Richard Wennberg, BSc ’83, MSc ’89, MD ‘90
Dr. Richard Wennberg reads brain waves like books. That’s exactly how he aims to understand and treat epilepsy as Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at the University of Toronto and Director of the University Health Network Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory.
Wennberg discovered an interest in neurology while pursuing his third degree at UBC. Working and studying alongside some of his mentors, he remembers recording Dr. Bernie Bressler’s neuroanatomy lectures and listening to them over and over again. He also proudly admits to still having photocopied versions of Dr. Sydney Friedman’s anatomy textbooks. He notes that this strong foundation in anatomy and neuroanatomy gave him an edge while pursuing his residency in neurology at McGill.
Wennberg knew he wanted to go to McGill as it was a world leader in neurology and neurosurgery and a centre that had been involved in the earliest developments of electroencephalography (EEG) – which became his passion. McGill was a great move for more than EEG – he met his wife there. She practices internal medicine.
Now, more than two decades later, Wennberg still considers detailed brain wave analyses the most promising way for the future of epilepsy treatment. Exciting progress in radiosurgery (precise radiation used to operate on specific areas of the brain) and magnetoencephalography (MEG, a more precise form of EEG that uses magnetic sensors to pick up brain activity) technologies are reinvigorating his field. He has just completed a PhD in the area of biophysics, specifically looking at new ways to use EEG and MEG to more accurately localize activity in the brain non-invasively.
It may just be a matter of time until this detective of the brain helps further advance treatments for epilepsy and improve countless lives.
Join us for the 7th Annual Resident Talent Night.
UBC residents, alumni & students across all programs are invited to come celebrate the unique talents of their colleagues (and faculty!)
Thurs. Nov. 6th, 6:00-9:00pm
MSAC, 2750 Heather St., Vancouver
Free of cost
Friends and family are welcome
For more information please click here.
The Alumni A-Card, which is free for all UBC alumni, gives you access to discounts from several partners, as well as a host of UBC services and venues.
The A-Card is free of charge and can be picked up from alumni UBC at Cecil Green park house, the UBC Welcome Centre at Brock Hall (Room 1200), UBC Robson Square front desk, UBC Okanagan (Administration Building #103) and the UBC Okanagan Library. The card does not expire.
In order to use your A-Card at the library you have to activate it. You can activate your A-Card online (Canadian residents only) or in person at Koerner and UBC Okanagan libraries.
For a full list of all the benefits and discounts click here
Come and join us for a week of events
November 17-21, 2014
celebrating
50 years of Woodward Library
The Woodward Staff is proud to share our Library’s history as well as get your ideas about the future. Join us for daily events including open house events, receptions with birthday cake and refreshments, a variety of speakers and games day!
woodward.library.ubc.ca/50th
And be sure to check out our History of Woodward Library timeline.
Faculty, staff, current and former students, alumni and the community are welcome.
Until this week, Allen Zhang had the distinction of being the youngest person ever to enrol in UBC’s medical program.
Then Leah Kosyakovsky came along.
Kosyakovsky, all of 16 years old, joined the newest contingent of 288 first-year medical students last month, after having earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in May and being accepted to two other Canadian medical schools.
Typically, students enrol in medical school in their early 20s after spending four years at university, and sometimes pursuing other interests, other degrees or even careers. Zhang and Kosyakovsky, having proven their academic mettle and becoming certain of what interested them, saw no need to wait.
Read the full story here.
Yarrow McConnell, MD
Dr. Yarrow McConnell is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of British Columbia, a Consulting Surgeon at the BC Cancer Agency, and a Surgical Oncologist and General Surgeon at Vancouver Coastal Health. Her clinical focus is the treatment of peritoneal and other advanced abdominal cancers, including those arising from the appendix, colon, rectum, stomach and small bowel.
She received her medical degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning several scholarships and a prize for the highest standing in fourth-year medicine. She went on to complete a residency in general surgery at Dalhousie University and a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Calgary, including time spent as a visiting fellow at the North Hampshire Hospital Foundation’s Peritoneal Malignancy Program in Basingstoke, UK. She holds an MSc in cancer biology from the University of Calgary, and completed the Clinician Investigator Program at the same institution.
During her fellowship in Calgary, Dr. McConnell spent several years at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre learning the hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedure. In 2013, she moved to Vancouver and launched British Columbia’s first HIPEC program at Vancouver General Hospital.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. McConnell is actively engaged in teaching and research. She has published several studies on the use of cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC for advanced peritoneal cancers and has presented extensively on this topic nationally and internationally. Dr. McConnell is a member of numerous professional and learned societies, including the American College of Surgeons, the American and Canadian Societies of Surgical Oncology, and the American Society for Clinical Oncology.
