Dean's Newsletter

Acting Dean

Congratulations to Dr. Jane Alcorn who will serve as acting dean of the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition for the period of April 1 through June 30, while Dr. Kishor Wasan is away on vacation leading up to the end of his term as of June 30, 2019. Dr. Wasan will remain as dean and still be involved in aspects of the college during the final months of his term.

The search for the new dean is underway right now and is expected to continue over the next few months. If the search has not concluded by June 30, Dr. Alcorn will step into the role of interim dean until the new dean candidate is in place.

Acting Associate Dean

Congratulations to Dr. Ed Krol who has been appointed Acting Associate Dean Academic for the period of July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. We wish Dr. Yvonne Shevchuk all the best when she begins her well-deserved administrative leave.

Eat Well Saskatchewan

Following a successful pilot project in early 2018, a new dietitian call centre has opened within the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. Eat Well Saskatchewan was a pilot project funded through a partnership between Dietitians of Canada and the Government of Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (Saskatchewan) last year. 

In the new partnership with the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, the federal government is providing $210,000 of new funding over three years to continue Eat Well Saskatchewan.

• Read more.

Pharmacist Awareness Month

Ribbon Cutting

PAM got off to a strong start on Friday, March 1, with the ribbon cutting in the Health Sciences E-Wing Atrium. Over 100 students, faculty, and staff were in attendance to mark the start of the month.

Pharmacy Pageant

Congratulations to CAPSI USaskatchewan on $4,800 for Sanctum Care Group at another successful Mr. Pharmacy Pageant. This year’s winner was Kelsey Penny.

PAM Booths

Throughout the month, CAPSI ran outreach booths on campus and in the community to help educate people about the role of pharmacists.

Pharmasave-Rubicon Pharmacy Student Business Plan Competition

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the 2019 Pharmasave-Rubicon Pharmacy Student Business Plan Competition. A special thank you to our judges for taking time out of their busy schedules, and to Pharmasave for hosting a reception after the competition.

• First Place: MOC (Minimizing the Opioid Crisis)
  Team Members: Filip Davidovic, Shahzaib Fida, Baljit Pandher, Hunter Sakundiak, Shayan Shirazi, Mohammad Wasim
• Second Place: COPE
  Team Members: Brooke Dziadyk, Sara Henderson, Teagan Holt, Jordan Johnston, Cassie Krozser, Tyler Wacker
• Third Place: Ally Meds+
  Team Members: Heather Brodsky, Hien Le, Christine Lee, Tatiana Orlowski, Palima Shrestha

Nutrition Third Year Celebration and Send-off

Congratulations to the Nutrition Class of 2020! The Nutrition Year 3 Celebration & Send-off was held on Thursday, April 4. It’s one last official get together before the class leaves campus to begin their internships. Pictures from the event are available on our Facebook page.

Nutrition Research Day

The annual Dietitians of Canada Saskatchewan Research Day was on Thursday, April 25 in at Pasqua Hospital in Regina. The day highlighted and celebrated the fourth-year nutrition students' practice-based research project presentations as well as features presentations by leading experts in food and nutrition

Nutrition Project Showcase

On Tuesday, March 26 NUTR 330 and NUTR 430 students showcased some of the applied projects they completed this year. The 330 students displayed and explained blogs they created and the 430 students demonstrated the applied projects they completed under the supervision of Registered Dietitians in the province.

Congratulations to Diane Favreau who is this year's recipient of the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition Dean’s Staff Award for Commitment and Excellence. Dean Kishor Wasan presented the award to Diane on Thursday, June 6, at the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals luncheon. 

Dr. Jaris Swidrovich spoke about racism and cultural safety in health care at the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre on Monday, March 25 as part of the Indigenous Scholars Series. 

Dr. Susan Whiting presented Beyond the Break: How does the new Canadas Food Guide impact your vitamin D and calcium intake? on Friday, March 29.

