News & Media

Director's Corner

Palliative Care for Neurological Patients
By John Robson

Through the efforts of Dr. Balfour Mount, MNI Advisory Board member Kappy Flanders and others, McGill University is an international leader in palliative care, an essential element in the health care continuum. This effort has focused largely on terminally ill cancer patients and the management of intractable pain. But patients with incurable neurological conditions are a rapidly growing segment of the population. In 21st century Canada, it is estimated that 30% of people over age 80 will ultimately require palliative care because of progressive neurological disease.

In addition to pain, these patients exhibit a constellation of symptoms such as seizures, paralysis, and personality changes that burden current palliative care programs. Consequently, these individuals are usually treated on a case-by-case basis outside the dedicated palliative care facilities. Caring for such patients and alleviating their suffering during the critical period at the very end of life, when symptoms and disabilities are worst and when fear and anxiety surge, challenges families and health care professionals. Developing effective palliative care for these patients and their families requires an integrated approach designed to manage symptoms and provide assistance with important end of life decisions that must be faced.

In response to the growing need, the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital will create the first Neuro-Palliative Care Centre in North America, dedicated to patients with terminal illnesses of the nervous system. This clinical care and research facility will develop and deliver specialized supportive treatments for patients who are at the end of life.

The Neuro-Palliative Care Centre will have a clinical mission: to provide comfort and support for patients dying from neurological diseases, and to help those who are losing a loved one. Professional staff will create an environment to maximize the dignity and quality of life for these patients. The setting will be home-like and nurturing, and have the clinical infrastructure required to deliver appropriate medical care for these special patients. Staff will be carefully selected and trained for this work.

The Neuro-Palliative Care Centre will have a research mission: to define and develop evidence-based treatments and best practices to care for patients with symptoms particular to diseases of the nervous system.

The Neuro-Palliative Care Centre will have a training mission: to educate caregivers in other hospital-based and community-based palliative care facilities on caring for the neurological patients and families who come to them for help.

To fully realize the goals of the Neuro-Palliative Care Centre, space will be renovated on the 4th floor of the Neuro to create a state-of-the-art, self-contained, 8-bed unit for patient care, family support and research. The Centre will be designed to provide neurological patients and their families with a specialized supportive environment and the best possible resources for alleviating suffering while preserving dignity at life’s end. The Neuro-Palliative Care Centre will serve as a research and training resource that will become a model for centres world-wide, and will augment the place of McGill and the MUHC as pioneers in the field of palliative care.

Dr. John Robson is the Associate Director, Scientific Affairs. Comments may be directed to him at John Robson

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Recent News & Events

Congratulations, John Robson
John Robson, Associate Director, Scientific Affairs, has been named Associate Dean for the Faculty at the Faculty of Medicine. John will join Rich Levin, McGill’s Vice-Principal for Health Affairs and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and will be responsible for faculty recruitment, promotion, retention and other academic matters. In his note to the Neuro, John said, “The decision to leave the Neuro was not an easy one. I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure here and there are exciting times ahead. The North Wing construction is underway; we are about to launch a capital campaign; and the federal government is sending us $15M along with an acknowledgement that this is truly a special place! However, in the end the opportunity to do something new - to move into a larger domain with a new set of challenges - was too attractive for me.”

John served the Neuro for almost 10 years and took a central role in hiring 20 faculty members, adding 30,000 square feet of space, renovating clinical and research areas, and raising our success rates in CIHR grant competitions to be consistently twice the national average or better. John celebrated the reintegration of the Institute and Hospital and lauds his colleagues at the Neuro for the excellence, dedication, collegiality and pride that permeates the Neuro. John is very pleased to remain part of the McGill University community and assures us the the Neuro will have another friend and advocate in the Dean’s office.

Colleagues and friends are welcome to toast John at a reception on May 9 at 4:30 pm in the Neuro’s de Grandpré Communications Centre.

Special Welcome to Former Fellows
We are proud of our former fellows who trained at the Neuro and are now dispersed in successful careers around the world. Under the leadership of Eva and Fred Andermann, Bill Feindel and George Karpati, we are reaching out to strengthen our ties with more than 1400 former fellows. Welcome to those of you receiving the MNI Bulletin for the first time.

