Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University of Newfoundland
The second annual Awards Presentation in the Faculty of Medicine was held in late November to pay tribute to faculty members and students who have won awards and scholarships.
Two researchers in the Faculty of Medicine received the $25,000 Dr. A.R. Cox Award for a collaborative project on the hepatitis B virus. Dr. Thomas Michalak and Dr. William Marshall are combining their skills to develop monoclonal antibodies to the major T-lymphocyte determinant of the woodchuck.
Dr. Michalak runs the Liver Research Laboratory and has extensive experience working with the woodchuck model of hepatitis B virus infection, the closest known model for human hepatitis B. The virus causes a variety of destructive liver diseases and liver cancer, infecting 300 million people worldwide. Dr. Marshall has gained international recognition for work in creating monoclonal antibodies.
The MUN Medical Research Foundation Awards went to Dr. Sheila Drover and Dr. John McLean. Each researcher will receive $25,000 for their work. Dr. Drover is studying MHC-peptide complexes on HLA-DR molecules Associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. McLean's project is on the role of afferent input and a neurotrophin in a developing cortical structure.
Graduate student awards and prizes were also presented at the ceremony. The Alfred Burness Graduate Student Award went to Carla Coffin, an M.Sc. student who is supervised by Dr. Thomas Michalak. The Colman Graduate Student Award went to Xiaolong Yang, a PhD student supervised by Dr. Alan Pater, and Varada Panduranga Rao, a PhD student supervised by Dr. George Caraynniotis.
Graduate student prizes, based on seminar presentations, were awarded in the following areas:
Immunology Graduate Student Awards went to Paul Hodgson, a PhD student, and Teresa Cowan, an M.Sc. student. Mr. Hodgson is supervised by Dr. Michalak, and his presentation was on the mechanisms of the pathogenesis of cell injury and viral persistence in the woodchuck model of hepatitis B. Ms. Cowan is supervised by Dr. David Haegert and she studied the J-beta T-cell receptor repertoire in naive human T-cells.
Golden Synapse Awards for Neuroscience went to PHD students Kurt Kimpinski and Scott Hancock, and to M.Sc. student Paul Dooley. Mr. Kimpinski, who is supervised by Dr. Karen Mearow, presented a paper on the regulation of neurite growth in compartmented cultures of adult sensory neurons by nerve growth factor. Mr. Hancock is supervised by Dr. Penny Moody-Corbett and his presentation was on the effects of nerve contact on ion channel expression. Mr. Dooley's supervisor is Dr. Dale Corbett, and his seminar was on ischemic preconditioning: histological and functional predictors of protection.
The winners of the Great Neuroscience Debate were Kurt Kimpinski and Robert Brown. Coached by Dr. Dale Corbett, their topic was neuronal death in cerebral ischemia results from apoptosis.
The following Postgraduate Medical Studies Awards were presented.
The CSCI/MRC Residents Research Award Program went to Dr. Peter Stevenson. The Anesthesia Resident Research Competition was won by Dr. Dolores McKeen.
The Family Medicine Residents Research Competition (Developmental Award) was won by Dr. Mark Ellerker. The Creative Writing Award went to Dr. Andrew Enyvari and the Summary Award went to Dr. Stephen Varieur. The Wyeth Award for Excellence was won by Dr. Paul Austin.
The Internal Medicine Residents Research Competition was won by Dr. Kara Laing. The Anatomical Pathology Residents Research Competition winner was Dr. Jane Barron. The Newfoundland Association of Radiologists Resident Research Award was won by Dr. John Burke. The Couves' Research Award for Orthopedics went to Dr. Peter Stevenson. The Couves' Research Award for General Surgery was won by Dr. Robert Farrell.
Three Outstanding Teacher Awards were presented. The first-year class selected Dr. Shakti Chandra, associate professor of anatomy.
The choice of the second-year class was Dr. John Smeda, associate professor of cardiovascular/renal. The third-year class selected Dr. Brenda Galway, assistant professor of medicine (endocrinology).
Wendi Fitzpatrick received the Centennial of Responsible Government Scholarship.
The Dr. John M. Darte Memorial Fund went to Jerry McGrath.
John Butler and Valerie Jefford received Medical Practice Associates Scholarships.
John M. and Elsa S. Morgan Scholarships went to Blair Butler, Valerie Keough, and Keith Vokey.
The Surgery Prize in Anatomy was received by Daniele Wiseman.
The Dr. H.D. Roberts Prize in Pharmacology went to Lisa Kieley.
The CIBA Student Award went to Jerome Green.
The Dr. Calvin N. Powell Bursary in Medicine went to Norman Lee.
Stephanie Squibb and Coleen Walsh received John M. and Elsa S. Morgan Scholarships.
Tony Boudreau was awarded the Dr. John M. Darte Memorial Scholarship.
The Medical Practice Associates Scholarship went to John O'Sullivan.
Ann Spracklin won the Morris and Graham Wilansky Memorial Award.
The Doctor J.H. King Memorial Fund went to Paul Dancey.
Trish Van Boekel was awarded the Dr. Brian Gerard Adams Memorial Bursary Fund.
The Hunter W. Earle Memorial Scholarship went to Shean Riff.
The Pathology Prize was won by Angela Noble.
Hasini Reddy won the Nicole Michelle Lane Cancer Research Scholarship.
Prizes in Growth and Development were given to Barbara Barrowman, Sandra Duke and Cheryl Morgan.
The Dean's Award for Academic Excellence went to Ann Spracklin.
The Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Canada Limited Award went to Colin Barry.
Scott Paquette won the Dr. John M. Darte Memorial Scholarship.
The Bristol Laboratories of Canada Prize went to Colette Osmond-Strickland.
The J.B. Roberts Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Brendan Hughes.
Colin Barry won the Medical Practice Associates Scholarship.
The Walter Davis Award went to Heidi King.
Stephanie Gillam won the Dr. Leonard Miller Award.
Brendan Hughes and Diane Pittman won Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association Awards.
Judy Kieley and Lisa Yang were awarded Hunter W. Earle Memorial Scholarships.
The Ford Hewlett Memorial Medical Oncology Scholarship went to Jocelyn Garland.
Regina Husa won the Dr. Janice E. Lessard Scholarship in Geriatric Medicine.
Last updated 18 Jun 1997 by 