IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Edith G. McGeer, Professor Emerita

Dear Colleagues,

With great sadness, we share the news that Professor Emerita Dr. Edith (Edie) McGeer passed away on Monday August 28, 2023 at the age of 99. As a pioneering researcher who made seminal contributions to our understanding of the biochemical pathology of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, Dr. McGeer leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary achievement and impact in the field. Her passing is a profound loss to the international neuroscience community.

Early in life, Dr. McGeer proved to be a gifted student who excelled in both mathematics and the sciences at a time when women were not encouraged to pursue careers in these male-dominated fields. She went on to complete her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Swarthmore College in 1944, and then notably obtained her PhD in Organic Chemistry within two years at the University of Virginia. From 1946 to 1954, Dr. McGeer worked as a Research Chemist for the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware, and during this time, she suggested a route to synthesizing tetracyanoethylene which opened the way to a new branch of organic chemistry, leading to three patents and a citation from the Delaware section of the American Chemical Society.

In 1954 Dr. McGeer moved to Vancouver with her spouse and lifelong collaborator, the late preeminent neuroscientist Dr. Patrick McGeer, and joined the neurochemistry lab led by Dr. Bill Gibson in the UBC Department of Psychiatry. This transition marked the start of her prolific and highly distinguished academic career which spanned over six decades. She was among the founding members of the UBC Division of Neuroscience, serving as both Acting Head and Head of the Division from 1976 to 1989, as well as serving as Director of the Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Research. A brilliant and visionary scientist, Dr. McGeer achieved many notable ‘firsts’ alongside Patrick, which included introducing the concept of using neurotransmitter synthetic enzymes as markers for biochemical neuroanatomy and biochemical pathology, and pioneering the concept of neuroinflammation as a contributor to neurodegeneration, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease. She also held a total of ten patents, published an astonishing 525 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and authored the first edition of the Molecular Biology of the Mammalian Brain with her husband and Nobel laureate Sir John Eccles. She remained one of the top 100 most highly cited neuroscientists in the world and a global role model for women scientists.

In spite of her formal ‘retirement’ in 1989, Dr. McGeer continued to secure grant funding to continue her research activities, and for many years thereafter maintained a high level of productivity. Notably, in 2012 she and Patrick founded Aurin Biotech, a company dedicated to the development of novel agents to fill the need for safe, effective and orally available therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. In apt recognition of her esteemed career and accomplishments, Dr. McGeer received an array of prestigious honours, including a UBC Faculty of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award, three honorary degrees, and induction as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada and as an Officer to the Order of Canada.

As we relay this news of Dr. Edie McGeer, who was predeceased by Patrick almost exactly one year ago in 2022, we celebrate her remarkable life and legacy while also sharing in the deep loss felt across our entire UBC neuroscience community and her expansive network of colleagues and friends around the world. On behalf of the UBC Department of Psychiatry, we express our heartfelt condolences to Edie’s children and the rest of the McGeer family during this most difficult time.

Sincerely, on behalf of Department Head Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham,

Dr. Raymond W. Lam
Professor and Associate Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry
Co-Director, Mood Disorders Centre, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Executive Chair, APEC Digital Hub for Mental Health

Dr. Lynn A. Raymond
Director, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Louise A. Brown Chair in Neuroscience
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Co-Director, Centre for Huntington Disease

The UBC Department of Psychiatry Administration Office respectfully acknowledges the land on which we live, work and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).

Appointment of Dr. William Panenka, Associate Professor (Tenure)

Dear Faculty, Staff, Students and Residents,

As you will recall, the Department has been engaged in a recruitment process for a full-time academic faculty position in the area of translational neuropsychiatric research, an opportunity created for Psychiatry through the Faculty of Medicine Academic Renewal Program, intended to support the recruitment of tenure-stream faculty in the area of Translational Science in Medicine.

