Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and destigmatize mental health issues. For transplant recipients and their caregivers, mental health is a crucial aspect of their overall wellbeing, as they navigate the physical and emotional challenges of the transplantation process. Studies have shown that caregivers are at risk of experiencing mental and physical health challenges, and transplant recipients may experience depression, anxiety, and PTSD. It’s important to prioritize mental health and seek support when needed, whether it’s through therapy, support groups, or other resources. By acknowledging the importance of mental health, we can support the wellbeing of transplant recipients and their caregivers and help them thrive in their post-transplant journey.
Communications Manager, Stéphanie, had the chance to meet with Dr. Puneeta Tandon, Professor of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Co-Director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic and Transplant Hepatologist, and Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley, Registered Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University, as part of the Mental Health Awareness Month.
During the interview, Drs Tandon and Lee-Baggley speak about the intersection between mental health and liver diseases and transplantation. They discuss how mental health came into their practice and explain how liver diseases and transplantation can impact a person’s overall quality of life and mental well-being. They also address common misconceptions about mental health and seeking therapy.
Additionally, the interview dives into The EMPOwer Program, a 12-week online wellness program for people 50+ who have received an organ transplant. Dr. Tandon and Lee-Baggley provide insight into the program and discuss how it has helped improve the mental and physical health of participants.
This interview sheds light on the importance of addressing mental health in the context of liver diseases and transplantation and offers valuable insights into how we can better support patients in this area.
Listen to the full interview below.
Join the 12-Week EMPOwer Program Now!
The clinically-proven program focuses on movement, breathwork, mindfulness, and psychology tips to help you live your best life. You will also receive weekly educational tips from expert clinicians, and have the opportunity to join an online community of others who have received an organ transplant. The group is currently recruiting adults 50+ to participate in their research study, and they ask for a minimum time commitment of 90-120 minutes spread across each week.
Join today and see the difference EMPOwer can make in your life!
About Dr. Puneeta Tandon
Dr. Puneeta Tandon (MD, FRCP(C), MSc(Epi)) is a Gastroenterologist, Transplant Hepatologist and Faculty member at the University of Alberta since 2007. She is founder and co-director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic and is currently appointed as a Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Tandon is an active researcher who is driven by the desire to empower people with chronic conditions with practical tools for improving knowledge, physical and mental well-being. At both the national and international levels, she is frequently invited to speak about areas including cirrhosis, nutrition, exercise, mental health and chronic disease symptom management.
About Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley
Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley is a Registered Psychologist in BC, AB, ON and NS in Clinical and Organizational Psychology. She specializes in facilitating change for individuals, teams, leaders and organizations. She is a senior facilitator providing healthy workplace interventions. She has extensive applied experience and research knowledge on behaviour change, team functioning, conflict resolution, workplace restoration, diversity, equity, inclusion, trauma-informed workplaces, restorative justice, and organizational change. She also leads all research projects. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine with cross-appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Surgery at Dalhousie University in Family Medicine and is an Adjunct Professor at Saint Mary’s University in the Department of Psychology and the Chief of Research for the Howatt HR Applied Workplace Research Institute. She has the lived experience of being a bi-racial daughter of an Asian immigrant. She strives to make training meaningful and safe using evidence-based methods and processes.
ity of Alberta and has received training in patient-oriented research through the University of Calgary’s PACER (Patient and Community Engagement Research) Program. He is the Patient, Family, and Donor Partnerships & Education Manager with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. In this role, Manuel builds relationships patient partners with investigators and strengthens capacity among CDTRP patient partners.
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Gareth Wiltshire
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Sherrie Logan 
born and raised in Edmonton, AB. With a degree in Music Performance (saxophone performance) and Education, Lindsey has taught for over a decade in the Edmonton Public School system. When she is not teaching, she is very involved in the music community, performing in the Edmonton Winds, conducting her own community ensemble (The Beer League Band) and on numerous musical boards across the province. For the past 5 years, Lindsey has had to take a break from teaching after having her amazing son, George. Maternity leave did not goes as expected as George was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at 5 months old and required 2 heart transplants before the age of 4. During this time, Lindsey has also began to dedicate her time building and expanding her charity: Big Gifts for Little Lives, where they raise money to fund Pediatric Heart Transplant research at the Stollery.
Dr. Caigan Du is a scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He received a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in UK and postdoctoral training in Immunology in USA. He is interested in the pathogenesis of kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplant rejection, and molecular control of urinary malignancies. He has been studying the impact of kidney donor-derived factors on renal allograft rejection, and the molecular pathways of kidney injury and regeneration in experimental models. He is also interested in developing medical solution including drugs made from natural compounds for all kinds of health problems, including immune disorders, organ preservation, kidney failure and urinary cancer. He is the PI of many grant supports from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Heather Badenoch is a non-directed living liver donor and communications strategist. As the president of Village PR, she provides strategic communications direction and training to not-for-profit clients in community and health. An active transplant volunteer, Heather helps transplant candidates find living donors by running their public appeals, small and large, pro-bono. She also mentors potential living donors on the path to living donation. Heather is a volunteer with the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation and the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. She and her spouse adopt rescue dogs and volunteer together with Community Veterinary Outreach, a group providing free veterinary care to the pets of people who are homeless.
