All’s Not Lost: A Roadmap to Treating Hepatitis C on the Prairies
Release Date: 03/31/2025
In the Trenches: Dr. James Stempien on Emergency Medicine
Researchers Under the Scope
James Stempien (MD) has navigated some of the most challenging corners of emergency medicine, from the frigid isolation of Inuvik to the bustling corridors of Saskatoon’s emergency departments. His experience in low-tech outposts has shaped his approach to modern emergency care. “When things aren’t going well you see it in the emergency department first,” Stempien said. “We’re the front door. We’re always open.” As provincial department head of emergency medicine, Stempien sees patients on their worst days in hospitals bursting at the seams, struggling to...
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All’s Not Lost: A Roadmap to Treating Hepatitis C on the Prairies
Researchers Under the Scope
As the world aims to eradicate hepatitis C (HCV) by 2030, Carrielynn Lund and Dr. Alexandra King’s team created a how-to guide. is a step-by-step guide to tackling a spike of new infections across the three Canadian prairie provinces. Hepatitis C (HCV) causes severe liver disease, and was notoriously difficult to treat until the introduction of direct-acting antivirals a decade ago — antivirals which boast a remarkable 95% success rate. Despite this advancement, Lund and Dr. King say Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba need to know why HCV cases keep rising, particularly in...
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Exercise Your Right to Breathe: Dr. Brianne Philipenko & Asthma
Researchers Under the Scope
Brianne Philipenko (MD) was midway through her respirology fellowship in Calgary when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the city. She started interval workouts at home using Nike’s fitness app — when inspiration struck. “Coming up with a creative, innovative way to allow people to access an exercise program outside of the typical organized pulmonary rehabilitation in a gym setting was something that I became really interested in,” said Philipenko.. As a respirologist, Philipenko was already frustrated by the lack of ‘mainstay’ guidelines on incorporating exercise...
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Dr. Sarah Forgie: Why the New Dean of Medicine Taught Herself the Ukelele
Researchers Under the Scope
In this episode, we gain insight into Dr. Sarah Forgie, the new Dean of the College of Medicine. She discusses her innovative teaching methods, her career as a pediatric infectious disease specialist, and her vision for advancing Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine. Dr. Forgie also shares the story behind her decision to learn the ukulele. Born to family physicians, Dr. Forgie grew up in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, a remote fly-in mining community. Her family later relocated to Winnipeg, where Dr. Forgie credits much of her motivation to her mother, who encouraged her to pursue both medicine and...
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Grey Area: Dr. John Howland on Cannabis & Budding Brains
Researchers Under the Scope
A behavioural neuroscientist in Saskatoon is uncovering marijuana’s effects on fetal brain development. After recently winning a five-year CIHR grant of $960,076 in the spring of 2024, Dr. John Howland’s lab at the University of Saskatchewan is expanding its work examining prenatal exposure to cannabis smoke. Howland’s teams will assess the way cannabis exposure alters higher brain functions like memory and learning in both rats and mice. Compared to cannabis injections in the past, the professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology at the College of Medicine said exposing...
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Innovating and Bridging Gaps in IBD Care: Dr. Juan-Nicolás Peňa-Sánchez
Researchers Under the Scope
Growing up in Columbia had a profound impact on Dr. Juan-Nicolas Pẽna-Sànchez. In this episode, hear why the former family physician pivoted, becoming Saskatchewan's lead in finding the best ways to treat Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in rural and Indigenous patients. Even as a teenager, Juan-Nicolás Peña-Sánchez could see stark differences in health for those who had medical coverage — and those without, thanks to his stepfather, an emergency department physician. “I used to go with him sometimes on shifts to learn and shadow him,” said Peña-Sánchez said. “The...
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Cuts Like a NanoKnife: Dr. Mike Moser
Researchers Under the Scope
"When I got into medical school, the last thing in the world I wanted to be was a surgeon because I couldn't stand the sight of blood," said Dr. Mike Moser. Fast-forward to the present day, where Moser is now one of Saskatchewan's top kidney transplant surgeons, winning last year's Golden Scalpel Award for Pre-clerkship Education, the 2022 Logan Boulet Humanitarian of the Year Award, and numerous teaching awards. In this episode, the professor of general surgery at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine takes us back to one pivotal day where everything changed, propelling...
