Dean's Message
The collection of stories in the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) 2024-2025 Report to Community share a common thread — remarkable people who are inspired to create change.
People like the Broderick family, who invest in advanced cardiac research to improve the quality of life for Albertans living with genetic heart conditions. The young woman featured above, Kadence Foley, is benefiting from this generous gift.
Accelerated by Geoff and Anna Cumming, our international connections and partnerships are growing and have never been more important or more impactful. Collaboration is now underway between Canada and Australia.
This partnership — with the Doherty Institute, a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and home to the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics — is advancing critical research in infectious diseases and microbial medicine.
This year, you’ll read about the Pathways to Medicine Scholarship program, which is powered by philanthropic and alumni support to provide opportunities for young Albertans from underrepresented communities to attend medical school.
There is no greater mission within our medical school than to educate future doctors who reflect the communities they serve.
Dr. Todd Anderson, MD’85
Dean of Cumming School of Medicine
We’re tremendously grateful to the community members, alumni, students, faculty and staff who come together with a collective might that turns dreams into reality, ideas into action, and generosity into change.
I hope you enjoy learning about the people who are reimagining health at the CSM for Albertans and people around the world. I encourage everyone to seek opportunities to join us on our journey.
Our achievements:
2024-2025
By the numbers: April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025
A gift from the heart
Young woman grateful to Calgary family who made transformational gift to cardiomyopathy program.
Kadence Foley is a bright, ambitious 21-year-old university student from Airdrie, Alberta, who enjoys giving back to her community, going to the gym and hanging out with her friends.
She also has Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), an inherited disease that damages her nervous system and affects her mobility, requiring her to use a wheelchair. It has led to her developing genetic cardiomyopathy, a progressive weakness of the heart muscle that can result in heart failure or sudden cardiac arrest. It makes everything she loves to do more challenging.
“FA is taking away a lot of stuff I can do with friends like going out,” says Foley. “The challenges with cardiomyopathy would be me running out of breath or my heart rate flying higher than others.”
But, thanks to a transformational gift to the Libin Cardiovascular Institute at the CSM from Calgary’s Broderick family, Foley is benefiting from advancements in research and care at a specialized clinic for neuromuscular disorders — the only one of its kind in southern Alberta. The research at the Broderick Cardiac Neuromuscular Clinic, part of the Broderick Cardiomyopathy Program, is led by Dr. Omid Kiamanesh, MD, who is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences at the CSM and a member of the Libin Institute.
Kadence Foley, centre, pictured with mom Shanna Leavitt, left, and Dr. Omid Kiamanesh, MD.
Photo credit: Adrian Shellard
“This gift from the Broderick family has made a massive impact on the well-being of Albertans living with genetic heart-muscle disorders by establishing a specialized multidisciplinary clinic that services all of southern Alberta. We’re able to provide cutting-edge care and research to better understand how we can look after our patients,” says Dr. Kiamanesh.
The Broderick family, which owns Trail Appliances in Calgary, was interested in the work and research UCalgary was doing in cardiomyopathy.
“As a family business, we have been very involved in the community over the years and it was important for us to support this groundbreaking work,” says Paul Broderick.
“Even if one family can benefit from this research, then it’s the least we can do.”
Fuelling cardiomyopathy research and care
The Brodericks’ transformational gift also supports the Broderick Genetic Cardiomyopathy Clinic and the Southern Alberta Cardiomyopathy Registry — a clinical and research-based registry that follows people who have or are at risk of developing genetic cardiomyopathy. It allows researchers to better understand who might be at risk for developing heart-failure events, such as the need for heart transplantation, as well as arrhythmic events — abnormal heart rhythms that could be life threatening.
When I heard about the family that donated to the cardiomyopathy program, it made me feel special because someone out there thought about people like me or other people with this kind of heart condition.
Kadence Foley
Kadence Foley, right, pictured with sister Addison, left, and mom, Shanna in 2019.
Established in January 2025, the registry has already recruited more than 500 people in southern Alberta. It will save lives because it allows clinicians to diagnose more patients with genetic cardiomyopathies sooner.
“Unfortunately, by the time you develop symptoms of heart failure, the disease is quite advanced and often irreversible. We can diagnose high-risk genetic syndromes and start lifesaving treatments that reduce the risk of heart failure and sudden death,” says Dr. Kiamanesh.
