Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Lapointe-Shaw, a General Internal Medicine physician and clinician scientist at UHN, who was selected as the recipient of the 2024 PSI Foundation Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation (KT) Fellowship.
The PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship – valued at $300,000 over two or three years – helps protect a promising new clinician investigator's research time, allowing the Fellow to undertake high-impact translational research in Ontario.
Dr. Lapointe-Shaw and her team will use the fellowship funds to identify the quality improvement priorities of patients admitted to general medical wards and of their caregivers. The number of patients cared for on the general medical wards has increased over the past decade and is expected to increase in line with the population aging.
Dr. Lapointe-Shaw's team will group concept mapping to first elicit contributors to the patient and caregiver experience, then ask patients and caregivers to rate and sort these ideas to create a map of key concepts, and to identify the top priorities for quality improvement.
Throughout all steps of the process, they will focus on recruiting a diverse group of participants, to reflect the broad experience and perspectives of the general medical community.
"The PSI Graham Farquharson KT Fellowship offers much-needed stability to early physician researchers, allowing them time to focus on their research and KT work," Dr. Lapointe-Shaw says. “This time is pivotal to launching one's career."
Congratulations to Jennifer Harrison, Pharmacy Clinical Lead at Toronto General Hospital and assistant professor (status) at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, for receiving the Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST) Education and Teaching Excellence Award.
The award is in recognition of exemplary commitment to the CST mission through excellence in teaching and educational program development, as part of the care of Canadian organ transplant patients. Jennifer has truly been a trailblazer in the field of transplant pharmacy and is the first non-physician recipient of this award.
Jennifer has been involved in clinical, research and educational initiatives with UHN's Ajmera Transplant Centre for more than 20 years. She is dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care through her wonderfully collegial approach and has worked tirelessly in support of the medication-related needs of patients, development of pharmacy services, and the education of patients and the health care team. She continues to inspire her team daily by generously sharing her expertise and in championing the importance of transplant pharmacy in the care of transplant recipients.
Jennifer was one of the founding members of the Canadian Society of Transplantation Pharmacist Group, setting the landscape of transplant pharmacy practice in Canada. She has been a leader, mentor and teacher to learners and colleagues in all stages of their careers.
Over the years, Jennifer has led the development of various patient care innovations and teaching programs, most notably in establishing the Transplant Outpatient Pharmacy, clinic pharmacist and medication reimbursement specialist services, as well as the development of a web-based patient education tool for transplant patients.
Jennifer is also a recognized educator for clinicians and trainees, having spearheaded the development of the
Handbook of Solid Organ Transplantation, authoring numerous peer-reviewed publications and delivering transplant-related talks on local, national and international levels.
Jennifer's passion, dedication and creativity inspire all that are fortunate enough to cross her path. The award is an amazing recognition of her contributions in developing this practice specialty and her broad impact within the transplant community.
Congratulations to Dr. Deepali Kumar on her appointment as the Program Medical Director for UHN's Ajmera Transplant Centre. She will start in the new role on Feb. 1, 2024.
Dr. Kumar is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T) and a globally renowned transplant physician. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Ottawa (1996) and undertook infectious diseases training at the University of California-San Diego and McMaster University, as well as post-doctoral training in Transplantation at U of T.
Dr. Kumar has been Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases within the Ajmera Transplant Centre for several years and helped guide the program through the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to providing guidance for transplant programs globally.
Dr. Kumar's clinical and research interests focus on infections in transplant recipients including the impact of viruses and vaccines in the transplant population. She has published extensively and obtained continuous peer-reviewed research grant funding. She has mentored more than 50 trainees, many of whom now hold academic positions in transplant centers around the world.
Dr. Kumar has served on the executive board of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) for nearly a decade and was elected as the President in 2022. She also chairs the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Committee, which provides a national regulatory framework for Cells, Tissues, and Organ Transplantation.
As Program Medical Director of the Ajmera Transplant Centre, Dr. Kumar will report to UHN's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Hodges, and work closely with UHN Clinical Vice President, Dr. Fayez Quereshy, and Clinical Director Joanne Zee.
The Ajmera Transplant Centre's interprofessional team is responsible for approximately 700 transplants per year making it one of the largest programs of its kind in North America. More than 500 transplant team members including physicians, surgeons, nurses and allied health professionals, learners and researchers provide life-long care to over 7000 transplant recipients. The centre is world-renowned for its excellence in clinical care, research and education.
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Atul Humar for his exceptional leadership of the Ajmera Transplant Centre over the past decade. The program has gone from strength to strength as a result of Dr. Humar's dedication and vision. Dr. Humar will continue his outstanding academic work as a physician, researcher and teacher at UHN.
