Introducing Brenda Gerull

The latest edition (2009 issue 2) of Libin Life, the official newsletter of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, is now available in print and electronic versions. One of the articles therein is an interview with our newest international recruit, Dr. Brenda Gerull, who will be working in the area of Cardiovascular Genetics.

Here’s the intro …

“Stampede City perfect for researching Genes”

Dr. Brenda Gerull is the latest international recruit joining the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta. Having already received an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Clinical Investigator award, she arrived at the end of June 2009. Dr. Gerull obtained her MD from the Humboldt-University in Berlin in 1997. Subsequently she completed her training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Charitè in Berlin-Buch and worked as postdoctoral fellow at the Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine. Most recently, she was Helmholtz Fellow and Junior Leader of a group interested in Genetic Disorders of the Cardiovascular System at the same Institute.

To read the rest of the article and the interview, check out Libin Life. Go to the Libin Institute’s portal and then scroll down a pinch to where you see “Libin Life – hot off the press!” on the left.

If you have received a print version of Libin Life in the past, look for it in the mail over the next week or so. If you do not receive a print version of Libin Life and would like to be on our distribution, please e-mail Candace Liedtke with your coordinates.

Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration

The Libin Institute‘s Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn and Dr. Braden Manns are two of three team leads on an AHFMR team grant, a project called the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration. The Summer 2009 issue of Research News, the AHFMR magazine, features a story on this project, which is about what some have termed the “quiet epidemic” of non-communicable chronic diseases.

Excerpt:

“This situation with chronic diseases isn’t new, and governments and healthcare organizations have put a lot of time and effort into trying to improve how they manage chronic diseases,” notes Dr. Braden Manns, who researches health economics at the University of Calgary. “However, it’s fair to say that progress has been slow.”

The Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration plans to look at chronic diseases from a broader perspective. “Many researchers have investigated such underlying risk factors for chronic diseases as obesity, smoking, and lack of exercise. As a result, we have a lot of tools to manage people with chronic diseases—we should be doing a lot better than we actually do. We don’t necessarily need another discovery from basic research; rather we need to understand the barriers that prevent people from better managing their health. And that requires studies that address the root causes of these risk factors. For example, we need to look at economic factors, the social environment, geography, education, and more. This is what our group aims to do.”

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Smug Mug – Oct 14 2009 – Mark the Date

Circle your calenders folks – Wednesday October 14th 2009 is set to be an unforgettable evening of Roasting, Toasting, Dinner and Fun, in honor of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta’s Director, Dr. L. Brent Mitchell.

As you may know Dr. Mitchell’s term as Director ends on August 31, 2009, a position he has held since the Institute’s inception more than 5 years ago.

For more information about “Smug Mug“, including how to get your tickets, click the image below to see the poster:

Act fast – tickets are in limited supply and will undoubtedly be in high demand!