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Newsletter: September/October 2008

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Presidents Message

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” Henry V, Shakespeare

Welcome back everyone. Though not quite the Siege of Harfleur, the new school year brings with it much to stir the blood and excite the spirit after the relative calm of summer. Unfortunately, I am on sabbatical this year and can only watch covetously from the sidelines as most of you return to the joys of the classroom. You lucky dogs!

The Annual AFPC Conference was held jointly with AACP in Chicago in July. While the conference was integrated, many of us were pleased to see the AFPC sessions identified with a small red maple leaf in the conference program. AFPC presentations highlighting pharmacy education in Canada proved to be very popular; often there was standing room only with many of our American colleagues in attendance. The first session, “Challenges and Opportunities in Effectively Implementing Performance-based Assessment” was presented by Zubin Austin on Sunday July 20th and was chaired by Lalitha Raman-Wilms. The second session on Monday morning focused on Interprofessional Education and was chaired by Andrea Cameron. The third session, chaired by Nancy Waite on Monday afternoon was titled “Informing the Classroom through Research.”

Many thanks to the program planning committee (Lalitha Raman-Wilms (Chair), Andrea Cameron and Zubin Austin, University of Toronto, and Nancy Waite, University of Waterloo) for all their hard work. I would also like to thank AACP for their wonderful hospitality, and in particular AACP Executive Vice President Lucinda Maine and her staff for all their enthusiasm and help both before and during the Chicago conference.

The business of AFPC was also carried out at the Chicago conference, including the Annual Council Meeting on Saturday July 19, the Annual General Meeting on Sunday July 20, and the New Council Meeting on Tuesday July 22, 2008. Much was accomplished in the past year under the leadership of Simon Albon and Frank Abbott, and the council has an ambitious agenda for the coming year, including integrating the Blue Print for Pharmacy into the AFPC Strategic Plan, updating the French version of the AFPC web-site, reviewing and updating the educational outcomes for the BSc and entry-level PharmD degrees, implementing the completed components of the program evaluation guide, and ensuring the long-term financial viability of AFPC. We welcome your involvement, and I encourage you to talk to your Council representative on how you might contribute more to the goals of your organization.

Next year the AFPC Conference will be held in Halifax at the Lord Nelson Hotel, June 3-5, 2008, and is entitled, “The Culture of Pharmacy as we Move Forward”. As an old Dal grad, I am very excited about holding the conference in “God’s Country”, although I was saddened somewhat by the news that the Lady Beverage Room no longer occupies the basement of the Lord Nelson. Still, one must accept change and I look forward to “touring” the city with many of you.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to Simon Albon for his leadership over the past year as well as the many contributions and hard work of the entire AFPC council. Many thanks as well to Frank Abbott for his continued service. Best wishes to you all for the coming year.

Roy Thomas Dobson AFPC President, 2008-2009

Executive Director's Corner

Dear faculty and colleagues: I am sure that most of you are now ‘hard at it’ with the Fall term well underway, but I hope that you have had some quality time during the summer break for a bit of relaxation and fun. Summer is all too short in this country. Now if you can forget about your pension funds for a moment, may I wish each of you a productive and successful academic year in 2008-2009.

I must apologize for not sending out an AFPC update during the summer but with the AFPC Conference occurring in July and the Deans meeting occurring early at the beginning of September, it has been difficult for me to prepare updates. As a result, my contribution to this newsletter will be a bit longer than usual.

Let me start with the __ Awards Book:__ By the time you receive this newsletter, the 2008-2009 awards book will have been sent out and posted on the AFPC web site. There are no major changes this year to the awards book and with the experience of the past competition we will continue with the electronic submission of applications. The preferred method is to submit PDF files in the bundled format and to reduce file size as much as possible. I would again urge all faculty to nominate outstanding candidates for major awards. The distribution of awards this year was a good indicator of the quality work being done by individuals across Canada, and it is important that we continue to recognize this talent on a yearly basis. At the Council meeting in Chicago in July, it was decided to review the criteria for the Bristol-Myers Squibb National Award for Excellence in Education. Applications have been down in recent years and there was no recipient of this award in 2008. Until changes, if any, are decided upon, the criteria for the BMS National Teaching Award will remain as described in the 2008/09 Awards Book. The number of applications for best publication by a graduate student continues to grow. There were 15 applications for the GlaxoSmithKline Graduate Student Research Award in 2008. Because many of the 2008 applications were in pharmacy practice-based research, Council will look into the potential to create a best publication award solely for PPR. In that way we can more widely reward the excellence of a greater number of our graduate students.

__ AFPC Conference 2008:__ The 65th AFPC Conference and Meetings (Education Advancing Practice) in 2008 was a historic event having been held jointly with AACP in the Sheraton Towers Hotel, July 19-23, in Chicago. Attendance at the joint meeting was the best ever for AACP with more than 1,800 registrants in total. Thanks to AACP, the AFPC Conference was fully integrated into the AACP program. This provided an excellent opportunity for AFPC to highlight to our members and to our American colleagues some of the more recent and significant developments in pharmacy education in Canada.

The __ first session__ on Sunday, July 20, chaired by Lalitha Raman-Wilms, was basically Zubin Austin (Toronto) day. Zubin presented on the “Challenges and Opportunities in Effectively Implementing Performance - based Assessment” followed by a workshop on developing and implementing OSCEs within a pharmacy academic setting. Interest in this topic was extremely high and attendance was standing room only.

The __ second session__ on Monday morning, July 21, on Interprofessional Education, was chaired by Andrea Cameron. The keynote speaker, Ivy Oandasan (Director of the Office of Interprofessional Education of the University of Toronto) set the stage for the session, followed by case examples of IPE from Ruby Grymonpre (Manitoba), Susan Mansour (Dalhousie) and Roy Dobson (Saskatchewan). IPE also proved to be a highly popular topic with excellent attendance, and the session concluded with an active panel discussion.

The __ third session__ , chaired by Nancy Waite on Monday afternoon was titled “Informing the Classroom through Research.” Linda Strand (Minnesota) spoke on “Linking Pharmacy Practice Research to Education” in which she described the elements of education required for pharmacists to realistically practice pharmaceutical care. Ross Tsuyuki (Alberta) spoke on engaging pharmacy practitioners in practice-based research followed by Neil MacKinnon (Dalhousie) and Annie Lee (Toronto) on linking Canadian patient safety initiatives with experiential education. Again this session was very well attended and generated a significant amount of stimulated discussion, a great way to conclude the AFPC portion of the program. Presentations from the conference: http://afpc.info/content.php?SectionID=4&ContentID=82&Language=en

__ Other conference activities:__ AFPC President, Simon Albon (UBC) along with AACP President Cynthia Raehl acted as moderators for the Opening General Session of the joint meeting and current AFPC President Roy Dobson gave closing remarks at the AACP Banquet. Other contributors to the AACP program from Canada were Neil MacKinnon, Ingrid Sketris and Harriet Davies from Dalhousie University, Carlo Marra and Ingrid Price from the University of British Columbia and Zubin Austin from the University of Toronto. My apologies if I have missed anyone. Canadian faculty also contributed 2 Roundtable Abstracts, 11 School Posters, and 31 Research and Education Posters for a very respectable showing from AFPC members.

The __ program planning committee__ of Lalitha Raman-Wilms (Chair), Andrea Cameron and Zubin Austin of the University of Toronto and Nancy Waite of the University of Waterloo deserve a great deal of credit for organizing a very successful 2008 Conference. Finally, I would like to acknowledge AACP Executive Vice President, Lucinda Maine and her staff for making AFPC feel at home and for their generous assistance in the planning and implementation of the conference.

__ AFPC Awards Banquet:__ The 2007-2008 award winners were recognized at a very nice function on Sunday evening, July 20, 2008. Awards chair Mary MacCara acted as Master of Ceremonies.

The __ AFPC/GlaxoSmithKline Graduate Student Research Award__ went to Marie Lordkipanidzé, PhD candidate, Faculté de pharmacie, Université de Montréal: Award winning publication: “A comparison of six major platelet function tests to determine the prevalence of aspirin resistance in patients with stable coronary artery disease (European Heart Journal, (2007) 28, 1702–1708).”

The __ AFPC/AstraZeneca New Investigator Research Award__ recipient was Frédéric Calon, BSc, BPharm, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Faculté de pharmacie, Université Laval, Québec. Frédéric’s presentation was “Improving the pharmaceutical care of neurodegenerative diseases through basic research – a few examples of a long-term endeavor.”

The __ AFPC/Pfizer Research Career Award__ recipient was Kishor M. Wasan, B.Sc. (Pharmacy), Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia. Kishor spoke on the “Development and Evaluation of a Novel Oral Amphotericin B Formulation for the Treatment of Systemic Fungal Infections and Drug-Resistant Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL).