Dr. Robert Lapraire made the following lectures and presentations:

• At the University of Melbourne (March 4), Florey Neuroscience Research Institute (March 4), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (March 6), and University of Sydney (March 8) on his lab’s research during his trip to Australia
• He presented public “Cannabis 101” lectures to the Saskatchewan Association of Dental Hygienists (March 29) and Saskatchewan College of Dentists (March 30), and to the Geriatric Grand Rounds at City Hospital (April 18)
• As the Director of Education and Trainee Initiatives for the Canadian Consortium for the Investigators of Cannabinoids (CCIC), he co-chaired the 6th annual Cannabinoids in Clinical Practice Symposium March 21-22 in Toronto. The meeting was attended by 436 people and student fellowships were provided to 6 young scientists for the summer. 

Dr. Hassan Vatanparast will share information from his study on the nutrition and health status of immigrant and refugee children and their families at the Frances Morrison Centre Library on Tuesday, May 21.

In the media

Third year pharmacy students Shazaib Fida and Shayan Shirazi spoke with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix about a new project provide to free test strips that detect fentanyl in other drugs. Read more.

Dr. Carol Henry spoke with On Campus News about career readiness in the classroom and how it has improved the nutrition program. Read more.

Kelly Kizlyk, medSask drug information consultant, was on Global Saskatoon Morning News on Tuesday, March 5 to discuss some of the services pharmacists can provide under the expanded scope of practice. Watch the video.

Kelly Kizlyk was on Global Saskatoon Morning News on Tuesday, April 9 to talk about dealing with spring allergy symptoms. Watch the video.

Eat Well Saskatchewan coordinator Carrie Lambden was on CBC Saskatoon Radio in March to talk about the services the new call centre provides to the community.

Beth Kessler (BSP 2008) was on Global Regina Morning News today to talk about Pharmacist Awareness Month and how pharmacists can help patients under the expanded scope of practice. Watch the video.

Brooke Bulloch (BScNutr 2009) was on Global Saskatoon Morning News on Tuesday, March 19 to talk about the health benefits of turmeric and some misinformation about the spice. Read more.

The Nutrition Class of 2009 Reunion will take place on July 6-7. There will be an adult-only evening on Saturday, a family-friendly event on Sunday, and a tour of the new college facilities will be arranged. Contact Stacie at staciesharko@hotmail.com for more information.

Upcoming Events

The college will host its annual dessert and alumni reception at the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan Conference on Friday, May 3 at Elk Ridge Resort.  

Sask Night will return to the Pharmacy Experience 2019 conference on Monday, June 3 in Toronto. This year’s theme is beach party and the event will be held at The Antler Room (146 Front Street West) at 9:00 pm. Everyone is encouraged to dress up and live music will be part of the night. Conference information.

Past Events

The 25th Annual Academic Awards Ceremony was held on Sunday, March 17. This year's event included the induction of six alumni into our new Alumni Hall of Fame. View the gallery.

The annual Home Economics Alumni Reunion Luncheon was held on Friday, April 26 at the Delta Bessborough in Saskatoon.

Spotlight on Research

Congratulations to Dr. Jessica Lieffers who is our April Researcher of the Month. Her research focuses on nutrition, dental health, and issues relevant to dietetic practice.

• Read more.

Congratulations to Mona M. Khamis who is our April Trainee Spotlight. Her research focuses on targeted metabolomics for the identification of potential diagnostic urine biomarkers of asthma and COPD.

• Read more.

Trainee Success

Program Update

Congratulations to Sandra Rosero Tapia (supervisors: Drs. Gord Zello and Grant Miller) who successfully defended her Master’s thesis in Nutrition in March!

The College welcomes two new graduate student this May: Sarah Crawford will be joining the Master’s program in Nutrition under the supervision of Dr. Carol Henry and Jay Kim will be joining the PhD program in Pharmacy under the supervision of Dr. Robert Laprairie. 

Summer Student Research Program

The college is pleased to welcome the following undergraduate research assistants for the summer of 2019!

