Winter 2014 (Volume 24, Number 4)

Awards, Appointments, Accolades

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Dr. Claire Barber was the recent recipient of a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. This prestigious graduate scholarship supports her PhD thesis work, which focuses on the development and testing of cardiovascular quality indicators for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). She has developed a set of 11 cardiovascular quality indicators through a rigorous process that involved an international panel of clinicians, researchers, and patients who participated in an online panel discussion and modified-Delphi procedure using a platform called ExpertLens (conducted in collaboration with the RAND Corporation). The indicators are presently being tested and will inform the development of an intervention to improve the quality of cardiovascular screening for patients with RA.

Dr. Barber is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, at the University of Calgary. Her research is also supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.

Dr. Mark Hazeltine is a rheumatologist, clinical instructor at the Université de Montréal, and Director of the Centre de Rhumatologie de Laval. He was Chief of Rheumatology at Saint-Luc and Cité de la Santé de Laval hospitals, as well as Chief of Specialized Medicine at the latter. Continuing medical education is his greatest passion. He is the author of the Guide pratique de rhumatologie.

On May 9^th, 2014, Dr. Hazeltine was honoured with the Marie-Thérèse Fortin Prize, an award presented annually at the Laurentian Conference of Rheumatology to a rheumatologist in recognition of his or her professional and human qualities. Dr. Hazeltine is the founder of the Programme d’Accès Rapide Lavallois en Rhumatologie (PARLER), which provides multidisciplinary priority care to patients with various inflammatory conditions. Thanks to this initiative, many of these patients have experienced major improvements in their quality of life and are now able to lead active lives. In awarding Dr. Hazeltine the Marie-Thérèse Fortin Prize, the Laurentian Conference recognized the value of this program.