Antonia Tsallas (University of British Columbia) was this year’s recipient of the __ Merck Frosst Canada Postgraduate Pharmacy Fellowship Award__ .

The __ AFPC National Pharmacy Student Research Poster Awards__ recipients were Mélanie Bousquet (Laval), JR Colin Enman (Dalhousie), Danny Constantini (Toronto), Daryl Fediuk (Manitoba), Sherif Hanafy Mahmoud (Alberta), Vincent Nichols (Montréal), Manhar Powar (UBC), Mohamed A Shaker (MUN), and Tara Smith (Saskatchewan).

__ Whit Matthews Best Poster Award__ : Tara Smith. __ AFPC Best Poster Awards__ : Melanie Bousquet and Daryl Fediuk.

This was the first year for the __ Wal-Mart Canada/AFPC Future Academic Leader Awards__ . Recipients were: Jennifer Beales (Toronto), Kelly Anne Grindrod (UBC), Stephanie Lucas (Dalhousie), Cynthia Lui (Manitoba) and Véronique Michaud (Montréal).

__ AFPC Honorary Life Membership Awards__ went to Ed Knaus of the University of Alberta and Thomas Einarson of the University of Toronto. Simon Albon was presented with the __ BMS Past President Award__ .

__ Photos__ of the award winners and presentations: http://afpc.info/photos.php?SectionID=6&GalleryID=16

__ Highlights from the AFPC Council and Annual General Meetings in Chicago, June 19-22, 2008:__

__ Blueprint endorsement:__ During the AGM, members voted overwhelmingly to endorse the Blueprint for Pharmacy document with a commitment to use the document in future AFPC strategic planning and to commit to active participation in the Blueprint Working Groups to develop the implementation plan. http://www.pharmacists.ca/content/aboutcpha/whatshappening/cphainaction/blueprint.cfm

__ CAPSI:__ President Jonathan Mailman brought greetings from CAPSI National and described current activities and future initiatives to be undertaken by CAPSI. PDW is January 14-17 in St. John’s NL. CAPSI will provide student survey results obtained for the Moving Forward project. CAPSI is expanding into the University of Waterloo.

__ CCAPP:__ Executive director David Hill met with the New Council to discuss recent board decisions regarding accreditation standards for professional degree programs, progress on the accreditation of pharmacy technician programs, and an invitation to serve on a multi-accreditations project to accredit Interprofessional Health Education Activities. Carmen Vezina (Laval) is the newest AFPC representative to CCAPP and joins Susan Mansour (Dalhousie) who recently became a CCAPP board member.

__ Communications:__ Daniel Thirion (Montreal) is the new chair of the communications committee. A prime directive of this committee is to find a new service provider for the AFPC web site. Updating of the French version of the site is in progress. Creation of the teaching data base is a major task and a mechanism to keep the research data base up to date is also a priority. Rebecca Law (MUN) has agreed to continue as the editor of the AFPC Communication newsletter.

__ Conference 2009:__ The conference will be held June 3-5 at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax, NS, and is preceded by the CPhA conference. Susan Mansour is chair of the planning committee. A proposed theme: “The Culture of Pharmacy as we Move Forward”. Look for updates on the AFPC website. Conference 2010: UBC will be the host Faculty for this joint AFPC-CSPS Conference to be held in Vancouver. Dates and hotel are still to be determined. Educational Outcomes for Professional Degrees: At the annual council meeting, AFPC approved employing a consultant to review and update the educational outcomes for the BSc and entry-level PharmD degrees that would also include levels and ranges. A proposal for funding was taken first to the Deans meeting in Chicago and finally to the ADPC annual meeting in Basel. Supplementary funding for the project was subsequently approved by the Deans and the 18 month project is slated to get underway by the end of this year.

PEP Canada: The Pharmacy Experiential Programs of Canada group had a productive year by contributing feedback to CCAPP on the new draft standards, developing communication strategies via a Web CT site, and participating in the joint AACP/AFPC conference: a presentation by Annie Lee; presenting two posters on PEP Canada activities; and collaborating with the AACP experiential education section on program planning. Future initiatives include working to further improve communications, and developing a national preceptor strategy that would include building capacity for quality preceptors to provide experiential education.

Program Evaluation Guide Book and Tools: Chair Ingrid Price reported that the work of this task force is rapidly nearing completion. In fact, task force members have been urged to begin implementing completed components of the program evaluation guide this year. Ingrid has obtained a consultant to assist with providing tools for evaluation where these do not already exist. Details about program evaluation will soon be available on the AFPC web site.

Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada: Six members of ADPC held a short meeting on July 20 during the AACP/AFPC joint conference in Chicago. Presentations were made by Simon Albon (AFPC President – Educational outcomes funding), David Hill (CCAPP Ex Dir – update on CCAPP), Jonathan Mailman (CAPSI President – update) and Ingrid Price (Program evaluation report - current status of task force activities). ADPC endorsed the Blueprint for Pharmacy document and committed to support of the working groups. The annual meeting of ADPC was held September 1 during the FIP meeting, August 31 – September 4, 2008 in Basel Switzerland. Dr. Kamal Midha (President of FIP, Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy, U of Sask) invited the Deans group to the President’s reception and facilitated a meeting of ADPC with members of the FIP Global Pharmacy Education Initiative. ADPC members attended the Academic Section dinner which was also well attended by representatives from AACP. Overtures have been made to both AACP and ADPC to become member organizations of FIP.

New Council and Executive for 2008-2009:

Executive: Roy Dobson, President Simon Albon, Past President Mike Namaka, President Elect Linda Hensman (ADPC) Frank Abbott (Ex Dir)

Council: John Hawboldt, Memorial University of Newfoundland Mary MacCara, Dalhousie University Frédéric Calon, Université Laval Daniel Thirion, Université de Montréal Lalitha Raman-Wilms, University of Toronto Nancy Waite, University of Waterloo Payal Patel, University of Manitoba (Note: Silvia Alessi-Severini will replace Payal at end of Nov/08) Bev Allen, University of Saskatchewan Nese Yuksel, University of Alberta Ingrid Price, University of British Columbia

University of Manitoba: Assistant or Associate Professor, Two (2) Tenure-Track Appointments

The University of Manitoba, Faculty of Pharmacy is seeking applications for two (2) full-time tenure-track positions; one at the rank of Assistant Professor and one at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, commensurate with qualifications and experience. Successful candidates will be expected to pursue scholarship in all areas of performance showing keen interest in innovative educational programs and teaching, discovery of knowledge in their specialty area and service. Commitment to collegiality and proven ability to work within a richly diverse environment is required. The areas of priority are:

(1) Clinical pharmacy or pharmacy practice. Applicants must possess a professional degree in Pharmacy (eligible for licensure in Manitoba) and post-baccalaureate Pharm.D., Ph.D. or equivalent, preferably with post-doctoral or fellowship training. The major responsibilities of the position will include teaching in the Faculty’s undergraduate program in clinical pharmacy and therapeutics, scientific literature evaluation, pharmacy skills labs and other areas as appropriate. A successful candidate will be expected to possess and develop an area of scholarship or research and professional practice, teach in the Graduate program and provide service to the Faculty and University.

(2) Population-based interventions and outcomes of pharmaceuticals (e.g., health-policy, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacovigilence). Applicants will preferably possess a professional degree in Pharmacy and post-baccalaureate Pharm.D., Ph.D. or equivalent, preferably with post-doctoral or fellowship training. The major responsibilities of the position will include teaching in the Faculty’s undergraduate program in pharmaceutical and health policy, scientific literature evaluation and other areas as appropriate. A successful candidate will be expected to possess and develop an area of scholarship or research, teach in the Graduate program and provide service to the Faculty and University.

The Faculty of Pharmacy has recently located to a new state-of-the art teaching and research facility on the Bannatyne Campus at the University of Manitoba. There are significant opportunities for collaboration with Pharmacy, and other health science faculties including Dentistry and Medicine. As well, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (in the Faculty of Medicine) provides access to a world-class population-based research unit, with a rich data repository which includes person-level health, pharmaceutical and social services data for the population of Manitoba. The campus also has excellent library facilities for the health sciences, and is proximally located to several tertiary, teaching hospitals.

Winnipeg is the largest city in the Province of Manitoba. The city has a rich culture environment, including symphony, opera, dance, theatre, and ethnic festivals. Besides supporting professional baseball, football and hockey teams the region provides ample opportunities for outdoor recreation in all seasons. The Winnipeg housing market is one of the most favourable in Canada. Learn more about Winnipeg at: www.destinationwinnipeg.ca

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The University of Manitoba encourages applications from qualified women and men, including members of visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Closing date for applications is November 17, 2008 or until a suitable candidate is found. Expected date of appointment is January 1, 2009 or soon thereafter. Applicants can apply in writing or by e-mail by sending a letter of application (referencing position numbers KN312 and 08733) with a brief outline of research and teaching interests, a curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information of three references to the address below. Please note that only complete applications will be considered.

