“Kudos and Congratulations” recognizes achievements by faculty, residents and trainees in the Department of Surgery. Please send items to be included to alice.mui@ubc.ca
79. – Huge news from the Transplant World
Congratulations to: 
Dr. Megan Levings (General Surgery)
who is a leader in Canadian National Transplant Program, a scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) at BC Children’s Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Transplantation.
She and her collaborators have just received a multimillion dollar grant from CIHR and Genome British Columbia. The work is nicely described in the press release from Genome British Columbia
posted : 2013-April-23
78. – Bench to Bedside
Congratulations to: 
Dr. Aziz Ghahary (Plastic Surgery) Professor and Director of the Burn and Wound Healing Laboratory.
Some of his research work has translated into a new diagnostic test for arthritis.
Last week Quest Diagnostics launched a new biomarker in the US which was the result of CIHR funded work by Aziz with collaborators in Edmonton and elsewhere.
It apparently has the potential to help identify early stage RA.
Please read the press release at Quest Diagnostics Launches Novel Rheumatoid Arthritis Tests
posted : 2013-April-22
77. – Lung Cancer patients treated faster
Congratulations: 
Surrey patients with suspicious lung tumours are being diagnosed and surgically treated dramatically faster, due to a new streamlined Rapid Autopilot Program set up by a trio of thoracic surgeons led by
Dr. James Bond (Thoracic Surgery) at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Patients are being diagnosed and treated within 45 days, according to results from the first year of the pilot project, compared to delays of up to 190 days before the program.
This success was highlighted in a Vancouver Sun Story last week.
posted : 2013-April-22
76. – Top 5% in Canada
Congratulations to: 
Eva So a PhD student with Dr. Alice Mui (General Surgery)
who has received a Banting and Best Doctoral Research Award to continue her work on understanding the mechanism of action of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL10). IL10 is the body’s natural protective agent against inflammatory stimuli and trauma…..such as surgical incisions. Eva’s work has already led to development of new drugs that mimics the action of IL10 and inhibits colitis and arthritis. Eva ranked 46th out of 890 students across Canada…… and so was given a day off by her supervisor.
posted : 2013-April-22
75. – Clinician-Scientist-Artist
Congratulations to: 
Dr. Pauline Truong (Radiation Oncology)
on having one of her painting accepted as the cover illustration on the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, the most widely read and respected journal in the field of Radiation Oncology
posted : 2013-April-15
74. – Another star from Poland
Congratulations to: 
Dominika Nackiewicz, a PhD student with Dr. Jan Ehses (General Surgery)
who was awarded a CIHR Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her project on “Using regulatory macrophages (Mregs) to promote beta cell regeneration during islet inflammation”. This project aims to provide insight into understanding the role of macrophages in pancreatic islet inflammation and a possible use of regulatory macrophages as a new strategy to promote β cell regeneration and survival during diabetes and islet transplantation. The purpose of the Vanier Scholarship program is to recruit students from abroad, and is awarded to the top students across Canada. Dominika comes to us from Poland after studying at the University of Virginia.
posted : 2013-April-2
73. – The life of islets
Congratulations to: 
Dr. Dan Luciani (General Surgery)
who has received a career development award from the international Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) for “Identifying and targeting novel cell death pathways in islet graft failure” Today beta-cell replacement by pancreatic islet transplantation is one of the most promising treatments for type 1 diabetes. However, the procedure still faces serious hurdles, including an excessive amount of islet beta-cell death shortly after transplantation. Dr. Luciani’s JDRF-funded project aims to use a combination of microscopy-based screens and mouse transplantation models to identify the cellular death mechanisms that mediate this beta-cell loss, and to determine how this knowledge can best be used to promote human islet graft survival and reach the goal of making clinical islet transplantation a cure for type 1 diabetes.
posted : 2013-February-25
72. – Fireplace safety
Congratulations to: 
Dr. Cindy Verchere (Plastic Surgery)
whose decade long campaign to improve the safety of high efficiency gas fireplaces has resulted in industry-wide safety changes that was recently profiled in a front page story in the Vancouver Sun. The new standard requires all new products sold or installed to be supplied and shipped with a certified protective screen that will prevent people, especially small children, from accidental contact and subsequent severe burns. Read more:
posted : 2013-February-25