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Walking the Talk: Dr. Daniel Fuller on Urban Health and Mobility
Researchers Under the Scope
As an undergrad, Daniel Fuller didn’t have a car, nor was he keen on taking the bus. “I rode my bike to university every day in the fall and then just kept on going and never stopped,” said Fuller, a former national and international canoe/kayak athlete. As he pedaled, Fuller watched the way people used trails, sidewalks and roads. “I really started to get into active transportation, how people move around cities and how we can get people active -- outside of the sport environment,” said Fuller, now an associate professor in Community Health and...
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Anatomy of Success: Three Researchers, Three Grants, One Goal
Researchers Under the Scope
From the laboratory to saving lives, this episode brings together three outstanding researchers from the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology (APP) as they discuss their work and its implications for cardiac care. Dr. Michelle Collins, Dr. Scott Widenmaier, and Dr. Changting Xiao are all recent recipients of research grants from Heart & Stroke (formerly the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada). In Canada, one per cent of newborns have congenital heart defects. Thanks to advances in cardiac care, up to 85 per cent of these...
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Dr. Jacob Alhassan and the Politics of Expendability
Researchers Under the Scope
"Pushing politicians to do what is good for the health of the people, there's no way around it," said Dr Jacob Alhassan. Born and raised in a rural Ghanaian village, Alhassan grew up without electricty and paved roads. He watched women die in childbirth. He grew resentful of health systems that left the poorest people to fend for themselves, while the rich thrived. Alhassan decided to take action. At first, he thought he would study hard to become a local hospital administrator. Partway through his university years, Alhassan began to dream even bigger. In this episode, he looks back at his...
info_outlineAs the world aims to eradicate hepatitis C (HCV) by 2030, Carrielynn Lund and Dr. Alexandra King’s team created a how-to guide.
Journeys to Wellness: Prairie Hepatitis C Roadmap is a step-by-step guide to tackling a spike of new infections across the three Canadian prairie provinces.
Hepatitis C (HCV) causes severe liver disease, and was notoriously difficult to treat until the introduction of direct-acting antivirals a decade ago — antivirals which boast a remarkable 95% success rate.
Despite this advancement, Lund and Dr. King say Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba need to know why HCV cases keep rising, particularly in jails, in remote communities, and in people who lack adequate housing and nutrition.
The virus is not picky, as Carrielynn Lund learned when she was first diagnosed in the 1990s. Her doctor wrongly told her back then the blood-borne illness could be spread only through injection drug use.
Shocked, Lund said “I went out of that room and drove home thinking, oh my God, I'm gonna die.”
A single mother of two, she resumed her professional life and never disclosed that “dark, dirty secret” until nearly 20 years later, as she became friends with Dr. King.
The Waniska team, led by Saydi Harlton, brought together researchers, health professionals, and people who’ve lived with hepatitis C in sharing circles, workshops and interviews.
“The stigma around this needed to be addressed and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Lund. “People often feel really alone in this journey, and it’s so important that we create spaces where they can share their stories and be heard."
Participants identified barriers to care, including confidentiality breaches, misinformation and inadequate access to testing.
“My priority right now may or may not be my hepatitis C. It might be, where am I going to sleep today? Or, what food am I going to be getting?” said Dr. King.
In the Roadmap, King said the disproportionately high number of cases in Indigenous people shows a need for true elimination strategies, rather than pockets of “little pilot projects.”
"There aren't necessarily a lot of resources, so you're dealing with fairly fragile systems," Dr. King noted.
Recent provincial government decisions to axe needle exchanges, and cut public transportation routes to remote and northern communities have taken their toll, she added.
Given the hurdles faced by Indigenous and two-spirit people, both Dr. King and Lund say prairie people need culturally informed care. They point to Indigenous-led hepatitis C elimination strategies with predictable funding and resources.
“It really helps you to understand the importance of really good evidence-based policy that supports people and meet them where they're at,” Dr. King said.
Lund and Dr. King believe making a fiscal case for early detection and treatment may also swing policy-makers back toward patient-centred care.
Peer support also plays a role, Lund said.
“When someone who has been through it helps a newly diagnosed person, it can truly change everything for them," she said.