Three endowed chairs renewed at Schulich

Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry is pleased to announce the reappointment of three endowed chairs held by faculty members within the School. Dr. Dwight Moulin, Dr. Robert Hegele and Dr. David Hill have each received five-year term renewals in their respective disciplines.

Dr. Dwight Moulin has been reappointed as the Earl Russell Chair in Pain Management for a five-year term (October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2015). A professor in the departments of Clinical Neurological Sciences and Oncology at The University of Western Ontario, Dr. Moulin is also the Medical Director of Pain and Symptom Management at London Regional Cancer Centre at London Health Sciences Centre.

In his first term as Earl Russell Chair in Pain Management, Dr. Moulin was a leader in several large, multi-disciplinary projects and linked major Canadian Universities with Western, including McMaster, the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa and McGill University. One of those projects led to the publication of Canadian consensus guidelines for the management of neuropathic pain which has been widely accepted nationally and internationally. Dr. Moulin was also responsible for the design and implementation of the 4th Year Pain Management Transition Course in the Faculty of Medicine and worked with the Interdisciplinary Pain Group to further pain education at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Over the course of his next term, Dr. Moulin will continue to facilitate and foster interdisciplinary research in pain management, continue research studies relating to pain management, and advance the teaching of pain management throughout the programs at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Dr. Robert Hegele, a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, and Robarts Research Institute Scientist, has been renewed as the Jacob J. Wolfe Distinguished Chair in Human Genetics for a five-year term (April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2015).

Dr. Hegele is recognized internationally for his research focused on understanding the genetic basis of common diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. As a practicing endocrinologist, he is conscious of the need to translate his research for the understanding of the general public.

During his next term, Dr. Hegele will continue his work on the identification of novel loci contributing to human disease, expand the understanding of genetic determinants underlying a range of human diseases, and develop a panel of new molecular targets for diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

Dr. David Hill has been reappointed as the Sheldon H. Weinstein Chair in Diabetes Research for a five-year term (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2015). Dr. Hill is the Scientific Director of the Lawson Health Research Institute and professor in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, and Physiology & Pharmacology at The University of Western Ontario. Additionally, he holds the Lawson Professorship in Diabetes Research.

Dr. Hill has published over 200 scientific papers and maintains an active program in diabetes research and stem cell biology. His national leadership experience includes serving as Chair of Research Canada and on the National Board of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Internationally, he is currently the Board Chair for the Diabetic Pregnancy Study Group, an affiliate of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

During his next term, Dr. Hill will continue research projects that include a major focus on pre-clinical studies on strategies for beta cell regeneration and other clinical studies focusing on translating preclinical knowledge around type 2 diabetes.