Awards and accolades
November 2007 was a month of awards and recognition for a number of BC physicians:
Dr Thomas Kerr
Dr Thomas Kerr (Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research scholar, research scientist, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, assistant professor, Department of Medicine, UBC) was the national recipient of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Knowledge Translation Award.
This award recognizes an exceptional individual currently involved in a collaborative health research or development project that aims to advance and expand the understanding of knowledge translation.
Dr Kerr’s research evaluating North America’s first safe injecting facility, Vancouver’s Eastside medical injection site program, has contributed significantly to academic, public, and government discussions on the subject of injection drug use and HIV/AIDS.
Dr Michael Hayden
Dr Michael Hayden received the Prix Galien Canada (Research) 2007. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian biopharmaceutical research. It is one of the highest honors in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Dr Hayden receives the award at a gala event in Montreal.
A pioneer in the development of predictive testing for Huntington disease, Dr Hayden has made major contributions to understanding how changes in specific genes result in Huntington disease, premature coronary artery disease, and diabetes. Recently, he provided the first evidence of a cure for Huntington disease in a mouse model. He discovered the ABCA1 gene, which is the primary determinant of high-density cholesterol levels, and he showed that the ABCA1 gene is involved in insulin secretion and the development of type 2 diabetes.
He has also identified the genes for eight other disorders, including amyotrophic laterol sclerosis 2, high lipids, and pain. Dr Hayden and Dr Bruce Carleton are supported by Genome BC and Genome Canada for the project: Genotype-specific Approaches to Drug Therapy in Childhood.
Pacific Lung Health Centre
A team with the Pacific Lung Health Centre, part of the Providence Heart + Lung Institute at St. Paul’s, won an International Chronic Disease Management Award at the 2007 International Conference on Chronic Disease Management held in Calgary.
The winning PRIISME project, led by Ms Jane Burns, a physiotherapist and PRIISME COPD clinic coordinator, and a distinguished team from the St. Paul’s Hospital Respiratory Division, developed a comprehensive chronic disease management program that includes hospital-based and community programs. It integrates the different steps of care for patients with chronic obstructive lung disease, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, drug compliance, and follow-up.
Currently, there are multiple health care professionals playing key roles in helping patients with COPD manage their disease—such as providing care, suggesting lifestyle changes, and prescribing medicines. But patients often experience confusion because they receive conflicting information and direction. The PRIISME program helps health care professionals deliver more integrated and coordinated care to patients with COPD and empowers patients to take greater control of their illness.