News & Media
Neuro News November 2009
The Neuro News is a monthly electronic newsletter highlighting activities at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. If you have any comments, please send them to Communications. To subscribe and receive e-mail notification when a new issue becomes available, click here.
November 2009
Director's Corner: WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE
Opening Remarks 75th Anniversary Symposium, Pathways of Discovery in
Neuroscience
November 2, 2009
I welcome the senior administrations from McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre, and our faculty and staff. It is fitting that we are together today as public servants to celebrate this great public institution. I also want to extend a special welcome to our loyal friends, and former Fellows and guests who have traveled far to be with us today for our birthday party.
Welcome too, to the Penfield families, welcome to my predecessors in this audience, and to my successors, should they be in this audience as well. You know, Bill Feindel occasionally warns me, "Beware! Nothing succeeds like successors." And then he laughs...
We are also celebrating another birthday today, the 50th anniversary of our partner, the Gairdner Foundation, with whom we have put together the two-day scientific symposium that is a major part of this celebration.
Now, on the occasion of our 75th birthday, I think it’s useful to reflect on why and how The Neuro was originally created, because there are some great lessons in this history.
In 1934, after years of planning and deliberation, the Institute was opened, newly forged together with our Hospital under the name "MNI." It was unthinkable to create one without the other.
Now, when should a University go through the difficult exercise of creating a specialized Institute and not just another Centre or a Department? After all, Centres and Departments serve important missions. They are focal points for teaching and for following the research trends of the time. However, they are usually more limited in research scope and their longevity may not be assured. As the themes and priorities of the University change, so may the activities of Departments and Centres.
An Institute, however, properly configured from the outset, is another matter altogether. Delaisi, the French economist, noted that the purpose of an Institute is to provide the stability that men and women of tenacious purpose require for bringing long-term operations to a successful conclusion*. Most difficult, seemingly impossible problems are tackled by Institutes. What was happening before the Big Bang? How can we survive climate change? How should we be prepared to defend our country? How can we cure heart disease? How can we best treat those who suffer from neurological diseases? These are some of the Big Questions that are suitable for sustained inquiry by large, broad-based Institutes.
An Institute is a highly motivated "task force" that responds to a dramatic and protracted public need*. Once the commitment is made and the Institute set on its course, it has a permanent place within the University, and its components must be maintained for the Institute to serve its unique function in the long term. The University also must support the addition of new components as needed. If the Institute is blessed with an endowment in perpetuity, and a strong philanthropic base, so much the better, because these stabilize its existence. An innovative and successful Institute that competitively earns a reputation benchmarking it at the top in the world will be, far and away, the brightest jewel in the University's crown.
An Institute has a profound responsibility to the public it serves. It must constantly work to expand the horizons of what is possible, and the people who work within it - be they employees or volunteers - must understand that they are expected to freely contribute their unique, creative talents. They must feel this responsibility deeply, and know that they are each and every one, indispensible for the successful completion of the collective long term goals.
The people who work at an Institute such as the Neuro must be prepared to take risks - in research projects and in clinical therapies - because our work inherently carries with it risk. Without risk, there can be no innovation. But with risk comes failure, for by far, not all risky projects succeed.
But some do! Often, what one imagines will exist in the future will eventually come to pass. Goethe wrote that you should intensively and completely investigate what you want most of all, because sooner or later you are very likely to get it. So, be prepared for success!
On the other hand, we must also teach how to prepare the mind to accept the unexpected discovery, because most often, serendipity provides the real breakthroughs.
Given this philosophical framework, how was the Neuro created? It was the brainchild of several individuals, actually. Wilder Penfield, of course, but also Alan Gregg, the Medical Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, Sir William Osler, and at McGill - Beatty, Holt, Currie, Archibald, Martin and Colip, all of whom collectively perceived an urgent public need and responded accordingly. They recognized, even in the early 1930's, that understanding the mysteries of the brain and the diseases that afflict it were of paramount importance to the people of Quebec, Canada and the world. Armed with new knowledge, we would find the therapies to arrest or stave off neurological disease. They created the Montreal Neurological Institute, devoted to clinical neurology and neurosurgery, and neuroscience. Within the Institute, as its heart, they placed the Neurological Hospital, and so Institute and Hospital were inexorably intertwined as The Neuro. The City of Montreal and the government of Quebec strongly supported this new concept, and all sacrificed something to breath life into The Neuro. Only then did the Rockefeller Foundation award us our first building grant.
