Risk Response Team) Ride Along

Indigenous Health• Maskawacis Pediatric Resident Outreach Clinic –

Dr. Lola Baydala & Dr. Heather Driese• Saddle Lake Pediatric Clinic – Dr. Sam Wong

Inner City Families and Youth• Boyle McCauley Pediatric Clinic – Dr. Heather Driese• Youth Empowerment & Support Services –

Dr. Mike Hamilton, Dr. Scott Soehn• Yellowhead Youth Centre – Dr. Alicja Janicka

New Canadians (Immigrant & Refugee Health)• New Canadians Clinic – Dr. Val Krinke• Sickle Cell and Beta Thalassemia Hematology Clinics

– Dr. Aisha Bruce

Rural and Remote Health• Slave Lake Clinic – Dr. Hasu Rajani• Cold Lake Clinic – Dr. Leigh Wincott, Dr. Tehseen Ladha• High Level Clinic – Dr. Leigh Wincott, Dr. Sam Wong,

Dr. Hasu Rajani• Rural FASD diagnostic clinics – Dr. Leigh Wincott,

Dr. Hasu Rajani

“Maybe the rotation will inspire these new physicians to advocate for these kids and their communities,” says Islam. “I’m hoping they see the importance of addressing the whole family, and all the factors that are contributing to the child’s overall health, and not just strictly the medical piece.” ~ SK


Stars were aligning in 2011 for Ethiopians and Canadians to come together to save the lives of mothers and their newborns in Ethiopia. The Ministry of Health in Ethiopia wanted to train more skilled midwives and the Government of Canada was focused on maternal child health. At the

time, the neonatal mortality rate was 31 per 1000 live births in Ethiopia compared to only four per 1000 in Canada.

A new project, Protecting the Health of Pregnant and Delivery Mothers and Newborns in Ethiopia: A Systems Approach to Strengthening Skilled Birth Attendance and Referral, was born with an aim of reducing neonatal and maternal mortality as part of the Millennium Developmental Goals set by the United Nations in 2000. The University of Alberta has partnered with the Ethiopia Ministry of Health and St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,

Global Partners in Saving Babies

Knowledge transfer for neonatal resuscitation and quality improvement helps reduce the neonatal mortality rate in Ethiopia


along with other stakeholders such as Mount Royal University in Calgary. The project began in 2013 and is funded by the Government of Canada.

The project has three components in Ethiopia, including a senior midwife tutor-training program, a referral improvement system for both rural and urban areas, and supports to strengthen referral hospitals.

A team from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry leads the project and Dr. Khalid Aziz, professor in the Department of Pediatrics, is the associate director. In addition to

experience working in Ethiopia, Aziz brings to the project his expertise as a neonatologist and curriculum developer, helping to establish the custom-built tutor-training courses (Helping Babies Breathe and Quality Improvement) for midwives and other rural and urban health care providers. A train-the-trainer model has been used to spread these programs from the medical school out to village health centres.

The key to resuscitating and saving babies is good organizational structure and a focus on quality improvement. Seventy-five per cent of neonatal mortality is either during labour, the day of birth, or the first month after the child is born. This creates both challenges and opportunities for quality improvement interventions. “The majority of babies who need resuscitation can be predicted in advance and you could assign somebody who is trained to that delivery. If you don’t need them they are there for a few minutes and, if you do, then you save a life,” says Aziz. Health care workers are taught the three pillars of quality improvement: good data, teamwork and implementation strategies.

A group of Ethiopian health professionals visited Edmonton hospitals in September 2015 to learn about processes here and Aziz hopes that they observed the structured Canadian approach and took back ideas to improve quality. One of the visitors, Dr. Hilina Worku, chair of pediatrics at SPHMMC in Addis Ababa, was impressed with what she saw. “In the hospitals I visited, the nurses are well organized and the medications are stored safely and also well organized. You have everything close to you, whenever you need it you can get it. This would make a big difference even for just saving time,” says Worku.

With a rising economy and a government and people who are pushing for change, Ethiopia is making strides. Since the project started, the neonatal mortality rate has dropped to a 2015 rate of 28 per 1000 live births. “They really are making a difference in their country and it is really improving. Every time we go back their facilities are improving, they’ve got more trained people and we can see the growth of their faculty,” says Aziz. ~ SK

Dr. Khalid Aziz (fourth from left) joins his Ethiopian and Canadian colleagues at a simulation exercise in the Lois Hole Hospital; Dr. Hilina Worku (second from left) is chair of pediatrics at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The majority of babies who need resuscitation can be predicted in advance


A MatCH Made in Heaven

The Graduate Program in Maternal and Child Health (MatCH) turns the process of selecting a supervisor upside down. The unique program offers graduate students a way to “test the waters” before selecting a mentor, by rotating through three different laboratories in their first semester. The program is interdisciplinary and offers students rotations from the departments of pediatrics, medical genetics and obstetrics/gynecology. After rotating through the labs, students select their chosen project and mentor.

Modupe Iroju-Williams is a master’s student who is part of the program’s first cohort that began in 2013. “The rotations provide an opportunity to explore and definitely decide on the specific area of research for my interests,” she explains. After rotating through three labs, Iroju-Williams met her match and chose pediatric respirologist Dr. Joanna MacLean’s lab.

MacLean’s research project is investigating pre-term infants who were exposed to inflammation before they are born, as well as in the first few weeks of life. Her research is clinical, working with patient samples. Iroju-Williams completed her MD degree in Hungary and her background is in patient care. Being new to research, Iroju-Williams felt that selecting a clinical project made the most sense.

“With Joanna’s experience as a clinician-scientist, I regard her as a pacesetter. She will help make my journey shorter in terms of paths to take. It will help me tread in unfamiliar zones with confidence because she has already gone ahead of me on a similar path,” says Iroju-Williams.

The program covers a stipend for the first semester for the student and then covers half the stipend for the rest of the first year and the following year of the program. Importantly, MatCH also pays international differential tuition fees.

Iroju-Williams’ goal is to get into a residency program, and step into her research interests. “It is important to know the foundational concepts of research which Joanna has been helping me with,” she says. Ultimately, she looks forward to being a mentor herself. ~ SK

Graduate studies program makes the grade

The Associate Dean Research, Graduate Programs, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta initiated a review in 2015 of the graduate program in the department to assess quality and identify approaches that may enhance overall delivery. Feedback from reviewers was positive and offered recommendations for refinement as the program matures.

The Department of Pediatrics graduate studies program offers excellent opportunities in basic, clinical, translational and epidemiology research leading to a thesis-based M.Sc. and PhD in Medical Sciences – Pediatrics focused on pediatric and adult diseases. The program has grown from the first two students admitted in 1990 with a rapid increase since 2009 to nearly 50 graduate students in 2015.

