Celebrating the Top 40 Under 40

Avenue Magazine Calgary has announced its 2020 list of The Top 40 Under 40, celebrating the breadth and depth of what is being achieved in the city.

More than half of this year’s honourees have links to the University of Calgary, and six are O’Brien Institute for Public Health members.

Avenue Magazine Calgary Top 40 Under 40

Dr. Ilyan Ferrer

Assistant professor, Faculty of Social Work; associate member, O’Brien Institute for Public Health, both UCalgary 

Dr. Ilyan Ferrer, PhD, has parlayed his childhood observations into an academic specialization known as social gerontology. An author, recognized expert, researcher and professor, Dr. Ferrer is also the first Filipino-Canadian to receive a tenure-track position in social work in Canada.

UCalgary News: Top 40 Under 40 Part One

Dr. Rita Henderson

Assistant professor, departments of Family Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, UCalgary

What knowledge Dr. Rita Henderson gathered from her PhD research — that focused on the social impacts of multigenerational trauma in Chile — she now applies to the health effects of historical trauma among Indigenous communities in North America. It’s apt that one of her heroes, she says, is “Viola Desmond, for pushing for a civil rights movement of Canada through everyday resistance.”

Dr. Rahim Kachra

Clinical associate professor of medicine; director of Teaching Innovation and director of the Internal Medicine Clerkship, Undergraduate Medical Education, Cumming School of Medicine, UCalgary

When Dr. Rahim Kachra, MD chose to specialize in internal medicine, he predicted he’d always be challenged. Little did he know that one day he’d organize the teaching of more than 600 local physicians who were working on inpatient COVID-19 medical units, create virtual education programs for medical students during the pandemic, and get married, all in the same year.

UCalgary News: Top 40 Under 40 Part Two  

Dr. Alexander Ah-Chi Leung
Assistant professor, departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, UCalgary

The statistics are startling: high blood pressure affects one in four Canadians — approximately 250,000 Calgarians.

This is precisely why the work of Dr. Alex Leung, MD, as it pertains to identifying and treating the hormonal imbalances that cause high blood pressure, is so critical.

UCalgary News: Top 40 Under 40 Part Three

Dr. Carly McMorris

Assistant professor, School and Applied Child Psychology, Werklund School of Education, UCalgary; registered child clinical psychologist

In just under four years as assistant professor in UCalgary’s Werklund School of Education and director of the ENHANCE Lab (the acronym stands for enriching research in neurodevelopment, health and child education), Dr. Carly McMorris, PhD, is successfully altering the perception of mental health in children and youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) such as autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

UCalgary News:  Top 40 Under 40 Part Four

Dr. Tyler Williamson

Associate professor of biostatistics and director, Health Data Science and Biostatistics Program, UCalgary

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tyler Williamson, PhD, was called upon to work closely with Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s office to help inform City leaders about what is happening within Calgary, helping shape provincial and municipal policy. Prior to COVID-19, Dr. Williamson was key in developing the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN), which gives primary-care researchers and providers across Canada electronic access to health data.