Shaping the future of health care

From Cumming School of Medicine Dean

Outstanding health care requires deep connections with an engaged community.

Healing the body with your own cells, microbes and genes

Treatment-resistant cancers can leave patients and families feeling hopeless.

Harnessing data research: AI in the emergency department

Busy emergency departments can be challenging for patients and physicians.

Prioritizing women’s health

Through innovation, research, and compassionate care to empower healthier lives at every stage.

Shaping the future of health care

The future of health care is defined by innovation: a new tool allows researchers to rapidly sequence a patient’s microbiome.

Meet the donors

These CSM donors are advancing health, championing innovation and accelerating breakthroughs.

In-hospital infection, such as ventilator-associated pneumonia, remains one of the most serious complications for critically ill patients. For families watching a loved one fight for their life in the ICU (intensive care unit), time is everything.

Now, researchers at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and members of the CSM’s Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases are harnessing an unexpected ally in that fight: the patient’s own microbiome — the community of beneficial bacteria that plays a vital role in your ability to fight off infection.  

“We now know how important certain bacteria is for the immune system,” says Dr. Braedon McDonald, MD’13, PhD’13, PGME’18, ICU physician and researcher. “That led us to develop a tool to that shows which protective microbes ICU patients are missing so we can treat them before infection takes hold.”   

Thanks to a donor-funded catalyst grant from the McKay Family Foundation, McDonald’s team has developed a new, cost-effective test called ONTime. It allows researchers and physicians to rapidly sequence the microbiome and make clinical decisions right at the bedside, instead of sending samples away to a lab.   

Later this year, McDonald and his team will launch a clinical trial at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, using ONTime to guide proactive care for ICU patients at highest risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia.   

“This is a new approach to infection prevention that has the potential to save lives,” says McDonald.   

Dr. Michael Yang, MSc’19, MD, PGME’21, performs minimally invasive spinal surgery on a conscious patient — a practice he learned at the University of Miami.    

Dr. Leslie Skeith, MD’10, PGME’15, is leading an international study on life-threatening blood clots during and after pregnancy, building on training from her University of Ottawa fellowship in thrombosis medicine.  

Dr. Michael Monument, BSc’02, MD’05, MSc’09, PGME’11, specializes in treating tumours of the bones, muscles and connective tissues, a sub-specialty he studied at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

These are just three examples of Calgary physicians at the top of their game, skilled in delivery of some of the world's newest techniques and therapies — with one critical thing in common: Helios UCMG Advanced Fellowship Training Awards.

Yang, Skeith and Monument are among dozens of clinical researchers who’ve been awarded these fellowships over the past 14 years — many of whom are now on faculty at the CSM. The fellowships enable Calgary’s brightest physicians to access the world’s most advanced training, then bring that expertise home. They return with skills and approaches that are new to the city, filling gaps in treatment options for patients.   

This fellowship program was shaped by the generosity and vision of Dr. T. Chen Fong, MD, Hon. LLD’19, a Calgary radiologist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. It is also supported by the University of Calgary Medical Group (UCMG).