December
Sudbury geriatrician Dr. Jo-Anne Clarke, Resident Alumna, has been named to the Order of Ontario. Dr. Clarke is currently medical director at the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre in Sudbury, affiliated with Health Sciences North.
Dr. Sondos Zayed, Resident in Radiation Oncology, has received the BMO STEM Awards. These awards recognize female leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math roles who are challenging the status quo for knowledge and female empowerment. She is pursuing further sub-specialty training in brain, spine and gastrointestinal malignancies as a clinical fellow at the Sunnybrook Hospital Odette Cancer Centre, while completing her Harvard MPH in Epidemiology.
Karnig Kazazian and Matthew Kolisnyk, both PhD candidates in the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, conducted research on a new method of predicting the recovery chances of patients with severe brain injuries using artificial intelligence in neuroscientist Adrian Owen’s lab, under the supervision of Loretta Norton. They found they could predict whether patients could survive six months later with 80 per cent accuracy, using a combined functional magnetic resonance imaging technique and machine learning.
Research on genetic disease diagnosis led by Dr. Bekim Sadikovic, PhD’07, has acquired $7.5M in funding from Genome Canada. Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence driven diagnosing tool for rare genetic diseases called EpiSign.
In 2021, Jayneel Limbachia, BMSc’17, and several classmates launched a student-led mentorship initiative for applicants to the School’s Doctor of Medicine (MD) program called ACCESS Inc (Admissions Counselling and Coaching for Equitable Students Success). In 2023, ACCESS Inc. expanded to include students applying to the School’s Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program. Looking to the future, Limbachia and his peers are hoping to expand ACCESS Inc. to other medical and dental schools across the province and country.
Dr. David A. Steven, Resident Alumni, has been re-appointed to the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences as:
- Chair (Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University);
- Physician Department Executive (London Health Sciences Centre); and
- Chief (St. Joseph’s Health Care London).
The re-appointment will be effective January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2028.
Dr. John Fuller, MD’80, has been re-appointed as interim Chair, Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University. His extension is effective January 1, 2024 to February 28, 2024 or until a permanent Chair is appointed.
Dr. Patricia Hall, BSc'96, Resident Alumna, has been re-appointed as interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University. Her extension is effective January 15, 2024 to December 31, 2024 or until a permanent Chair is appointed.
