Local News
Winnipeg-based researchers receive prestigious awards
By MYRON LOVE Three members of Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum’s Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICS) research team – based at the St. Boniface Hospital campus’ Albrechchtsen Research Centre – were recently recognized for their efforts with prestigious awards.
The Winnipeg Foundation’s Martha Donavan Leadership Development Award for Women’s Health Research, which, this year, was given to Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin, is intended to provide leadership development opportunities for women in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Eligible applicants include women who are full-time or part-time academic faculty members or students of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences or students, as well as post-doctoral trainees (including residents), presently enrolled in a program of study within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
Rabinovich-Nikitin also holds the prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Post-Doctoral fellowship award, which is given to top leading Canadian post-doctoral fellows.
“Inna is a terrific young scientist and among the brightest who have worked in my lab over the years,” says Lorrie Kirshenbaum of the Israeli-trained scientist.
And she, in turn, praises Kirshenbaum as a great mentor. “I have learned a lot from working with Lorrie,” she says. “He has been a real inspiration for me.”
Rabinovich-Nikitin came here five years ago with her husband, Sergey, and their two children (a third child was born here) to further her scientific knowledge though working in Kirshenbaum’s lab. The world-renowned Kirshenbaum’s lab studies heart disease and heart function with the goal of researching means to repair damaged heart cells and prevent heart failure – a major problem worldwide.
Rabinovich-Nikitin was born in Kishinev in Moldova but raised on a kibbutz and, later, Ashdod. She is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a Ph.D in biotechnology.
“I was always interested in science – how things work,” she notes. “I have a particular interest in women’s cardiac health.”
She says that she hopes eventually to be able to open her own lab in Canada.
Also having recently received recognition for their research have been Rabinovich-Nikitin’s colleague at the Kirshenbaum lab, Victoria Margulets, and Rabinovich-Nikitin’s student researcher, Rachel Cogan. Both were recognized for their work at the 22nd Annual Naranjan Dhalla Cardiovascular Awards, which were held virtually on December 17th. Rachel Cogan, a third year science student at the University of Winnipeg, was the recipient of the T. Edward Cuddy Student Research Award. Margulets was recognized with the Kalwant Dhalla Research Technician Award.
The annual event is a joint effort of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at St. Boniface Hospital Research and the University of Manitoba as a way to celebrate excellence in cardiovascular research. The Cuddy award is one of several awards which recognize outstanding recipients for their contributions and success in research, medicine and support services.
“I feel proud and honoured to have been chosen for the Kalwant Dhalla Award,” says Margulets, who has been involved in research at the Kirshenbaum Cardiac Gene Biology Lab since she came from Israel in 2009.
This award recognizes the high quality of dedicated service over time by a technician in any program within St-Boniface Hospital Research. The individual must have been in this technical role for not less than five years.
“Upon joining my laboratory, I was immediately impressed by Vicky’s work ethic,” wrote Lorrie Kirshenbaum in support of Margulets’ nomination. “She is a dedicated, hardworking and committed and has proven that I can always rely on her to complete any given task. Her commitment to my laboratory and constant willingness to help others in the research centre is truly exemplary of who Vicky truly is. I have never met an individual with such high level of loyalty and personal interest for helping others as Vicky Margulets.”
In the laboratory, Kirshenbaum continued, “Vicky is responsible for managing our cell culture facility. Vicky is a superb experimentalist. She is responsible for designing and conducting her own experiments in the laboratory with great care, precision and meticulous attention to detail. She also runs our live-cell imaging facility and is responsible for developing new techniques within the laboratory.”
Margulets is originally from Kiev. She moved to Israel in the early1990s, earning a Master of Science degree (1999) from the Technion Institute’s Faculty of Medicine in Haifa. Prior to coming to Winnipeg, she assisted in stem cell research at the Technion. There she was responsible for managing and maintaining all the cell culture and stem cell activities for the entire research facility.
While at the Technion, she was part of a joint research team which partnered the Technion with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health. She worked as one of the leader instructors of “Human embryonic stem cells: culture techniques” course.
“I had spoken with Lorrie Kirshenbaum about joining his lab before coming to Canada,” she notes. “We arrived in Winnipeg (with her husband, Shlomo, and their three children) at the end of June (in 2009) and started work at the lab on July 1.”
