Arya M. Sharma, MD

Nobel Laureate Dr. Olivers Smithies and Arya Sharma, Edmonton, Oct 2011

Last night, I had the pleasure of dining with Dr. Oliver Smithies, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, which he received jointly with Mario R. Capecchi and Sir Martin J. Evans “for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells”.

I have previously met Dr. Smithies, several years ago, when I was still active in hypertension research - at that time Dr. Smithies, who continues to work on (among many other topics) hypertension, had just targeted the renin-angiotensin system in mice.

Dr. Smithies is visiting the University of Alberta and will be speaking today at 4.00 pm “On Being a Basic Scientist for 60 Years” at the University Hospital Bernard Snell Hall.

During dinner, Dr. Smithies proved a most entertaining guest. Some of the lesser known details of his remarkable biography include the fact that he dropped out of medical school (Oxford), learnt to fly at age 50 on Toronto Island Airport and for almost 20 years held the world record for the shortest flying time for a single engine aircraft across the Atlantic from Goose Bay, Labrador, to Rekjavik, Iceland.

Other interesting ‘trivia’ included the fact that he invented starch electrophoresis (for protein sieving). He describes this episode in his autobiography as follows:

“Finding the best variety of starch and how to process it for making the gels became necessary when my supplier’s stock of processed starch was exhausted. Many hours were spent in testing all the raw starches that I could buy, and then in grocery stores finding potatoes from Holland Marsh, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Idaho from which to make the raw starch. None gave as good gels as those made from my first batch. I eventually found out why: my original supplier had purchased starch processed by a second company that had used raw starch imported by a third company from Denmark because of an attack of potato blight in Canada!”

Dr. Smithies continues to work full time as Professor at the University of North Carolina and had to hurry back to his hotel room after dinner to work on a grant that is due for submission on Friday.

Dr. Smithies is 86!

It was certainly a most entertaining evening and I can only encourage anyone in Edmonton to show up for what I know will be a most remarkable talk from a most remarkable researcher and human being!

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

Readers may recall a previous post on the new University of Alberta’s Health Sciences Education and Research Commons, which will include a state-of-the-art bariatric simulation suite, designed to teach health professionals in the care of patients with severe obesity.

In the following short videos, I discuss some of the thoughts that went into creating this rather unique training facility.

Appreciate all comments.

AMS
Las Vegas, NV

p.s. Congratulations to the University of Alberta for maintaining its position on the Times Top 50 Medical School list

Early this year, as part of the Alberta-Saxony Obesity Research and Training Alliance (ASORTA), we hosted the first International School on Obesity Research and Management (ISORAM).

This event was attended by over 50 faculty and trainees from Alberta and Germany.

In a follow-up to this immensely successful event, we are now planning ISORAM ‘12, which will be held from March 25-30, 2012, at the Chateau Lake Louise, in Alberta, Canada.

This time the focus will be on all aspects of metabolic and bariatric research as well as medical and surgical management of patients with severe obesity.

The course is open to all health professionals from around the world, who would like to hone their expertise in bariatric medicine and metabolic surgery.

The program, which will offer more than 40 hrs of teaching and interactive workshops, will also include ample time for informal networking and scientific exchange with the international faculty in the unique picturesque surroundings of one of Canada’s premier ski resorts.

Specifically, ISORAM ‘12 has the following objectives:

• To provide participants with a sound understanding of the scientific and methodological issues in bariatric medicine and surgical practices.

• To build participants knowledge in the areas of:

a. Clinical assessment and management of bariatric patients
b. Current best practices in dietary, psychological and behavioural management of bariatric patients
c. Current best practices in patient selection and preparation
d. Current understanding of the biology of metabolic and bariatric surgery patients
e. Interdisciplinary obesity research and practice.

• To educate participants in new developments in:

a. Medical and behavioural management of severe obesity
b. Nutritional and psychosocial complications in bariatric patients
c. Emerging devices in obesity management
d. Rehabilitation issues in bariatric care

• To give participants an understanding of health services/health systems impact on issues related to bariatric care

More information on this event can be here.

Please indicate your interest in learning more about and perhaps participating in this event here.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

Regular readers may recall a previous post showing that educating medical students on the complex nature of obesity, with a focus on genetics and biological determinants of ingestive behaviour, can reduce weight bias, whereas lecturing them about the benefits of diet and exercise serves to increase it.

A study by Phillippa Diedrichs and Fiona Kate Barlow from the University of Queensland, Australia, suggests that the same is true for psychology students.

In this paper, just published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, the researchers challenged undergraduate psychology students’ beliefs about the controllability of weight by presenting them with a lecture on obesity, weight bias, and the multiple determinants of weight.

Control groups consisted of lectures focusing on the behavioural determinants of weight (diet and exercise) or no lecture at all.

Beliefs about the controllability of weight and attitudes towards overweight and obese people were assessed 1 week pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and three weeks post-intervention showing that the students, who receive the intervention lecture were less likely to believe that weight is solely within individual control and were also less likely to hold negative attitudes towards overweight and obese people and rate them as unattractive.

In contrast, there were no such changes in the attitudes of the control or comparison groups.

To my knowledge, this is the second study demonstrating that education on obesity to budding health professionals should focus on promoting a better understanding of the complex environmental and biological determinants of body weight homeostasis rather than simply perpetuating ‘diet and exercise’ platitudes.

Not only is this closer to what we now understand about this complex condition but is also likely to reduce anti-weight bias and stereotypical beliefs amongst the next generations of health professionals.

AMS
Paris, France

Diedrichs PC, & Barlow FK (2011). How to lose weight bias fast! Evaluating a brief anti-weight bias intervention. British journal of health psychology, 16 (4), 846-61 PMID: 21988068

One of the flagship activities of the Canadian Obesity Network, is its annual training Summer Boot Camp - an intense learning experience offered to a small and select group of young researchers and new professionals working on a wide range of topics relevant to obesity prevention and treatment.

Seven years ago, when I first floated the idea for this camp as part of the original NCE application, it was not hard to convince my friends at the University of Laval and others, that such a ‘camp’ would be a game-changer for the future of the landscape of obesity professionals in Canada.

Loosely modeled on similar training initiatives that I had attended during my own training years, I developed the concept and recipe for this camp:

- Find 24 of the brightest and most promising young Canadians with an interest in obesity from across institutions and disciplines.

- Put them in an all-expenses paid, comfortable but remote location and expose them to over 70 hours of teaching by some of the best faculty we can find.

- Challenge their thinking and open their minds to the full complexity and richness of the problem they are trying to solve - from cell-biology to city building - from health promotion to bariatric surgery - from ethics to career development.

- Include enough intense social interactions and activities to create new bonds of friendships that will last a lifetime.

This investment is now paying rich dividends.

Many of those, who attended the first camps, have begun emerging as independent researchers, dedicated health professionals, or occupying other important positions within government, NGOs, industry or health authorities.

I predict that each of them will leave their mark in their area of work and that this mark will bear the distinct stamp of their camp experience - ultimately benefitting all Canadians at risk of or suffering the consequences of excess weight.

Across the board, campers describe their camp experience as the single most important and rewarding professional experience in their still young careers - they continue to benefit from the insights, the friendships, and the mentorship emanating from this experience.

These views are shared by the dedicated faculty, who continue to happily take several days off their Summers, to deliver the best possible learning experience to the campers.

I certainly look forward to a long week of intense learning and fun with the 2K11 cohort of campers.

As usual, I do not anticipate a dull moment.

AMS
Dushesnay, Quebec