Laughlin Taylor, 1928-2007
The Neuro community mourns the sudden death of neuropsychologist Laughlin Taylor on April 7. Mr. Taylor came to the Neuro to assist Brenda Milner in 1957 and completed a Master of Science in psychology at McGill in 1961. Over more than 50 years at the Neuro, he contributed significantly to research and to the clinical assessment of patients. In 1973, Mr Taylor was named the Head of the Clinical Neuropsychology Department at the Neuro and in 2001, he was honoured by the University of Lethbridge with the Doctor of Science, honoris causa. Known as a dedicated patient advocate, Mr. Taylor spent innumerable hours with patients and their families to help them understand and adapt to brain disorders, and worked with public agencies to explain the behavioral challenges for people with brain injuries.

Eulogizing Mr Taylor, Gabriel Leonard remarked on his love of children and zest for life: recounted tales of Laughlin’s talents as a singer, dancer and actor, and commented on his love of travel, nature, art, architecture, film and fine wine. Condolences are offered to Mr Taylor’s children, Malcolm and Laura, and to his many friends and colleagues.

Penfield lecture: Scott Johnson
Scott Johnson, founder and CEO of the Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF) delivered the Wilder Penfield Lecture on April 26. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 20, Mr Johnson had a successful business career as an executive and entrepreneur. In 2002 he established the MRF to accelerate the rate of discovery leading to treatments for MS, and developed a unique model that blended the best practices in business with those in academic scientific discovery. This initiative resulted in a highly collaborative, cross-continental research group that has dramatically advanced research on myelin, thus giving promise for new treatments. Director Dave Colman’s lab studies myelin, the insulating sheath on nerve fibers that speeds up nerve transmission, and is one of the 5 research labs in North America funded by MRF.

Thanks to all the faculty, staff, students, and special guests that attended the lecture. It was great to see everyone there.

Newest MNI Podcast: A Look Inside a Child’s Brain
The largest, most comprehensive database of normal brain development will soon be available to physicians and scientists around the world. Alan Evans, who has coordinated the development of this pediatric brain database, describes what the healthy brain looks like from birth to four years. To view this MNI podcast, visit http://mnimedia.mcgill.ca/podcasts/

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Upcoming Events

Please see the MNI calendar for the schedule of lectures and events.

Neuropsychology Day will be May 7 in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre. All are welcome to view poster presentations by members of the Neuropsychology / Cognitive Neuroscience Unit from 2-4 pm. At 4:30, Lizabeth Romanski, from University of Rochester, will deliver the tenth annual Brenda Milner Lecture in Cognitive Neuroscience, entitled Encoding and integration of faces and voices in the frontal lobe.

The Neuroscience Nursing Awards ceremony will be May 8 at 2 pm in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre. Please join us in recognizing the awardees.

On May 8, neurologist Gian Borasio, Chair of Palliative Medicine at University of Munich, will deliver the 10th Annual Sandra Goldberg Lecture, Palliative Care Isn't Just About Cancer, at 5:30 pm in the Charles Martine Amphitheatre at McGill’s McIntyre Medical Sciences Building. The lecture this year is sponsored by the MNI, the Council on Palliative Care and the Goldberg family. A reception will follow the lecture.

On May 25, the public is welcome to Migrating Minds and Methods - Trajectories of the Neurosciences in North-America after 1933 at McGill’s Thomson House on McTavish. For more information, contact Frank Stahnisch, Department of Social Studies of Medicine, 514-398-6933.

May 28, Daniel Dennett, MNI Advisory Board member, author and philosopher, will deliver a lecture, From Animal to Human: The evolution of human culture, in the MNI’s Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre at 4 pm. His books, including Consciousness Explained and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea have inspired substantial work in neuroscience and philosophy. Dennett, Co-director of Tufts University Center for Cognitive Studies, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree from McGill earlier that day.

North Wing Expansion
The Neuro’s new North Wing is moving right along. Daily blasting means that excavation of rock is happening almost faster than seems possible and our ‘hole in the ground’ is getting bigger and bigger. Staff, students, and patients and their families are being very understanding as we proceed with this much needed expansion of facilities. Please contact Sandra McPherson at Sandra McPherson or at Fred Pennell with questions about the project.

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Congratulations to …

Fred and Eva Andermann on the birth of their first grandchild, a girl, and to their daughter (new mom) Lisa Andermann who is Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Liam Durcan, neurologist and novelist, on the success of his debut novel, García’s Heart, which is making waves with enthusiastic reviews across Canada.

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Thanks to …

Iris Biteen, Lucia Fabijan, Maria Mastracchio, Nancy Wright and Deborah Radcliffe-Branch for organizing the Building Blocks for Self Care training program attended by volunteers and health care professionals who will become leaders of new groups for patients with chronic diseases.

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Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Mark Angle, MD; Tom Gevas; Marilyn Kaplow; Elizabeth Kofron, PhD; Patricia O'Connor; John Robson, PhD; 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.

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