Dr. Sheryl Zelenitsky Chair, Faculty of Pharmacy Search Committee Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba Apotex Centre 750 McDermot Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3E 0T5 Email: zelenits@ms.umanitoba.ca

This advertisement can also be found at the following website: http://www.umanitoba.ca/employment/academic

Application materials, including letters of reference, will be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba).

Faculty Spotlight: University of British Columbia

Innovations in teaching in response to an outcomes based curriculum

In 2003, UBC implemented a new outcomes-based curriculum for the BSc. Pharmacy program. The philosophical alignment of the program revolves around providing patient-centred pharmaceutical care in professional practice. This philosophical alignment has affected delivery of the curriculum to ensure that the skills necessary to practice patient-centred pharmaceutical care are supported and developed in students. Ensuring that students are developing these skills has required a significant amount of innovation on the part of the teaching faculty given the large class size (152 students/year) and the rigour of the program. The following article describes some of the innovations that have been developed to support our ability-based outcomes in the context of dealing with the challenges of student numbers and time limitations.

The content of the UBC BSc. Pharmacy program is organized across five disciplines (pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy). In order to integrate and apply the learning that occurs in discipline-based courses, CAPS (Cases in Pharmaceutical Sciences) courses have been introduced in each year. These courses are taught in the problem-based learning (PBL) format, to integrate the knowledge, skills, processes and strategies being taught in all other courses in that year. Further, the Faculty’s SPEP (Structured Practical Experience Program) provides further opportunity to integrate and apply learning gained from CAPS and discipline-based courses. SPEP offers 20 weeks of experiential clerkship training in the community and hospital settings including a 4-week clerkship in the second and third years of the program plus 12 weeks in the final year. The full pharmacy program comprises approximately 150 credits.

The general focus of each year of the program is outlined below: - Pre-pharmacy year: prerequisite science courses - Year 1: primarily introduction to pharmacy practice and science courses, delivered by both the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Year 2: biomedical science courses - Year 3: pharmaceutical science courses - Year 4: 50% pharmaceutical sciences courses on campus and 50% clerkship rotations off campus

One of the challenges of this curriculum is defining when and where individual skills should be taught, practiced and evaluated. In addition, faculty members are faced with the challenge of developing new and innovative ways to support student learning and evaluating it. This is particularly challenging when designing and implementing learning and assessment activities that lend to some of the more complex learning outcomes (e.g., critical thinking and problem solving). While many such tools are available, most are designed for use in small classes. Further, many of these tools require significant effort on the part of the students whose course load is already quite high.

In order to implement the curriculum effectively to meet the ability-based outcomes, several innovations have been developed and applied, some of which are described below:

4th year Tutor-less Cased-based Learning Course This 4th year offering of CAPS provides students with an opportunity to integrate everything they have learned over the past three years in the curriculum through solving patient-based cases in small groups without a tutor present. In this course, several groups of students meet concurrently in a large class to work through a case. The course instructor is present during these sessions, roaming through the class to provide guidance and stopping the class discussion when appropriate to point out something key to the case. Working without a tutor requires students to self-regulate and supports self-directed learning. The structure of the learning environment allows students to further develop their team-work skills. Since there is no designated leader students are required to be very self-regulatory in terms of content discussed and working together. Further, peer feedback has been shown to be more meaningful than in earlier CAPS courses that have a tutor present.

Inter-professional-PBL Module Pilot In the Spring of 2008, an innovative pilot was run as a means for meeting interprofessional outcomes of the curriculum. This pilot was a coordinated effort between the schools of pharmacy, nursing, medicine, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The purpose of this pilot was to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding collaborative patient-centred practice. Further, the literature identifies inter-professional education for collaborative patient-centered practice as one solution to improve health care delivery. The pilot activity interprofessional teams participated in an interprofessional PBL case. Each team was composed of one student from each of the participating disciplines. Students worked through the case to resolve the problem as an inter-professional health care team. Students’ felt that learning collaboratively will positively affect the outcome of the patient and prepare them better for practice. Both faculty tutors and students who participated in the pilot agreed that providing health professional students with structured IP educational opportunities will ensure they gain the ability to work collaboratively within our evolving health care system

Integrated Practical Exam During the 2007-08 academic year, an integrated practical examination was developed for three core courses within the first year curriculum. The integrated practical exam was developed as a means to evaluate the higher-order thinking skills of decision-making and problem solving as these outcomes have posed a challenge to evaluate in all three courses. The exam took the form of two one-hour stations with the students engaging in different activities at each station. One section provided an OSCE-type experience where the students rotated through 7-minute stations. At each station, students were required to complete a specific task with the appropriate resources provided. The tasks ranged from answering drug information questions, to developing clinical questions in response to a short case scenario, to looking up pharmacare information. At the second one-hour station students were presented with a patient-based case and requested to identify the drug-related problems (DRPs) and a recommendation to resolve these. Students then outlined the DRPs they identified and their recommendation to an oral examiner along with their reasoning as to why this was the best alternative for the patient. In post-exam focus groups, students admitted that they found the integrated practical exam challenging however they also felt strongly that it was a valuable exercise for them as it prepared them for their licensing exams and practice.

While the above is just a sampling of the innovative teaching and learning techniques utilized in the undergraduate curriculum at UBC, these techniques highlight the commitment of faculty members to support students to meet the ability-based outcomes of the curriculum. Innovations in teaching in response to an outcomes based curriculum

In order to implement the curriculum effectively to meet the ability-based outcomes, several innovations have been developed and applied, some of which are described below:

Faculty News: Memorial University of Newfoundland

General School News Our school is now at a full cohort of 160 students (40 per class), an increase from our former 120 students in the previous 2 years (pre-pharm) +3 years (pharm) curriculum. Unfortunately the physical size of the school has not increased so space is an ongoing issue. We obtained student’s perceptions (via a standardized form and focus groups) to evaluate how the students felt about the curriculum. This will be reviewed and changes made. Wanda Spurrell is the new PEP Canada Co-Chair for a two-year term. Dr. Hensman will be returning to the school for another term as Director in January 2009.

Faculty Accomplishments Dr. Mohsen Daneshtalab published a paper in “Phytochemical Analysis” in July 2008 and has a second paper in press for “the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry”. Dr. Lili Wang is one of the co-authors in this paper.

Dr. John Weber has a paper accepted for publication in the American Journal of Pathology entitled “Causal Role of Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF) for Neuronal Cell Death Following Traumatic Injury.” Dr. Weber also has a chapter in Neuromethods published by Human press entitled “Animal models of traumatically-induced dementia”. Mohammad Hossain is a co-author.

Dr. Rebecca Law is a chapter-author in Chisholm-Burns’ Pharmacotherapy Principles and Practice which received the Distinguished 2008 Medical Book Healthcare Professionals Award from the American Medical Writers Association. Dr. Law is part of a CIHC working group which won the best oral presentation (given by Chair Ruby Grymonpré - Manitoba) at the All Together Better Health IV conference in Sweden, June 2 - 5, 2008. Dr. Law presented a poster entitled “The use of self-directed learning and peer-to-peer teaching in a natural health products course” at the AACP/AFPC Conference in Chicago, July 19-23, 2008.

Faculty News: Université Laval

General Faculty News

The 8th Annual Research Meeting of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Laval University (“Journée de la recherche”) was held at the Pavillon Desjardins on campus site on April 15th 2008. More than 70 graduate and undergraduate students were invited to present their research work done under the supervision of a Faculty member, either by poster or during an oral session. Pfizer Canada was the major sponsor of the event with a total amount of 4 000 $ awarded to the winners.

A total of 230 graduates, partners and members of the Laval University community gathered to attend the Annual Alumni Wine Reception of the Faculty of Pharmacy held at the Théâtre du Capitole in the Old City of Québec, on March 21th. Under the theme “Taste the World” the guests discovered the charms of wines from California, France, Italy, and Japan. A delightful array of hors d’oeuvres was served with the selection of wines in a jazzy atmosphere. The event is an annually held fund-raising activity for the Fonds d’enseignement et de recherche. This fund has been created to help postgraduate students and junior researchers of the Faculty. A profit of 38 500 $ was generated by this year’s event. All the Faculty members and students are thankful for the generous donors and the volunteers who made the event a great success

Nearly 150 golfers participated in the 13th Fundraising Golf Tournament, which allowed gathering $21 000 to fund the Fonds d'enseignement et de recherche de la Faculté (FER).

Grants

Dr. Roxane Pouliot and her team have received a 3-year funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for their work on the physiopathology of psoriasis and new ways to treat this disease.

