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Dr. Carl Boodman is an infectious-diseases doctor and microbiologist for the clinical investigator program at UM. He loves that his work allows him to connect with people from ​“all walks of life” and enjoys collaborating with other specialists to solve complex problems. He finished his Adult Infectious Disease and Medical Microbiology residencies at UM in 2022. 

As a PhD student at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, his work is primarily research-based. His research is focused on often neglected infections that have links to poverty, houselessness and migration. The two pathogens he studies are Bartonella quintana — a bacterium transmitted by body lice that causes heart-valve infections among underhoused populations globally- and visceral leishmaniasis — a fatal parasitic infection transmitted by a sandfly, that affects migrant farmers throughout the global south with elevated transmission on the border of Ethiopia and Sudan. Between his research, studies and consultation he divides his time between Manitoba, Belgium and Ethiopia. 

Dr. Boodman is passionate about ​“using research as an advocacy tool to address socioeconomic disparity” and is concerned about ​“how little we know about diseases that disproportionately affect people experiencing poverty.” He brought national attention to a less obvious and serious consequence of the lack of access to clean water with his co-authored article in the Globe and Mail in February 2023. The story outlines the first-ever pediatric case of Bartonella quintana in a high-income country which led to life-threatening endocarditis, and highlights the growing number of cases in recent years in Indigenous communities with lack of access to clean water. He is proud of his work with the Anishininew First Nations Health Authorities and leading a team to investigate clusters of Bartonella quintana endocarditis among people experiencing houselessness in Winnipeg and certain remote Manitoba Indigenous communities without adequate access to housing and water. The publication of the inner-city cluster of B. quintana was presented to the Canadian parliament by MP Leah Gazan to improve the living conditions of people experiencing houselessness. 

Dr. Boodman has concerns about the silos in medicine and about the division between research and practice. He believes that more funding should be available for operational research, which bolsters the correlation between knowledge generation, discovery and health outcomes. 

Dr. Boodman grew up in Montréal, where he attended medical school at McGill. An avid outdoorsman and music lover, he loves going on canoe trips and playing folk music. He finds joy and laughter in the company of his siblings Eva and Eric. His favourite movie is ​“Down by Law”, a comedic Louisiana jailbreak story by Jim Jarmusch starring Roberto Benigni and Tom Waits. Wait’s croaky blues provides a great musical backdrop to the Bayou scenes. 

Whether she is responding to a code orange, bringing her colleagues together to connect, or advocating for physicians and patients, Dr. Savitra Ramaya brings her warmth, intelligence, and emotional acumen to the table to benefit everyone. 

Dr. Ramaya grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. After obtaining occupational therapy and medical degrees and completing an internship and her community service years she moved to Canada in 2001, initially working in a community clinic in Prince Albert, SK. She only planned to stay in Canada for a year and return to South Africa to do an ObGyn fellowship but fell in love with Canada and ultimately settled in Brandon in 2002. She has worked as a family physician, provided obstetrical care and now practices emergency medicine at the Brandon Hospital where she is also co-chief of the department. 

Dr. Ramaya takes pride in being an advocate for her patients and says, ​“the most rewarding part of my job is hearing from past patients, even years later, who tell me that I helped them and made a difference in their lives.” Colleague Michelle McKay says Prairie Mountain Health is fortunate to have Dr. Ramaya as a member of their medical leadership staff and says she is known for her ​“extremely caring nature and desire to provide high-quality, inclusive care to the patients she serves,” adding ​“she acts on her compassion for both patients and colleagues.”

Dr. Ramaya is proud of her involvement with the Physician Health and Wellness Community of Practice (PHW CoP) committee for Prairie Mountain Health (PMH). She is the current chairperson for PMH and is excited for her new role of Peer Support Coordinator for the region. Doctors Manitoba, Physician Health Program and Policy Specialist Jennifer MacDonald says Dr. Ramaya has become ​“a role model by continuing to take on new opportunities for growth and professional development.”

Dr. Ramaya has already seen the effects of the physician shortage on access to care in her community and says, ‘“the lack of physicians and support staff, including nurses and general resources makes helping patients frustrating when you feel, at times, there are limits to what you can accomplish.”

Dr. Ramaya and her husband of 19 years love to travel, especially to South Africa where most of her family lives. She loves to plan trips and had planned an epic year of trips to 50 places in her 50^th year in 2020 but the pandemic derailed those plans. Thankfully, she and her husband have been making up for lost time with traveling over these last few years. Dr. Ramaya is most relaxed when in her kitchen cooking, where you might also find her dancing to Latin music. She and her husband enjoy cabin life, kayaking, snowshoeing, and spending time with their ​“mischievously lovable Yorkie named Winston!” 