Once a patient is diagnosed, the team will then offer genetic testing to first-degree relatives who might be at risk.
A special connection
Foley was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and FA in May 2015 at the age of 11, shortly after her eight-year-old sister, Addison, was also diagnosed. Addison sadly passed away in July 2020 at the age of 13, due to heart complications associated with her condition.
“I miss just having that best friend beside you the whole time. We did everything together,” says Foley.
She is now in her second year studying social media and digital marketing at Mount Royal University, and volunteers at the BGC Airdrie Club. Foley, who also has diabetes and epilepsy, requires appointments at different sites around Calgary to treat her complex health needs. But coming to the Broderick Cardiac Neuromuscular Clinic is one she looks forward to.
“Dr. Kiamanesh always makes me smile. He’s kind with his words. When I tell him what’s going on, he always makes sure to go beyond what I’m asking and reassuring me,” says Foley. She’s grateful to the Brodericks for their generosity and how their gift is helping her and others with similar conditions.
“When I heard about the family that donated to the cardiomyopathy program, it made me feel special because someone out there thought about people like me or other people with this kind of heart condition,” says Foley.
Meeting the Cancer Challenge
OWN.CANCER campaign shatters $250M goal
The future of southern Albertans facing cancer will be forever changed after the OWN.CANCER campaign topped its fundraising goal in support of world-leading research, innovation and care at the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary.
A sunlit-filled patient room at The Arthur Child.
This remarkable achievement was made possible by a united community of more than 17,000 donors. Together, this collective generosity raised more than $290-million, including major contributions from the Arthur J.E. Child Foundation, Stan and Marge Owerko, and the Riddell family.
Now one of the largest cancer centres in North America, the Arthur Child began welcoming patients in late 2024. The centre brings together world-class care, cutting-edge research and patient wellness in a bright, healing environment — all under one roof.
Thanks to donor support, the Arthur Child — together with researchers at the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute — will advance global leadership in cancer screening and risk-reduction research, discovery and testing of diagnostics and therapeutics. This includes new immunotherapies (harnessing the immune system to fight cancer) and cancer-survivorship research. It will also bring more life-saving clinical trials to Albertans and give cancer patients access to some of the most advanced and precise cancer-treatment technology on the planet.
The University of Calgary, the Alberta Cancer Foundation and Alberta Health Services partnered on the OWN.CANCER campaign, highlighting how the more we own cancer, the less it owns us.
Calgary family’s $2M gift helps UCalgary research team turn data into better cancer treatments
An innovative oncology data-research program at the CSM is using real-world evidence to tailor treatments for people living with cancer — thanks to philanthropy.
Calgary’s Hugh and Laureen Borgland generously gave $2- million to the Oncology Outcomes (02) initiative, which analyzes data to see what treatments or interventions might be the most effective for future cancer care. Housed at CSM’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute under the direction of oncologist-researcher Dr. Winson Cheung, MD, O2 has already made several data-research discoveries that are benefiting real patients.
The Borglands wanted to make a difference and lead by example. “I hope it attracts other people to donate,” says Hugh, BA’67.
The couple also feels it’s important for their children and grandchildren to see them giving back to their community.
One of O2’s recent studies applied advanced analytics and predictive algorithms to a large subset of data to see which breast cancer patients would benefit from chemotherapy. The initiative is also making great strides in improving treatments for kidney cancer with a study on which sequence of immunotherapies
Hugh and Laureen Borgland in the new Borgland Family Quiet Space at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Dr. Winson Cheung, MD examines data in the O2 lab at the Arthur Child.
would benefit the most kidney cancer patients. The findings have resulted in updates to treatment guidelines.
“This is a good example of how our work is benefiting patients locally and internationally,” says Dr. Cheung.
The 30-member O2 team has also undertaken lung cancer studies, including one that is helping to improve treatment delivery to make sure newly diagnosed patients get timely access to advanced life-changing treatment options.
They’re collaborating with B.C. and Ontario teams to expand their research into a variety of other tumour types.
New research hub studies environmental sources of cancer, including radon
The Environmental Cancer Research Hub at the Robson DNA Science Centre, within the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, brings together experts from multiple disciplines to study environmental sources of lung cancer.
