Six faculty members have been elected Fellows by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS).
Jan Friedman, Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics and Acting Associate Dean, Research, Children & Family Research Institute, has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and eight books. His current research focuses on the use of genomic technologies to identify causes of intellectual disability. Dr. Friedman also studies the effects of various medications on human embryonic and fetal development and has made important contributions to the clinical and epidemiological understanding of neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that leads to the occurrence of many benign and malignant tumours.
William Honer, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute of Mental Health, is the Jack Bell Chair in Schizophrenia. His research interests include mechanisms of illness in schizophrenia, brain aging and complex co-occurring illnesses such as psychosis, addiction and infectious disease. He is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has authored the assessment section of the Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines for Schizophrenia. Dr. Honer is the Scientific Director of the BC Mental Health & Addictions Research Institute.
Andrei Krassioukov, Professor in the Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, is an internationally recognized expert in autonomic dysreflexia following spinal cord injury. He is a physician in the Spinal Cord Program at Vancouver Coastal Health’s G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre and an Associate Director of ICORD. For the last five years, as Chair of the Autonomic Standards Committee for the American Spinal Injury Association and International Spinal Cord Society, Dr. Krassioukov has led the international initiative on development of autonomic assessment which is to be added to the presently established neurological evaluation of individuals with spinal cord injury.
Christian Naus, Professor in the Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences and Director of the Life Sciences Institute, is a leading expert on the role that intercellular channels play in the developing brain and in disease processes. He is exploring the role gap junctions play in neural development and disease, including the consequences of mutations on gap junction structure and function. His work has implications in some cancers, epilepsy, stroke, nervous system disorders, deafness, cataracts, heart defects and skin diseases. Dr. Naus is the Canada Research Chair in Gap Junctions and Disease.
Weihong Song, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, focuses his research on the molecular and cellular mechanism of Alzheimer’s Disease. His discoveries have provided new insights into Alzheimer’s Disease and neuronal development. In addition to his seminal research on Alzheimer’s Disease, Dr. Song has facilitated Chinese-Canadian research collaborations. In 2011, he received China’s highest honour for foreign experts – the Friendship Award. Dr. Song is the Director of UBC Townsend Family Laboratories, the Jack Brown and Family Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Eric Yoshida, Professor and Head of the Division of Gastroenterology at UBC and Vancouver General Hospital, is the Head of the BC Hepatitis Program – a partnership of the BC Centre for Disease Control and the UBC Division of Gastroenterology. He is also the Past President of the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver and is a member of the national governing board of the Canadian Liver Foundation. Dr. Yoshida is the past Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program of BC Transplant and remains a member of the liver transplant program.
The CAHS works in partnership with the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering to form the three Member Academies of the Council of Canadian Academies. Fellows are elected to the CAHS based on leadership, creativity, distinctive competencies and a commitment to advance academic health science. Elected fellows are recognized by their peers nationally and internationally for their contributions to the promotion of health science.