Professor Mark Ansermino was presented with the 2024 J.S. Gravenstein Award at the Society for Technology in Anesthesia on Saturday 13th January 2024. The award is given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of anesthesia technology throughout their career. He is the first Canadian to receive this award. A list of the previous recipients of this prestigious award can be found on the STA website.
Our department is saddened to announce the passing of Dr. David Stewart on August 31, 2023. Dr. Stewart was active in the department’s simulation program and served as Head of Pediatric Anesthesia at BC Children’s Hospital. After leaving Vancouver he went on to serve as Head of Pediatric Anesthesia at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital and then followed his passion of developing pediatric anesthesia in China from 1985-2011.
Our department is saddened by the passing of Dr. Richard Wall on August 19th, 2023. A brilliant intellectual, Dick joined our department as a chemist. His expertise in medicinal chemistry led to a number of fruitful collaborations within our department, including the discovery of vernakalant. Dick was instrumental in the development of the B.Sc. pharmacology program and he was a beloved academic and content advisor to countless undergraduate and graduate students. We extend our condolences to Dr. Wall’s family. He is dearly missed.
Dr. Peter Choi
Dr. Grenet completed his MD in endocrinology and his PhD in clinical pharmacology at the University of Lyon 1. He is a hospital doctor at the pharmaco-toxicology department of the University Hospital of Lyon, and a member of the Evaluation and Modeling with the Therapeutic Effects Group at the Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, CNRS UMR 5558 Lyon 1. His research focuses on treatment evaluation, especially of drugs used in diabetes, metabolic diseases and cardiovascular risk factors, mostly using meta-analytical approaches.
He is currently joining the Therapeutics Initiative team, to collaborate notably with the Drug Assessment Working Group and the Cochrane Hypertension Group. He will pursue the INDANA project of individual participants data meta-analysis in high blood pressure, initiated by Pr Gueyffier. In the context of the growing overweight and obesity pandemic, Dr Grenet will assess the impact of the body mass index on the cardiovascular benefits of antihypertensive drugs. The results are expected to help personalizing evidence-based treatment of people affected by overweight or obesity and high blood pressure.
Dr. Guillaume Grenet, MD, PhD
@Guillaume__Gr
Congratulations to Dr. Catrina Loucks on the recent awarding of a Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) award for The Loucks Pain Management Pharmacogenomics (PMP) Lab.
The opioid crisis continues to devastate the lives of Canadians, and unfortunately, it has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased movement toward opioid-sparing pain management strategies means that we are at risk of undertreating serious pain. This can be particularly devastating in children with high burdens of pain, where ongoing pain can interfere with brain development, disrupt behaviour, and increase the risk of chronic pain.
Safe and effective pain management is influenced by individual genetic differences that dictate both the likelihood of pain and whether medications will be safe and effective. Dr. Loucks is using pharmacogenomics to identify genetic factors that can help predict an individual’s need for, and subsequent response to, opioid and non-opioid pain relievers.
Safe and effective pain management is influenced by individual genetic differences that dictate both the likelihood of pain and whether medications will be safe and effective. Dr. Loucks is using pharmacogenomics to identify genetic factors that can help predict an individual’s need for, and subsequent response to, opioid and non-opioid pain relievers.
The Loucks Pain Management Pharmacogenomics (PMP) Lab is leveraging the resources of, and filling a critical gap in, the interdisciplinary Canadian Pharmacogenomics Network for Drug Safety, which is a drug surveillance network that collects adverse/unexpected responses to approved medications, including opioids. With the requested infrastructure, the Loucks PMP Lab will enable both advanced training in pharmacogenomics, and the development of a pipeline from genetic discoveries to predictive genetic testing to help select the safest and most effective medications to ultimately lessen the burden of pain for Canadian children.
Meet Dr. Khaled Abdelrahman, one of the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics newest faculty members, who was recently profiled in the Faculty of Medicine – Faculty Spotlight – READ MORE
We are pleased to announce that Dr. John (Kip) Kramer has been appointed Interim Director, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD).
Dr. Kramer is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics dedicated to improving outcomes and quality of life for people with spinal cord injury. His research is focused on understanding the relationships between spinal cord injuries and neuropathic pain, and he is currently developing advanced neuroimaging and quantitative sensory testing techniques to better understand how changes in the central nervous system relate to the development of neuropathic pain.
As interim Director, ICORD, Dr. Kramer will facilitate and support the research of investigators and scientists in the Centre and oversee administrative activities. He will also foster interactions with collaborating institutions and stimulate international partnerships, while ensuring ICORD activities help advance the goals of the Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute’s strategic plans.
We are pleased to announce that Dr Khaled Abdelrahman has received the new investigator grant from the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.
Details of announcement are here.
It is with great sadness that we announce Dr. David Vincent Godin, Professor Emeritus, passed away on Sunday July 9, 2023. Dr. Godin had a long career in Pharmacology research and education.
For those of us who had the privilege to study pharmacology or medicine at UBC, Dr. Godin was a passionate teacher who taught generations of future pharmacologists, doctors, and dentists the wonders of pharmacology and he made the subject matter so straightforward. He received countless awards for his teaching excellence. His impact was felt internationally for he also gave freely of his time in teaching in under-resourced parts of the world.
Outside of academia, Dr. Godin passionately loved his extended family, his faith community, and music (especially opera) and he touched the lives of so many people with whom he lived, worshipped, sang, and played.
Dr. Godin’s passing is a huge loss for those of us who knew him. Our Department extends condolences to his family. We miss him profoundly.
GODIN, David Vincent passed away suddenly on July 9, 2023 at the age of 81
The only child of parents Vincent and Catherine Godin, David was born June 17, 1942 in Ottawa, Ontario. He studied at Ottawa University, where he met Yum Kin, the love of his life. Soon after getting married, David consequently did post-doctoral work at Stanford University before accepting a teaching and research position in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of British Columbia, where he taught for nearly 40 years, receiving numerous teaching awards throughout his career for his unfailing commitment to students.
Although his family are bereft and in shock, we are also grateful for the legacy he leaves behind in the minds and hearts of the students he taught, the many musicians he played and sang with, the parishioners of both St John the Apostle and Knox United Church, his friends, and most of all, his family.
A devoted husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend, David was intent on savouring the beauty and goodness of everything and everyone around him. His enthusiasm for music and opera was contagious, his pride in his daughter and each of his three grandkids could not be contained, and his faithful love for his wife of 54 years was tangibly evident every day until he died.
David was much loved and will be sadly missed by many including his wife Yum Kin, daughter Kim (Matt), and grandchildren Abby, Josie and Sam.
All are welcome to attend one or both of two services planned to honour David’s memory:
Memorial Mass to be held Thursday July 27, 11 am at St John the Apostle Church (5457 Trafalgar St, Vancouver, BC)
Celebration of Life to be held Thursday, August 10, 2:30 at Sage Bistro (Formerly the UBC Faculty Club– 6331 Crescent Rd, Vancouver, BC ) Attendees to this event are invited (though not required) to wear something purple in light of David’s favourite colour.
For details, please click here.