UCalgary researcher Dr. Aaron Goodarzi, PhD, pictured, is leading a national study to understand the effects of radon exposure on lung cancer.
With environmental factors — in addition to tobacco cigarette smoke — now known to be a major cause of lung cancer in Canada, a new UCalgary transdisciplinary research hub will pinpoint how these exposures happen and what we can do about it.
The Environmental Cancer Research Hub at the Robson DNA Science Centre, within the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, brings together experts from multiple disciplines to study environmental sources of lung cancer such as wildfire smoke and radioactive radon, which is drawn up from the ground into homes.
“The Hub features state-of-the-art technology such as a metal-free lab where scientists can measure the level of radioactive and heavy metals that have been absorbed into the body or that are present within pollutants captured from the air,” says research lead Dr. Aaron Goodarzi, BSc’99, PhD’05, a professor in the departments of Oncology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, at the CSM and director of the Robson DNA Science Centre.
Generous giving by the Alberta Cancer Foundation, Diane Colton and the Robson family helped launch the Hub.
Results from a landmark cross-Canada study published last fall by Dr. Goodarzi and his team found a concerning rise in radon exposure in Canada. An estimated 10.3 million people live in homes containing amounts of radon that raise their lifetime risk for lung cancer to worrying levels.
“That was absolutely a game changer in terms of public awareness. In October and November, the publication of the report prompted a quarter of a million Canadians to Google the word ‘radon,’” says Dr. Goodarzi.
The Hub builds on the work of the Evict Radon National Study — which Dr. Goodarzi also leads — to study and raise awareness about the dangers of radon. This year, the Evict Radon National Study team launched a large project to investigate the accumulation of radioactive metal levels arising from radon exposure in people, using toenail clippings.
The team continues to recruit up to 10,000 Canadians to test their homes for radon, which can be done by ordering a radon kit. If levels are high, the good news is that there are measures that can be taken to reduce it.
Since exposure to high levels of an environmental toxicant typically happens one to two decades before the resulting lung cancer is diagnosed, knowing someone’s historic exposure to radon well in advance of any cancer diagnosis could save lives by enabling earlier screening.
Access for all: Pathways to Medicine Program celebrates its 10th year
The Pathways to Medicine Scholarship Program (P2M) at UCalgary provides students from underrepresented communities in Alberta a chance to study medicine.
After Dr. Mathieu Chin completed his Bachelor of Science in kinesiology, his dream came true when he matched to the Internal Medicine program. He is now an internal medicine resident at UCalgary.
“The Pathways to Medicine program had an immense impact on my post-secondary education, and this would not be possible without generous donors and the wonderful mentors involved in the program. I am truly humbled to have been a part of the program and for the opportunity to be a learner in medicine,” says Dr. Chin, BSc’20, MD’23.
“It has given me a unique opportunity to not only pursue my dreams of becoming a physician, but also the privilege of being a part of a community filled with mentors and role models like no other.”
The P2M program hosted a Celebration of Excellence in April 2025, honouring students from the graduating classes of 2019 to present, and welcoming 85 current students, graduates, family members, faculty members, staff and donors. Going forward, annual celebrations will be held.
Dr. Mathieu Chin reads the Graduates’ Pledge at his 2023 graduation.
“It was wonderful to celebrate the success of so many students
and to see how the P2M program has changed lives,” says program director Dr. Ian Walker, MD’98.
The program is modelled after similar programs in the U.S. to provide opportunities to lower socio-economic or socially disadvantaged applicants who may not have the necessary financial resources or social network. Each year, the P2M program provides five UCalgary students scholarships of up to $20,000 each, at $5,000 per year for a maximum of four years.
Dr. Ian Walker
The P2M program hosted a Celebration of Excellence in April 2025, honouring students from the graduating classes of 2019 to present, and welcoming 85 current students, graduates, family members, faculty members, staff and donors. Going forward, annual celebrations will be held.
“It was wonderful to celebrate the success of so many students and to see how the P2M program has changed lives,” says program director Dr. Ian Walker, MD’98.
The program is modelled after similar programs in the U.S. to provide opportunities to lower socio-economic or socially disadvantaged applicants who may not have the necessary financial resources or social network. Each year, the P2M program provides five UCalgary students scholarships of up to $20,000 each, at $5,000 per year for a maximum of four years.
