News & Media
Neuro News - October 2005
Director's Corner - Dad, can we see the Martians?
Two remarkable documents surfaced this week in North America, each authored by groups of thoughtful individuals with impeccable credentials. One was produced at the request of the US Congress, and the other was generated out of an acute sense of need by non-partisan influential thinkers in Quebec. The first document, a report released by the U.S. National Academy of Science (NAS) (link) serves as a wakeup call to America, warning that the United States is on a downward academic spiral and is in grave danger of losing its economic and scientific pre-eminence. It catalogues the appalling recent drop in test scores among American high school students, and presents other stunning statistics. For example, in 2001, US industries spent more on tort litigation than on research and development. In 2004, China and India together graduated about 950,000 engineers, while American universities produced only about 70,000. The NAS report makes four major recommendations: to increase America’s native talent pool through the improvement of high school math and science education; to sustain and strengthen the nation’s commitment to long-term basic research; to recruit the best and brightest students, scientists, and engineers from all over the world; and to provide meaningful economic incentives for innovative work.
The Quebec document "Pour un quebec lucide" (For a clear-eyed vision of Quebec) www.pourunquebeclucide.com, co-authored by Lucien Bouchard and colleagues, raises similar alarms about our economic future. A predominant theme in this document is the certainty that Quebec’s population is and will remain in a zero growth mode. The impact of zero growth is that “as early as 2012, there will be fewer and fewer people of working age, and fewer young people, while the number of seniors continues to swell. This means we will be less dynamic, less creative and less productive.” This also means that in 2050, there will be 7.8 million Quebecers, an increase of only 300,000 over the current population. By contrast, during that same period, the rest of North America will be strengthened by nearly 1.2 billion hard-working, competitive people. One must ask, why not act now to render this demographic assumption invalid in Quebec? We do have the power to act.
As one of many non-Canadians living in Quebec, I see the problem through a different cultural lens and recognize the inadequacy of the tentative solutions in the Bouchard document. I suggest that we study the National Academies report and invest in education, science and immigration.
At The Neuro, 900 highly educated, professional ‘Quebecers’, native and new from 60 countries, work together every day in a technologically demanding, consummately skilled environment. In my own laboratory, one scientist from Argentina, two from China, one from Haiti, and one from Tunisia have started new lives here. In my office, three out of five Americans have or are pursuing dual citizenship.
Many of my colleagues are here because Quebec has in the recent past made a substantial effort to attract highly skilled professionals. Real leaders in Quebec understand that medicine, science and high technology are strong economic engines. The looming economic crisis that Bouchard and others convincingly warn against can be avoided. Quebec must reaffirm and expand efforts to recruit internationally and to keep these valuable professionals, their families and children here.
We are the new Quebecers. If we are going to be competitive in the world of 2050 and thrive economically, skilled scientists, engineers, physicians, healthcare workers, and other professionals must be recruited and offered a real stake in Quebec’s future. This course will build in Quebec a strong, new, vibrant and creative young population, ready to shape her future as a world leader.
So let’s seek out the most brilliant of those million Chinese and Indian scientists and engineers and encourage them to bring their families and take part in the certain growth – not the inevitable decline – of Quebec. All who are willing to contribute to the stunning revolutions in science and medicine should be welcomed in Quebec. We have the resources to make such an investment, and risk the future if we don’t.
In Ray Bradbury’s 1950 book, "The Martian Chronicles," a family escapes world-wide nuclear holocaust on Earth by fleeing to Mars where the children keep asking their father if they can see Martians. Eventually, the father takes his family on a picnic on their new planet, promising that at the end of the day they will see real Martians. That afternoon, they walk to the rim of a Martian pond and he tells them to peek over the edge....where they see their own reflections in the water.
Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman
Recent News
Thanks to the Arthur Victor Movement Disorder Endowment
Fund
On October 11, Mrs. Graida Victor and her family and friends attended at
reception at the Neuro to recognize their generous gifts to the Arthur
Victor Movement Disorder Endowment Fund. This fund, in honour of her
late husband Arthur who had Parkinson’s Disease, was established to advance
research and training related to movement disorders. This
forward looking endowment will support travel to scientific meetings by
students from the Neuro, allowing them to present their scientific results
and to interact with experts in the field.