Modupe Iroju-Williams (l) is mentored by Dr. Joanna MacLean

This unique approach allows graduate students to rotate through three departments before choosing a supervisor


Graduate Student Awards

2015-2016 Academic Year

LAST NAME, FIRST NAME (MSC/PHD) AWARD

Albrecht, Lauren PhD AIHS Graduate Studentship, WCHRI Incentive

Allan, Chantal MSc FGSR Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship & FoMD 75th Anniversary Award

Bahry, Ashley MSc FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Browne, Nadia PhD FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Byrne, Nikole MSc FoMD Motyl Graduate Studentship in Cardiac Sciences

Deng, Shijun PhD FoMD 75th Anniversary Award

Foisy, Michelle PhD AIHS Graduate Studentship

Halpin, Anne PhD Canadian National Transplant Research Program/ Alberta Transplant Institute Training Award

Jun, Shelly MSc FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Kang, Liane MSc FoMD 75th Anniversary Award & CIHR Award & Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship

Kanpour Ardestani, Samaneh PhD WCHRI Graduate Studentship Grant, & FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Kim, Ty MSc AIHS Graduate Studentship

Lavallee, Celeste MSc FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Nguyen, Antoinette PhD FGSR Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship

Ngwezi, Deliwe PhD WCHRI Graduate Studentship

Perez Garcia, Arnaldo PhD AIHS Graduate Studentship

Pohlman, Katherine PhD NCMIC Foundation Fellowship

Przyslupski, Ann-Marie MSc FoMD Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship

Radomski, Ashley PhD WCHRI Graduate Studentship

Raza, Sarah PhD FoMD/AHS Graduate Student Recruitment Studentship & Brain Canada Foundation

Ricci, Florencia PhD Deloitte/Stollery Clinical Research Fellowship & FGSR Graduate Travel Award

Shavi, Kassi MSc WCHRI PaCET Studentship

Shulhan, Jocelyn MSc CIHR Award & Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship

Venkateswaran, Geetha MSc FGSR Graduate Travel Award

Wine, Osnat PhD WCHRI Graduate Studentship & WCHRI PaCET Studentship

Zare, Alaa PhD FGSR Doctoral Recruitment Award

Ashley Bahry poses with her poster at Pediatric Research Day


When Dr. Todd Alexander spent six months in Paris in 2015 he was drawn there by more than the food and la belle vie. The pediatric nephrologist took his sabbatical in France to learn a specialized technique he could use to study a condition that is on the rise in Canada—kidney stones.

In Canada, one in 10 men and one in 20 women will develop kidney stones — mineral deposits that form in the kidney or urinary tract, thought to be caused by a mixture of genetics and diet. Incidence is increasing, both in adults and children. In 2008, roughly one in 1,000 emergency room visits by children was recognized as due to kidney stones, up from only one in 2,000 in 1999. In fact, incidence may be even higher since the disorder causes different symptoms in children — nausea and vomiting for example — than it does in adults and is often not

Shedding Light on Kidney Stones

The Stollery is one of only two centres in Canada to perform a new research technique


recognized as kidney stones. But years of poor eating is usually not a factor with children, leading scientists to believe genes play more of a role in these instances. “I’m using pediatric cases to understand more about the condition in both kids and adults,” explains Alexander, an associate professor with the departments of pediatrics and physiology.

The technique Alexander learned in Paris will be key to this understanding. Renal tubule microperfusion is performed in only about a dozen centres in the world. It involves putting a pipette in either end of a kidney tubule to pinpoint how much sodium and calcium is being absorbed. Alexander will then link this information to specific genes. “There were questions that I couldn’t answer without this technique,” he says. “I needed it to gain a better understanding of the disease processes behind kidney stones so I can develop and test new treatments.” The Stollery Children’s Hospital will be one of only two centres in Canada with the expertise to use the method, the other being Ottawa.

The information obtained through microperfusion is a key part of Alexander’s research program focusing on how the kidney tubule controls the movement of water, sodium, and calcium, and mediates acid excretion. His work spans basic biochemistry to genetic models of disease to examining cohorts of children for genes causing kidney stones.

Recruited to the University in 2008, Alexander was attracted by the strong research environment. Since then, he has helped to build basic research capacity in nephrology that he describes as among of the best in the country while working at a top-notch children’s hospital.

Alexander chose his specialty because he found nephrology more interesting and more treatable than many other disease areas. “With the kidney, we can take people at death’s door and in three or six months they can be snowboarding or skiing again,” he says. “We have a huge therapeutic potential we don’t have with other disease processes. And yet the fundamental physiology is still largely unexplored so there is lots of research still to be done.” ~ JH

Dr. Todd Alexander was recently awarded $375,032 in funding, in part from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), for the specialized equipment required for kidney tubule microperfusion. His research is also supported by AIHS, Kidney Foundation of Canada, WCHRI, CIHR and NSERC.

Dr. Todd Alexander has some fun in the lab with Natalie, a patient who could one day benefit from his research


A team across Canada, co-led by developmental pediatrician Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, is setting foot on a seven year journey to examine how attention influences emotion regulation in children with autism. Using new technology, the team wants to know if they can directly

teach attention control to help prevent some of the risk of autism. They are also looking to learn how parents want information shared when there is a concern their child may have early signs of autism.

Dr. Susan Bryson, a clinical and developmental psychologist from Dalhousie University, is also co-leading the project, together with eight network investigators across Canada from disciplines including child psychology, child psychiatry, and electrical engineering. The seven-year research program began in July 2015 and is funded by a CIHR Foundation Grant, and a grant from Brain Canada in partnership with the Azreili Foundation.

Technology Training

A seven-year project will determine if we can teach attention control to help prevent some of the risk of autism

[EDUCATION]


This research focuses on infants whose older sibling has autism. The children start participating at age six months and are followed to the age of five years.

“I think the project will tell us more about why some infants are more likely to develop autism. We hope it will give us practical information about what clinicians should watch for early in life, as well as better measurement tools. It’s not out of the question that some of these technology-based measures might find their way into the clinic,” says Zwaigenbaum.

New eye tracking technology will measure visual attention of the infants. A dynamic object will appear on a screen and a second interesting object will surface on the other side of the screen. Eye tracking will help Zwaigenbaum and his team assess where the child is looking and precisely measure the time it takes for the infant to move their attention to the second object.

Computer training will help the infants be more flexible in how they disengage attention, taking less time to shift from the first object to the second.

The team wants to see if the training will help the infants regulate their emotions, become more effective communicators and, ultimately, reduce their risk for autism. In previous research, they’ve found infants at risk get stuck looking at the first object with some of these same infants having trouble regulating their emotions. “There’s something that is distressing about getting stuck and not being able to shift their gaze,” says Zwaigenbaum.

Infants will also go through a series of sticky situations to assess their emotion regulation, like brushing their own hair or putting on a hat. Their behavioural reactions will be recorded and their heart rate will be monitored.

Emotional regulation and attention control will be measured from age six months to one year. As these children age, a scale will measure how the two factors affect their early communication skills like using eye gaze to direct another person’s attention.

In a second study, infants showing early signs of autism will receive a 12-week intervention called the Social ABCs. Developed by Bryson and Dr. Jessica Brian, from the University of Toronto, the intervention helps advance how the kids communicate and regulate their emotions. Parents are highly involved in Social ABCs, finding learning opportunities in day-to-day activities.

Zwaigenbaum’s team will also interview parents about how they would like information shared when there is a concern their child has early signs of autism. They want to learn what conversations are acceptable for parents so their kids get diagnosed and supported as early and effectively as possible.

“If we learn how to better communicate with parents and work more effectively with them in a partnership, maybe that will also provide some guidance for clinical practice,” said Zwaigenbaum. ~ SK

Breton Cameron (l) makes conversation with Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Research Centre


Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj and Dr. Alvaro Osornio-Vargas are finding connections between choices made before a baby is born and how that impacts a child’s health

Early Exposures


The number and amount of chemicals around us is increasing and this brings up many unanswered questions about how those chemicals impact child health. Dr. Alvaro Osornio-Vargas, professor in the Division of Immunology, Hematology, Oncology & Palliative Care (iHOPE), is an environmental health researcher who wants to find out if early exposure to a chemical is the cause of disease and if that chemical can still be found in that child.