Donor giving provides extra supports for students and other enhancements to the program, which gets its core funding from UCalgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. “These future physicians will have a direct impact on health care in the province and it’s all possible thanks to philanthropy,” says Dr. Walker.
He says additional donor funding will allow P2M to expand and provide opportunities for even more students.
“We have the capacity to expand the program up to probably 10 students a year if we had the financial support to do that,” says Dr. Walker.
UCalgary alumni Dr. John Shepherd, MSc’78, MD’81, and Verna Magee Shepherd, MSc‘79, have been supporting P2M since 2018.
“It’s great to see the success of the P2M program. We look forward to continuing to support this important initiative,” says John.
To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled in any UCalgary undergraduate program. Upon meeting all the criteria and successful completion of their degree, they will earn guaranteed admission to UCalgary’s MD program at the CSM. They will also be provided mentorship, support for their Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), opportunities to practise their interview for the CSM and access to relevant workshops and seminars. As well as becoming physicians, students who have completed the program have gone on to work in other fields like addictions counselling, social work, nursing and other social-services organizations.
International partnership accelerates pandemic preparedness and microbial medicine solutions
Cumming gifts power joint Melbourne-Calgary Collaborative Seed Funding Program in infectious disease research
UCalgary’s Dr. Kathy McCoy, PhD, is working on two research projects at the University of Melbourne.
Thanks to a research partnership — sparked by Geoff and Anna Cumming’s generosity — between the University of Calgary and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne, researchers at both institutions are now working shoulder-to-shoulder to advance innovative projects in infectious diseases research and microbial medicine.
More than $155,000 Cdn in collective grant funding was awarded in 2024 in two streams. Projects focused on One Health (how human health is linked to animals and the environment) and antimicrobial resistance, diagnostics and clinical trials received three Melbourne-Calgary Collaborative Seed Grants. Two additional seed grants, jointly funded by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics and the CSM’s Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, were also awarded with a focus on technologies that will ease the burden of the next pandemic. Each project has co-principal investigators based at UCalgary and the Doherty Institute.
“Throughout the application process, it was heartening to see our talented researchers working together across institutes to come up with new ideas that could lead to the next critical breakthrough in tackling infectious diseases globally,” says Dr. Todd Anderson, MD’85, dean of the CSM.
The partnership between institutions grew out of shared strength in researching infectious diseases, immunology and the microbiome, as well as a connection born from the generosity of philanthropist Geoff Cumming, BA’74, Hon. LLD’16. Cumming made a $100-million gift to UCalgary in June 2014, establishing the CSM, and, in August 2022, he and his wife, Anna made a $250-million gift to the University of Melbourne via the Doherty Institute establishing the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics.
Dr. Kathy McCoy, PhD, a professor at the CSM and scientific director of the International Microbiome Centre (IMC), the largest academic germ-free facility in the world, was awarded two grants, one in each funding stream. She is currently in Melbourne working on the projects. Working with the Doherty Institute’s Dr. Maximilien Evard, PhD, one project explores whether mice colonized with a wild microbiome (naturally occurring in the environment) have a stronger immune response to viral infections. In the other project, Dr. McCoy is studying how microbiome therapeutics can be used to fight harmful antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gut.
“While both of these two projects are fundamental research, our goal is to leverage the new information to better understand host-microbiome interactions and how the microbiome impacts human health and disease,” says Dr. McCoy. “Our ultimate goal is to generate precise microbial therapeutics to treat patients affected by many diseases, including inflammation, cancer, infections, autoimmunity and more.”
Dr. McCoy adds the work they are doing also extends to future pandemics, which is the core mission of the Cumming Global Centre.
During her exchange in Melbourne, Dr. McCoy is also sharing information about UCalgary and its microbiome research program, fostering new collaborations and identifying funding opportunities for joint ventures. She and her Melbourne counterparts have already received funding for a four-year grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia for their work on testing live bacterial treatments. Work Dr. McCoy has enjoyed with the added benefit of missing a Canadian winter.
“It was certainly great to escape the Calgary winter. Melbourne is a vibrant city with lots to offer, so there is no way I have been able to experience everything! However, I am enjoying the sunshine, the coffee and the collegiality of Melburnians.”
