The University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Aslam Anis as Director of the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences (CHÉOS), effective January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2016.

Dr. Anis is a Professor, Program Director of the Master of Health Administration Program and Co-lead of the Health Care Services & Systems (HSS) in the School of Population and Public Health, UBC. He is also a Senior Scientist at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada and the National Co-Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canadian HIV Trials Network.

Dr. Anis’s research activities are extensive and his work has been instrumental in shaping economic policies in Canada, notably those governing access to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Anis was among the first scholars worldwide to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of ART and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on health resource use and costs among HIV/AIDS patients treated and not treated with ART. Research by Dr. Anis in the area of pharmaceutical pricing policies in Canada has also attracted worldwide attention since the 1990s, and he continues to publish on the economic impact of changing drug price regulations.

Dr. Anis has published more than 170 peer-reviewed papers and garnered in excess of $110 million in peer-reviewed research funding. For his significant contributions in health economics, Dr. Anis was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Anis served as a member of the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Advisory Committee, whose mandate is to make recommendations to the Institute of Infection and Immunity regarding research priorities for HIV/AIDS. Dr. Anis also served on the Public Health Agency of Canada and CIHR Special Planning Committee to review the Federal Initiative on HIV/AIDS in Canada from 2006 to 2007. Provincially, Dr. Anis has served in various capacities at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, including its Research Advisory Council.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Anis to his appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.

Gavin C.E. Stuart, MD, FRCSC
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Vice Provost Health, UBC

Congratulations to SPPH MPH student Melanie Rivers, who is the recipient of a UBC 2012-2013 Aboriginal Graduate Fellowship award.

These multi-year fellowships are offered to Master’s and doctoral Aboriginal students. Award winners are selected on the basis of academic merit through an annual competition, administered by UBC's Faculty of Graduate Studies in consultation with the First Nations House of Learning.

Congratulations Melanie!

Dr. Patricia Spittal and her team on The Cedar Project Partnership have received a one-year planning grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

The Cedar Project is a prospective cohort study that aims to address the HIV vulnerabilities of Aboriginal youth who use drugs in BC. The project is a unique opportunity to situate sexual health research within a sociohistoric framework that takes into account trauma and gender differences, as well as respecting needs and values of Aboriginal people.

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Dr. Nick Bansback has received funding from The Arthritis Society for his study that will use iPads to try to improve decision-making in patients needing osteoarthritis medication.

In the study, titled “Promoting preference-based informed decision-making: A proof-of-concept study evaluating the effect of an enhanced decision aid in adults choosing between medications for knee osteoarthritis,” patients who visit pharmacies will be asked to use an app Dr. Bansback has developed for an iPad to help them become better informed about treatment, and ultimately, make a more informed decision when it comes to their own health care.

Over-the-counter medications used for reducing pain due to knee osteoarthritis are used millions of times every day in Canada. However, few people are aware of the risks, such as serious liver and gastrointestinal side-effects and may not be making the most appropriate choice. Dr. Bansback says the study will try to help patients make more informed decisions that better align with their own preferences. The working hypothesis suggests that individualizing the way choices and information are presented would improve perceived decision uncertainty and better the congruence between personal values and choices made.

“The study aims to make it easier for patients to make good decisions,” he says.

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Congratulations to SPPH PhD student Imelda Wong who has been awarded the Mustard Fellowship by Institute for Work & Health.

The Fellowship is named in honour of Dr. J. Fraser Mustard, who was the founding Board Chair of the Institute for Work & Health. The Fellowship supports the development of outstanding new researchers in the field of work and health and aims to build capacity for innovative multidisciplinary research concerning the relationships between work environments and worker health. 

Imelda's current research focuses on shift work and psychosocial stress, and the project she will work on as part of the Fellowship will examines the risk of, contributing factors to, and consequences of work-related injury among single and partnered parents.

Imelda will be defending her dissertation in the fall of 2012 and, on successful completion, will being the Fellowship in January 2013.

Congratulations Imelda!

Congratulations to the 2011 cohort winner of the A.L. Riegert Award, Adam Norris!

This award is given to the MSc-OEH student with the highest grade point average in core OEH courses in the first year of study.

Established in 1992, this award was endowed by friends and family of A.L Riegert in recognition of his contribution to the field of occupational hygiene in Canada. Mr. Reigert was a tireless proponent of prevention in work settings and led the expansion of industrial hygiene at the Workers' Compensation Board of BC. His hygiene educational offerings to unions and employers inspired SPPH Professor Kay Teschke to choose a career in occupational health.

Every year UBC’s SEEDS (Social Ecological Economic Development Studies) Program recognizes faculty members who have contributed to the Program's - and the University's - commitment to sustainability. This year the Program has recognized three SPPH faculty members and their projects: 

• Dr. Karen Bartlett and her student for "Fume Hood Implementation at UBC" 
• Dr. Murray Hodgson and his student for "Measured Noise Levels of Dyson Airblade Hand Dryers in UBC Vancouver Campus Washrooms" 
• Dr. Kay Teschke and her student for "Analysis of Main Mall Improvements for Bicycles and Pedestrian Users"

The SEEDS Program forges partnerships, offers educational opportunities and coordinates research opportunities related to sustainability on campus, in order to build a strong vibrant community that supports students as they become sustainability leaders. For more information about the Program visit www.sustain.ubc.ca/seeds

Jacquelyn's research topic is "Longitudinal analysis, with applications to neurological disorders" and focuses on longitudinal analyses with applications to neurological disorders (e.g. spinal cord injury). She hopes that elements of my research will translate into a better understanding of the natural progression of neurological disorders.

Jacquelyn is being supervised by Dr. Jaimie Borisoff and Dr. Hubert Wong.

Congratulations Jacquelyn!

SPPH Professor, Dr. Martin T. Schechter has been awarded the 2012 C.P. Shah Alumni Award of Excellence in Public Health by the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

The C.P. Shah Alumni Award of Excellence in Public Health was established to recognize graduates of any of the academic programs offered by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (and its predecessors) who have advanced the field of public/population health in Canada, or its provinces/territories by his/her contribution and/or sustained efforts in one or more of the following areas: practice, teaching and/or research in Public Health.

One of Dr. Schechter's nominators stated, “Although the criteria for the Award indicate that the nominee should display excellence in one of three areas, it is abundantly clear that Dr. Schechter is an outstanding contributor to all three areas: the practice of public health, teaching, and research. I cannot imagine an alumnus more deserving of this important award.”

Congratulations Martin!

Congratulations to SPPH PhD student, Anjali Mago, who has won the Graduate Student Stipend Award from the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education. Anjali is pursuing her research on developing, evaluating and refining the dental courses to be offered through NextGenU.org (www.NextGenU.org) under the guidance of Dr. Erica Frank.

Information technology innovations have created an opportunity for blended learning in NextGenU.org, the world's first portal to free, accredited, higher education. There are no costs for registering, taking the courses or exams, or getting credit from its certified partners if qualified. NextGenU.org blends interactive peer activities (e.g., online chat rooms, creating and assessing peer-generated case studies, images, and multiple choice questions), hands-on mentored experiences (e.g., seeing and discussing patients), and high-quality online learning materials (e.g., text, videos, images from accredited organizations like universities, governments, and specialty societies). These same types of institutions cosponsor the trainings – in the case of the Head and Neck Anatomy course (created by Anjali Mago), for example, the Advisors and Cosponsoring Organizations are from the University of British Columbia and the University of Pittsburgh. Through the dental courses, NextGenU.org aims to deliver a high quality education for free to oral health professionals around the world, by utilizing information and communication technology.