Dr Thérèse di Paolo has received financial support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to pursue her research works on Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, her works are aimed at identifying new therapeutic targets such as those influenced by oestrogens in the dopaminergic depletion which occurs during menopause.

Dr Matthieu Guitton has received a New Investigator Award (Chercheur-Boursier) from the Quebec Health Research Funds (FRSQ), to develop his research program centered on the analysis of the molecular basis of tinnitus and other pathologies of perception. The goal of this research is to develop innovative pharmacological solutions to treat these diseases.

Dr Michel Dorval was awarded a grant as Senior Researcher at the last competition of le Fonds de recherché en santé du Québec (FRSQ). Dr Dorval studies the psychological impact of genetic testing for breast cancer.

Awards

Dr. Frédéric Calon is the recipient of the 2008 AFPC-AstraZeneca New Investigator Research Award, attributed to a young Faculty member of a Canadian pharmacy college or school, for his scientific contribution.

Dr. Chantal Guillemette has received the Femme de mérite Award from the YWCA, in the Science and Technology category.

Jacinthe Leblanc, a Faculty graduate, is the recipient of the Prix Roger-Leblanc 2007, awarded by the Association des pharmaciens en établissement de santé (APES).

Dr. Marc Parent, clinical professor, was awarded the Mérite du CIQ by the Interprofessional Council of Quebec, on the recommendation of the professional orders.

Dr. Marc Parent is the recipient of the “Pharmacist of Heart and Action Prize” (Pharmacien de cœur et d’action), awarded by the journal L’actualité pharmaceutique, in the Hospital Pharmacist category.

Dr. Denis Villeneuve is the recipient of the Louis-Hébert Prize, awarded by the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec (OPQ).

Individual Faculty News

Appointments and Retirements###

Michel Théberge, holder of a master’s degree from our Faculty of Pharmacy, is the new Director General of the hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis.

Dr. Louise Beaulac-Baillargeon is retiring; she has been a professor in the faculty since December 1st, 1973.

Dr. Pierre-Maxime Bélanger is also leaving after 30 years. Happy retirement.

Carole Bouchard, a 1981 graduate, was appointed executive director of the National association of pharmacy regulatory authorities (NAPRA).

Dr. Pascal Daleau, vice-dean of research affairs, publishes the book: Le mal des montagnes

Dr Pascal Daleau has just published a new book entitled Le mal des montagnes (Mountain Sickness) at Expé-trek Conseil. Dr. Daleau has a wealth of experience as a mountain climber. He has already climbed more than 20 mountains of 4000 meters or higher, such as Mount McKinley in Alaska, the highest summit in North America. He has contributed to the success of several expedition-teams of climbers from Quebec, in their ascent of mountains located in the Himalayan ridge or in the Andes. As a scientist, Dr. Daleau is interested in the study of high altitude related illnesses, their symptoms and their treatment.

Dean Jean-Pierre Grégoire honoured thrice

Dr. Jean-Pierre Grégoire, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, was honoured by the Quebec City Board of Trade during the Annual Gala des Fidéides, on March 13, 2008. Dr. Grégoire received a prestigious award in recognition of his leadership in the organisation of The 23rd International Conference on Pharmaco-epidemiology & Therapeutic Risk Management (ICPE), held August 19-22, 2007, at the Québec City Convention Centre. This important scientific meeting was recognized as “The Event of the Year” by the Quebec City Board of Trade.

On April 1st, 2008, Dr. Jean-Pierre Grégoire received an other prize, this time from Le Cercle des ambassadeurs congrès et réunions Québec as « The Ambassador of the Year » in the category Cercle des ambassadeurs of the Grands Prix of Tourism, Region of Quebec, awarded yearly. This distinction recognises the efforts and achievement of Dr. Grégoire to make the region of Québec an internationally renowned destination for scientific events.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Grégoire has been inducted as Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) at the 2008 ISPE’s Annual Conference that was held in Copenhagen.

Student News

Congratulations to our students who received a prize at the 11th Ceremony of Excellence held in last November. A total of 41 000 $ were given to 66 students honoured during the event. Mrs. Kateri Bourbeau, hospital pharmacist, and Mr. Raymond Caron, community pharmacist, received the Prize Jacques-Dumas for their indefectible commitment towards the Faculty of Pharmacy and the profession of pharmacist.

Between March 3 and 9, 2008 was Pharmacist Awareness Week, a national event organized by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. For the occasion, students of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Laval University held a stand at the second floor of the Laurier Mall in Quebec City. They were accompanied by pharmacists while they counselled the general public about different health matters: asthma, use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, and drugs during pregnancy and lactation.

Congratulations to students for successful achievements

Jenny Kaeding, Ph. D. student under the supervision of Dr. Olivier Barbier, has published as first author 2 papers in February 2008: one in the Biochemical Journal, and the other in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. The topic of papers relates to the pharmacological activation of non-steroidal nuclear receptors in the metabolism of androgen hormones in prostate cancer cells.

Bazoumana Samuel Ouattara, who graduated in biotechnology, pharmacology of natural products, from the University of Cocody, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, will now pursue his doctoral study program under the supervision of Dr. Thérèse Di Paolo. His studies will be on the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Mr. Ouattara is also a science fiction writer. He has just published a first book, Points de suspension, in which he shares his passion for Africa.

Jessica Fortin’s name appears on the 2009 Honour Roll of the Faculty of Graduate Studies; this distinction highlights her excellent academic results in the pharmacy master’s program.

Judith Bellemare, a Ph. D. student in the pharmacogenomics laboratory of Dr. Chantal Guillemette, has won the first prize in the poster competition of the 10th European Regional ISSX Meeting.

Bertrand Caillier, Ph. D. student in Dr. Benoit Drolet’s laboratory, received from CIHR a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship in the amount of $35 000 annually for 3 years. He has also turned down a scholarship from the Fondation de l’Université Laval, for which he was ranked first, among 74 candidates.

Mélanie Bousquet, a Ph. D. student supervised by Dr Frédéric Calon, received a Pharmacy Student Research Poster Award from the AFPC at the annual conference in Chicago.

Carl Julien, Ph. D. student in the laboratory of Dr. Frédéric Calon, is the recipient of a scholarship from the Alzheimer Society of Canada, jointly with the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ). Moreover, the Journal of Neuroscience Research published in March 2008 an article for which he is the first author.

Caroline Sirois, Ph. D. pharmacy student under the supervision of Dr. Jocelyne Moisan, has been selected to participate in the Summer Program in Aging (SPA) 2008, organized by the Institute of Aging of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Alexandra Duque Fernandez is the recipient of a scholarship from the Quebec section of the Canadian Federation of University Women (AFDU-Québec). She works with Dr. Roxane Pouliot in the Laboratoire d’organogenèse expérimentale (LOEX).

Three students were awarded the Odette-Grech-Bélanger 2008 Award: Caroline Talbot, who came in first, Isabelle Nolet, second, and Mirella Faubert, third. They were selected during the Faculty’s “Oral presentation day of master’s graduates in hospital pharmacy” (Journée de présentation orale des essais des finissants à la maîtrise en pharmacie d’hôpital).

Faculty News:University of Alberta

Academic Appointments

We would like to extend a big welcome to the following new faculty members: Dr Paul Jurasz as a tenure track Assistant Professor starting September 1, 2008; Dr Carlos Velasquez as a tenure track Assistant Professor starting in the fall, 2008; Dr Arno Siraki as a tenure track Assistant Professor starting November 1, 2008.

Awards

Dr. Ed Knaus received the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada Honoured Life Membership at the AACP/AFPC Joint Annual Meeting, 19 – 23 July 2008, Chicago. This recognition is awarded to individuals who have made major contributions to AFPC.

Grants

Dr. Ayman El-Kadi: co-PI with Dr. Tarek El-Bialy (Dentistry); grant support for proposal entitled “Effects of ultrasound and local growth hormone injections on lower jaw growth in rats”; from Women & Children's Health Research Institute; $34,478.

Drs. Afsaneh Lavasanifar and John Seubert (co-PI): CIHR Proof of Principle Program grant for proposal entitled “Tumor targeted nano-delivery systems for improving response to chemotherapy in cancer”; $149,452, one year.

Dr. Scot Simpson is a co-investigator with Drs. J Johnson (lead), WA Ghali, SR Majumdar and DM Rabi; CIHR Team Grant: Obesity and Related Diseases; Alliance for Canadian Health Outcomes Research in Diabetes (ACHORD); $481,000 per year for 5 years.

Dr. Mavanur Suresh: (with Drs. Kav and Westaway, both from the University of Alberta), PrioNet Canada – Networks of Centres of Excellence Research Platform Grant; project entitled, “Antibody Core in the Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Diseases”.

Dr. Kamaljit Kaur: 3-year NSERC Discovery Grant for proposal entitled, “Peptidomimetics approaches for developing biologically active molecules”. $26,000 per year for 3 years.

