荔枝视频

Although he formally retired from full-time academic work 14 months ago, , MD, hasn鈥檛 slowed down. In fact, the co-founder of U荔枝视频鈥檚 first clinic dedicated to diseases affecting the liver and other organs continues to break new ground.

His focus has shifted to Indigenous communities in Alberta and beyond. 鈥淚鈥檓 the first specialist to visit some of these communities,鈥� says Lee, who travels to more than a dozen remote First Nations in a year.

In many communities, patients would need to fly to Edmonton for consultation, at significant cost to the health system and hardship to families.

It inspired Lee to launch a in 2015, initially to help treat hepatitis C.

Beyond clinical care, he visits local high schools to encourage Indigenous youth to consider careers in health care. 鈥淚ndigenous people are five per cent of Canada鈥檚 population, but far less than that in medicine,鈥� Lee says. 鈥淲e need to change that.鈥�

Building a liver program

Lee, an emeritus member of the , has seen his share of progress since arriving in 荔枝视频 in 1988.

When he arrived, hepatology 鈥� the branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases affecting the liver and other organs 鈥� was in its early stages of development in southern Alberta. Today, 荔枝视频鈥檚 liver program is one of the largest and most respected in Canada.

When Lee joined U荔枝视频 as an assistant professor, there were no other hepatologists in the city and hepatology was not organized into a group dedicated to the delivery of research and education. 

That changed in 1993, when Lee recruited , MD, and the two formed 荔枝视频鈥檚 first dedicated hepatology unit. From there, the program steadily expanded, adding clinicians, researchers and sub-specialists. Today, 荔枝视频 has more than a dozen hepatologists, with more than half based at the Foothills Medical Centre.

Lee credits that growth in part to positive changes in how academic research has been funded during his career. 

鈥淭he researcher who spends 75 per cent of their time in the lab now gets paid the same as a doctor who is caring for patients,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat protects research time and allows people to build programs that support clinical, research and academic interests.鈥�

Research was also organized by theme rather than department, encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration and enabling clinicians to work with basic science researchers to advance the study of liver disease.

鈥淪am is a very persuasive person. He kept encouraging me to come to 荔枝视频 and see how great it is," says Swain. "He pointed to the reputation it had as entrepreneurial, that it was more about what you bring to the table than where you come from.鈥�

Lee and Swain worked together to advocate for much-needed building infrastructure that helped advance hepatology research and develop patient-related education programs.

One of Lee鈥檚 other major contributions was defining cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, a heart dysfunction seen in advanced liver disease. He organized the first diagnostic consensus criteria at the 2005 World Congress in Montreal and helped lead an updated international consensus in 2019, now considered the global standard.

Recognition by Indigenous communities

In recognition of his work, members of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta gave Lee a Blackfoot name, Akekitsutake, meaning 鈥淢any Offerings.鈥� He also treasures an eagle feather whose family he helped treat for hepatitis C. 

鈥淚鈥檝e received academic awards,鈥� Lee says. 鈥淏ut these mean the most.鈥