“If I develop a cardiac problem, how much was that shaped or determined by exposures I had early in life?” he questions. “Children’s bodies develop dramatically to become an adult so the chances that chemicals will impact in one of those critical development steps are larger in a child, than in an adult.”

“The information about the impact of chemicals is so new that we don’t know the consequences of having certain substances in the body. We are still building knowledge to pinpoint exactly which chemicals could be linked to specific conditions in children,” he said.

A challenge with environmental health research is that it may take decades to get establish linkages and implement prevention strategies. Osornio-Vargas cites lead as an example. “If you test lead in the blood there is a concentration where you would say it is unsafe. But it took about 40 years to really control the exposure to lead in gasoline,” he says.

Environmental health researchers search for links between exposure to chemicals and impacts on a child’s health

Dr. Alvaro Osornio-Vargas is a professor in the Division of Immunology, Hematology, Oncology & Palliative Care (iHOPE)


Using data mining, he has mapped all the available information about factors that can cause childhood cancer across Alberta. Emissions, industries, children and cancer are mapped. Osornio-Vargas is in the process of analyzing this information and working on a manuscript for publication.

“We started with data collection about cancer and mapped emissions of substances that we know are carcinogenic and where childhood cancer happens. We have identified regions where the distribution of cancer types in those regions could be linked to chemical exposures,” said Osornio-Vargas.

Clinical professor Dr. Irene Buka and Osornio-Vargas have developed a questionnaire to further link chemical exposures to health in the Children’s Environmental Health Clinic at the Misericordia Community Hospital. They want a practical application for people to make decisions with and help apply knowledge to clinical practice. “When a case comes in and we want to explore what would have happened years back, even during pregnancy or before, the questionnaire can help us identify potential exposures,” he said.

Dr. Lisa Hornberger of the Division Pediatric Cardiology is one of clinicians Osornio-Vargas collaborates with. Osornio-Vargas is reviewing a manuscript that indicates some chemicals in Alberta could be related to being born with a malformed heart. “The paper shows that levels of emissions of those chemicals are going down and, as they go down, the incidence of disease goes down,” he says.

His team will look to expand this research by the end of 2016 by combining social factors with chemical exposure to look at separate birth outcomes like preterm and underweight babies.

Dr. Hien Huynh in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Dr. Osornio-Vargas’s team also investigated eosinophilic esophagitis, a condition that makes it difficult for children to eat. They are exploring suspicions that the condition is linked to pollution.

When a baby is born we often don’t think of how their gut bacteria can impact their health, influencing their chances of asthma, allergies or being overweight. When a mom gives birth she may not think that having a caesarean section or taking antibiotics during delivery can impact her baby’s health. When she brings her baby home she might be not aware that breastfeeding can also influence the levels of bacteria in her child’s gut.

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj and her research team know about these connections and are here to build awareness of what can change a baby’s gut bacteria levels even before birth.

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj investigates how changes in infant gut bacteria affect a child’s health

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj is a professor in the Division of Respiratory Medicine

The end-goal of researching environmental health is prevention. “We are thinking more about identifying things we should avoid. Instead of giving children a medication because a chemical altered their DNA, we look to identify the potential cause and recommend avoiding it,” he says.


She leads a program of research called SyMBIOTA (Synergy in Microbiota). Funded by CIHR in 2010 as a microbiome initiative grant, her research team is spread across several Canadian universities. The team uses DNA sequencing to identify what bacteria are present in an infant’s stool at birth, after three months and then one year.

“When we get the sequenced data we start to analyze it in relationship to early-life exposures and how changes in infant gut microbial composition could be associated with disease in children like asthma, allergies and being overweight,” Kozyrskyj says.

Her research has revealed that infants who are delivered via caesarean section to women who receive antibiotics have much lower levels of Bacteroidetes. Infants who are delivered vaginally to mothers who receive antibiotics for vaginal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) prophylaxis also have lower levels but not as low as those born by caesarean section.

Bacteroidetes help with the development of the immune system along the gastrointestinal tract. They produce mucin, a mucus-like substance that creates a barrier along the gut wall. This barrier prevents absorption of harmful things, promotes immune tolerance and prevents inflammatory responses to substances such as food.

The analysis shows that breastfeeding does not alter the impact of C-section delivery on the levels of Bacteroidetes bacteria at three months of age; the bacteria levels remain low. Things change at one year of age in infants who were breastfed; their levels become comparable to those in babies who were delivered vaginally and breastfed.

Bacteriodetes also produce a metabolite called propionate which has shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and affects appetite in connection to becoming overweight. “We’re not quite clear on the mechanism. There seems to be a connection with how full you feel,” she says.

Lower levels of Bacteroidetes can also affect the chance the infant becomes sensitized to food. “Infants at three months who had lower levels were more likely to become food sensitized at one year old. It’s possible that these infants will develop food allergies later on and are more likely to develop asthma and eczema,” she says.

Kozyrskyj feels there is an opportunity for prevention by changing practice guidelines when it comes to planned caesarean sections and the use of antibiotics during delivery for GBS prophylaxis.

“If mothers, their partners and health care providers are more aware of the impact caesarean section delivery has, they might be more hesitant to have a planned one if there isn’t a medical reason,” she says.

The standard of care in Canada is to administer antibiotics to women who test positive for vaginal GBS, in all cases. European countries, like Denmark and the United Kingdom, take a different approach and are less likely to give antibiotics in the absence of additional risk factors. “It really decreases the number of infants that would be exposed to these antibiotics if you adopt these guidelines,” says Kozyrskyj.

Kozyrskyj can make further recommendations for prevention, including not being overweight before pregnancy and also breastfeeding.

“In terms of the infant gut microbiome, reducing overweight before becoming pregnant would result in a pattern similar to that you would see in infants born to non-overweight women,” she says. “There is also benefit if the mom continues breastfeeding at three months of age. You see changes down the road.” ~ SK

The department received $22 million in research funding

Research in the Department of Pediatrics puts an emphasis on collaborative projects ranging from treatments for children with cancer to assessing environmental factors that affect the health of children. We have researchers working everywhere from basic science to clinical trials and policy development. Each area is critically important to the success of translating research knowledge into practice, and transferring this knowledge to the bedside.


Clinical practice guidelines may not sound like the high drama of action films, but when Dr. Allan de Caen chairs a guideline writing committee he knows real lives are stake.

He recalls kids in cardiac arrest, in need of life-saving resuscitation, and how those kids “come back and they see you six weeks, six months, six years later — and you

From Guidelines to Lifelines

An accomplished specialist with a global impact helps sick kids get the best pediatric advanced life support


see how, at a very tangible level, this stuff works. The guidelines, the courses, and all of this knowledge translation really does work when it comes to impacting on kids lives.”

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Guidelines are painstakingly revised every five years through the joint effort of the American Heart Association and Heart and

Stroke Foundation Canada. de Caen has chaired the writing group for these guidelines for the past ten years. Those same ten years, he has chaired a committee with the International Liaison Committee On Resuscitation (ILCOR), who provide the scientific basis for the guideline revisions. “We’ll tell you every five years what the consensus of that science is for the last five years,” explains de Caen.

As research informs the guidelines, the guidelines shape education, through the PALS course. de Caen has been involved here, too, as a PALS instructor for the past 25 years. He says, “The PALS course reaches across North America, to millions of nurses, doctors, paramedics, firefighters.” de Caen is one of many U of A faculty who have been involved with the course. He is quick to point out that, “Going back 25 years, there’s been a presence of people from the University of Alberta involved in PALS.”