Dr. Afsaneh Lavasanifar: 5-year NSERC Discovery Grant for proposal entitled, “Chemical tailoring of micelle-forming poly (ethylene oxide)-block-poly (ester) copolymers for drug delivery”.

Drs. Mavanur Suresh and Michael Doschak: collaborators in a 5-year AHFMR interdisciplinary team grant (spearheaded by Cy Frank, Faculty of Medicine, Calgary) entitled, “Creating bone and joint health from the bedside to the bench and back again – Designer therapies to reduce the burden of osteoarthritis – From mechanisms to prevention”.

General Faculty News

Stephanie Morton left the faculty in July 2008 to return to practice in community pharmacy. Stephanie joined the faculty in 1998 as a sessional lecturer, and then went on to become a Clinical Assistant Professor, and Clinical Associate Professor. Stephanie was instrumental in designing and coordinating the skills labs for all of the therapeutic modules in the new curriculum. Her major areas of teaching included: law, ethics, and non-prescriptions and patient self medication. We will miss having Stephanie at the faculty.

The faculty would also like to announce the retirement of Sheila Kelcher in July 2007. Sheila joined the faculty in 1982 initially as a sessional lecturer, and then moving onto Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor and finally Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Education. She also joined the Department of Family Medicine in 1993 as a clinical pharmacist, and has participated in research, teaching and patient care throughout this time. Since 2000, Sheila was the lead in the redevelopment of the new curriculum, which was implemented in 2004, with the first graduating class in 2008. We will miss having Sheila at the faculty but we know she is enjoying her retirement with her husband Bob, with plans for travel, golf and gardening.

Faculty News: University of Waterloo

Special Achievement

At its annual conference in September, the Ontario Pharmacists Association presented Dr. Jake Thiessen, Hallman Director of the School of Pharmacy, with the 2008 Mortar & Pestle Award of Merit. This award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in the field of Pharmacy. The selection committee noted Dr. Thiessen’s leadership in the development of the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy as being “exemplary in meeting the criteria for this award”.

School News

Members of the vanguard UW class are now engaged in their first co-op work terms. The response from interested employers was overwhelming – 117 positions were posted for the class of 91 students. Through a competitive interview process all of the students successfully secured employment, and are now working in community pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, family health teams, Health Canada, innovative industry, and many other venues, including one who is working with a medical centre in Bangladesh. The next co-op work term, which will involve second year students, takes place from May – August 2009. Interested employers are encouraged to contact Heather Chase at hchase@uwaterloo.ca. Job descriptions are due by January 5, 2009.

Academic Appointments

Dr. Praveen Nekkar has been appointed to the rank of Assistant Professor. Dr. Nekkar is a medicinal chemist by training, who completed his post-doctoral work at the Scripps Research Institute. During this period he worked on developing methods to synthesize and incorporate backbone modified peptides into natural peptide/protein sequences. Dr. Nekkar graduated with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Alberta. His research focused on discovering novel anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors and dual inhibitors of COX/lipoxygenases (LOX). Dr. Nekkar’s research program will focus on rational design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel organic molecules and peptides/peptidomimics as therapeutic agents.

Dr. Roderick Slavcev, Assistant Professor, has been cross-appointed to the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Klaus Schaffler is joining the School of Pharmacy as a Research Professor on a .15 fractional appointment. Dr. Schaffler, a medical doctor by training, comes from Munich, Germany, where he is the Managing & Medical Director of Human Pharmacodynamic Research – HPR, a clinical research organization focused on objective/quantitative pain measurement, analgesics research and psychomotor research. Dr. Schaffler will be CEO of the new HPR Canada Ltd., the company’s North American office opening in Kitchener, ON. He will work in the area of pain research, seeking to improve Laser and mechano-sensory evoked potential techniques.

Grants

Dr. Jamie Joseph has received an Ontario Research Fund Advanced Health Technologies and Pharmaceutical Research grant in the amount of $251,487, for the project: Developing new approaches for diabetes treatment by studying insulin secreting beta cells.

Dr. Nancy Waite is a co-investigator on the project: Learning to Serve, Serving to Learn: The Beginning of a Cross-Campus Community Service Learning Initiative, which received a 2-year Program Initiative Fund grant in the amount of $20,000, from the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Teaching Excellence.

Dr. Nancy Waite is the principal investigator on the project: Making Patient Safety Real: An Outcome-Driven “Classroom to Co-op and Back Again” Research Initiative, which received $38,800 from the Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education.

Dr. Marianna Foldvari has received an NSERC Research Grant of $19,500 to support the continuation of the project: Micro- and nanoscale delivery systems for macromolecules: gene delivery.

Abstracts/Presentations

Dr. Nancy Waite, Dr. Heather Chase, and Rick Roach of Co-operative Education and Career Services presented a session entitled: RX for a New Professional Co-op Program: Pharmacy at the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education National Conference in Niagara Falls, June 15-18, 2008

Dr. Nancy Waite, Laura Gorman, and Cheryl Rose presented a poster entitled: The innovation GARDEN: students and community planting ideas and growing change at the AACP/AFPC Joint Annual Meeting in Chicago, July 19-23, 2008

Dr. Roderick Slavcev and his collaborator, Dr. Barbara Funnell of the University of Toronto presented a poster entitled: ParB promotes the pairing of P1 parS sites at the Molecular Genetics of Bacteria & Phages meeting in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, August 20-24, 2008

Dr. Jeff Nagge spoke at the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association annual conference on the topic: Anticoagulation Update – What Every Pharmacist Needs to Know about Old and New Therapies on September 21, 2008

Dr. Andrea Edginton has been invited to present on the topic: “Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling in drug development” at the Clinical Pharmacology Grand Rounds at the University of Western Ontario, October 15, 2008

Faculty News: University of Toronto

New Faculty

Assistant Professor Suzanne Cadarette joined the Faculty this fall. Dr. Cadarette completed both her M.Sc. (epidemiology) and Ph.D. (health services outcomes and evaluation) at the University of Toronto, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship in pharmacoepidemiology at Harvard. Her interests are in Pharmacoepidemiology and Health Sciences Research, particularly those areas that affect older Canadians.

Faculty News

Assistant Professor Stephane Angers recently received an Early Researcher Award from the Ministry of Research and Innovation for his continued work in “Molecular mechanisms of targeted protein degradation”.

Professor Reina Bendayan recently received a grant from the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). This grant will fund a project related to studies investigating complexities of drug-drug interactions between antiretroviral drugs and membrane transporters in intestinal tissue.

Assistant Professor Carolyn Cummins recently received a one year operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Institute of Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes to examine the interplay between LXR and glucocorticoids in diabetes.

Associate Professor Paul Grootendorst received CIHR funding for his project “Assessment of the cost and equity of different catastrophic drug insurance options for Canadians.” Dr. Grootendorst and his colleagues will assess the viability of the proposed National Pharmaceuticals Strategy governing catastrophic drug coverage.

Professor David Hampson was recently named the Associate Director of the University of Toronto Neurosciences Program, and Director of the Collaborative Graduate Program. Formed in 1987, the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience currently includes 15 departments and faculties and over 160 students and 180 faculty members. The program aims to enrich the training of graduate students in neuroscience, and includes all major areas of current neuroscience research.

Professor Shana Kelley recently received a Leadership Opportunity Fund grant from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation for a project entitled “Facility for the Chemical Biology of Organelle-Specific Drugs.” This grant will help Dr. Kelley and her team set up an instrumentation facility for the synthesis, purification, and characterization of organelle specific molecules, and develop methods to target these specific subcellular compartments with high precision for improved drug delivery.

Professor K. Sandy Pang received a five year grant from CIHR to examine the role of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in drug transport and metabolism in the disposition of drugs.

Associate Professor Anna Taddio is the recipient of a Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship. Dr. Taddio is one of six experts in pain management in Canada and the United States to be selected to receive this prestigious award. The Fellowship provides leaders in the pain management field with the tools and skills to advocate on behalf of better treatment for pain.

Seminars

6th International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium Saturday, October 18th - Sunday, October 19th The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy is host to this international symposium highlighting groundbreaking discoveries and developments in nanomedicine and drug delivery. This year’s program includes presentations by world-renowned scientists and promising new investigators on several important topics. For more information, please visit www.nanodds.org.

Calendar of Events - October

Crossing Boundaries Safely: Overcoming Challenges to Successfully Implement Medication Reconciliation To Celebrate Patient Safety Week, Safer Healthcare Now! and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) hosted a panel discussion on October 2nd at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. The focus was on overcoming medication reconciliation challenges and lessons learned. Speakers included Emily Musing (pharmacy), Edward Etchells (medicine) and Kim Streitenberger (nursing). The session was co-facilitated by Olavo Fernandes from the Division of Pharmacy Practice.

