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Dr. Ismail is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Epidemiology, and Pathology at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and O’Brien Institute for Public Health, at the University of Calgary. His key academic achievement is the development of the diagnostic criteria for Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI), and a commonly used checklist that is used to diagnose this pre-dementia syndrome. His research work has validated the syndrome by showing that it is an independent risk factor for cognitive decline and incident dementia, and for some a disease marker, representing underlying AD proteinopathies. The MBI checklist is being increasingly adopted in clinical trials as a novel way to measure the symptomatic impact of Alzheimer disease and other causes of neurodegeneration. Dr. Ismail has played a significant role in organizing community care by Chairing the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, which produces professional guidelines for physicians and other healthcare professionals for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cognitive disorders. He oversaw the latest, fifth, edition of the guidelines which were published in 2020 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the leading journal in our field. He chairs the Canadian Conference on Dementia, which is the only Canadian national conference on this topic. Through these activities, his work has had a profound influence on the quality of care for dementia in Canada. He is active in public policy regarding dementia systems of care. The federal government selected him to Co-Chair the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia, which advises the Minister on Canada’s dementia strategy. He was recruited by CADTH to be one of five panelists to discuss the current state of dementia care in Canada. Through this work, he is influencing how dementia care is provided nationally. Dr. Ismail’s work has been recognized by several awards. In 2023, he received the Publication of the Year Award from the Neuropsychiatric Syndromes Professional Interest Area of the American Alzheimer Association, and AAIC best poster award for Neuropsychiatric Syndromes in 2018 and 2019. He has been acknowledged by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as an Outstanding Reviewer and received a Preceptor of the Year award for Geriatric Psychiatry from his Department, in recognition of his outstanding teaching and mentorship. Dr. Ismail’s contributions to the Canadian landscape of dementia research and clinical care makes him highly deserving of being awarded the 2024 Irma Parhad Award of Excellence. |