The latest PALS guidelines contain important updates. “There has been lots of discussion around whether cooling should be used for children after cardiac arrest,” says de Caen by way of example. “I think what we can say now is, at least, avoid fever.”

The revision de Caen is most pleased with is a renewed emphasis on high-quality CPR. “I think now there’s increasingly more and more data in adults, and now in pediatrics as well, that shows that if you don’t do what we call high quality CPR - focusing on certain aspects like how fast we do it and how deep the compressions are – then a lot of the other stuff just doesn’t work,” he says.

When we’re talking about resuscitation, success is critical. In the Edmonton area alone, cardiac arrest resuscitations for children can number 30 in a single year. Extend the boundary to Northern Alberta, also served by the Stollery Children’s Hospital, and that number can rise to 40 per year.

For an accomplished specialist with a global impact, Dr. de Caen remains remarkably grounded. When pressed to consider his role, de Caen offers that, “One of the things I’ve always been able to do well, I think, is to work with people, and to work as a member of a team and ultimately to lead a team. That’s what resuscitation is about as well.” ~ DVB

Dr. Allan de Caen poses on the helipad in his role as a medical director of the pediatric intensive care transport team at the Stollery Children’s Hospital

Photo: Laughing Dog


“My hope with this study is that children will have an easy oral medication they can take to clear their psoriasis.”

Opened in late 2014, the CIU is staffed by registered nurses and comes equipped with three curtained cots. It offers a single enclosed private room for anything that requires confidentiality.

The unit is the ideal research space for patients where investigators can complete procedures including histories and physical exams. The space is also used for patients that require special testing for their clinical care.

Fiorillo is amazed at the resources the CIU offers.

“It’s like a mini self-contained hospital with everything. There is a fridge with controlled temperatures and a

In an early morning divisional council meeting, Dr. Loretta Fiorillo’s ears perked up when she heard that a new Pediatric Clinical Investigation Unit (CIU) would open in the Stollery Children’s Hospital. It would enable Fiorillo, divisional director of Pediatric Dermatology, to run the first controlled clinical trial for pediatric psoriasis drugs in Canada, all with full nursing support.

“Before I heard about the CIU I refused trials because I work alone and there was no one to help me so I had to pass on a number of studies,” says Fiorillo adding,

Easy to Take

A new Pediatric Clinical Investigation Unit enables the first Canadian clinical trial for oral pediatric psoriasis medication


The CIU is state-of-the-art

Dr. Michael Hawkes, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, is the medical director of the unit and oversees research projects in the CIU. Looking down the road five to 10 years, he hopes the CIU is fully booked with research studies, to the point of needing additional staff. He anticipates building collaborations with industry that might fuel the CIU through cost-recovery.

“The idea would be a synergy where you have industry-sponsored studies that help fund the CIU infrastructure, but also investigator-initiated studies that can make use of the state-of-the-art facility at minimal cost. This would help foster a culture of innovation,” he says.

centrifuge where you can do lab work. If the patient needs to have blood drawn at night when the regular lab is closed, it can be done in the CIU directly,” she says.

For her study, nurses are administering the drug and take vitals like a blood pressure reading. She uses the CIU to conduct physical examinations on the study patients.

To treat a child with severe psoriasis, dermatologists presently use off-label medications like methotrexate. Fiorillo is hoping to change that.

“There has not been any drug studied to treat children with psoriasis. I’ve looked at the entire literature on psoriasis in children and none of the products used,

including simple corticosteroid cream, have been officially studied in pediatric psoriasis,” she says.

The trial will see children take an oral drug twice a day at different doses, depending on age. The trial is a phase two study, looking at the safety of the drug. Fiorillo has already enrolled four older patients (ages 12 to 18) and is hoping to enroll three younger patients (ages six to 11).

To test for side effects, blood samples will be collected from the patients in the first two weeks of the research. The children then will take the drug for a year with more blood work and testing to follow.

Once the drug is approved as safe, the study will move to a third phase which will enroll a larger number of children at many other Canadian centres, including the CIU at the Stollery.

Now that she has support, the CIU enables her to do research she once was unable to do. In the future she would like to use the facility to test both a cream and an injection for pediatric psoriasis.

“Before this, it was impossible for me. I didn’t even know where to start. We know research isn’t done in children much, especially in dermatology where many adult studies exist that aren’t translated down to children,” says Fiorillo. ~ SK

Dr. Loretta Fiorillo (l) is using the Clinical Investigation Unit to conduct clinical trials; LindaBeth Greet (r) provides support as a registered nurse in the unit


The antibodies patients develop to fight a transplanted organ can become the greatest obstacle to the operation’s success. Urschel has spent years of his career to research and practice developing techniques to suppress these antibodies in young patients, while maintaining their immune system’s strength to fight illness. It is a delicate balance.

“Usually, you become a cardiologist because you don’t like things like T- and B-cells and immunology,” says Urschel. “It’s very rare that people are interested in both

Dr. Simon Urschel knows the power of the human immune system all too well. He works to understand how it defends our bodies around the clock from anything that doesn’t belong, including a life-saving organ with an incompatible blood type.

A pediatric cardiologist works to uncover the secrets of children’s immature immune systems

Dr. Simon Urschel (l) checks in with heart transplant recipient Cecily Kalyn and her mom at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute healing garden

A Successful Transplant is Only the Beginning


immunology and cardiology.” At the University of Alberta and the Stollery Children’s Hospital, Urschel can balance research with clinical practice.

That balance drew him to Edmonton from his prior home and practice in Munich. “I think you will always gravitate to where you see the best opportunity to fulfill your passion, to do your clinical work,” Urschel reflects. “I’m not a pure scientist and I couldn’t be a pure scientist. I need to balance research and working with children and their families.” Another draw to Edmonton for Urschel was the chance to work with world leaders on blood group incompatible transplantation, like department member Dr. Lori West.

For Urschel, a successful transplant is only the beginning of a journey with each patient. He fondly remembers soccer games with kids at transplant camp where he says the families have bonded strongly. Urschel recalls the surprise on a parent’s face when their child outpaced the doctor on the soccer field. Transplant camps are among many innovative programs that make Urschel’s division an authority in the field and are a key factor for well-being beyond medical care. The Stollery handles heart transplants for kids across Western Canada, which amount to anywhere from eight to 17 operations in a given year.

“I find it pretty impressive that our protocols are shared,” says Urschel. “They’re used at Stanford, in New York, in Chicago, in Miami. Those are all top organizations that request our protocols and regularly ask our advice.”

Urschel is currently preparing slides for a presentation he’ll give to 4,000 attendees of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. He collaborates on research with national and international groups like the Canadian National Transplant Research Program’s

Positive Study to discover how immune systems react to transplants of different organs at various ages.

With his recent promotion to associate professor, there are no signs of Urschel resting on his laurels. “I’ve just published a paper about the development of B-cell memory, which is important for transplants but also has implications for how kids deal, for example, with certain infections.”

Urschel is already adding years to the lives of transplant patients at the Stollery, but there is always more to learn. The immature immune systems of the very young are incredibly resilient, holding secrets that he believes may help improve the lives of patients of all ages.

Perhaps Urschel’s greatest advancements lie ahead. ~ DVB

Delivering excellence in care

The Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, in partnership with Alberta Health Services (AHS), provides clinical care for children and their families in the Edmonton and surrounding areas in private pediatric practices, community hospitals, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and the quaternary care Stollery Children’s Hospital.