If the public need for The Neuro was recognized then, when the neurological victims of infectious disease filled our wards, it is even more pressing now. As we live longer, half of us here today will eventually experience in our own families a neurological disease, the product of a derailment of the normal function of that 3 pound thinking machine - the brain - that Isaac Asimov termed, "the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the Universe."
The guideposts of the Neuro have been from the outset curiosity about how the brain works, compassion for our patients, and selfless community service. Once set in motion in 1934, and up until the present, we have only worked with the interests of the people of Quebec, Canada and the world uppermost in our minds. We have been faithful stewards of the brilliant plan given to us by the great thinkers of the past - the architects and creators of this place, and the legacies of those who have worked tirelessly in its service over these many decades.
Twenty years after these doors first opened, Alan Gregg noted* that, “If I were asked to name a single grant that the Rockefeller Foundation has made that I consider ideal in purpose, in performance, in local response, and in national and international influence, I would say without a moment’s hesitation that it is the grant to the Montreal Neurological Institute. The people here are so beautifully fused into one shining amalgam that if I were to name one to thank, I would be naming all of you, for you are all the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University in the Province of Quebec, each to the other, responsible, essential and inseparable."
Let me close by offering this to you. In "The Tempest," my favorite play, Antonio says, "Whereof what is past, is prologue..." That is especially poignant for us today. What has happened so far over these 75 years is only our beginning, the simple prologue to what-is-now-the-unimaginable, the amazing, the astounding progress that will undoubtedly emerge as a result of The Neuro's efforts over the course of this century right here in Quebec, if our past serves as any guide for us at all. With your help and support, we will finally learn how to harness the healing potential of the nervous system to prevent and cure neurological disease by the end of his century.
The script to that play is in our hands to write, and that play begins now.
Thank you.
*Quoted in: “Medical Institutes,” a speech delivered by Dr. Alan
Gregg on November 20, 1953 on the occasion of the opening of the McConnell
Wing of the MNI.
Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman
Recent News
The Neuro celebrates 75 years
Hundreds of friends and members of The Neuro’s ‘extended family’ celebrated
The Neuro’s 75th anniversary at events on November 1-4. Thanks to all who
participated in the symposium, special interest dinners, gala, panel
discussion, tours, exhibits and other festivities. We remember with respect
and admiration our colleague George Karpati who suggested many great ideas
that were incorporated into our final plans. Special thanks to John Dirks
for celebrating the Gairdner Foundation’s 50th anniversary with us at our
scientific symposium. Information on how to view videos of The Neuro’s 75th
anniversary scientific symposium and panel discussion will be available in
the December issue of Neuro News.
From left to right: CIHR President Dr. Alain Beaudet, McGill Dean of Medicine Dr. Richard Levin, MUHC CEO Dr. Arthur Porter, Neuro Director Dr. David Colman, Premier Jean Charest, McGill Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, and Mr. Jacques Bougie, Neuro Campaign Co-Chair.
Brenda Milner receives NARSAD Goldman-Rakic Prize
Brenda Milner recently received the Goldman Rakic Prize for outstanding
cognitive neuroscience research. This award is given annually by NARSAD, a
leading charity dedicated to mental health research, in memory of Patricia
Goldman-Rakic whose research focused on understanding the mechanisms of
working memory. As the prize winner, Milner will deliver a lecture at Yale
University, where Professor Goldman-Rakic pursued her work in human
cognition.
Neuroscience a stand-out subject at McGill
Homecoming
More than 700 McGill alumni, friends and important guests heard an
outstanding lecture by Marc Tessier-Lavigne during McGill’s Homecoming
Weekend. Tessier-Lavigne, Executive Vice President for Research and Chief
Scientific Officer at Genentech, Inc, was a guest of The Neuro and wowed
the crowd by making science experiments and results accessible to
non-experts at the Beatty Memorial Lecture (click to view
lecture). Talking about the development and repair of the nervous
system, he explained how proteins guide the growth of axons.