Grateful recipients of the travel awards in this first year, Hilda Thorarinsdottir (graduate student in Ted Fon’s lab) and Vladymir Rymar (post doctoral fellow in Abbas Sadikot’s lab) thanked the donors for creating this opportunity for them and for future generations of students. Mrs. Victor and two of her children, Gary and Jillian, along with grandson Jason, were joined by family members Herschel and Christine Victor, Joe and Ibby Shuster, Norma Singerman and a large group of devoted friends.
John and Susan Irving host Brenda Milner in New
Brunswick
Brenda Milner delivered her third lecture in the inaugural year of the
Governor General’s Lectures for the Royal Society of Canada at the Saint
John campus of the University of New Brunswick. As the first lecturer of
the Series, Dr. Milner presented The Many Faces of Memory, presenting the
types of human memory and reflecting on the contribution of her research to
that field.
Susan and John Irving, known for their pulp and paper, oil refining and newspaper businesses, gathered a prominent group to meet Dr. Milner at a dinner in their home. Irving Oil Limited partners with BMO Financial Group and RBC Financial Group on the Governor General Lecture Series, Canada's first national research lectures. The Series was created to inform Canadians on recent advances in research and on topics of national interest. Through membership, Royal Society of Canada (the Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities) brings together distinguished scholars to promote learning and research in the arts, natural and social sciences, and humanities.
Health Minister Couillard gives Wilder Penfield
Lecture
Dr. Philippe Couillard, Minister of Health and Social Services for Quebec,
delivered the 20th annual Wilder Penfield Lecture on October
17. Speaking to a large audience that included Dr. Jeff Penfield
(son of Wilder Penfield) and his wife Katharine, as well as Principal
Heather Munroe-Blum and Dr. Arthur Porter, Dr. Couillard spoke about the
need to develop new ways to deliver health care and social services that
are fiscally and socially responsible. This challenge commands attention as
current spending and debt service in this sector accounts for 43% of the
provincial budget.
Dr. Couillard addressed the recently proposed provincial plan of complementarity which would lead to consolidation of some speciality medical services across hospital centres to reduce costly duplication. He explained that a physician might see patients at several hospitals, especially when providing treatment needed by a very small number of people. Dr. Couillard emphasized the need for cooperative strategies among hospital centres and invited input from clinicians on the plan.
Well known Québec actor Guy Nadon served as emcee for the lecture. He spoke about the quality of care his father received at the Neuro 20 years ago, remarking that he is pleased to help advance the research and patient care mission of the Neuro.
Hughlings Jackson Lecture/Gairdner Foundation
Lecture
On October 24, MNI/H Director David Colman, Gairdner Foundation President
Dr. John Dirks, McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum opened the 2005
Gairdner Foundation Program and 2005 Hughlings Jackson Lecture, recognizing
the seminal achievements of awardees, Dr. Brenda Milner and Dr. Endel
Tulving, Emeritus Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of
Toronto. McGill University Dean of Medicine Abraham Fuks delivered the
closing remarks. The Gairdner Program in Montreal is organized by Dr. Rémi
Quirion, Scientific Director of the CIHR- Institute of Neuroscience, Mental
Health and Addiction and member of the Medical Advisory Board of the
Gairdner Foundation.
As part of the Gairdner Award celebration, Dr. Mortimer Mishkin, from the US National Institute of Mental Health, delivered the 2005 Hughlings Jackson Lecture. His talk, The mystery of auditory memory in the monkey, elaborated on his work identifying the neural substrates and mechanisms of different types of memory. Dr. Mishkin and Dr. Milner have been friends since their days of training with D.O. Hebb at McGill, and both built impressive careers on the study of memory. This lectureship, established at the MNI in 1934, honours the memory of British neurologist John Hughlings Jackson (1835-1911) who pioneered the development of neurology as a medical specialty.
The Gairdner International Awards have been given to the world's top medical research scientists by the Gairdner Foundation since 1957. Sixty-four Gairdner winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. The Gairdner Awards will be presented at a gala on October 27 in Toronto.