Thanks to the strong relationship with AHS and the child health care community, our department is able to offer an array of specialty medical services, sophisticated diagnostic techniques and specialized surgical procedures not readily available elsewhere.


Graduate student’s research confirms a non-invasive method to diagnose celiac disease in children

Gluten-free Guidelines

Seema Rajani poses in a pedway across from the Multidisciplinary Celiac Clinic at the Stollery Children’s Hospital


The North American gold standard to diagnose celiac disease in children is a blood test, followed by an endoscopy and biopsy to examine the extent of intestinal damage. Endoscopies are not fun and may even be unnecessary for many children, as master’s student Seema Rajani and her supervisor pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Justine Turner recently confirmed with prospective research in the Multidisciplinary Celiac Clinic at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. The clinic is the first in North America to apply non-invasive diagnostic guidelines for celiac disease in children.

In 2011, European guidelines for diagnosing celiac disease (which were similar to the North American guidelines) changed to skip the endoscopy and biopsy for symptomatic patients with an anti-transglutaminase (aTTG) level ten times normal, a positive endomysial antibody and at risk genetics. “That was creating a few waves here, and we wanted to test the guidelines in our own clinic,” explains Rajani, who has worked off and on with Turner since she was an undergrad.

The key to Rajani and Turner’s research was modifying the European guidelines to reflect local priorities. Prior research showed that children here were not always being referred to the Stollery clinic for endoscopy before being diagnosed. “We weren’t sure if this was because of patient or physician preference,” says Rajani. “A big push for us to do this next level of research was to make sure the right children were skipping the endoscopy before diagnosis.” Their first step was adapting the guidelines

Stollery clinic now offers quicker diagnosis with support for a gluten-free diet

Since the Multidisciplinary Celiac Clinic began offering the non-invasive diagnostic method, approximately one-quarter of patients referred to the clinic no longer require endoscopy because they meet the criteria and agree to the non-invasive diagnosis.

Seema Rajani and Dr. Justine Turner adapted the European non-invasive diagnostic guidelines for our local context, and they have taken their research results to Washington, DC and Prague, Czech Republic. Most recently, the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology has published the study.

for the local population and laboratory testing methods. Previously at the Stollery clinic they found all children with an aTTG above 200 had biopsy confirmed celiac. This is twice the limit of the European guidelines, but makes more sense than the lower cut off that might misdiagnose patients.

A new diagnostic protocol was then implemented at the Stollery clinic. Patients with aTTG levels over 200 are referred to the clinic for a second aTTG test and a genetic test. If those tests return positive, patient and families can opt to skip the endoscopy. It is a choice, and some families still prefer to go ahead with an endoscopy.

The treatment for celiac disease is a strict gluten-free diet. Making sure the right patients are diagnosed prevents an unnecessary lifestyle restriction that can be burdensome and expensive. A major factor in adhering to the diet is the support of dietitians at the Stollery clinic. “Just because the testing may indicate some kids don’t need to go on to endoscopy, doesn’t meant they shouldn’t be referred to the Multidisciplinary Celiac Clinic here,” emphasizes Rajani. “To have the support of the dietitians and the education sessions is essential and makes all the difference for the kids.”

Rajani and Turner’s research has showed that parents and patients welcome a non-invasive diagnostic strategy and value having the choice. ~ JC


in supply at the health centre. Benson’s nurse knows that the Kambuga hospital has a new reliable source of oxygen, delivered by solar power. He is rushed to Kambuga where he receives oxygen and survives.

Solar power oxygen delivery is an innovation created by Dr. Michael Hawkes, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. The innovation caught the attention

On a dusty road in Western Uganda, a researcher from the Kambuga hospital rushes 20 minutes on his motorcycle to pick up Benson, a child severely ill with pneumonia, from a nearby health centre. The child needs oxygen, not

Saved by the Sun

New solar powered oxygen delivery helps save lives in Uganda

Dr. Michael Hawkes examines a baby at a clinic in Uganda


of the United Nations Committee for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, who invited Hawkes to be one of 10 innovators to present at the Pneumonia Innovations Summit, part of World Pneumonia Day in New York City.

Each year, 900,000 children die of pneumonia worldwide. It is the largest cause of death with most deaths taking place in Africa and Asia. Vaccinations and medications exist, but are being rolled out slowly in Africa where diagnostics are poor and chest x-rays are not readily available.

Children with severe pneumonia have infected lungs that need oxygen until antibiotics begin to work. In Canada, oxygen is available at the bedside in every hospital room. In developing countries like Uganda, reliable oxygen is hard to come by.

Hawkes worked in Ugandan hospitals, both in Kambuga and Jinja, for over two years where he quickly recognized a need for a more reliable oxygen source. In low-resource settings, oxygen can be delivered using cylinders, which are often in short supply, or concentrators, which depend on electricity. In Kambuga there were multiple power outages each day, some lasting for up to 48 hours.

“In the hospital you often didn’t have access to oxygen cylinders. So the power goes out and you’re out of luck. We had children that died in front of our eyes,” says Hawkes.

To establish a reliable oxygen source, he and his colleagues came up with the idea of using solar energy.

During the day, solar panels supply power to an oxygen concentrator that strips oxygen out of the air. At night, charged batteries from the panels supply the power to the concentrator.

To fund the idea, they received a Grand Challenges Canada grant, a Government of Canada initiative that supports global health research. The funds were used to set up the systems at the Kambuga and Jinja hospitals. “We piloted it on a group of 28 children and it showed that you could use the solar panels and batteries to run the concentrator 24/7. We treated children with pneumonia and the system worked,” he says.

Next they conducted a randomized controlled trial and showed that solar powered oxygen delivery is comparable to the conventional method of oxygen delivery using cylinders.

Hawkes pitched the innovation to a funding panel at the Pneumonia Innovations Summit, where it was received with enthusiasm by global donors. To expand the innovation to 80 hospitals across Uganda, Hawkes is hoping to receive phase two funding from Grand Challenges Canada with the Clinton Initiative committed to providing matching funds as part of the grant.

“Without solar powered oxygen Benson would have died. If we could expand it, could you imagine how many children would have access to lifesaving oxygen therapy?” he wonders. ~ SK

Without solar powered oxygen Benson would have died


While the clinical aspect of Yanishevsky’s job helps lessen the strain on other specialists in the area, the real value of his arrival is the academic appointment that complements existing service, and provides an affiliation with both the University of Alberta and Stollery Children’s Hospital. This affords the opportunity to enhance teaching, conduct research, and offer high-risk procedures and testing that can be difficult to do in a less supervised setting.

The Pediatric Allergy Clinic at the hospital is the linchpin for training the next generation of physicians. Yanishevsky currently takes advantage of existing teaching opportunities for pediatric residents by participating in clinical rotations, academic half days, journal clubs and outreach conferences. “Our vision is to establish an accredited Royal College training program for allergy

Arriving in Edmonton via Montreal in November 2013, Dr. Yarden Yanishevsky didn’t have much time to ease into his new role as a new pediatric allergist. His clinic at the Stollery Children’s Hospital is at capacity, struggling to keep pace with up to six patient referrals a day for the growing population of children with allergies. This is not surprising, considering up to 50 per cent of Canadians have some type of allergy. “And this number is rising,” confirms Yanishevsky. “Not only is this a health issue but the economic burden is massive, just considering missed days of work and school.”