Dr. Susan Cuvelier didn’t always want to be a doctor. Initially she planned to get a PhD and work in research, but quickly discovered it would be too isolating and the gap between results and effort would be too great. She chose medicine so she could work more directly with people and see the tangible benefits of her work. Since completing a residency in Internal Medicine in 2013 and a fellowship in Hepatology in 2015, Dr. Cuvelier has split her practice between HSC and Mount Carmel Clinic, where she works as the physician member of a nurse-driven clinic that mainly focuses on Hepatitis‑C Virus (HCV) treatment.

Dr. Cuvelier is a self-declared nerd and says the best part of being a physician is helping to solve a patient’s medical mystery that others have been unable to solve. Most rewarding, though, is working with patients with HCV long-term and seeing their quality of life improve, whether from treatment, better controlled symptoms, or a reduction or cessation of drug/​alcohol use.

She is most proud of working with the team at Mount Carmel to expand the number of patients who have been able to access treatment for HCV. Dr. Cuvelier’s work with the team at Mount Carmel has forged connections with community members and programs, enabling them to ​“treat people who face barriers to treatment such as mental health issues, problematic drug/​alcohol use, and lack of stable housing.” Through a collaboration with the medical team at Headingley Correctional Centre in the coming months, she welcomes the opportunity to help improve access to treatment for people who are incarcerated. As a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, she looks forward to working with Continuing Professional Education on the development of curriculum to help physicians better care for 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans.

Her work with patients who do not have access to basic necessities and whose physical and mental health issues are caused or worsened as a result, highlights the stark lack of resources available to help these patients. Dr. Cuvelier believes that society has an ethical responsibility to ​“ensure that, at minimum, everyone’s basic needs are met” and that ​“allowing people to be unhoused/​live in poverty costs the system tremendously” in the long run. She worries that substance issues are being addressed ​“based on ideology rather than evidence” and says, ​“supervised consumption sites and access to a safe drug supply save people’s lives.” She says ​“418 Manitobans died of drug poisonings in 2022, we need to start adopting policies and practices to prevent further deaths.”

Dr. Cuvelier’s two favourite hobbies are shopping for books at independent bookstores and reading. She loves to travel, particularly ​“off the beaten path” after referring to Atlas Obscura for ideas. She loves visiting historical medical museums and once convinced staff at the Anatomy Department at the UofT to allow her access to their museum, which is typically only for staff and students. She loves trying new foods and restaurants, which is one of her favourite things about living in Winnipeg and traveling. She enjoys the company of her two young kittens who keep her endlessly entertained and spending time with her 5‑year-old godson who lives nearby.

Dr. Yasser Elsayed is an associate professor in pediatrics and child health at UM, a published author, an accomplished teacher, and a passionate presenter of his programs and techniques to colleagues across the globe. Colleague and friend, Dr. Ayman Sheta is inspired by Dr. Elsayed’s dedication and says his work and innovation has put Manitoba’s neonatology fellowship program on the map as an internationally renowned program. 

Born, raised and trained in Egypt, where he completed his residency in pediatrics and discovered an early interest in neonatal hemodynamics, Dr. Elsayed later completed a PhD in pediatric cardiology. When he arrived in Canada, he joined the neonatal/​perinatal medicine fellowship program at UM, then trained in Toronto as an echocardiology fellow. After completing the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography certification program, Dr. Elsayed was one of the few clinicians outside of Toronto to certify in targeted neonatal echocardiography and hemodynamics. 

Dr. Elsayed established a ground-breaking program in Winnipeg that integrated clinical and hemodynamic assessment with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) of the newborn brain and kidney: the first approach of its kind in the world. The program optimizes the care of critically ill newborns by assessing heart, lung, and brain performance. The program has not only improved the standard of care in Manitoba but has become a proven model for similar programs around the world. 

More recently, Dr. Elsayed developed point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) protocols for NICU use. To reduce neonatal exposure to ionizing radiation, he found better, safer ways to diagnose and treat serious conditions using lung and intestinal ultrasound. Dr. Elsayed’s work has ensured that Winnipeg NICUs are the main relay station for neonatologists from all over the world to train in Neonatal POCUS in Winnipeg. He is proud of the collaborative innovation that has garnered him many awards including the 2023 Emerging Leader in Neonatology Award from the Canadian Pediatric Society 2023, the 2023 Emerging Academic Leader Award from Pediatric Chairs of Canada, and the 2023 Ronald Duhamel Innovation Fund Award from the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.