International Activity
Sino-Quebec Symposium in Neuroscience
Twelve neuroscientists from Quebec will travel to Shanghai for the first
Sino-Québec Symposium in Neuroscience in early November. MNI scientists
Phil Barker, Dave Colman, Tim Kennedy, Peter McPherson, Philippe Séguéla
and Weisong Shan will present their research. This meeting, jointly
sponsored by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) and the
National Natural Science Foundation of China, is part of a series of
workshops designed to increase scientific collaboration between Quebec and
China. Scientists from the Université de Montréal, Université de
Sherbrooke and Université Laval will participate. Alain Beaudet, President
and Chief Executive Officer of the FRSQ, and Beth Kofron, MNI Associate
Director with responsibility for international programs, will join the
delegation.
Tianjin Connection
The Tianjin Neurological Institute (TNI) will host a delegation from the
Neuro in mid November. The Neuro representatives, including Mark Angle and
participants from the Shanghai neuroscience symposium, will present
research and clinical programs at the MNI/H, and explore opportunities to
provide advanced training to TNI staff.
As follow up to the November 2004 agreement that established TNI and MNI as sister institutions, a political delegation from Tianjin will visit the Neuro at the end of October. The guests, including the Vice Mayor and top ranking officials from the education, science and technology, and health missions, will tour the Neuro and meet with clinicians, scientists and some Advisory Board members to learn more about our strengths and capabilities.
Upcoming Events
Neurology at McGill’s ‘Mini Med’
Angela Genge, neurologist at the MNI since 1994, will deliver a lecture
Neurology: Mysteries of the Brain as part of McGill’s Mini Medical School.
This public program, established at the Faculty of Medicine through the
leadership of MNI Advisory Board member Kappy Flanders, is a very popular
program which introduces the public to topics in medicine. Dr. Genge is an
expert in neuromuscular diseases and Director of the Neuro’s Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) clinic. In 2004, she was also named Director of the
Clinical Research Unit and is working to assist patients in Quebec by
expanding the number and scope of clinical trials conducted at the Neuro.
Killam Lecture Series
The Killam Lecture series has resumed for 2005-2006 season. The series,
supported by The Killam Trust, allows us to bring in experts from around
the world to talk about their work, to meet with students and faculty, and
to increase the scientific exchange which is essential for meaningful
progress. The Killam Seminar is regularly scheduled at 4 pm each Tuesday
throughout the academic year in the de Grandpré Communications Centre at
the Neuro.
McGill Neurology Conferences (Fridays from 8:30-9:30
am)
October 28 at the Jewish General Hospital
"Of sauropods and sea snakes: Physiology of the cerebral circulation"
Dr. Ronald Schondorf, Director of Neurophysiology, JGH
November 4 at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
"Targeted Fascicular Biopsy of Proximal Nerves with MRI Abnormality May Be
Diagnostically Informative"
Dr. P. James Dyck, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
November 11 at the Montreal General Hospital
"Case presentation: Dural Sinus Fistula:
Dr. Alex Poppe et al., Dept. of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill
University
November 18 at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
"Update on Environmental Risk Factors in the Etiology of Multiple
Sclerosis"
Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie, Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Cleveland
Clinic Foundation
November 25 at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
1200-1300h [Note change of time]
"A-beta vaccine using viral vectors for Alzheimer disease"
Dr. Takeshi Tabira, National Institute of Neuroscience, Tokyo, Japan
Congratulations to…
Jean Gotman on receiving the American Epilepsy Society
Research Recognition Award for 2005 for his contribution to understanding
and conquering epilepsy. The American Epilepsy Society, one of the oldest
neurological professional organizations in the USA, promotes
interdisciplinary communications, scientific investigation and exchange of
clinical information about epilepsy. The award will be presented during the
AES Meeting on December 5, 2005 in Washington, DC.
George Karpati, MNI/H neurologist and neuroscientist with
expertise in muscular dystrophies and metabolic myopathies, who addressed
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest on October 18. This, his
first lecture to the Academy since being accepted as an external member in
2004, was titled: "The Spectacular Rise of Molecular Medicine. The
dividends and the challenges".
Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Mark Angle, MD; Tom Gevas; Marilyn Kaplow; Elizabeth
Kofron, PhD; Patricia O'Connor; Catherine Rowe
MNI Bulletin Editors: Elizabeth Kofron, PhD & Sandra McPherson,
PhD
Please send any items for the MNI Bulletin to Sandra McPherson or Beth Kofron.