As the recruitment process has now been completed, I am delighted to share that Dr. William Panenka has been appointed to this position at the rank of Associate Professor, Tenure, effective September 1, 2023. Many of you are already well acquainted with Dr. Panenka, who has held a Partner faculty appointment in the Department since 2013, and was promoted to Associate Professor (Partner) in 2020.

Now as a tenured faculty member, Dr. Panenka will continue his outstanding research program in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), which currently includes a large 5-year CIHR study to understand risk factors and poorer outcomes of TBI and cerebral small vessel disease in a vulnerably housed cohort. He is also involved in several other major CIHR studies in collaboration with investigators from Psychiatry as well as other UBC units, including Psychology, Pathology, and the School of Biomedical Engineering. Further, Dr. Panenka is the founding Medical and Research Lead for the Neuropsychiatry Concussion Clinic within the BC Neuropsychiatry network, and under his supervision, this Clinic has served as an important recruitment site for studies aimed at finding cognitive, imaging, and other biomarkers that will predict outcome and response to treatment in individuals with unresolved symptoms following head trauma.

I am confident that, in joining our full-time faculty, Dr. Panenka will continue to be highly productive and successful as he embarks on this exciting new phase of his academic career. Please join me in warmly congratulating Dr. Panenka and welcoming him to his new academic appointment in the Department.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), MBA (Exec)
Professor and Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry
Director, Institute of Mental Health, UBC
Regional Head and Program Medical Director, VCH/PHC

Strategic Plan in Action: Announcing the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Professorship in Mental Health

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past year, the UBC Department of Psychiatry has been working in close collaboration with the Fraser Health Authority, the Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) Foundation, and the UBC FoM Dean’s Office in order to create a new academic faculty position to be based in Fraser Health. In our discussions, there was broad recognition of a need for a mental health research hub in Fraser Health, particularly one that focused on the distinctive challenges of the immigrant, ethnically diverse, and refugee populations situated across BC’s fastest-growing region. Furthermore, the creation of an academic position in Fraser would strongly support the Department’s strategic priority to expand research capacity and infrastructure within the distributed sites.

To this end, I am delighted to announce that the Department, in partnership with Fraser Health, the RCH Foundation and the UBC Institute of Mental Health, has established the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Professorship in Mental Health, a new endowed professorship that will enable the recruitment of a full-time tenured Associate Professor or Professor who will lead a mental health and addictions research portfolio at Royal Columbian Hospital.

The job posting is currently advertised on the UBC job board and our website, where you may view the job posting in full, and will soon be posted to national and international job boards. Should you have any questions regarding this faculty career opportunity, please kindly direct them to Vicky Yau, Director, Administration, at vicky.yau@ubc.ca. The applicant review and selection process will begin on October 15, 2023.

I look forward to sharing further news and updates with you as we move forward with this recruitment. In the meantime, I ask you for your help and persistence in sharing this faculty career opportunity widely across your networks and channels.

Sincerely,

IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Hassan Azim, Honorary Professor

We are very saddened to share the news of the recent passing of Honorary Professor Dr. Hassan Azim at the age of 91.

Dr. Azim’s distinguished career began over 60 years ago in Cairo, Egypt, where he completed his training in psychiatry and became one of Egypt’s first psychiatrists. In 1960, he arrived in Canada to pursue further psychiatry training at McGill University, then obtained his certification in Psychoanalysis at the Canadian Psychoanalytic Institute. Following several years spent in various clinical roles and as an Assistant Professor at McGill, in 1973 Dr. Azim relocated to Edmonton, Alberta, where he was appointed as a Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta, and also served as Director of the Division of External Psychiatric Services and Co-Director of the Psychotherapy Research Centre.

