Calgary doctor who founded country's first stroke, ALS research programs, named to Order of Canada

The founder of Canada's leading stroke research programhas been named to the Order of Canada alongside six other Calgarians.

A neuromuscular specialist, Dr. TomFeasby'shelped establish the first stroke prevention and intervention clinic inCanada.

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Feasbysays he helped createQuality Improvement & Clinical ResearchAlberta Stroke Program(QuICR)out of desperation in the early '90s due to a lack of available treatments for peoplesufferingfromacute stroke.

"It was a time when there were developments taking place in imaging, and potentially in treatment, and we decided we had to be in the stroke business," Feasbytold the Homestretch.

"I was the head of the department of clinical neuroscience [at the University of Calgary]. We made a commitment to build a stroke program so we got on with it."

A career of firsts

Feasbyis also a founding member of Calgary's firstneuromuscular andALSclinics, as well as theO'Brien Institute For Public Health in Calgary.

He says his fascinationwith the human brain began decades ago inmedical school, thanks in part to an inspiring neurosurgeon.

"We know an enormous amount [about thebrain] but of course we've really just scratched the surface," he said."There's so much we don't know about the way individual cells function and we have a rough idea but there's so muchmore to know."

Not content to bask in the glory of his past accomplishments, Feasby is currently working on ahealth-care project in Airdrieaimed at preventing illness through healthier living.

"The idea is not to focus on sickness care, which is what our system does now, [but] to move upstream and focus on preventing sickness by helping people lead healthier lives and helping facilitate that," he said.

Medicine in the future

Asfor what scientificresearchisgrabbing Feasby's attention, he says breakthroughs in the use ofstem cellsare already saving lives.

"There recently have been discoveries that are allowingus now to intervene and treat spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative disease often affecting kids, which was invariably fatal," Feasby said.

"Now it's possible to do some genetic engineering to change that and these kids will survive. It's amazing."

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With files from the Homestretch