Other News

New Undergraduate Pharmacy Curriculum The University of Toronto approved a new undergraduate pharmacy curriculum, with a proposed implementation date of September 2010. Concurrent to the development of this curriculum, is a recommendation to change the current Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BScPhm) to an entry-to-practice Doctor of Pharmacy (or PharmD) degree. The University recently forwarded this proposed degree change to the Ministry for their consideration.

Induction to the Profession

Our 241 first year students entered the BScPhm program this fall and were inducted to the profession at a ceremony held on September 25th. The induction featured a white coat ceremony followed by a reception with students, faculty, staff and invited guests.

Student Awards Ceremony

The Faculty hosted a Student Awards Ceremony on October 1st at the University of Toronto’s Faculty Club to recognize academic award winners from our B.Sc.Phm., Pharm.D., M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs.

Faculty News: Université de Montréal

General Faculty News

In memory of Guy Saheb, friends and family have set up the Wajih-H.-Guy-Saheb Award of Excellence in his name. This award recognizes academic excellence within the graduate program in drug development (DESS en développement du medicament).

Friends and colleagues of Dr. Robert Goyer have set up a fund to recognize excellence in the masters program of pharmaceutical care in the community. Dr. Goyer served as Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy from 1994 to 2000.

There were over 30 publications from faculty members in the 2007-8 annual report this year. A full description will be provided in the upcoming Faculty Spotlight in the next issue of the Newsletter.

Individual Faculty News###

Awards and recognitions M. Albert Adam received the professor emeritus title in recognition of his work in cardiovascular pharmacology and for his contributions to l’Université de Montréal.

Jean Christophe Leroux received the Steacie excellence grant from the CRSNG.

Christiane Mayer received the Excellence in Teaching 2007 Award for her work as teaching assistant in the field of communication.

Yola Moride has served as president of the Société internationale de pharmacoépidémiologie for 2007.

Grants

Anick Bérard The risk of multiplicity associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and more specifically ovulation stimulators, in the population of Québec. (Bérard A, Monnier P, Fraser W, Bissonnette F, Tasler J.) 200 000 $. Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec.

Johanne Collin Le médicament comme phenomena social et culturel. (Collin J, Otero M, Lafortune D, Monnais L, Leibing A, Williams-Jones B) 597 480 $. FRSQ

Suzanne Giasson Étude des propriétés lubrifi antes de brosses de polymères greffés directement à partir de surfaces de mica activé. (GiassonS, Skene W) 160 389 $. FQRNT

Patrice Hildgen Caractérisation des nanovecteurs polymériques et de leurs interactions avec les cellules. (Hildgen P, Bouchard, Winnik F.) 57 350 $. FQNRT

Céline Fiset The role of pro-inflammatory cytokines on cardiac repolarization and arrhythmogenesis (Fiset C. et al.) 100 000 $. IRSC

Lyne Lalonde Optimisation de la gestion de la douleur chronique en soins ambulatoires de première ligne volet du projet Le Programme ACCORD – Application Concertée des Connaissances et Ressources en Douleur. (Chercheur principal : Choinière M, co-chercheurs: Marchand S, Montague T, Dion D. Bourgault P, Johnston C, Lalonde L, Lamarre D, Lebel P, Lussier D, Perreault S, Riopelle R, Simmonds M, Sullivan M, Tousignant M, Vanasse A. ) 811 000 $ of the overall allotted budget of 2 489 464 $. IRSC

Jean-Christophe Leroux Fabrication of dispersed drug nanocrystals by femtosecond laser ablation in water. (Leroux JC, Meunier M, ). 408 700 $. IRSCCRSNG

Jean-Christophe Leroux In situ-forming implants of rivastigmine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. 332 708 $. IRSC

Fahima Nekka Variability in Drug Use and its Therapeutic Consequences. (Nekka F et al.) 57 500 $. MITACS

Huy Ong Growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRPs): Investigation of the anti-atherosclerotic properties of a novel series of analogues. (Ong H, Marleau S et coll.) 400 000 $ Ardana Bioscience

Jacques Turgeon The Expression of Drug Influx/Efflux Transporters in the Heart: A New Paradigm for Intersubject Variability in Cardiac Drug Actions. (Turgeon J et coll.) 107 881 $ . Fondation des maladies du coeur

Françoise Winnik Asymmetrical Field Flow Fractionation System for the analysis of polymeric particles. (Winnik F et coll.) 149 000 $. CRSNG (équipement).

Student News

Grants and awards have been attributed by the research and graduates committee to the following students:

M.Sc. grant Mélina Marin-Leblanc, with professeur Sylvie Perreault Tasheen Wissanji, with professeur Marc Servant Jade Huguet, with professeur Jacques Turgeon

Ph.D. grant François Gaudreault, with professeur France Varin Pierre-Marie David, with professeur Johanne Collin

Clinique-Santé Award (Ph.D.) Nicolas Bertrand, with professeur Jean-Christophe Leroux

Pfizer Award (Ph.D.) Marie Lordkipanidzé, with professeur Chantal Pharand

Sanofi-Aventis Award (M.Sc.) Marie-Pierre Gendron, with professeur Anick Bérard

Other things###

Curious about the Pharm.D. program or the new bachelor’s program in drug development? Visit our web site at www.pharm.umontreal.ca

Faculty News: Dalhousie University

Individual Faculty News###

Awards

Dr. Peter Zed was awarded the 2008 Dr. Jessie I. MacKnight Award for Excellence in Teaching at the College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University. This award recognizes the faculty member who, in the opinion of the senior Pharmacy students, has made an outstanding contribution to their Pharmacy education.

Dr. Susan Bowles received the 2008 Canadian Pharmacists Association Patient Care Achievement Award for Specialty Practice in a specific disease area.

Presentations

Dr. Pollen Yeung has been invited to give a presentation at the 2nd World Conference on Magic Bullets (Ehrlich II), Nuremberg, Germany, October 3 – 5, 2008. The presentation is listed as: Yeung PKF, Dauphinee J, Simonson K, Beaton S and Ouzoules T, “ATP and adenosine as biomarkers for drug development”.

Dr. Neil MacKinnon presented a public lecture entitled, “How to Reduce Your Risk of Experiencing a Medication Error”, June 3, 2008 as part of The Excellence in Health Series: Tomorrow’s Thinking – Today’s Care, sponsored by Dalhousie University’s School of Health Administration.

Dr. Peter Zed made two presentations at the 61st Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists in Saint John, New Brunswick, August, 2008: “CSHP 2015: Smooth Transition or Radical Reform?” and “Clinical Trials That May Change Your Practice in Emergency Medicine”.

Ingrid Sketris participated in the workshop for Teaching Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at the AFPC/AACP Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 2008. http://www.aacp.org/Docs/AACPFunctions/Meetings/9091_AACP-Chicago-FINAL-June25-08.pdf Handout: Texts, Journals, Websites and a Dynamic Pubmed/Medline Search http://www.aacp.org/site/page.asp?TRACKID=&VID=1&CID=1530&DID=9063 Special Session: Pharmacoepidemiology / Pharmacoeconomics Education Monday July 21, 2008 8:00-9:30 a.m.

Conrad P, Sketris IS, Langille Ingram E. 2008. Applying a Service Learning Framework for Reciprocal Learning through the Drug Policy Residency Program. AACP/AFPC Annual Meeting and Seminars, Chicago, Ill. July 21, 2008.

Sketris IS. Optimal Prescribing and Medication Use: Challenges and Opportunities. School of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Greece. May 8, 2008.

Michaels CL, Kumaranayake L, Scott J, Sarwal S, Coombs A, Holmes E, Sketris IS. The Cost of Public Health Delivery of Childhood Immunizations in Nova Scotia. Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) Conference, Gatineau, Quebec, May 26-28, 2008.

Sanyal C, Graham S, Cooke C, Sketris IS, Frail DM, Flowerdew G. Effect of a Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) Reimbursement Policy on Patient Cost Sharing for Test Strips for Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) in the Nova Scotia Seniors’ Pharmacare Program (NSSPP). Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health Invitational Symposium, Edmonton, Alberta. April 27-29, 2008.

Sketris IS. Mentoring. Research Mentorship / Menteeship Workshop for Community Medicine Preceptors and Residents. University of Calgary. Calgary, Alberta. March 14, 2008.

Sketris IS. Optimal Prescribing and Medication Use in Canada: Challenges and Opportunities. 39th Professional Practice Conference, Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. Toronto, Ontario. January 26-30, 2008.

Publications

Zed PJ, Abu-Laban RB, Balen RM, Loewen PS, Hohl CM, Brubacher JR, Wilbur K, Wiens MO, Samoy LJ, Lacaria K, Purssell RA. Incidence, severity and preventability of medication-related visits to the emergency department: a prospective study. CMAJ 2008;178:1563-9.