Upon moving to BC in 1998, Dr. Azim joined the UBC Department of Psychiatry as an Honorary Professor, and for over two decades, was an active member of our faculty. He made significant contributions to teaching psychodynamic psychotherapy and providing valuable support to other UBC faculty members in their supervisory work. As his colleagues in the UBC Psychotherapy Program write, “His lectures were prized by residents and candidates for the accessible way in which he shared his clinical knowledge and encouraged creative and critical reflection… Dr. Hassan Azim was a beloved and effective mentor and supervisor appreciated for his wisdom, patience, and warmth. He was passionate about psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, and deeply committed to the professional growth of trainees, and to the development of subsequent generations of clinicians. Dr. Azim generously shared his knowledge while encouraging others to form their own views and establish their own style. He demonstrated a persistent inquisitiveness and open-mindedness––showing an embrace of complexity and providing an inspiring model of humility. His humanistic model of psychoanalysis will be gratefully remembered by the analytic community in Western Canada.” Read the full tribute here.

The passing of Dr. Azim is a significant loss to the Department, to his many friends, patients, former students and mentees, and to his numerous colleagues in the UBC Psychotherapy Program, at McGill and the University of Alberta, and around the world. The UBC Department of Psychiatry wishes to send its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Dr. Azim during this difficult time.

IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Jennifer Oates, Clinical Instructor

We are deeply saddened to share the news that Dr. Jennifer Oates passed away on August 8, 2023. Dr. Oates had been a geriatric psychiatrist within Island Health since 2009, and joined the UBC Department of Psychiatry as a Clinical Instructor in 2015.

As a valued UBC Psychiatry member, Dr. Oates made important contributions to our psychiatry medical education program on the Island, particularly through her involvement in Year 3 Clerkship teaching and supervision of residents. As well, she was a core member of the Physician Quality Improvement (PQI) team, and was instrumental in transitioning the PQI education program to include patients and families as active participants in quality improvement projects. Moreover, as a compassionate and dedicated clinician, her care and commitment to improving the lives of seniors, particularly in Victoria’s Western Shores, has had a positive and enduring impact on this community and beyond.

Dr. Oates will be remembered for her devotion to her profession, her tireless advocacy for older adults as well as for fellow physicians, and her warmth and kindness that touched many friends and colleagues, patients, mentees and students. Our sincerest condolences go to the family and loved ones of Dr. Oates during this difficult time.

The South Island Medical Staff Association (MSA) invites friends and colleagues to join a gathering in remembrance of Dr. Jennifer Oates on Thursday, August 24th, between 5:30 and 6:30 pm. All healthcare team members are welcome. An in-person gathering will be held at Victoria General Hospital in Lecture Hall S263 to come together as a community. A virtual viewing option will be available at Royal Jubilee Hospital in PCC 150, as well as online here.

If you wish to send a message of remembrance in honour of Dr. Oates, please do so by visiting her Memorial Page here.

Cornelia (Nel) Wieman

Adjunct Professor, UBC Department of Psychiatry
Co-Chair, Indigenous Strategy Committee, UBC Department of Psychiatry

Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority

Email: nel.wieman@fnha.ca

Short Biography

Dr. Wieman is Anishinaabe from Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba. She lives, works, and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 20 years’ clinical experience working with Indigenous people in both rural/reserve and urban settings. Dr. Wieman also served as the elected President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada from 2016 to 2022.

More recently, Dr. Wieman served as Co-Chair of a provincial First Nations Technical Committee that created the British Columbia Cultural Safety & Humility Standard, an organizational standard directed at anti-Indigenous racism across all health and social services in the province.

Digital Media

First Nations Health Authority

LinkedIn

Announcing the IMH Marshall Fellows for 2023/2024

Dear Faculty, Staff, Students and Residents,

As the IMH Marshall Fellows Program enters its fifth year since its inception in 2019, I am delighted to share that the selection process for 2023/2024 has been completed and six outstanding proposals have been recommended for funding by the Chairs of the Committee.

