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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

U of M doctor, pediatrics team earn award

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 01/24/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A University of Manitoba researcher and his team have received a national award for their findings in pediatric emergency medicine, including a treatment for croup that's been adopted internationally.

Their work was recognized Monday as one of the "top Canadian achievements in health research in 2011" by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The U of M's Terry Klassen, who led a research group from across the country, said the award is gratifying.

"It feels very good. Research is tough, and it's often very hard to get research money. It takes many years to get the results and to be validated in that way is a real honour," he said Monday from Quebec, where he was attending a research conference.

Klassen is founding director of Pediatric Emergency Research of Canada. The team has done notable research in bronchiolitis and mild head injuries, but its biggest achievement so far has been its influence on how croup is treated around the world.

They found many children given an oral dose of the steroid dexamethasone for croup in pediatric emergency rooms did not require hospital admission. Such children were also less likely to return soon to the ER.

"Where this has been adopted... hospitalizations for croup have really plummeted," Klassen said.

"It's now so gratifying that we can look the mom and dad in the eye and say, 'You know, we have this option,' " he said of the treatment his group tested.

Klassen works in pediatrics and child health in the U of M's faculty of medicine and is director of research for the Manitoba Institute of Child Health.

The pediatric emergency research team recognized on Monday includes David Johnson (University of Calgary), Martin Osmond (University of Ottawa), Amy Plint (University of Ottawa) and Lisa Hartling (University of Alberta).

"I congratulate Dr. Klassen and his colleagues across the country," Dr. Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) at the U of M, said in a statement. "This achievement is as a result of a national collaboration and putting evidence into practice for the benefit of all Canadians."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 24, 2012 B2

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