L-R: Maximilien Evard, PhD, Geoff Cumming, Dr. Kathy McCoy and Dr. Peter Doherty, PhD, attend a lunch honouring the grant recipients in Melbourne.
L-R: Philanthropists Geoffrey and Anna Cumming; University of Melbourne former vice-chancellor, professor Duncan Maskell, PhD; Doherty Institute director, professor Sharon Lewin, PhD, and University of Melbourne deputy vice-chancellor research, professor Jim McCluskey, MD.
It was certainly great to escape the Calgary winter. Melbourne is a vibrant city with lots to offer, so there is no way I have been able to experience everything! However, I am enjoying the sunshine, the coffee and the collegiality of Melburnians.
Dr. Kathy McCoy
Other Melbourne-Calgary Collaborative Seed grant recipients include UCalgary’s Dr. Dylan Pillai, MD, PhD, who is developing rapid diagnostics for the mpox virus with the Doherty Institute’s Dr. Shivani Pasricha, MD; and UCalgary’s Dr. Ranjani Somayaji, MD‘10, PGME‘15, an associate professor who is working alongside the Doherty Institute’s Dr. Steven Tong, PhD, on a clinical trials-focused project on electronic health records of patients with enterococcal bacteraemia, a bloodstream infection that predominantly affects elderly and immunocompromised people.
UCalgary’s Dr. Simon Hirota, PhD, with the Doherty Institute’s Dr. Laura Cook, PhD, were awarded a Melbourne-Calgary Enabling Capabilities Collaborative Seed Grant to consolidate their expertise in human organoids (small organs made in the lab from stem cells) to aid pandemic therapeutic research.
Making women's health a priority - not an afterthought
Women’s health has historically been under-researched. And many treatment protocols prescribed for women were shaped by clinical trials on men.
The Cumming School of Medicine is committed to changing that, one study at a time.
Our donors are helping make it possible.
Getting to the heart of women’s cardiovascular health
Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide but most of the research has been focused on men? It has led to women being understudied, underdiagnosed and undertreated.
Dr. Roopinder Sandhu, BSc‘98, MD
As the new director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative (WCHI) at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, Dr. Roopinder Sandhu, BSc‘98, MD, wants to make women’s heart-health research a priority.
“The WCHI is well positioned to be a globally recognized centre of excellence in women’s cardiovascular health-care delivery, research, education and knowledge translation, right here in Calgary,” says Dr. Sandhu.
The WCHI is made up of clinicians and researchers with diverse cardiology expertise leading innovative research to improve our understanding of women’s heart health, from the cell level to the health-care system.
Dr. Sandhu, who was born and raised in Calgary, was recruited from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to be the Initiative’s director in early 2024. She brings a wealth of experience as a cardiovascular epidemiologist, heart-rhythm specialist and health-services researcher, along with her passion for women’s health. She also holds the Martha Brauer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research — made possible by an anonymous Alberta donor.
Under her leadership, the WCHI will focus on clinical care, research, education and community outreach, thanks to a significant boost from The Dilawri Foundation.
Giving helps expand study on how the menstrual cycle affects joints
When several of her female patients told her they were experiencing more joint pain or issues with their shoulders or knees during certain times in their menstrual cycle, Dr. Ranita Manocha, MD, became interested in learning more.
Dr. Ranita Manocha, MD, a physiatrist, clinical associate professor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the CSM, and member of the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, began studying the effect female hormones have on knee laxity (excessive looseness) in nine hypermobile women between the ages of 18-35.
The study, in collaboration with Drs. David Hart, PhD, and Koren Roach, PhD, was initially made possible in part by a McCaig Institute grant. Thanks to a gift from the Canerector Foundation, it has now grown to include 30 women with hypermobility and 30 women without. Data analyses will be conducted to test knee laxity, muscle strength and structure.
“Are there certain times people are more at risk of injury? Can we recommend certain exercises to help, reduce that risk or perhaps recommend participation in certain sports at certain times of the month?” says Dr. Manocha.
Donor funding has also allowed Dr. Manocha and her team to investigate muscle activity changes and changes in other joints, hire a trainee to support the work and upgrade their equipment.
“It’s just been invaluable,” she says.