Steven Narod, MD’79
Dr. Steven Narod is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Breast Cancer and is the Director of the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit at Women’s College Hospital. He is a Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and is appointed to the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Narod’s research interests include cancer prevention, detection and management strategies for high-risk women and young women at risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Currently, through funding from the Canadian Cancer Research Society Institute, he directs an international longitudinal study of over 15,000 women who carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Through this database, Dr. Narod has been studying various aspects of hereditary cancer leading to improved understanding of several risk factors, and increased knowledge of surgical and chemopreventive strategies for the prevention of cancer. Dr. Narod is also principal investigator on several other grants from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Currently, he is working on numerous projects to evaluate the effect of oophorectomy on markers of health and quantifying endogenous hormones. Other fields of interest include evaluating the impacts of chemoprevention in BRCA1 carriers and various surgical treatments and chemotherapy regimens on survival and outcome of women with hereditary breast cancer and early-onset breast cancer.
Dr. Narod has published over 600 papers and established collaborations with experts in over 30 countries. He is the second most highly cited breast cancer researcher in the world with an h-index of 93. Dr. Narod is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He received an honorary doctorate from the Pomeranian Medical University. His honours include the Queen Elisabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the O Harold Warwick Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society, the FORCE Spirit of Empowerment Award and the Karen Campbell National Award from Ovarian Cancer Canada.
Stephen Lam, MD
Dr. Lam is Professor of Medicine at UBC in the Respiratory Division. He is currently Chair of the Lung Tumour Group and directs the MDS-Rix Early Lung Cancer Detection and Translational Research Program at the BC Cancer Agency. He is a Distinguished Scientist in the Department of Integrative Oncology at the BC Cancer Research Centre.
Dr. Lam’s research interest is in early detection, chemoprevention and endoscopic therapy of lung cancer. He was the recipient of the Friesen-Rygiel Award for Outstanding Canadian Academic Discovery as a co-inventor of the autofluorescence bronchoscopic system, the Gustav Killian Medal by the World Association of Bronchology for his pioneering contributions to the field of early lung cancer diagnosis, the UBC Killam Faculty Research Prize, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of British Columbia and the Joseph Cullen Award for life-time scientific achievements in lung cancer prevention research by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). At the 2013 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney Australia, he was recognized as one of the individuals who have made significant research advancement in lung cancer in the last 40 years. His clinical and research interests include: Clinical trial of chemopreventive agents to prevent lung cancer, early detection of lung cancer, and interventional endoscopic procedures. He is currently doing breakthrough work in the area of management of lung nodules detected by screening CT.
Marco Marra, PhD
Dr. Marra is the UBC Canada Research Chair in Genome Science, and a member of the Order of British Columbia. He is a recipient of a 2013 UBC Killam Research Prize, and a 2012 and 2007 UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Awards. He was elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2009; and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2007. In 2004, he received a Terry Fox Young Investigator Award and BC Biotech’s Innovation and Achievement Award (together with the entire GSC staff) for sequencing the SARS coronavirus genome. His contributions to genome science led to an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Simon Fraser University in 2004, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary in 2005.
Director of the Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Agency , Dr. Marra is a Distinguished Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Centre, Associate Member of the Michael Smith Laboratories (University of British Columbia), and Professor of Medical Genetics (University of British Columbia).
Dr. Marra has been involved in the development and application of high throughput genomics and bioinformatics strategies across the spectrum of life sciences research. The current focus of his research activities include the characterization of cancer genomes, transcriptomes and epigenomes, with the aim of comprehensive identification of the genetic and epigenetic changes that drive cancer progression. With such information in hand, it is hoped that a new generation of diagnostic, prognostic and treatment options will emerge for the benefit of cancer patients.
Linda Rabeneck, MD’74
As the Vice-President, Prevention and Cancer Control, Dr. Rabeneck oversees Cancer Care Ontario’s prevention, screening, research and surveillance programs. Dr. Rabeneck is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine, at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is also a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto. She is a gastroenterologist and clinician scientist.
Dr. Rabeneck played a leadership role in launching ColonCancerCheck in Ontario, Canada’s first organized, province-wide colorectal cancer screening program.
Dr. Rabeneck leads an active research program focusing on the quality and effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening, and has authored approximately 200 peer-review publications. She currently serves as Global Chair of the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO) Colorectal Cancer Screening Committee, which meets annually in the US and in Europe to facilitate sharing of new knowledge and best practices in colorectal cancer screening around the world.
Dr. Rabeneck has received several awards including a “Women’s Health Hero” Award from Chatelaine magazine in 2004 and the distinction of Master of the American College of Gastroenterology in 2007. In 2007, Dr. Rabeneck was the honoree at the annual Colon Cancer Canada Gala of Hope, held in Toronto. In 2008, Dr. Rabeneck was the recipient of the Achievement, Commitment and Excellence (ACE) Award given to the ColonCancerCheck program team by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Dr. Rabeneck was elected to Fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012.