Taking on a New Challenge

An academic allergist expands teaching, research and complex care


Specialized services are now available

Referrals now come to the Stollery from outside the Edmonton area for assessment and management of complex allergic conditions such as drug allergies. Dr. Yarden Yanishevsky has access to specialized medications in the hospital, including local and general anesthetics. When a child is in a need of a specific drug that he or she is allergic to, they can be temporarily desensitized. This allows children to receive a treatment that requires a substance to which they are allergic.

Yanishevsky is also excited about collaborating with pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Wendy Vaudry, to establish a new specialized immunization clinic at the Stollery. Children can be suspected of having an allergy to vaccines, based on symptoms after vaccination. The parents then avoid vaccines and the child misses the opportunity to be vaccinated on schedule. At the new clinic, both Yanishevsky and Vaudry see patients to help determine the best way to assure that children receive their immunizations in a safe way.

– this is something you cannot do unless you have academic medicine,” he explains.

Research projects are also possible, now that the field of allergy is represented at the university and can utilize the resources of the hospital. Yanishevsky is able to collaborate with other centres in Canada, and internationally, to contribute local data for research registries. “The anaphylaxis registry, for example, is active across Canada and now I am able to act as the principal investigator for the University of Alberta and add to that data collection,” he says. It is a first step toward initiating original research here, some of it eventually to be conducted in the new Clinical Investigation Unit (CIU) at the Stollery.

The CIU is also important for performing high-risk procedures such as food, vaccine and medication challenges and desensitization. These procedures are difficult, if not impossible, to perform in a less supervised setting. Because the lifestyle of children suspected or formally diagnosed with allergies is often limited by complex restrictions, and filled with anxiety for both children and parents, knowing for sure what is causing symptoms can be a turning point for them. A challenge study can determine with absolute certainty whether someone has or does not have an allergy. Patients who have been avoiding allergens, but have a favourable chance of not reacting, can be “challenged” with the substance in a controlled setting at the hospital – with appropriate resources at the ready if a reaction occurs.

No matter the result of the challenges, patients and their families are better off knowing for sure. “Usually they are happy even if they react during the challenge because they know what their symptoms look like, what to expect, and how to treat it,” says Yanishevsky. “So the quality of life goes up.” ~ JC

Seven year old Ella Yap smiles as she pretends to examine Dr. Yarden Yanishevsky, section head for pediatric allergy and immunology


Dr. Allison Carroll was hired as an assistant professor by the Division of Respiratory Medicine after completing the division’s own Royal College-accredited residency program


Breathing Easy

Dr. Allison Carroll, pediatric respirologist with the Division of Respiratory Medicine, sees a lot of children who have trouble breathing during sleep due to obstructive sleep apnea, central apnea or hypoventilation.

The main concern with sleep disordered breathing is instances of pausing or shallow breathing during sleep. In obstructive sleep apnea, there may be occasional blocking of the upper airway. To combat this, children often require non-invasive ventilation (NIV), such continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), to keep airways open.

The NIV setup includes a mask that is worn over the child’s face to deliver pressure to the airway. Unfortunately, the masks currently used for children are usually made for adults and are often too large for a child’s face. In order to ensure a tight fit, a lot of pressure may be put on the child’s face. This pressure can cause side-effects including midface hypoplasia, a facial deformity, or a breakdown of the skin in contact with the mask.

“We wanted to know how we could make better-fitting masks for these children,” says Carroll. “We thought maybe we could make them ourselves and fit them to the individual patient. So we began by looking into who had access to a 3D printer in Edmonton.”

3D custom masks help children with sleep disordered breathing

The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Engineering assisted with the design and printing of the first non-medical grade test mask. Dr. Andrew Martin, a new faculty member with the Faculty of Engineering, later lent his expertise in gas flow and pressure testing.

The team then contacted the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine (iRSM).

“iRSM is known for their facial reconstruction and surgical planning”, says Carroll. “They are quite technologically advanced and we knew they were already doing 3D printing.”

An iRSM industrial designer and prosthetist optimized the mask design and upgraded the materials to medical grade in iRSM’s medical modelling lab.

The process of creating a custom fit for each child is pretty straightforward. With help from the Faculty of Medicine’s School of Dentistry, the team uses 3D photos of the patients using the 3dMD imaging system. The photo is then sent to iRSM to print a 3D mold from the photo template. Silicone is then poured into the mold to create the portion of the mask that touches the patient’s face. A shell is also printed to house both the silicone mask and the commercially available air hoses.

“As far as we know, we are the only ones using the 3D printer for this purpose in children,” says Carroll, who is now preparing for a clinical trial.

Carroll believes these masks could be expanded to a broader population, and perhaps even made available commercially as the 3dMD system is becomes more common in larger hospitals.

Collaboration was instrumental, says Carroll. “We couldn’t have done this without the huge collaboration among the University’s Faculty of Engineering, iRSM, the Faculty of Medicine’s School of Dentistry, Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health.” ~ KB


Our people make it work

The Department of Pediatrics could not fulfill our education, research and clinical care mandates without the people we nurture and the processes we continually seek to improve. Our people include 246 faculty members and 230 support staff.

How many steps does it take to burn off the calories in 179,305 bags of Doritos? Just ask the 57 Department of Pediatrics Random Acts of Wellness (RAW) Challengers, because they accomplished this collectively in just six weeks. The RAW Challenge brought support staff, learners, and faculty members together to measure their activity with activity trackers. The trackers were purchased in 2015 with a grant from University Wellness and are borrowed by department members for an ongoing series of fitness challenges.

RAW Challenge 2015

A few members of the first Random Acts of Wellness (RAW)Challenge get out for a lunch-hour hike led by Roxanne Neufeld (blue jacket) and Dalila Matthus (purple jacket).


The first challenge was based on the total amount of steps accrued in one week.

Joel Semeniuk, a third-year general pediatrics resident, came out on top for the first week of the challenge, completing an outstanding 137,627 steps. Semeniuk signed up for the challenge because he was curious how many steps he did at work. During his workday, he walks to different wards to see patients and was surprised with his initial measurements.

“I thought I would get a lot more steps at work but there are long periods of time where I’m sitting, either doing an assessment of a patient, writing up my consult or talking with staff. I found it’s actually very sedentary with little bursts of activity in between,” says Semeniuk.

This realization motivated Semeniuk to pump up the number of his steps he takes. He began running more, his favorite activity because of the flexibility it offers. “Running is easy to do anytime, anywhere. I can go on a run by myself and it gives me a chance to think and reflect. Or I can bring my family and friends with me and chat as we run,” says Semeniuk.

Elisha Krochak, program assistant in Pediatric Undergraduate Medical Education, signed up for the challenge because she, too, was curious to see how many steps she took in. The results took her aback. “I realize now that I take fewer steps on the weekend. I figured it would have been reversed – that I do more on the weekend than on weekdays,” she says. “Most of us have daily jobs where we are really sedentary. The challenge motivates us to get up and move rather than just sit at our desks.” Krochak is now motivating herself to get more movement in on the weekends.

Many thanks to RAW coordinators Jamie Boisvenue, Dalila Mathus, Roxanne Neufeld and Bobbi-Jo Squires and ambassadors Judith Chrystal, Judy Cromar, Sandra Kinash, and Melina Webber for their contributions to develop, organize and run this challenge. “When you hear staff and students talking about the challenge in the hallway, how they did 2,000 more steps than yesterday and how great they feel, it really makes it all worth it,” says Boisvenue. ~ SK

Department staff member recognized for excellence

Jamie Boisvenue, research technician in Dr. Jason Dyck’s cardiovascular lab, received a Support Staff Recognition Award from the University of Alberta. Award recipients demonstrate an energetic commitment towards the continued success of the University.

