Spring 2014 (Volume 24, Number 1)

Awards, Appointments, Accolades

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Dr. Cheryl Barnabe was the first recipient of the CRA (CIORA)-TAS Clinician Investigator Award in 2013. This award supports further investigation in inflammatory arthritis (IA) aligned with the research pillars of the CIORA grant program. Dr. Barnabe’s research program, called “Arthritis Care for Indigenous Populations,” uses multiple research methodologies to describe disparities in morbidity, identify treatment gaps creating these disparities, and develop interventions to enhance access to relevant and effective healthcare services, encompassing therapeutics, primary care, specialist, and multidisciplinary health services, for indigenous people in Canada.

Dr. Barnabe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary, as well as a Scientist with the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC), and a Faculty Member in the McCaig Bone and Joint Health Institute and the Institute of Public Health.

Dr. Julie Barsalou received the Earl J. Brewer Research Award in 2013 for her abstract entitled “The Effect of Maternal Antimalarial Intake during Pregnancy on the Risk of Neonatal Lupus” that she presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting in San Diego. The Earl J. Brewer Research Award, from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Rheumatology, is presented annually to a fellow who is training at an accredited training program in the US or Canada who has distinguished themself in an area of clinical research.

Dr. Julie Barsalou is completing a lupus fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Earl Silverman and
Dr. Deborah Levy. She will be joining the Pediatric Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy division at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal as a pediatric rheumatologist.

Dr. Nigil Haroon is the 2013 recipient of the Spondylitis Association Bruckel Award, administered by the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA), and named after the co-founder of the association, Jane Bruckel. The award was established in 2011 to identify young investigators who are likely to drive the field of spondyloarthritis forward. In 2013 SAA selected Dr. Nigil Haroon for this award recognizing his contributions to the care and understanding of patients with spondyloarthritis.

Dr. Haroon is a clinician scientist at the University Health Network and an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of Toronto. He is the co-director of the spondylitis clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital and chairs the Wait-Time Initiative of the CRA.
Dr. Haroon recently published the first study that showed that TNF inhibitors are potentially disease-modifying drugs in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). His research focuses on disease pathogenesis and progression, and he indicates that “there has been significant progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis of AS, thanks to modern high-throughput techniques. We endeavour through our laboratory research program to gain a better understanding of the role of novel genes in AS pathogenesis and treatment responses.”

Dr. Peter Tugwell was one of 25 appointments to the rank of Officer of the Order of Canada, the second-highest ranking conferred by our country. The Officer appointment "recognizes a lifetime of achievement and merit of a high degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large."

Dr. Tugwell is a Canada Research Chair, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Community Medicine, as well as Director of the Centre for Global Health at the University of Ottawa. He is the founding Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group, former Division Head of Rheumatology at McMaster University and still has a rheumatology practice at the University of Ottawa. He is co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. He is Convenor of the Campbell and Cochrane Equity Methods Group, Co-Chair of the Campbell International Development Review Group, a former member of the Cochrane Steering Group, and a founding member of Cochrane, having co-chaired the very first Oxford meeting.