Recipient of the 2022-2023 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship: Everglad Mugutso
It is with great pleasure that we announce Everglad Mugutso, MD as the recipient of the 2022-2023 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research.
Dr. Everglad Mugutso moved to Canada from Zimbabwe a year ago. A physician by training, she is pursuing a Master’s degree at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ezer, while seeking recertification to practice medicine in Canada. During her medical program at the University of Zimbabwe, she took a year off from the mainstream to pursue basic sciences research in cardiovascular physiology. For the remainder of her medical degree, she involved herself in community research with a particular interest in improving healthcare access and preventive strategies.
After her internship, she worked in pediatric oncology at a tertiary hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. She noticed how most of the patients she used to see presented to the hospital with advanced cancer and how lack of resources impacted the quality of care they were able to provide. This aroused a desire in her to pursue ways to improve patient outcomes and healthcare utilization, hence her proposed research.
During her year as a Becklake Fellow, Dr. Everglad Mugutso will study ways to provide better quality of care and quality of life for patients with lung cancer. Using existing real-world data and artificial intelligence, she aims to determine which patients will benefit the most from specific treatments. This will help ensure the best treatment is chosen for each individual.
Dr. Everglad Mugutso applied to do a Master’s program at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ezer. Her research will focus on the concept of prehabilitation. Most of us are familiar with rehabilitation, the process of recovery after surgery. Prehabilitation flips this idea on its head, helping patients improve their health status before they have surgery to remove cancer to ensure they have an easier recovery. This technique has the potential to improve or even save the lives of patients. Dr. Everglad Mugutso’s long term goal is to become a clinician-scientist so that she may help people in Zimbabwe and other countries in that region.
About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship:
The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.