“He is contributing to a positive culture in the department as he is getting more people to learn more about what each person does and this is creating a greater understanding of how the department operates as a whole.”

“Jamie is an integral part of the success and day-to-day functioning of my lab, and his enthusiasm for working at the University of Alberta as a whole is a large factor in that.”

“Our lab is a very busy and complex enterprise and Jamie has added a great deal to our environment by organizing events to bring our staff and those in other labs together to socialize and develop good working relationships.”


Dr. William Craig (r) receives an award from Dr. Susan Gilmour (l) at the recognition dinner

Each year, the Department of Pediatrics celebrates excellence and recognizes faculty members through an annual awards program organized by the Faculty Development committee. Peers nominate faculty members in categories ranging from superior research to outstanding teamwork.

An awards dinner is held each June and provides faculty members an opportunity to network as well as celebrate their successes.

Congratulations to the following 2015 award recipients:

AWARD TITLE AWARD WINNER(S)

Academic Faculty Research Paper Award Dr. Geoff Ball and Dr. Charlene Robertson

Clinical Faculty Research Paper Award Dr. Lindsay RyersonCooperation Collaboration and Teamwork Recognition Award

Western Canadian Complex Pediatric Therapies Followup Program

Innovation Award Lesley MitchellMentoring Award Dr. Jeffrey Smallhorn

Faculty Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) AwardsBest Teaching Division Award in Undergraduate Medical Education

Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Pediatric NephrologyTop Ten Teachers Award Dr. Dominic Allain

Dr. William Craig Dr. Lisa Evered Dr. Karen Forbes Dr. Dawn Hartfield Dr. Alicja Janicka Dr. Mia Lang Dr. Melanie Lewis Dr. Jennifer Walton Dr. Eytan Wine

Community Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) AwardsBest Teacher Award in Community Pediatrics

Dr. Faria Ajamian

Excellence in Community Pediatrics Dr. Indra Dhunnoo and Dr. Anna Malanowska

Faculty Award Recipients


External Awards

Jamie Boisvenue, Support Staff Recognition Award, University of Alberta

Dr. Jason Dyck’s lab, Campus Sustainability Leadership Award, Office of Sustainability, University of Alberta

Dr. Sarah Forgie, Teacher of Year for Class of 2018 and Excellence in Mentoring for Class of 2017, Celebration of Teaching & Learning Medical Students Assocation (MSA Awards)

Dr. Michael Hawkes, Invited Speaker, World Pneumonia Day

Dr. Anita L. Kozyrskyj, Bruce Squires Award, Canadian Medical Association Journal

Significant Grants

Dr. Todd Alexander Canadian Foundation for Innovation (2016)

Specialized equipment for kidney tubule microperfusion

Dr. Geoff Ball Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (AIHS), the Canadian Obesity Network, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (2015)

Bariatric care in Canadian children

Dr. Lisa Hartling Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (2015)

Health systems research, implementation research and knowledge translation platform

Dr. Georg Schmolzer Heart & Stroke Foundation (2015) Novel resuscitation techniques to improve the recovery of asphyxiated newborns

Dr. Tehseen Ladha Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2015)

Lensless microscopy for rapid portable hematology diagnostics at the point of care (clinical trial)

Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2015)

A foundation grant to improve early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder

Dr. Richard Schulz Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2015)

Matrix metalloproteinases in cardiovascular health and disease: from bench to bedside

Dr. Alvaro Osnario Vargas

Cancer Research Society and Read for the Cure (2015)

Mapping children’s cancer incidence and environmental carcinogenic emissions in Canada: an interdisciplinary spatiotemporal data mining approach

Dr. Robert Moriartey, Honourary Membership, Canadian Medical Association

Dr. Amanda Newton, Young Investigator Award, Canadian Paediatric Society

Dr. Hasu Rajani, Distinguished Community Paediatrician, Canadian Paediatric Society

Dr. Joan Robinson, Danielle Grenier Member Recognition Award, Canadian Paediatric Society

Dr. Jerome Yager and Dr. John Andersen, Alberta Health Services President’s Excellence Award in the category of research, Alberta Health Services

Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Fellow (inducted), Canadian Academy of Health Sciences


Divisional Members*

CARDIOLOGYDr. Joseph AtallahDr. James CoeDr. Timothy Colen Dr. Jennifer ConwayDr. John DyckDr. Jason DyckDr. Lisa HornbergerDr. Michael KantochDr. Paul KantorDr. Nee KhooDr. Gary LopaschukDr. Andrew MackieDr. Mary (Patti) MassicotteDr. Richard SchulzDr. Jeffrey SmallhornDr. Edythe ThamDr. Simon UrschelDr. Andrea WanDr. Lori West

CRITICAL CAREDr. Ian Adatia Dr. Vijay AnandDr. Natalie Anton Dr. Dominic CaveDr. Alf ConradiDr. Allan de CaenDr. Jonathan Duff Dr. Daniel Garros Dr. Gonzalo GuerraDr. Paula HolinskiDr. Ari JoffeDr. Laurance LequierDr. Lindsay Ryerson Dr. Liliane Zorzela

DERMATOLOGYDr. Loretta Fiorillo

DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICSDr. Julia Ackland-SnowDr. John AndersenDr. Gail AndrewDr. Debra AndrewsDr. Diana AndriashekDr. Brenda Clark Dr. Angela CurrieDr. Cara DosmanDr. Keith GouldenDr. Carole HapshynDr. Matthew ProwseDr. Carmen RasmussenDr. Charlene RobertsonDr. Lyn SonnenbergDr. Man-Joe WattDr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

EMERGENCY MEDICINEDr. Bruce Wright Dr. Samina AliDr. Robin Jo ArentDr. Melissa ChanDr. Eddie ChangDr. William CraigDr. Sarah CurtisDr. Andrew DixonDr. Michelle DysonDr. Mark EnarsonDr. Andrea EsteyDr. Lisa Evered

Dr. Hsing JouDr. Lisa HartlingDr. Robyn HutchingsDr. Manu KundraDr. Trisha KutnikoffDr. Shona MacLachlanDr. Donald McConnellDr. Matthew MontgomeryDr. Maria OlivaDr. Amaly RahmanDr. William SevcikDr. Hareishun ShanmuganathanDr. Carrie SlatterDr. Daina ThomasDr. Troy Turner

ENDOCRINOLOGYDr. Robert CouchDr. Rose GirgisDr. Andrea HaqqDr. Mary JethaDr. Elizabeth Rosolowsky

GASTROENTEROLOGY AND NUTRITIONDr. Matthew CarrollDr. Susan GilmourDr. Hien HuynhDr. Richard LehnerDr. Rabin PersadDr. Jason SilvermanDr. Justine TurnerDr. Eytan WineDr. Jason YapDr. Dawei Zhang