Tessier-Lavigne also gave a scientific lecture on his newest research and a
career session for students to packed houses at The Neuro.
Neuro faculty members gave interactive presentations on neuroscience in the Classes Without Quizzes program during homecoming. More than 200 alumni heard Brenda Milner (click to view) talk about her discoveries in the field of memory, and more than 500 were engaged by the panel discussion on memory and aging with Lesley Fellows, Edith Hamel and Wayne Sossin, and moderated by David Colman (click to view).
New role for Lucia Fabijan
Lucia Fabijan, Coordinator of Ambulatory Services, is now also serving as
interim Associate Director of Nursing for Neuroscience. Lucia is well
suited for this role with a Masters in Nursing, and broad and extensive
experience in neuroscience nursing.
Welcome Kelvin Mok
Kelvin Mok is newly appointed as Biomedical Engineer for the Neuro’s
Operating Room Stereotaxic Unit. Kelvin has a BSc in Electrical Engineering
from the University of Calgary, and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from
McGill University. He also studied at the Institute of Aging, Development
& Cancer in Tohoku University, and at the Neuro’s McConnell Brain
Imaging Centre. Working with Denise Klein, Kelvin is now developing
integrated multimodality imaging protocols for fMRI, PET and DTI that will
be valuable tools for presurgical planning and neuronavigation.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Neuro Nurses at MUHC Interdisciplinary Open House, November
14
Nursing staff from The Neuro will participate in the inaugural MUHC
Interdisciplinary Open House on Saturday, November 14. Nurses and students
will learn about opportunities in neuroscience nursing and will be invited
to tour The Neuro. The Open House will be from 11 am to 4 pm in Livingston
Hall at the Montreal General Hospital.
David Colman at The Canadian Club, November 23
Dave Colman will present a talk, The Neuro as the 21st Century Model for
Innovative Health Care and Research, at The Canadian Club luncheon from
Noon to 2 pm on Monday, November 23. The Canadian Club is one of Montreal’s
most prestigious forums for the exchange of ideas, and this talk is part of
the annual series by Montreal area CEOs. For more information and to
reserve tickets, visit http://www.cerclecanadien-montreal.ca/en/events/
Palliative Care vs. Euthanasia? November 23
Charged with emotion, the debate about euthanasia is on in Canada. On
November 23, a panel of experts will discuss Why Sedation is not Euthanasia
at The Neuro. Manuel Borod, Medical Director of the Palliative Care Unit at
the Montreal General Hospital; Eugene Bereza, Chair of Committee on Ethics
of the Canadian Medical Association and of The Neuro’s Research Ethics
Board; and Angela Genge, neurologist and ALS specialist, will discuss this
important topic. Please join us at Noon in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre.
McNaughton Lecture, November 27
Guy Rouleau, Professor in the Department of Medicine at University of
Montreal, and Director, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, will deliver
the prestigious McNaughton Lecture with his talk entitled, ALS Genetics:
What has it given us? All are welcome at this lecture at 9 am in the Jeanne
Timmins Amphitheatre.
Congratulations to ...
Teresa Baptista, who retired after 24 years of service
from the Neuro’s Housekeeping staff. Teresa’s friendly greetings and her
conscientious attention to detail will be missed by all who worked with
her.
Denis Melançon, who is celebrating many milestones at the
Neuro this year: 25 years of the NeuroImage, 35 years of the Neuro Study
Club and his 75th birthday!
Philippe Séguéla, who is publishing his first book
entitled "Histoire visuelle des sondes spatiales - 50 ans d'exploration, de
luna 1 à new horizons".
John Pacheco, who retired as Group Leader in The Neuro’s
Xray Department after 35 years of service. John says The Neuro has been
good to him and we must say that he has been good for The Neuro. Best
wishes, John, for happy and healthy days ahead.
Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Martine Alfonso; Mark Angle, MD; Phil Barker, PhD; Rob
Dunn, PhD; Lucia Fabijan; Tom Gevas; Elizabeth Kofron, PhD; Catherine Rowe;
Donatella Tampieri, MD
Neuro News: Elizabeth Kofron, PhD & Sandra McPherson, PhD
Please send any items for the Neuro News to Sandra McPherson or Beth Kofron.
