Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and Northern Ontario School of Medicine Present Total of $90,000 in Medical Student Research Awards

Posted on March 28, 2008

Earlier today, seven Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) medical students received research awards valued at $6,000 each from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (HSFO). An additional eight NOSM medical students received NOSM Founding Dean’s Summer Medical Student Research Awards also valued at $6,000 each.

This is the third year for the HSFO Summer Medical Student Awards for NOSM. The program is a five-year commitment valued at nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Student research projects supported by the HSFO provide Northern medical students with the opportunity to gain cardiovascular research training while working with an established researcher at NOSM. The projects are carried out all across Northern Ontario. Similarly, the Founding Dean’s awards provide NOSM medical students with an opportunity to conduct hands-on research in a variety of disciplines.

“The Heart and Stroke Foundation, in partnership with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, is beginning to make significant inroads in life-saving heart disease and stroke research for the people of Northern Ontario,” says Dr. Marco Di Buono, Director, Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. “We are building research capacity in the North by keeping bright, young minds in the region. This will help us to meet our Mission of eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact for future generations of Northern Ontarians. It is only through effective partnerships like this, made possible in part through the support of TD Bank Financial Group, that we will meet the needs of the entire population of Ontario.”

This year’s student projects, supported by the HSFO, cover a full range of research studies including:

Diabetic care and prevention in Aboriginal communities
Atherosclerosis and hypertension
Risk factors of pre-stroke and the disability of patients after stroke in Northern Ontario
Prevention and awareness of childhood obesity in North Bay
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Aboriginal Hypertension Management Program
Inter-professional collaboration between different professional bodies as it relates to CVD treatment
Role of specific proteins involved in the regulation of vital cardiac functions

The 2008 recipients of the HSFO Summer Medical Student Awards for NOSM are:

Kashif Ahmed
Olubukunola Ayeni
Elizabeth Cooper
Meghan Garnett
Penny Forth
Marlon Hagerty
David Harris

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario gratefully acknowledges the generous support of TD Bank Financial Group as a supporter of the HSFO Summer Medical Student Awards for the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Immediately following the HSFO presentation, eight NOSM medical students were awarded NOSM Founding Dean Summer Medical Student Research Awards valued at $6,000 each.

Dr. Greg Ross, NOSM’s Associate Dean of Research, expressed enthusiasm regarding the value of the opportunities provided by the Founding Dean Summer Medical Student Research Award. “Our students are very excited to begin working on their projects this summer, and I look forward to working with a number of them,” said Dr. Greg Ross. “The Founding Dean Summer Medical Student Research Awards allow our students to remain in the North for the summer, and gain valuable research experience.”

This year’s student projects, supported by the Founding Dean Summer Medical Student Research Awards, include the following topics:

Functional analysis of externalized behaviour in children with fetal alcohol syndrome
History of disabled children’s health in Northern Ontario
History of medical ethics and military medicine
Aboriginal cancer research consultation
Patient satisfaction in clinics that employ a shared-care approach to mental health
Retrospective study of mentally ill persons in standoff with police
Accuracy of screening for developmental disabilities in primary care settings
Post-operative outcomes of hip fracture hemiarthroplasty in a community hospital versus a tertiary care institution

The 2008 recipients of the Founding Dean Summer Medical Student Research Awards are:

Safiya Adam
Bruce Cook
Kendra Cote
Brandon Entwistle
Stacey Erven
Jennifer McPhail
Carolyn Stark
Lynn Noel de Tilly

NOSM Founding Dean Dr. Roger Strasser noted that the School is fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. “Research Awards provide medical students, our future physicians, with valuable experience in the field of research. I am very excited that fifteen awards, totaling $90,000, have been presented to the School’s medical students today. I would like to congratulate the students on their awards, and wish them success with their research projects,” said Dr. Strasser.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is a pioneering faculty of medicine. The School is a joint initiative of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities, with main campuses in Thunder Bay and Sudbury, and multiple teaching and research sites across Northern Ontario. By educating skilled physicians and undertaking health research suited to community needs, the School will become a cornerstone of community health care in Northern Ontario.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation, a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.