Layne Rollheiser, Pharmacy
Supervisor: Dr. Kate Dadachova

Josh Nurkowski, Pharmacy
Supervisor: Dr. Derek Jorgenson 

Hope Fulton, Nutrition
Supervisor: Dr. Lesley Moisey

Farren Goulding, Pharmacy
Supervisor: Drs. Charity Evans and Michael Levin

Haseeb Bhatti, Medicine
Supervisors: Drs. Robert Laprairie and Changiz Taghibiglou 

Ali Stobbe, Nutrition
Supervisors: Drs. Allison Cammer and Lilian Thorpe

Marissa Pirlot, Pharmacy
Supervisors: Drs. Ed Krol and Jeremy Lee

Brittany Scutchings, Pharmacy
Supervisors: Drs. Ildiko Badea and Petros Papagerakis

Erica Seebach, Dentistry
Supervisors: Drs. Jessica Lieffers and Carol Lynn Nagel

David Kim, Medicine
Kawthar Mohamed, Medicine
Anna Maria Smolyakova, Pharmacy
Amnah Al-Heetimi, Pharmacy
Supervisor: Dr. Robert Laprairie

Madeline Owens, Arts & Science
Supervisor: Dr. Ed Krol

Grace Cuddihy, Pharmacy
Supervisors: Drs. Ellen Wasan and Anas El-Aneed

Abby Lehmann, Nutrition
Kassandra Lestrat, Nutrition
Tamara Diaz, Nutrition
Supervisor: Dr. Hassan Vatanparast 

Wallace Rourke
Supervisor: Dr. Jane Alcorn

Jessica Martino, Nutrition
Supervisor: Dr. Jessica Lieffers

Abdul Salama, Pharmacy
Supervisors: Drs. Jane Alcorn and Darrell Mousseau 

Binay Priyadarsan Nayak
Amelie Guiho
Luis Casimiro Mata Daniel
Supervisor: Dr. Ildiko Badea 

Viola Lalomia Senta
Supervisor: Dr. Meena Sakharkar

Li Wang
Supervisor Dr. Jian Yang

College Awards

The following students have recently received awards from the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition:

Alf Pepper Research Award
Mary Fraser, Pharmacy MSc (Supervisor: Dr. Charity Evans)

Dr. Ed Knaus Graduate Scholarship in Pharmaceutical Research
Raj Rai, Pharmacy MSc (Supervisors: Drs. Ildiko Badea and Humphrey Fonge)

Elizabeth Helen McLeod Scholarship (shared)
Getenesh Teshome, Nutrition PhD (Supervisors: Drs. Carol Henry and Susan Whiting)

FJ Fear Scholarship
Kienna Mills, Pharmacy MSc (Supervisor: Dr. Kate Dadachova) 

Ford Postrgraduate Scholarship
Kelly Kizlyk, Pharmacy MSc (Supervisors: Dr. Kerry Mansell)

Mary Isabel Irwin Scholarship
Elsa Keshavarz, Nutrition MSc (Supervisor: Dr. Hassan Vatanparast)

Ramsey Postgraduate Fellowship
Mary Fraser, Pharmacy MSc (Supervisor: Dr. Charity Evans) 

Trainee Presentations and Awards

Congratulations to Kienna Mills, who was awarded the Third Place Poster Prize for her poster Glycoprotein 41 targeted radioimmunotherapy as a novel treatment for neuroHIV/AIDS at the 11^th International Symposium on Targeted-Alpha-Therapy (TAT11) held in Ottawa, Ontario from April 1st to 5th. Kienna is a Master’s student studying with Dr. Kate Dadachova.

Anna Maria Smolyakova, a PharmD student working with Robert Laprairie, was awarded First Place in the Health Sciences category at the Child Health Symposium held in Saskatoon on April 18^th.

Congratulations to Asher Brandt (PhD student with Robert Laprairie) and Tallan Black (MSc student with Robert Laprairie) for presenting in the 3 Minute Thesis Competition held on campus on March 27.

