Tenure for three Med profs, two new recruits

During the closed session of its first meeting of 2016-17, McGill’s Board of Governors approved the granting of tenure to three Associate Professors in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, and two new academic appointments.

During the closed session of its first meeting of 2016-17 – held Oct. 6, 2016 – McGill’s Board of Governors approved the granting of tenure to three Associate Professors in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, and two new academic appointments.

The tenure promotions are effective November 1, 2016. The three newly tenured professors are:

Serge Carrier (clinical): Dr. Carrier received his MD from Université Laval and joined McGill in 1994 as an Assistant Professor. He became an Associate Professor in 2010. Carrier’s main area of expertise is in the fields of erectile dysfunction, neuro-urology and andrology. His research is oriented towards clinical research in the area of male sexual and urinary dysfunction, with a recent focus on sexual health during and following cancer. Professor Carrier is currently Director of Surgical Services at the Lachine Hospital, which is part of the MUHC. He is currently on the editorial board of the Canadian Urological Association Journal. He has served as Vice-Chair of the Royal College Specialty Committee for Urology and the Canadian Urology Association Postgraduate Education Committee. He has been involved in the teaching of both the undergraduate and postgraduate programs, as well as in the training of clinical residents.

Wassim Kassouf (clinical and research): Dr. Kassouf received his MD from McGill University and joined the University as an Assistant Professor in 2006. He became Associate Professor in 2014. He is a clinician-scientist, with a bench-to-bedside approach to treating bladder cancer. His clinical work looks at various treatment modalities, predictors of outcome and biomarkers. His research focuses on urologic oncology, with a particular focus on the basic biology of bladder cancer and its clinical management. His basic work has focused on molecular pathways (EGFR and mTOR) involved in urolthelial cancers. Professor Kassouf received the American Urological Association’s AUA Leadership Award in 2012 and its Young Urologist of the Year Award in 2015. A regular lecturer for graduate students in Experimental Surgery and a small group tutor at the medical school, Professor Kassouf is currently Program Director for the Urology Residence Program.

Fackson Mwale (research): Professor Mwale received his PhD from the University of South Carolina. He joined McGill as an Assistant Professor in 2000 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002. His research focuses on the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration and the development of quantitative MRI as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for detection of early intervertebral disc degeneration. He has investigated the fundamental roles of growth factors, scaffolds and mesenchymal stem cells in the biological repair of the intervertebral disc and cartilage. Most recently, Professor Mwale has focused on a novel peptide that has the capacity to mediate cartilage repair. Having made significant contributions to teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Professor Mwale continues to serve as course coordinator for courses in the Experimental Surgery graduate program.

At the same meeting, the Board approved two new academic recruitments:

Jeffrey Archer will join McGill on January 1, 2017, as Associate Librarian with Tenure. Archer holds a MLIS from the University of Illinois. As a Senior Librarian and Head of the Reference in the Instruction and Outreach Division at the University of Chicago Library, Mr. Archer was responsible for developing and strengthening library collections, representing the library at national conferences, and leading efforts in disability accommodations and accessible technologies. He serves on a number of committees and is a long-time leader of library instruction sessions.

Joaquin Ortega will join the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, in the Faculty of Medicine, as a Professor with Tenure. His appointment begins on April 1, 2017. Ortega is currently a professor in McMaster University’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences. His research looks at the structure and molecular mechanisms of new antibiotic targets in cellular pathways, with a goal of increasing the efficacy of existing antibiotics – and developing new ones.

Congratulations to everyone for these recognitions of excellence in teaching, research and scholarly activities.