The decisions were finalized following the thorough review and consideration of many outstanding project proposals submitted by both PhD and MD applicants this year. As the Fellowship Program was originally developed to also support the training of clinician scientist psychiatrists, three of the six fellowships have been awarded to MDs.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2023/2024 cohort of the IMH Marshall Fellows Program. Please join me in warmly congratulating the following awardees, listed in alphabetical order:

IMH Marshall Fellowship Awardees & Research Titles

Nicholas Ainsworth, MD: Measuring psychomotor response to L-DOPA challenge as a biomarker for outcomes in late-life depression: A feasibility study

Clare Killikelly, PhD: Digital early detection of psychological disorder after the loss of a loved one

Ana Mikolić, PhD: Screening for psychological risk factors to improve management of mild traumatic brain injury

John-Jose Nunez, MD: Predicting and Identifying Depression in Cancer Patients From Their Initial Oncology Consultation Document Using Natural Language Processing

Chithra Pream Raju, MD: Cannabidiol adjunctive therapy for acute bipolar depression: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial

Megan Rowland, PhD: Investigating the Role of Baf53b in Regulating Parvalbumin Neuronal Gene Expression and Autism Behaviours Across Development

I encourage you to visit the IMH Marshall Fellows web page to learn more about each of our awardees and the exciting research they will be pursuing. I look forward to sharing further updates on our Fellows in the months to come, and additionally, I hope you will all join us at next year’s Research Day, tentatively scheduled for June 13, 2024, where our Fellows will be presenting a talk on their respective projects.

On behalf of the Institute of Mental Health and the UBC Department of Psychiatry, I wish each of our 2023/2024 IMH Marshall Fellows much success as they gain valuable experience that will both accelerate their learning and serve as an important foundation for their future pursuits in translational mental health research.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lakshmi Yatham and Team Publish Findings in New England Journal of Medicine Which May Inform Future Guidelines for Bipolar Depression Management

In the New England Journal of Medicine this week, lead author Dr. Lakshmi Yatham and a team of researchers have published the results from the world’s first randomized clinical trial assessing the duration of adjunctive antidepressant therapy in bipolar depression, the findings of which show that, while the primary outcome of time to any mood episode was not significant, pre-specified sensitivity analysis and secondary outcomes suggest extending the treatment period beyond current guidelines may help prevent depressive relapses.

The clinical trial, conducted at sites in Canada, South Korea and India, involved 178 patients with Bipolar I disorder who were in remission from a depressive episode following treatment with modern antidepressant drugs (escitalopram or bupropion XL). The patients were randomly assigned to either continue antidepressant treatment for 52 weeks, or begin tapering off antidepressants at six weeks and switch to a placebo at eight weeks.

Over the year-long study, 46 per cent of patients in the placebo group experienced a relapse of a mood event, compared to only 31 per cent in the group that continued antidepressant treatment. While this primary outcome was not found to be statistically significant, the comparison included relapses that occurred during the first six weeks of the study when both groups were receiving the same treatment.

However, in an analysis from week six onward, when treatment between the two groups differed, patients that continued antidepressant treatment were 40 per cent less likely to experience a relapse of any mood event, and 59 per cent less likely to experience a depressive episode relative to the placebo group.

Read the full UBC press release here.

In the Spotlight | FAIZA HAMEER

September 2023

Meet Dr. Faiza Hameer, who is a Psychiatrist at Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) and, administratively, acts as the medical lead for emergency psychiatry for the Fraser Health Psychiatry program. She joined the UBC Department of Psychiatry as a Clinical Instructor in 2016, and in 2017 was appointed as the Assistant Program Director for Fraser and the Discipline Specific Site leader (DSSL) at RCH for the Postgraduate Education Program.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I am so honoured to be featured in “The Spotlight”!

Although I’m originally from Edmonton and completed my medical school there at the University of Alberta, I am a graduate of the University of British Columbia psychiatry program. There are so many cross-roads in medical education, but I have been so grateful that this is the path that the fates of the CaRMS match chose for me.

In addition to the excellent training in psychiatry, the personalized approach of the program and my supervisors helped me identify my interest and aptitude in teaching and really mentored me into taking on progressive roles in education and leadership. Having the combination of clinical and administrative roles has allowed me to have experiences and be part of conversations that have given me a perspective and maturity I may not have had otherwise.

