News: 2021 Alumni of Distinction Award recipients
The 2021 Alumni of Distinction Award recipients are research leaders, accomplished scholars, community advocates and trailblazers in their fields.
Congratulations to the recipients:
Dr. Karl Cuddy, DDS’10, MD/MSc’15
Young Alumni Award – Dentistry
Dr. Karl Cuddy completed his Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery degree at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry in 2016. He then completed a fellowship in Advanced Craniomaxillofacial Surgery and Trauma at Portland Providence Medical Center in 2017.
Dr. Cuddy currently serves as an Assistant Professor and Director of Education and Maxillofacial Trauma in the graduate oral and maxillofacial surgery program in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto. He is also an attending surgeon at Mt. Sinai, Princess Margaret and Humber River hospitals.
Upon completion of his fellowship, Dr. Cuddy had amassed a long, impressive list of presentations and publications that complements his superb clinical and surgical training. He continues to work at the highest level and is a fully engaged member of the specialty, contributing to the production of new knowledge, dissemination of that knowledge and teaching of cutting-edge surgical skills to the next generation of surgeons.
Dr. Irene Hramiak, MD’76
Professional Achievement Award
Dr. Irene Hramiak graduated with her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1976. She went on to complete her internship and residency training at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, where she served as Chief Resident, as well as at the University of Toronto. This was followed by fellowships in internal medicine and endocrinology. She began her clinical appointments at London’s hospitals in 1982. That same year, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. In 2001, she was appointed full Professor and three years later she became Chair/Chief, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. In 2016, she became the site Chair/Chief for the Department of Medicine for St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
Dr. Hramiak has been a leader throughout her career and established a national and international reputation for her research focused on diabetes. She was the principal or co-investigator for a long list of critical clinical trials including the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, the ACCORD and ORIGIN clinical trials, which assessed cardiac outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. She also serves as principal investigator at Western University for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Clinical Trial and Canadian principal investigator for the REMOVAL trial, an international trial funded by the JDRF. Her dedication to research is matched by her commitment to patient care.
A recipient of numerous University, national and international awards, Dr. Hramiak is an outstanding mentor and role model to young faculty. She serves as a strong role model and support the faculty by providing insights on how to build their own careers.
Dr. Philip Marsden, MD’82
Professional Achievement Award
Dr. Philip Marsden is a clinician-scientist and nephrologist at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital. He completed his Doctor of Medicine degree at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry in 1982, graduating as the class gold medalist. He pursued residency training at the University of Toronto and fellowship placements at Harvard Medical School.
His research aims to understand the contribution of endothelial genes to disease processes and regulation. In 1992, his laboratory described the cloning, characterization and functional expression of nitric oxide synthase that produces nitric oxide within endothelial cells. He has published 150 peer-reviewed papers, with more than 12,000 citations in high-impact journals.
Throughout his career, Dr. Marsden has received many awards and accolades, including the Sifton Distinguished Scientist Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s Medal for Research Excellence. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada. He also served as the only Canadian representative on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and co-chaired the Gairdner International Awards Medical Review Panel from 2004 to 2017.
Dr. Marsden continues to champion scientific collaborations to enhance science at the interface of clinical and basic research. He is a highly respected educator and mentor, having trained more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Physicians across the country have greatly benefited from his leadership and dedication to the field of nephrology.
Ayden Scheim, PhD’17
Young Alumni Award – Basic Sciences
Ayden Scheim completed his doctoral degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry in 2017, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Infectious Disease and Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego. As a PhD Candidate, he was awarded the prestigious Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship and a Vanier Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Scheim is currently an Assistant Professor in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, an Affiliate Scientist in Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
As an early career researcher, his work has already had a global impact in the fields of epidemiology, transgender health and the health of people who use drugs. He has published 49 peer-reviewed manuscripts in well-respected journals and contributed chapters to five published academic texts.
With a unique combination of methodological expertise, professional work experience and epidemiologic research, as well as a track record of meaningfully engaging community members in research, Scheim has established himself as one of the world’s top experts in the field of transgender health. This is reflected in his role as an investigator on 17 federally funded research grants and his growing portfolio of global health research across diverse settings.
Scheim is dedicated to research that will result in change at community, programming and health policy levels, as well as engage policymakers, program leaders and human rights experts. His work helps marginalized people feel that they matter.
Dr. Andrea Sereda, MD’07
Community Service Award
Dr. Andrea Sereda completed her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2007, which was followed by her family medicine residency training in 2009 and a year of focus in emergency medicine in 2010 at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
Today, Dr. Sereda is a physician at the London InterCommunity Health Centre. In this role, she supports three distinct programs: Street Level Women at Risk, where she supports women performing survival sex work by providing primary care for their medical needs, helping them to find stable housing as a foundation to improving health and wellbeing; the Emergency Safer Supply Program, which prescribes take-home doses of hydromorphone – an opioid used by injection drug users to reduce the risks associated with injecting contaminated street drugs; and the Transgender Health Program, providing care to approximately 250 people.
Dr. Sereda is a champion for health equity within her workplace and through communities locally and nationally. She challenges social norms and uses her voice on social media and across numerous other platforms to raise awareness about the challenges faced by the patient populations she supports. She is inspiring other health care providers and health care organization to think differently and offer care in new ways.
A recipient of several awards for her work, Dr. Sereda was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, London’s Top 20 Under 40 and Health Equity Champion.
Dr. Nathan Stall, MD’12
Young Alumni Award
Dr. Nathan Stall graduated with his Doctor of Medicine degree from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry in 2012. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine, as well as a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine, at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Stall is a geriatrician at Sinai Health System focused on acute care geriatrics. He is also a research fellow at Women’s College Research Institute and is currently completing a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. His doctoral research uses administrative databases to study the population health impact of caregiving for dementia. He has authored a number of high-impact publications and received a Vanier Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Dr. Stall is a strong advocate for older adults and Long-Term Care (LTC) residents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has supported the pandemic response across several Canadian provinces, collaborated with international leaders in LTC and serves on Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.
As a gifted communicator and leader, Dr. Stall is a regular contributor to CBC News, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and other media outlets, establishing himself as a trusted and informed expert. For many Canadians, he has been the voice of senior care throughout the pandemic, and his leadership has had a direct impact on care for older adults across the country.