Dr. Ranita Manocha, MD
Closing gaps in women’s reproductive health research and care
At The Sex, Gender and Women’s Health Research Hub (SGWH*) at the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, Dr. Erin Brennand, MD, is working towards healthier future generations of women by closing gaps in research, care and policy.
Dr. Erin Brennand, PGME 11, MSc‘20, MD, director of the SGWH*, member of the CSM’s O’Brien Institute for Public Health, the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
We are fostering collaboration, driving impactful research and ensuring that women’s health isn’t an afterthought — it’s a priority,” says Dr. Erin Brennand, PGME 11, MSc‘20, MD, director of the SGWH*, member of the CSM’s O’Brien Institute for Public Health, the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
Dr. Brennand says while women make up half the population, their health concerns are inadequately researched and undertreated — leading to unnecessary suffering. These include reproductive-health conditions such as endometriosis, menopause and pelvic-floor disorders. Women are also twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, yet there is limited research on gender-specific treatment.
“Women’s biology affects every organ system, and the assumption that one-size-fits-all medicine works for both genders has left us with serious gaps in understanding how conditions develop and how treatments should be tailored,” Dr. Brennand says.
With a goal of collaborating across all CSM research institutes and the university, the SGWH* brings together faculty, researchers and students interested in strengthening and expanding research on female biology and women’s health across the lifespan.
The SGWH* addresses potentially avoidable and/or inefficient care in women’s health that drives up medical risk, health-care costs or delay in women’s ability to receive care, as well as increasing access to contraception and reproductive health services and advancing research on polycystic ovary syndrome, pregnancy outcomes, and how disabilities affect sexual and reproductive health.
“We are working to change the system — not just by conducting research, but by making sure it informs policy, practice and public understanding,” says Dr. Brennand.
Why women may be more likely to experience chronic pain
Dr. Tuan Trang, PhD, is studying differences in pain between the sexes.
Women are more likely to experience chronic pain than men and a new study by UCalgary professor Dr. Tuan Trang, PhD, may provide insight into why.
Dr. Trang, a researcher in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the CSM and associate dean in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, studied neuropathic pain caused by injury to a nerve or the nervous system in rats and mice.
“Both males and females develop pain, but each sex develops it through different means,” says Dr. Trang, who is also a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
He says the study, published in Neuron, identified a specific immune cell that is distinctive to each sex. They found that in women, activation of the pain signal in this immune cell releases leptin, a hormone which causes heightened pain sensitivity.
This research was supported in part by Calgary philanthropists Donna and Rod Evans. Dr. Trang has also received grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Dr. Tuan Trang, PhD
‘Life-changing’ course brings researchers and families together to shape neurodevelopmental research
11-year-old Callum Heathcote provides important input as a research partner with the Precision Neurodevelopment Lab at UCalgary.
UCalgary’s Dr. Sarah MacEachern, MD’16, PhD’16, PGME’19, PGME’21, says taking the Family Engagement in Research (FER) course, presented by the Azrieli Accelerator, gave her invaluable insights that have shaped her work as a clinician and researcher who works with patients and families.
Dr. MacEachern, a member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), is a developmental pediatrician and assistant professor at the CSM. She leads the Precision Neurodevelopment Lab, which is dedicated to finding solutions to challenges faced by children and youth with neurodevelopmental conditions and their families.
MacEachern completed the FER course in 2023. “I did the course out of a desire to be a better researcher and a better doctor. It was a life-changing, career-changing experience and it truly changed the way I approach research and clinical practice,” she says.
During the 10-week-course, Dr. MacEachern connected with Greta Heathcote, MEd’12, associate director of the Work-Integrated Learning for Neurodivergent
Students Initiative at UCalgary and parent of an 11-year-old neurodivergent son, Callum. After the course was completed, Dr. MacEachern invited Heathcote and her son to join her team and help inform the direction of the research. Two years later, Heathcote and Callum are still valued members of her team.
“Most people coming from a research or clinical perspective are used to being the content experts, but the people with lived experience are the true content experts. You have to come into it with a spirit of openness,” says Dr. MacEachern.
Callum says it’s important to involve kids and their families with personal experience. “They can help the researchers make things that actually work and help people with learning disabilities have a better experience in life,” he says.
