Mean well, speak well and do well.
It’s a family motto that Brad Urquhart, an assistant professor in physiology and pharmacology at the University of Western Ontario, does his best to live by. It’s a family motto straight from the rugged Scottish highlands, from a time when the Urquhart family lived in a grand castle overlooking Loch Ness.
Today, the castle is in ruins. But the 32-year-old Urquhart won’t let the motto become part of history.
“It’s something I’d like to keep up… it’s a motivational thing I like to keep in my mind.”
From an office and laboratory in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Urquhart examines how people with kidney disease respond to medication. Those suffering from it can find their mobility severely curtailed.
“It’s a truly debilitating disease,” he explains. What’s worse, he adds, is that it’s progressive.
“You can start off with very mild kidney disease where you may not even notice the symptoms,” he says. “It progresses through to where you have zero urine output in some cases.”
Urquhart’s research examines why people with kidney disease respond differently to medications than people with normal kidney function. It’s not an easy area to research.
“You can’t pull a patient off 15 medications to take the one study medication. That has adverse effects for them,” Urquhart says.
The results of his studies would be useful now. The number of Canadians with kidney disease is increasing substantially. Some 36,000 were on kidney dialysis in 2007.
Patients undergoing kidney dialysis are usually placed on the hemodialysis treatment method to filter and clean blood. Patients must visit the hospital for four hours a day, three times a week, for their dialysis treatments.
“It’s three half-workdays you’d be spending in the hospital,” Urquhart says. “People find it hard to continue working with so much medical care.”
Urquhart became interested in science during the latter years of high school after growing up in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, Ont. There he lived with his mother, a nurse; his father, a downtown banker; and a younger brother.
Urquhart settled on Western for undergraduate studies in 2001 because it was far enough from home to be independent and close enough to visit regularly. Yet his specialization didn’t emerge until the third year with his first pharmacology class.
“I was sold on it at that point.”
He continued at the university in 2003 and his master’s degree rolled over into a PhD. Then, after a short stint at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, he returned to Western to continue post-doctoral studies in 2006.
“If you asked me 10 years ago if I would be a professor at Western in Pharmacology I would certainly say no. I thought I would just do the degree and go get a job.”
Now he’s starting a new job and seeking to help his students.
“He does try to help anyone that he can,” said Michael Knauer, a 24-year-old PhD student who has known Urquhart inside and outside of university life for three years. Knauer said he does a good job of being there for his students.
“He’ll take time out for any student. That’s one very good thing about him as a professor.”
Urquhart is able to mix research trips and conferences with vacation.
Travels have taken him across Canada. Further away, Puerto Rico stands out as a memorable destination. “I was able to go out and sit on the beach during breaks from the conference.”
So far, conferences have not taken him to his family’s native country, Scotland, but he hopes to visit in the future.
“It’s a life goal to go out there for sure.”
The writer is a master’s student studying journalism.
Brad Urquhart
Favourite sport: Hockey
Favourite sports team: Toronto Maple Leafs.
TV show: “Besides Hockey Night in Canada? — Lost.”
Regular Tim Hortons order: Large coffee with milk, at least one a day.
McDonalds order: Caramilk McFlurry.
Subway order: Oven Roasted Chicken on Parmesan Oregano. Lots of toppings and extra hot sauce.