Zed PJ, Filiatrault L. Clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction of a pharmacist-managed, emergency department-based outpatient treatment program for venous thromboemboembolic disease. CJEM 2008;10:10.

Graham SD, Hartzema AG, Sketris IS, Winterstein A. 2008. Effect of an Academic Detailing Intervention on the Utilization Rate of Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors in the Elderly. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy; 42:749-756. DOI 10.1345/aph.1K537.

Lummis H, Sketris IS, Gubitz GJ, Joffres MR, Flowerdew GJ. 2008. Medication Persistence Rates and Factors Associated with Persistence in Patients Following Stroke: A Cohort Study. BMC Neurology, 8:25. DOI:10.1186/1471-2377-8-24.

Lummis H, Sketris IS. Use of Patients’ Own Medications in Canadian Hospitals: A National Survey. 2008. Can J Hosp Pharm; 61(2):114-122.

Smith AJ, Sketris IS, Cooke C, Gardner D, Kisely S, Tett SE. 2008. A Comparison of Benzodiazepine and Related Drug Use in Nova Scotia, Canada and Australia. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry; 53(8):545-552.

Smith AJ, Sketris IS, Cooke C, Gardner D, Kisely S, Tett SE. 2008. A Comparison of Antidepressant Use in Nova Scotia, Canada and Australia (p n/a). Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety; 17:697-706. DOI: 10.1002/pds.1541.

Sanyal C, Graham SD, Cooke C, Sketris IS, Frail DM, Flowerdew G. 2008. The relationship between type of drug therapy and blood glucose self-monitoring test strips by beneficiaries of the Seniors’ pharmacare program in Nova Scotia, Canada. BMC Health Services Research; 8:11. DOI:10.1186/147206963-8-111.

Grants###

Neil MacKinnon is a co-investigator on a new grant, “Safety in home care: focus on medication management” funded by the CIHR Partnerships for Health System Improvement Competition. (A. Lang, P.I.) Kerry Goralski is a recipient of a Leaders Opportunity Fund Award from the Canadian Foundation of Innovation to support the establishment of his laboratory for innovative studies of obesity and metabolism. Dr. Goralski has discovered a new protein, chemerin, in collaboration with researchers at Dalhousie University and Stanford University. Made in fat cells and regulating how fat cells develop and store energy in the form of lipid, this finding suggests that chemerin might be an important factor in determining how the body makes and stores fat. Moving forward, Dr. Goralski’s research team now focuses on determining how chemerin affects the processes of food intake and energy metabolism and fat storage in mice. His research has relevant applications to obesity and the diseases that are associated with obesity, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Pollen Yeung has received a Skill Training Grant from NSHRF to attend an International Workshop on Modern Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Data Analysis using WinNonLin, Pharsight Corp. (Mountainview, CA, USA), San Diego, CA, USA, September 16 - 18, 2008.

Students News###

Christine Michaels, Drug Use Management and Policy Resident (2006) received a Canadian Health Services Research Foundation/Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CHSRF/CIHR-IHSPR) travel award to attend the 2008 Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) Conference held May 26-28, 2008 in Quebec. Poster presented: Michaels CL, Kumaranayake L, Scott J, Sarwal S, Coombs A, Holmes E, Sketris I. Cost of Public Health Delivery of childhood immunizations in Nova Scotia.

Stacy Ackroyd-Stolarz, Drug Use Management and Policy Resident (2004) received the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)/Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) Dr. David Rippey Patient Safety Fellowship (2008-2010). Project Title: “Safer medication use in emergency departments (SAFERMEDs)” working with Dr. Neil MacKinnon.

Other Things###

An international interprofessional conference will be held in Halifax on May 20-22, 2009, hosted by the Faculty of Health Professions and co-chaired by Susan Mansour and Anne Godden-Webster. The conference theme, Collaborating Across Borders II: Building Bridges Between Interprofessional Education and Practice, reflects the importance of establishing relationships and networks to promote collaboration and development of interprofessional health education and practice. This conference will promote change by bridging the educational, practice and policy environments, with an eye to principles and mechanisms of cultural change. Stay tuned to www.cabhalifax2009.dal.ca for upcoming details.

The drug information portal, Drug Information Resources: A Guide for Pharmacists (http://dir.pharmacy.dal.ca/ ), found on the Dalhousie College of Pharmacy website, was significantly revised this summer with the addition of dynamic PubMed searches in many of the topic categories. This website receives more than 4000 “hits” per month with users located in over 100 countries around the world. Several Faculties of Pharmacy in Canada and the United States link to this website, which is also listed by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy within its Basic Resources for Pharmaceutical Education.

Faculty News: University of Manitoba

Academic Appointments

Dr. Gaik-lean Chee joined the Faculty on October 6, 2008 as an associate professor in Medicinal Chemistry in a contingent position.

Mr. Christopher Louizos joined the Faculty on August 11, 2008 as a full-time Pharmacy Practice Instructor.

Mr. Shawn Bugden joined the Faculty as a nil-salary clinical assistant professor on July 1, 2008.

Mr. Kyle MacNair joined the Faculty as a nil-salary clinical assistant professor on September 1, 2008.

Resignations

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj resigned from the Faculty on June 30, 2008 as she accepted a position as Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton.

Research Grants & Awards

Dr. Ruby Grymonpre, Chair of the CIHC Evaluation Subcommittee, was honored with the ‘Best Oral Presentation’ at the international ‘All Together Best Health IV’ meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.

Dr. Mike Namaka received $45,000 from the Manitoba Institute of Child Health for his work in pediatric neuropathic pain in Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Colleen Metge, Laura Targownik and Bill Leslie have been awarded an AGA Designated Outcomes Award in Geriatric Gastroenterology for $35,000. The title of the project is: “A Prospective Evaluation of the Effect of Proton Pump Inhibitors on Bone Mineral Density.” Community-based pharmacists will be used to identify subjects for the study.

Dr. Colleen Metge and Shawn Bugden, co-applicants, received funding for a CIHR project titled: Partnership for Ongoing Impact Assessment of Academic Detailing. (PI: Malcolm Maclure, University of Victoria). Colleen, Shawn and Kyle MacNair are the Manitoba leads on the project.

Ms. Kristine Petrasko was awarded the 2008 Wyeth Apothecary Award Winner for Manitoba. A winner from each province receives $1,000 to be donated in their name to the pharmacy school alma mater, advanced training program, or disease-based charity of their choice.

General Faculty News

The University of Manitoba Faculty of Pharmacy’s Class of 2008 was ranked first in Canada in the 2008 Pharmacy Examining Board (PEBC) Qualifying Examinations.

The Faculty of Pharmacy joined the faculties of Medicine and Dentistry and the entire Bannatyne Campus in welcoming Dr. David Barnard to the University of Manitoba as its 11th President and Vice-Chancellor on July 2, 2008.

The Faculty officially moved to their new building, The Apotex Centre, on the Bannatyne Campus on July 7, 2008. The official grand opening will take place on Thursday, October 16, 2008, with an Open House on Saturday, October 18, 2008 between 2:00 – 4:00pm.

Faculty News: University of Saskatchewan

General Faculty News

This May, the University adopted its Second Integrated Plan, for the period 2008-2012. Based on the planning efforts of all colleges and administrative units, the Plan focuses energies and resources on three interconnected priorities: the undergraduate and graduate student experience; enhancing the University’s profile in research, scholarly and artistic work; and working together effectively across unit and institutional boundaries. Cutting across these are University-wide aims to engage more fully with Aboriginal peoples, to internationalize, and to foster innovation throughout our programs and services. Our College Plan 2008-12 is well aligned with the University Plan, and as well with the visions of our two professions: The Blueprint for Pharmacy: the Vision for Pharmacy and A Vision for Dietitians…in 2020.

Drs. Adil Nazarali and Carol Henry, along with Dr. Claire Card, colleague and project leader from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, travelled to Uganda in July. They received funding from Vets Without Borders for 5 years to evaluate nutritional and therapeutic needs, use of traditional medications and farming practices of approximately 500 families with AIDS-orphaned children in rural Uganda. They are using a “train the trainer” approach on nutrition and therapeutic needs of the children and their foster families, and farming practices. A number of other international projects and collaborations are ongoing and in development.

Individual Faculty News

This is Dr. Dennis Gorecki’s last year as Dean of the College. A search is underway with the aim of having the next Dean in place by July 1, 2009.

Dr. Gord McKay, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Affairs, retired June 30, 2008. Gord will focus his time on research interests and corporate pursuits, through his company Pharmalytics, Inc. The College will host an event later this fall to thank Gord and Dr. John Hubbard, whose retirement was reported in the last Newsletter, for their excellent work and contributions to the College for so many years.