Presented by the Azrieli Accelerator, in collaboration with One Child Every Child through ACHRI, FER
Dr. Sarah MacEachern, MD, PhD, leads UCalgary’s Precision Neurodevelopment Lab.
invites researchers and people with lived experience to help shape the future of neurodevelopmental research. The program was developed by the CanChild research group at McMaster University and, for the last three years, the Azrieli Accelerator has sponsored a cohort exclusive to researchers and people with lived experience of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD from Calgary and across Alberta.
The Azrieli Accelerator, under the leadership of Dr. Susan Graham, PhD, launched at UCalgary in 2022 thanks to a generous $25-million gift from the Azrieli Foundation in support of transformative neurodevelopment research with a lifespan perspective. By supporting programs like the FER course, the Azrieli Accelerator is building capacity for meaningful collaborations like that of Dr. MacEachern and Heathcote, and advancing neurodevelopment research that is collaborative, transdisciplinary and impact driven.
Meet the donors
Our generous community helps advance research, empowers students and fuels innovation at the CSM. From grassroots fundraising to transformational gifts, meet the donors who are sparking change.
Jackie Robertson
At only 39 years old, Jackie Robertson’s sudden onset of headaches turned out to be an unruptured brain aneurysm (a bulge in a blood vessel that has not yet burst). Grateful to have made a full recovery after undergoing a craniotomy at Foothills Medical Centre, she knew she wanted to do something to give back.
Robertson organized a fundraiser in September 2024, 10 months after her surgery, at her home in Canmore, Alberta. Eighty people attended the Backyard Benefit for Brains, which raised more than $22,000 for aneurysm research at UCalgary.
“I wanted recognition to go to the amazing resources and institutions we have here in Alberta — what people at UCalgary and Foothills dedicate their lives to,” says Robertson. “The technologies that are being developed and the innovation going towards brain surgery is just mind-blowing and will provide patient safety and better outcomes.”
The funds raised will help to support Dr. Alim Mitha, PGME’09, MD, and his research team at UCalgary who are studying tissue engineering for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
“This donation is extremely impactful to our lab,” says Mitha, an associate professor at the CSM. “There’s not a lot of funding out there for new ideas. Getting funding from a generous donor like Jackie — we can actually use it to do pilot experiments and really come up with novel possible treatments.”
Sunny Sharma
A lifelong engineer and global energy executive, with much of his career spent in Calgary, Sunny Sharma takes great satisfaction in mentoring the next generation of leaders. He also believes in giving back to the communities and institutions that have helped shape his path.
Sharma has been investing in students at UCalgary since 2021. He supports the Sharma Family Bursary in Medicine for undergraduate students entering their first, second or third year of CSM’s MD program, and the Sharma Family Bursary for undergraduate students entering the Schulich School of Engineering.
Supporting medical students means investing in the long-term well-being of our society. “The Sharma Family Bursary in Medicine was inspired by our desire to support students who are passionate about medicine but may face financial barriers. We wanted to help lighten their load so they can focus on learning and ultimately improving the lives of others through their work,” he says.
Sharma also supports engineering students as a way to give back to a profession that has given him so much.
“I’ve seen first-hand how access to education can change lives and I feel a responsibility to help others access those same opportunities,” says Sharma.
Cal Wenzel Family Foundation
With a deep-rooted commitment to service, the founders of Calgary’s Shane Homes have built more than homes — they’ve built hope. Cal and Edith Wenzel’s generous support for research and education at the CSM has been fundamental to the medical school’s success — including a $16-million investment in precision health and $4-million gift to the OWN.CANCER Campaign.
“Calgary researchers make amazing discoveries which are published in medical journals, but not everyone hears about them,” Cal says, with passion in his voice. “We want to draw attention to these discoveries and successes so other donors will consider investing.”
In 2024, Shane Homes celebrated 45 years with $4.5 million in community giving across Calgary, including more than $600,000 to the CSM for research in ALS, kidney disease and cardiovascular research training.
In 1979, when the modular home company Cal worked for closed, he leveraged carpentry skills he learned from his dad as a teen to start his own home building company. He still arrives at the office at 5 a.m. most days.
The CSM’s Cal Wenzel Precision Health Building now serves as a hub for groundbreaking research, a lasting testament to Cal and Edith’s belief in the power of science to change lives.