Kirshenbaum adds that in a very short time, she became an indispensable member of the staff and has taught many summer and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and trainees in the lab.
He adds that over the past five years, Margulets’ technical experimental work and results have been written up in many top medical journals.
Margulets adds that she and her family are glad to be part of the growing Jewish community in Winnipeg. “Jewish identity and traditions are very important to my family,” she says. “Two of my children have already graduated from Gray Academy of Jewish Education and are currently enrolled in the Faculties of Architecture and Engineering at the University of Manitoba. The youngest is still at Gray Academy. ”
Rachel Cogan, the recipient of the Cuddy Award, is in her third year of study in Neuroscience at the University of Winnipeg. “It was a real honour to receive the Cuddy Award,” says the daughter of Jessica and Joel Cogan.
The Cuddy Award is based primarily on excellence in research and the track record of the candidate. Cogan notes that she has earned several scholarships and has maintained a consistently high GPA.
A graduate of Oak Park High School (she was a student at Gray Academy to the end of Grade 9), Cogan applied last year – after second year – to the ICS to do her field work as part of her studies.
“I have known of Dr. Kirshenbaum and his work for quite some time,” she says. “I was really excited to be accepted into the program. I am really grateful for the support that I have received from the amazing people I am working with at the lab and the hospital,” she says.
Her career goal, she notes, is to be working in clinical medicine and/or research.
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR – you can see it right here and make your own assessment
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26, updated July 19) The Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Exhibit for Human Rights opened to the public June 27. The morning before the exhibit was set to open to the public, (it had a private opening for invited guests the evening of June 26) we received a press release from the CMHR. That press release gave a very detailed description of what was in the exhibit, along with photos (supplied by Annie Kierans of the CMHR).
There is also a link right at the beginning of the press release that will allow you to watch the same videos that anyone attending the exhibit can watch. We reprinted what was sent to us without making one edit. We leave it to you to form your own opinion as to whether the exhibit is fair in its presentation, and whether it is lacking “context” – which is an accusation that has been levelled at the exhibit’s organizers by some representatives of Jewish organizations.
We have received many emails in reaction to the exhibit. If you have an opinion and would like to see it published on this website, you can send it to jewishp@mymts.net, but please indicate whether you would be willing to have it published on this website.
Here is what we received the morning of June 26:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
A photo that’s being circulated on the internet about me
For those of you not familiar with nutjob Michael Kalo – the psycho who created the notorious “$hitler’s List” years ago and the same psycho who went after Ben Carr, well – now he’s obviously taken a strong disliking to the stance I’ve taken on the Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (You can read elsewhere on this website how I simply posted the entire exhibit as it is – and asked readers to form their own opinions.)
Kalo likes to send out emails to various individual using phony names – such as Frank Ostrowski. When people ask me (or asked Ben Carr) why we don’t take action against him, my answer is: What’s the use? He only basks in the attention.
So Michael – enjoy the attention you’re receiving. I know how much of an embarrassment you are to your wonderfully talented daughters.
Local News
Ami Hassan returning as owner of Falafel Place
By BERNIE BELLAN In a surprise move – and after more than a six-year absence as owner of Falafel Place (Corydon at Wilton) the legendary Ami Hassan has decided to return as owner of one of Winnipeg’s most famous eateries.
Long known for his sometimes irreverent attitude to his customers, e.g., “If you’re finished, get out!”, Ami decided to return to running Falafel Place after having retired years ago (or so he thought) from running the Corydon Avenue restaurant.
We asked Ami whether he’ll be sending a special invitation to Julia Roberts to come visit him at Falafel Place. He asked again: “Who’s Julia Roberts?” (Just kidding – he really does know how Julia Roberts is.) Read the story how Ami told her to leave the restaurant and come back later at Julia Roberts turned away from Falafel Place
Ami did note that when customers saw him inside the restaurant one recent day as he was getting it ready for the reopening Monday, August 10, over 20 of them came in asking him if he was open already.
We asked Ami whether the menu will be the same as it was when he last ran the place and he said everything will be the same.
Falafel Place will be open 7 days a week from 7 am – 2 pm. Remember, if you’re finished – get out!