We are pleased to report that Dr. Fred Rémillard has agreed to serve as Acting Associate Dean for the coming year. Dr. Gord Zello is the new Head of the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics. On July 1, we welcomed Drs. Derek Jorgenson and Kerry Mansell to the faculty. They join current clinical faculty as members of an innovative team to deliver interprofessional clinical pharmacology education to pharmacy, medical and dental students, provide clinical services and enhance health research. Derek’s practice focuses on Primary Care, and Kerry specializes in Endocrinology. An additional member for the team, funded by SHR, will be recruited in the area of Pediatrics.

Drs. Roy Dobson, Carol Henry, and Yvonne Shevchuk are on Sabbatical Leaves July 08-June 09, with Dr. Ed Krol on leave Jan-Dec 09. We are fortunate to have Darcy Lamb and Barry Ward in term faculty positions to teach in Yvonne and Roy’s areas of specialization, respectively.
In May, Dr. Ed Krol was awarded the University’s annual Safety Recognition Award to honour his outstanding performance in fostering and promoting health, safety and environmental issues in the workplace. Dr. Krol is serving as our College’s Liaison as we pilot a new Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS) for the University. Dean Gorecki is Executive Sponsor for this important project, which will assist frontline workers, students, researchers and administrators to manage HSE issues in the most effective way possible. Designed to meet international standards, the HSEMS will be the first system of its kind at a Canadian University.

Dr. Kerry Mansell received the 2008 Bristol-Myers Squibb Excellence in Teaching Award.

Clinical Instructors Marci Quesnel from the Wall Street Pharmacy in Saskatoon and Lynette Kolodziejak, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, were honoured by the College as Preceptors of the Year for Community and Hospital Pharmacy, respectively.

Grants

Drs. Jane Alcorn and Ed Krol are network members on a successful Agricultural Bioproducts and Innovation Program grant entitled “Next Generation Bioproducts for Health and Wellness.”

Dr. Roy Dobson recently completed a study using a quality improvement framework to facilitate interprofessional collaboration in undergraduate health science education. The study was funded by a Patient-Centred Interprofessional Team Experiences Grant.

Undergraduate Students

Enrolment in the BSP program is 347, with 90 students in Year 1, 88 in Year 2, 91 in Year 3 and 78 in Year 4. Saskatchewan Pharmacy and Nutrition Students’ Society Co-Presidents Rob Pammett and Calysta Adams, Pharmacy Senior Stick Haley Gill, Senior Dietitians of Canada Liaison Denae Lamontagne and Council representatives welcomed the Classes of 2012 at Orientation 2008. The 16th Annual Pharmacy Professional Enhancement Day was held in September, featuring Dr. Derek Jorgenson speaking on the role of the pharmacist in primary care, and the Annual Pharmacy and Nutrition Career Fair took place October 4.

Graduate Students

Enrolment in the Pharmacy graduate program is 14 MSc, 8 PhD and 1 Interdisciplinary PhD; there are 11 MSc in Nutrition students, 1 Interdisciplinary MSc and 4 PhD candidates, for a total of 40 students. In September, we welcomed new students from Saskatchewan, Ontario and India, and additional new students will begin graduate studies in January 2009.

Erica Ling, Ph.D. in Pharmacy candidate, has received the Apotex Graduate Award. This new scholarship, made possible through the generosity of Apotex, Inc. is valued at $25,000 annually, plus a travel/research grant of $2,000 per year. Erica’s thesis project is entitled “Expressions and Functions of Selected Nutrient Transporters in Lactating Mammary Gland and Potential Nutrient-Xenobiotic Interactions.”

Tara Smith, Ph.D. in Pharmacy candidate, received a Silver Award in the Genetics Category for her research poster titled “Hoxa2 Plays a Direct Role in Regulating Murine Palatogenesis via Repressing Downstream Targets.” Tara was presented the award at the CIHR National Poster Competition portion of the 21st annual Canadian Student Research, held in Winnipeg this June. Tara also attended the joint AFPC/AACP conference in Chicago this summer, where she was presented with the AFPC Whit Matthews Best Poster Award for her poster entitled “Loss of Hoxa2 Gene Expression Results in Cleft Palate in Mice via Altered Downstream Signaling Pathways.”

The following students will received their degrees at Fall Convocation 2008:

Masoumeh Akhlaghi Najafabadi, Ph.D. (Nutrition), “Flavonoid Protection of Cardiac Cells against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury” – Supervisor Dr. Brian Bandy.

Laura Gougeon, M.Sc. (Nutrition), “Nutritional Analysis of School Meals in Some Saskatoon Elementary Schools” – Supervisor Dr. Carol Henry.

Jason Perepelkin, Ph.D. (Pharmacy), “Relating Ownership Type to the Organizational Behaviour, Role Orientation and Autonomy of Community Pharmacy Managers within Canada” – Supervisor Dr. Roy Dobson.

Brenda Thompson, M.Sc. (Nutrition), “Nutrition Positive - An Incentive Program in Saskatoon Elementary Schools. A Case Study and Preliminary Process Evaluation” – Supervisor Dr. Carol Henry.

Xiayou Yan, M.Sc. (Pharmacy), “Characterization of the Hoxa2 Binding Site in Dual Specificity Tyrosine Kinase 4(Dyrk 4) and Higher Temperature Requirement Factor A (HtrA3) Genes” – Supervisor Dr. Adil Nazarali.

Fundraising Success

On September 23, the College hosted Jack Kay, President and COO of Apotex, Inc. and other special guests on the occasion of the formal gift announcement of Apotex’s recent $1.5M pledge to the College. This largest single gift ever received by the College will provide a state-of-the-art pharmacy practice laboratory in the new Academic Health Sciences Centre, build research capacity and support outstanding graduate students. The July 2008 Golden Suppository Golf Classic generated over $34,000, through generous contributions and sponsorship from industry representatives and practitioners, to support College research initiatives. Three new memorial student awards have been established and will be presented in the coming year.

Alumni News

The University's annual Alumni Honoured Years Reunion took place in June 2008. All-college years of 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963 and 1968, as well as all-college years from 1928 to 1947, took part in a weekend of festivities. In July, the Pharmacy Class of ’73 celebrated its 35th Reunion in Saskatoon. This is the seventh time the class has gathered to celebrate a 5-year milestone.

Contributers

Roy Dobson, President roy.dobson@usask.ca

AFPC Councilors:

Bev Allen, U of S bev.allen@usask.ca Frederic Calon, U Laval frederic.calon@crchul.ulaval.ca Nese Yuksel, U of A nyuksel@pharmacy.ualberta.ca Ingrid Price, UBC ingrid.price@ubc.ca Nancy Waite, U of Waterloonmwaite@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca Lalitha Raman-Wilms, U of Tl.raman.wilms.a@utoronto.ca Mary MacCara, Dalhousie U <Mary.MacCara @dal.ca> Daniel Thirion, U Montreal daniel.thirion@umontreal.ca Payal Patel, U of M < patelp@cc.umanitoba.ca > John Hawboldt, Memorial U hawboldt@mun.ca Frank Abbott, Executive Director fabbott@interchange.ubc.ca fabbott@telus.net Rita Caldwell, CPhA Board Member, Academia Rita.Caldwell@dal.ca Cheryl Cox, PEP Canada ccox@pharmacy.ualberta.ca

Editor

Rebecca M. Law, Memorial University rlaw@mun.ca

Newsletter: September/October 2008

In this issue…

Presidents Message

Executive Director's Corner

University of Manitoba: Assistant or Associate Professor, Two (2) Tenure-Track Appointments

Faculty Spotlight: University of British Columbia

Innovations in teaching in response to an outcomes based curriculum

Faculty News: Memorial University of Newfoundland

Faculty News: Université Laval

General Faculty News

Grants

Awards

Individual Faculty News

Appointments and Retirements###

Dr. Pascal Daleau, vice-dean of research affairs, publishes the book: Le mal des montagnes

Dean Jean-Pierre Grégoire honoured thrice

Student News

Congratulations to students for successful achievements

Faculty News:University of Alberta

Academic Appointments

Awards

Grants

General Faculty News

Faculty News: University of Waterloo

Special Achievement

School News

Academic Appointments

Grants

Abstracts/Presentations

Faculty News: University of Toronto

New Faculty

Faculty News

Seminars

Calendar of Events - October

Other News

Induction to the Profession

Student Awards Ceremony

Faculty News: Université de Montréal

General Faculty News

Individual Faculty News###

Grants

Student News

Other things###

Faculty News: Dalhousie University

Individual Faculty News###

Awards

Presentations

Publications

Grants###

Students News###

Other Things###

Faculty News: University of Manitoba

Academic Appointments

Resignations

Research Grants & Awards

General Faculty News

Faculty News: University of Saskatchewan

General Faculty News

Individual Faculty News

Grants

Undergraduate Students

Graduate Students

Fundraising Success

Alumni News

Contributers

AFPC Councilors:

Editor

News & Publications