What community do you work in?

I clinically spend most of my time as an emergency psychiatrist at the Royal Columbian Hospital, a job that I knew I wanted immediately after rotating through the unit in both my first and final years of residency. Now that I’ve been working there for 6 years as a staff psychiatrist, I can say that I enjoy it just as much as I had hoped, and I love being part of the multi-disciplinary emergency department family.

The professional and personal connections and trust that are made in highly acute situations is truly difficult to describe. I balance out the acuity by also working at one of our tertiary psychiatric facilities in Coquitlam where the focus is on longer term psycho-social rehabilitation.

What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most?

If I had to choose a favourite part of my practice, I would have to select teaching residents in the emergency setting. It is such a different, demanding and high risk environment that learners can often feel apprehensive. I really try and teach and model the reminder that underneath all the complex presentations, nuanced risk assessments and minutiae of diagnostic criteria, there is a real person/family in crisis who is doing the best they can. Keeping this core fact at the forefront helps us make those difficult decisions even in the most complicated of cases.

Over time I think most feel as I do, that it is such a privilege to see patients and their families in what is often such a difficult or dark time and have the experience and training to intervene and support them and their families. I enjoy the process of watching residents gain confidence and competence and then begin to teach their juniors in the same way.

What is an important piece of advice you can share with junior colleagues and residents, or someone considering a career in psychiatry?

The one related piece of advice that was given to me and that I pass on to residents now, is that there are many ‘right’ ways to move through a grey area and choosing the one that is ‘the most right’ can be challenging. It’s always ok to ask for help, ask for another opinion or another perspective.

How do you achieve a good work-life balance?

Although it can still be a complicated schedule, I think I have been able to find a fairly good combination of work and home. When work is truly life and death, there have been times when it is hard to prioritize the lighter aspects of my day-to-day. However, it’s those down times that give myself and all of us who work in medicine the ability to be the best whole and human physician we can for our patients. Outside of work I love to keep busy with friends and family, including my husband, two kids, and all the stray animals those kids have brought home (so far we are at 1 dog, 2 cats, and several fish).

I look forward to continuing what I hope will be life-long learning in psychiatry, in life, and in the balance between the two.

Academic Advisor Role Change and Recruitment Request

** Sent on behalf of Dr. Irfan Khanbhai, PGE Program Director, UBC Department of Psychiatry **

Dear Clinical Faculty,

I am writing to you today about the Academic Advisor (AA) position that we have for each of our residents. We are making a significant change in the Academic Advisor duties about which I wanted to update you. Until now, biannually, the Academic Advisors have had to review their resident’s EPAs and evaluations and create a report that went to the Competence Committee to help ensure adequate resident progression.

The Program has made the decision that this report creation will now be under the jurisdiction of the Associate Program Directors. This will allow the AA role to transition to one more of mentorship, resident wellness and support, coaching on learning plans as needed , and any additional aid the resident may require if on a formal learning plan or remediation. The AA will still have access to all the formal evaluations and assessments to help guide and support the resident.

Occasionally, the Associate Program Director may need help with a resident’s semi-annual report and may ask for your support.

Given that each year we have a new cohort of residents, we are currently actively recruiting for our Vancouver, Fraser, and Vancouver Island tracks. The full role description is at this link for your perusal. If you have an interest in supporting our residents in this way, please reach out to your local Associate Program Director:

Dr. Ken Heng – Vancouver Track (Kenneth.Heng@vch.ca)
Dr. Faiza Hameer – Fraser Track (Faiza.Hameer@fraserhealth.ca)
Dr. Alison Gregson – Vancouver Island Track (Alison.Gregson@islandhealth.ca)

If there are any questions, feel free to reach out to your local track Associate Program Director or myself, and we will respond as soon as possible.

Thank you and warm regards,

Irfan

Dr. Irfan Khanbhai MD, FRCPC
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director
UBC Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Program

I humbly acknowledge, with gratitude, that I live, work, and play as an uninvited guest on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.