Sean Dicks is a clinical psychologist who has 20 years’ experience supporting both families of organ donors and transplant recipients. While it is rare for him to have contact with a donor family and recipient linked to the same organ donation-transplantation event, his contact with families who have lived experience with organ donation on the one hand, and patients who have received transplants on the other hand has provided opportunities to explore how their journeys become linked when they attempt to make sense of and find meaning in their respective crises.
Terri Hansen-Gardiner is a Cree speaking Metis woman from Northern Saskatchewan as well as a 10 year Breast Cancer Survivor. Her tireless spirit and dedication to her community is undeniable. Terri is a cancer survivor who travels around the province to provide assistance, information, and support to Indigenous patients who are trying to access and navigate the cancer care system.
Dr. Golnaz Karoubi is Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General HospitalResearch Institute and principal investigator in the Latner Thoracic Research Labs. She currently holds an Assistant Professor appointment in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and a cross-appointment in the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Karoubi received her PhD in Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and joined the Lung Regenerative Medicine Program in the Department of Clinical Research in Berne University, Switzerland for a post-doctoral research fellowship. She stayed on as a Group Leader in 2008 to direct the basic and transitional science as related to Cancer Stem Cell and Lung Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Berne until 2012. In early 2012, she joined the team of Dr. Tom Waddell at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute as a Senior Scientific Associate and was appointed to Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (University Health Network) in November 2019 and to Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in July 2020.
Dr. Haykal graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in2007 as class valedictorian and silver medalist, and subsequently completed her residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2016. During her residency, she completed a four-year Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and immunology with a focus on tracheal reconstruction. She obtained numerous grants and awards including a CIHR Vanier Scholarship. Dr. Haykal then pursued fellowship training in microsurgical reconstruction at the Albany Medical Centre in New York. Dr. Haykal joined the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital in 2018. Her clinical focus is on complex oncological reconstruction and microsurgical reconstruction of the breast, head and neck and extremity. She started a lymphedema program in 2019 where she offers microsurgical techniques for the treatment of lymphedema.
Dr. Ahmed is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. The recipient of the 2022 Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award, she is a nephrologist and clinician-scientist with a focus on sex and gender differences in human cardiovascular/kidney physiology and clinical outcomes. Dr. Ahmed is the Vice Chair (Research) for the Department of Medicine, Lead of the Libin Institute Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research Initiative at the University of Calgary and Lead of the Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Capacity Development Platform. Dr. Ahmed is an Advisory Board member for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, a member of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Governing Council and the President-Elect for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences.
r. Christopher Nguan is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Urological Sciences, Surgical Head of Kidney Transplantation at Vancouver General Hospital and the Director of the Surgical Technologies Experimental Laboratory & Advanced Robotics (STELLAR) facility at Vancouver General Hospital.
r Caroline Lamarche is a clinician scientist and transplant nephrologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. She is an assistant clinical professor at the Université de Montréal. After her nephrology training at the Université de Montréal (2015), she completed a Master degree on the use of adoptive immunotherapy to treat/prevent BK nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Megan Levings at the University of British Columbia on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cells (Tregs) to induce transplant tolerance. Her lab is working on the development of adoptive immunotherapy in nephrology and understanding Treg dysfunction.
Dr. Tandon is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic, Transplant Hepatologist and lead of the Cirrhosis Care Alberta quality improvement program. She obtained her training at the University of Alberta, the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and Yale University. Her clinical practice and research are focused on cirrhosis with research interests including cirrhosis related complications, malnutrition, frailty, exercise therapy, palliative care, integrative health approaches such as meditation and knowledge translation. It is her career goal to provide wholistic, interdisciplinary, evidence based, patient-centered care through education, empowerment, engagement and team-work.
Emily is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, where she completed her Master of Science (MSc) degree in medicine. With a passion for patient-oriented research and a commitment to improving health outcomes, Emily’s doctoral project focuses on EMPOWER, a 12-week online mind-body wellness program designed for adults living with chronic health conditions.
Dr Basil S. Nasir, M.B.B.Ch
Dr. Victor Ferreira is an Assistant Scientist in the Ajmera Transplant Centre at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP). He completed his PhD in Medical Sciences – Infection and Immunity Specialization at McMaster University in 2014 and post-doctoral training at UHN. His research program is focused on three pillars: I) using systems vaccinology to reveal insights into vaccine responses in immunocompromised individuals like transplant recipients; II) characterizing the impact of chronic viral infection on host immune responses; and III) developing novel methods for eliminating latent viruses in human organs. His work has been cited >2,500 times and is published in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, the Lancet Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the American Journal of Transplantation and Journal of Infectious Diseases.