Faculty of Medicine Experts in the News: Week of January 16
Friday, January 20, 2012
- Dr. Marc Ruel, University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI), made headlines in media outlets across India for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) as the Star Hospital in Hyderabad is set to open a dedicated MICS unit this month. To mark the occasion, the hospital organized a two-day international workshop on MICS beginning January 16 featuring Dr. Ruel as a speaker.
MICS is rapidly gaining speed in cardiac surgery in Canada and abroad, as MICS facilitates the post-operative healing process for patients as well as lessens the loss of blood during surgery and decreases the patient’s scar length. Dr. Ruel is internationally renowned for pioneering the procedure in cardiac surgery.
In addition to his work at the UOHI, Dr. Ruel is a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, and alum of the Faculty.
- The Ottawa Citizen featured Dr. Jennifer Beecker for her work in medical dermatology at the Pigmented Lesion Clinic. Dr. Beecker currently runs Canada’s only hospital-based clinic focusing on pigmented lesion using a dermatoscope, an advanced tool which allows her to view into the heart of a skin mole or nevus and underlying web of blood vessels and pigment to determine whether the lesion is malignant or benign. She completed her residency at the Faculty in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine and is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology.
- In light of National Non-Smoking Week, local and national media helped encourage Canadians to give up smoking and directed them to the Quit Smoking Program for individual support developed by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
- Global News broadcasted a feature on stem cell research, with commentary provided by Dr. Michael Rudnicki, senior scientist and director of the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI).
The story focused on stem cell clinics abroad providing treatments not currently available in for Canadian patients. Researchers have stated that the science is in the early stages of clinical testing and not yet widely understood, therefore not available for treatment in North America. “This is about making money,” said Dr. Rudnicki, referring to stem cell clinics in foreign countries. “They are lining their own pockets on the grief of other people. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.”
Dr. Rudnicki is a professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Cellular and Molecular medicine.
- Dr. Rajendra Kale continued to create a debate nationwide in his last editorial as interim editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The editorial, titled “It’s a girl!” – could be a death sentence, called for a ban on disclosing the sex of a fetus until 30 weeks to prevent female feticide by sex-selective abortion.
“Female feticide happens in India and China by the millions, but is also happens in North America in numbers large enough to distort the male to female ratio in some ethnic groups,” writes Dr. Kale. “Research in Canada has found the strongest evidence of sex selection at higher parities if previous children were girls among Asians.”
The editorial is available online at www.cmaj.ca. Dr. Kale is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Faculty.