Research Funding

• Jane Alcorn, Robert Laprairie, Holly Mansell, and Kerry Mansell are co-investigators on a $100,030 CIHR Catalyst Grant Assessing the potential for using cannabidiol as a management option for anxiety in Alzheimer’s dementia patients with Principal Investigators Darrell Mousseau and Camelia Adams (Medicine), and Richard Huntsman (Co-Inv., Medicine).
• Kate Dadachova, with partner RadImmune Therapeutics, was awarded $79,500 from the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation for Combination of immunotherapy and radioimmunotherapy for treatment of metastatic melanoma.
• Robert Laprairie was awarded $40,000 in UofS CIHR bridge funding for Development of Novel Type 1 Cannabinoid Receptor Positive Allosteric Modulators for Infantile Spasms.
• Ellen Wasan is an investigator within the new NanoMedicines Innovation Network (NMIN) NCE led by Pieter Cullis (UBC).
• Kishor Wasan and his colleagues received a Movember Discovery Grant for $200,000 from Prostate Cancer Canada for their project Targeting scavenger receptor class B1 (SR-B1) to promote cholesterol depletion-mediated cytotoxic stress in castration resistant prostate cancer.

 

Recent Publications

• Alcorn, J., *Vuong, S., Wu, F., Seifert, B., & Lyon, A. (2019). Pediatric Dosing Considerations for Medical Cannabis. In Recent Advances in Cannabinoid Research. IntechOpen.
• *Cuddihy, G., Wasan, E., *Di, Y., & Wasan, K. (2019). The Development of Oral Amphotericin B to Treat Systemic Fungal and Parasitic Infections: Has the Myth Been Finally Realized? Pharmaceutics, 11(3), 99.
• Culpepper, W. J., Marrie, R. A., Langer-Gould, A., Wallin, M. T., Campbell, J. D., Nelson, L. M., …, Evans, C., Yao, S., LaRocca, N. G. (2019). Validation of an algorithm for identifying MS cases in administrative health claims datasets. Neurology, 92(10), e1016–e1028.
• *Currie, K., Evans, C., Mansell, K., Perepelkin, J., & Jorgenson, D. (2019). Community pharmacists’ experiences with the Saskatchewan Medication Assessment Program. Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue Des Pharmaciens Du Canada, 171516351982798.
• *Hosseini, S., Papanikolaou, Y., Isalm, N., Rashmi, P., Shamloo, A., & Vatanparast, H. (2019). Consumption Patterns of Grain-Based Foods among Children and Adolescents in Canada: Evidence from Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition 2015. Nutrients, 11(3), 623.
• Krol, E. S., Dobson, R. T., & Adesina, K. (2017). The Association between Academic Success in a Professional Pharmacy Program and Performance in BSP and Pharm D Prerequisites at the University of Saskatchewan. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, ajpe6491.
• Laprairie, R. B., Bagher, A. M., Rourke, J. L., Zrein, A., Cairns, E. A., Kelly, M. E. M., … Denovan-Wright, E. M. (2019). Positive allosteric modulation of the type 1 cannabinoid receptor reduces the signs and symptoms of Huntington’s disease in the R6/2 mouse model. Neuropharmacology, 151, 1–12.
• Laprairie, R., & Costain, W. (2019). Introduction to Recent Advances in Cannabinoid Research. In Recent Advances in Cannabinoid Research. IntechOpen.
• Mansell, H., Rosaasen, N., West-Thielke, P., Wichart, J., Daley, C., Mainra, R., … Blackburn,
• (2019). Randomised controlled trial of a video intervention and behaviour contract to improve medication adherence after renal transplantation: the VECTOR study protocol. BMJ Open, 9(3), e025495.
• *Poudel, A., *Gachumi, G., Wasan, K. M., Dallal Bashi, Z., El-Aneed, A., Badea, I. (2019). Development and Characterization of Liposomal Formulations Containing Phytosterols Extracted from Canola Oil Deodorizer Distillate along with Tocopherols as Food Additives. Pharmaceutics, 11(4), 185.
• *Rafiei, H., *Omidian, K., & Bandy, B. (2019). Dietary Polyphenols Protect Against Oleic Acid-Induced Steatosis in an in Vitro Model of NAFLD by Modulating Lipid Metabolism and Improving Mitochondrial Function. Nutrients, 11(3), 541.
• Wasan, E. K., Sacevich, C., El-Aneed, A., *Mohammed, M., Syeda, J., Neville, E., … Gamble, J. (2019). Investigation into spinal anesthetic failure with hyperbaric bupivacaine: the role of cold exposure on bupivacaine degradation. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal Canadien d’anesthésie.