Celine Kempeneers - Global Rotary Scholar

We were delighted to host Dr. Celine Kempeneers, a Global Rotary Scholar at our Mar 27/14 meeting.  Celine is a very busy mom (one and one more imminent!) and pediatrician who is pursuing a paediatric respiratory fellowship at BC Children's Hospital.  Celine's husband is a cardiologist.

Celine gave us a glimpse of life in her home country, Belgium, which is a small country with about 11 million people, in ten provinces (northern and southern), who speak German, French and Dutch.  Celine is from Liege, in the southern French part, which has hills and forests.  Liege is the third largest city (about 200,000) in the Wallonia area, and is known as a cultural hot spot with a university and vibrant night life.

Celine has always had an interest in science and social work and she chose paediatrics, which brings those two disciplines together for a more global, holistic approach to care.  She specialized in respiratory function.  Celine did medical rotations in Rwanda and Montreal, and  humanitarian work in Peru, India and Senegal.  Her medical training took 12 years.  She chose Vancouver since it was English speaking, had a specialty in respiratory function, and a good reputation for fellowship.

The Rotary Global Scholar program involves a grant for higher education.  Celine applied in District 1630, which has 188 clubs and four languages.  She was sponsored by a local club, had to complete a written project, then an oral exam (in front of 25 people in 4 languages!!), preliminary meetings and then selection from 25 candidates.  Celine will complete training, clinical work and research to obtain a Ph.D. in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).  PCD is an inherited disorder in which the cilia (meant to keep the respiratory tract clean and working properly) do not function properly, leading to infections and potential permanent damage.

Celine and her group have built a video system (a microscope linked to a camera and a computer) to be able to look at the motion of the cilia (not possible with the technology at the time and tests used to be sent to Toronto).  They have completed initial testing and are now accepting patient referrals.  Part of her Ph.D. will be to do operating procedures and set protocols to set up cilia labs and standardize them.  This will centralize the diagnosis centres, which require a lot of training and equipment.  Her aim is to build similar centres in Belgium.