Way to go Snyder Institute members!

June 20, 2022

Congratulations to Dr. Remo Panaccione, MD, professor and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) researcher, who was first co-author of two studies (Links to study #1 and study #2) and senior author of another study published in a recent issue of The Lancet. He was also co-author of a fourth study published in The Lancet last week. A remarkable achievement and testament to the quality of work being done by Dr. Panaccione and others at the Snyder Institute and the Cumming School of Medicine. He is a professor in the Department of Medicine, a member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, the Crohn's Colitis Canada IBD research chair and assistant dean, MD Admissions.

“There remains a significant unmet need for patients suffering from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis,” says Dr. Panaccione. “It's important to develop therapies that not only get patients better but keep them better while being robust enough to meet important endpoints that change disease trajectory. The results of these studies represent more than seven years of development. It is very rewarding to see them to the finish line, and to learn that the therapies we studied have the potential to change the lives of patients today and tomorrow.”

Dr. John Conly, MD, recently received the 2022 Canadian Medical Association’s F.N.G. Starr Award for lifetime achievement. He also co-published a study with the U of A in a major publication relevant to COVID-19: Detection and quantification of infectious severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 in diverse clinical and environmental samples – PubMed (nih.gov)

Dr. Derek McKay, PhD, received an Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Sweden’s Linkoping University for his contributions to that university and for his research in digestive health and disease.

Dr. Kathy McCoy, PhD, received the Canadian Society of Immunology's Investigator Award. 

Dr. Guido van Marle, PhD, was inducted into UCalgary Students’ Union Teaching Excellence Hall of Fame.

Josefien Hommes, PhD candidate (Dr. Bas Surewaard lab) was recently awarded the Achievers in Medical Science Doctoral Scholarship by the Graduate Award Office of the University of Calgary the most prestigious doctoral scholarships in medical research.

Mackenzie Gutierrez, PhD candidate (Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta lab), Erik van Tilburg Bernardes, PhD candidate (Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta lab) and Diana Changirwa, MSc (Dr. Braedon McDonald lab) had a review paper in MucosalImmunology with Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta and Dr. Braedon McDonald; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41385-022-00515-w

Xi (Tracy) Tan, Postdoctoral researcher (Dr. George Chaconas lab) has received the 2021 Gordon Dixon Award from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This award recognizes the most outstanding PhD student in the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology program based on research accomplishments during their degree program.

She also received a Cumming School of Medicine/University of Calgary Graduate Student Scholarship, Sept. 2016 – Sept. 2020. This scholarship was established to attract the best graduate students to the Cumming School of Medicine and train them to become leading researchers.

Xi (Tracy) also received the Snyder Institute/Beverley Phillips Rising Star Program Scholarship, Sept. 2016 – Sept. 2018, awarded for outstanding research and scientific studies in autoimmune, inflammatory, immunological and infectious disorders.

Sahar Bagheri, MSc (formerly in the Dr. Laura Sycuro lab) received a Program Thesis Award after being nominated by her examiners following her master’s defense in 2021. Her nominators said that her thesis was equivalent to a PhD project in scope and depth of work.

Simmone D’souza PhD candidate (Dr. Carla Coffin lab) was awarded the CIHR CanHepC-TRR179 Research Exchange Award to perform research in Dr. Stephan Urban’s world-renowned lab in Germany.

Layla Al-Yasiri, MSc student (Dr. Carla Coffin lab) was awarded the CIHR – Canada Graduate Scholarship Master’s Award to continue working on the woodchuck model of viral hepatitis at the University of Calgary.