June 15: An Evening with Dr. Andrew Howlett

With the annual Father’s Day, June can be a time to reflect on fatherhood. And as we understand more about the transition into parenthood, we have learned more about this vulnerable period for the individual and the family.

 

In addition, COVID has also taken a toll on all aspects of the family, and, given our society’s often ambiguous respect for the role of fathers, any weak link in the chain that maintains a family’s mental health should concern us all.

 

Please join us in the Doctors’ Lounge as we explore “The Marvel of the Human Dad.”

Our guide for the evening will be child psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Howlett of Toronto’s Fathers’ Mental Health Program.

 

The mysteries of fatherhood have a lasting influence on our lives. Whether you are a father, know/knew your father well, or never met the man, you are invited to spend an evening with colleagues and a local expert examining fatherhood from a new perspective.

MAY 26: An Evening with Dr. Jason Fung

 The spectrum of medical treatment is vast. 

At one end are practices that we should adopt, but rigidly resist. This is known as the Semmelweis Reflex. 

At the other end of the spectrum are practices from which we should rigidly desist, but don’t. This has been called the Cifu Reflex (1,2). 

The latter is more likely to occur when we don’t have an understanding of the basis for the condition that is being treated. Cancer is such a mystery, and medical reversals both in terms of theory and treatments characterize the history of medical practice in oncology.

Sometimes an outsider can address mysteries by attempting to solve the puzzles of the unknown through fresh eyes. You are invited to look at cancer with fresh eyes.

Dr. Jason Fung, author of The Cancer Code, will guide us through insights gained about the very nature of our cells in the writing of his latest book.

Please join your colleagues in the collegial environment of the Doctors’ Lounge as we participate in one of our favourite activities: paradigm shifting. 

April 25: An Evening with Dr. Susan Fox

Rigid thinking about muscular rigidity and the other motor manifestations of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can distort our appreciation of the significant non-motor manifestations of the condition, such as autonomic and cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances and pain.

Rigid thinking about the failure to prevent progressive neurodegeneration with present treatments can lead to despair for both patients and their physicians.

Rigid thinking is not welcome in the Doctors’ Lounge.

You are invited to spend an evening during Parkinson’s Awareness Month thinking differently about the future.

Think: Precision medicine. Focused ultrasound. Innovative surgeries. Manipulation of the microbiome and mitochondria. Neuroprotectants. Even vaccinations!

Think: hope.

Please join us as our distinguished guide for the evening broadens our horizons on future therapies for PD.

Dr. Susan Fox MB, ChB, MRCP(UK), PhD is Head of the Division of Neurology, University Health Network and Sinai Health Systems; holds the Krembil Family Chair of Neurology; Professor of Neurology, University of Toronto and Associate Director of the Movement Disorder Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Fox is Chair of the Pan-American section of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) (2021-23). She has served on committees, grant review and advisory boards for MDS, NIH, CIHR, Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson research and DMRF among others. Dr. Fox has over 20 years’ experience in preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease and translational studies of novel pharmacological therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders such as dystonia. She has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and book chapters in the field and is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.