GENERAL AND COMMUNITY PEDIATRICSDr. Faria AjamianDr. Kelly AndersonDr. Mohammad AnsarianDr. Angela AntoniukDr. Georgeta ApostolDr. Geoff BallDr. Cecilia BaxterDr. Lola BaydalaDr. David BerryDr. Charles BesterDr. Edwin BolsterDr. Michael BowmanDr. Jagdeep BrarDr. Irena BukaDr. Stuart CarrDr. Isabelle ChapadosDr. Rehana ChaturDr. Thea ChibukDr. Mark DavidsonDr. Lionel DibdenDr. Indra DhunnooDr. Julia DragerDr. Heather DreiseDr. Abdelbaset ElsawiniyaDr. Eileen EstrabilloDr. Elsa FiedrichDr. Breanne FrohlichDr. Samy GalanteDr. Evan HarrisDr. Michele Harvey-BlankenshipDr. Bonnieca IslamDr. Wladyslawa JanickaDr. Christine Kyriakides

DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICSDr. Susan Gilmour, ChairMary Ellen Davison, Assistant Chair AdministrationDr. Manjula Gowrishankar, Associate Chair Faculty DevelopmentDr. Gary Lopaschuk, Associate Chair ResearchDr. Carina Majaesic, Associate Chair Clinical AffairsDr. Jennifer Walton, Associate Chair Medical Education

Divisional DirectorAcademic MemberClinical MemberNew Member


Dr. Tehseen LadhaDr. Mia LangDr. Scott LappaDr. Jacqueline LeeDr. Kan LeeDr. Heather LeonardDr. Melanie LewisDr. Per LidmanDr. Joan LopatkaDr. Anna MalanowskaDr. Ben MalinowskiDr. Tami MastersonDr. Lyle McGonigleDr. Kathleen MeierDr. Athar MianDr. Fateh MohammedDr. Robert MoriarteyDr. Sadia NakhudaDr. Amanda NewtonDr. Viktoria PankivDr. Jayprakash PatidarDr. Erika PerssonDr. Patrick PierseDr. Darlene PonDr. Edward RabinovitchDr. Djordje RadisicDr. Hasu RajaniDr. Munira RamjiDr. Kumar RamlallDr. David RosemanDr. Neel SainiDr. Darcy ScottDr. Lois SimDr. Kelly StevensDr. Geeta SukhraniDr. Waldemar SzymanskiDr. Johnny TeohDr. Alena Tse-ChangDr. Kellie WatersDr. Leigh WincottDr. Ken WongDr. Sam WongDr. Mona Zhang

HOSPITAL MEDICINEDr. Karen ForbesDr. Jessica FouldsDr. Dawn HartfieldDr. Heather LeonardDr. Sunita VohraDr. Jennifer Walton

IMMUNOLOGY, HEMATOLOGY, ONCOLOGY, PALLIATIVE CARE, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (iHOPE)Dr. Shairaz BakshDr. Aisha BruceDr. Mark BelletruttiDr. Catherine Corriveau-BourqueDr. Dawn DaviesDr. Sunil DesaiDr. David EisenstatDr. Paul GrundyDr. Sarah McKillopLesley MitchellDr. Alvaro Osornio-VargasDr. Sujata PersadDr. Maria SpavorDr. Bev WilsonDr. Yarden Yanishevsky

INFECTIOUS DISEASESDr. Sarah ForgieDr. Michael HawkesDr. Bonita LeeDr. Joan RobinsonDr. Rhonda RosychukDr. Wendy Vaudry

NEONATAL- PERINATAL CAREDr. Marcia AntunesDr. Khalid AzizDr. Paul ByrneDr. Po-Yin CheungDr. Santiago EnsenatDr. Sandra Escoredo Dr. Matthew HicksDr. Chloe JoyntDr. Marc-Antoine LandryDr. Manoj KumarDr. Vazhkudai KumaranDr. Robert LemkeDr. Abraham PeliowskiDr. Ernest PhilliposDr. Mosarrat QureshiDr. Amber ReichertDr. Georg Schmolzer Dr. Mehaboob ShaikDr. Jonathan StevensDr. Jennifer ToyeDr. Juzer TyebkhanDr. Michael van ManenDr. Dianna Wang

NEPHROLOGYDr. Abdullah AlabbasDr. Todd AlexanderDr. Manjula GowrishankarDr. Catherine MorganDr. Verna Yiu

NEUROLOGYDr. Francois BolducDr. Helly GoezDr. Janani KassiriDr. Francois Morneau JacobDr. John Neilson Dr. Hanna KolskiDr. Lawrence RicherDr. Barry SinclairDr. Richard Tang-WaiDr. Jerome Yager

RESPIRATORY MEDICINEDr. Israel AmiravDr. Alison CarrollDr. Maria Castro CodesalDr. Tamizan KheraniDr. Anita KozyrskyjDr. Joanna MacLeanDr. Carina MajaesicDr. Piush MandhaneDr. Manisha WitmansDr. Peter Zuberbuhler

RHEUMATOLOGYDr. Mercedes ChanDr. Janet Ellsworth Dr. Dax Rumsey

Leadership Appointments

Dr. Mark Belletrutti, Program Director, General Pediatrics Residency Program

Dr. Aisha Bruce, Medical Director, Ambulatory Care Medicine Program, Alberta Health Services

Dr. Melissa Chan, Assistant Program Director, General Pediatrics Residency Program

Dr. Mark Evans, Divisional Director, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery

Dr. Sarah Forgie, Vice-Provost Learning Initiatives, Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

Dr. Rose Girgis, Elected representative for Faculty Evaluation Committee, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Dr. Michael Hawkes Medical Director, Stollery Children’s Hospital Clincal Investigations Unit, Alberta Health Services

Dr. Mia Lang, Interim Director, Associate Dean Faculty Development, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Dr. Lawrence Richer, Director, Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre (NACTRC)

Dr. Wendy Vaudry, Co-chair, Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program, ACTive (IMPACT)

*at 05-15-2016


Partners

The Department of Pediatrics works closely with many local and national organizations to foster the very best environment for learning, research and clinical care.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is Canada’s first and largest province-wide, fully-integrated health system, responsible for delivering health services to residents of Alberta. Students from Alberta’s universities and colleges, as well as from universities and colleges outside of Alberta, receive clinical education in AHS facilities and community locations.

The Stollery Children’s Hospital is home to more than 640 physicians and more than 670 multidisciplinary staff in allied health disciplines, all dedicated to providing children with the best health care in Canada. With 133 beds, the Stollery Children’s Hospital partners with Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Convenant Health and North Zone AHS to cover one of the largest catchment areas of any pediatric facility in Canada. With a referral base of more than 1.7 million, the Stollery cares for children from northern and central Alberta, as well as parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

The Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation raises money for specialized equipment, sub-specialty medical education to train the best of the best, research to discover new treatments and cures for child health issues, and specialized programs that improve patient and family outcomes at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. The Foundation recognizes the tremendous impact education and research has on disease prevention, treatment and improved health outcomes, which is why it invests more than $1 million each year to support trainees in the Department of Pediatrics and is a core funding partner for the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute at the University of Alberta.


The Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) supports research excellence dedicated to improving the health and lives of women and children. WCHRI is the only research institute in Canada to focus on both women’s and children’s health, including perinatal health.

WCHRI is a partnership between the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services, with core funding from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. Support is offered through grant competitions, start-up costs, ongoing research funding and expert research services. WCHRI also invests in the next generation of researchers through graduate and summer studentships, and research and travel grants.

The department also supports and partners with several other departments within the University of Alberta.

• Child & Adolescent Psychiatry • Pediatric Anesthesiology • Pediatric Medical Genetics • Pediatric Pathology • Pediatric Radiology • Pediatric Surgery


Department of Pediatrics, University of AlbertaEdmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA)11405-87 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9

www.pediatrics.ualberta.ca [email protected]

Documents

Department of Pediatrics Annual Report - 2015