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College of Medicine

Research Area(s)

  • Adult Neurology/Behavioural Neurology

About

Andrew Kirk MD, FRCPC is Professor and Head of Neurology at the University of Saskatchewan where he’s worked since 1991. 

His education was at the University of Western Ontario where he also completed his neurology residency after studying internal medicine at the University of Toronto.  Post-residency, he did research fellowships in cognitive neurology for three years at the University of Florida and the University of Western Ontario. 

His research and clinical interests include dementia and multiple sclerosis.  In 2003, he co-founded a CIHR-funded Rural and Remote Memory Clinic using telehealth technology and has also initiated a multi-disciplinary clinic for persons with Huntington’s disease in Saskatchewan.  For six years he served as board member of the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan and is a Past-President of the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation and Canadian Neurological Society.  He’s presented on his work to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and to the Senate of Canada. 

He’s also published fiction.  He’s twice been nominated by College of Medicine classes for the University of Saskatchewan Student Union Teaching Excellence Award and has received the Michael Wright Community Leadership Award from the Huntington Society of Canada.  In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work in neurology.

Selected Publications

  • Kosteniuk JG, Morgan DG, O’Connell ME, Kirk A, Crossley M, Teare GF, Stewart NJ, Dal Bello-Haas V, Forbes DA, Innes A, Quail JM.  Incidence and prevalence of dementia in linked administrative health data in Saskatchewan, Canada:  a retrospective cohort study.  BMC Geriatrics, 15:  73-80, 2015.
  • *Kosteniuk J, Morgan D, O’Connell M, Crossley M, Kirk A, Stewart N, Karunanayake C.   Prevalence and covariates of elevated depressive symptoms in rural memory clinic patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia.  Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 4(2):  209-220, 2014.
  • Morgan D, Crossley M, Stewart N, Kirk A, D’Arcy C, Dal Bello-Haas V, McBain L, O’Connell M, Bracken J, Kosteniuk J, Cammer A.  Evolution of a community-based participatory approach in a rural and remote dementia care research program.  Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 8(3):  337-345, 2014.
  • Morgan D, Walls-Ingram S, Cammer A, O’Connell, ME, Crossley, M, Dal Bello-Haas V, Forbes D, Innes A, Kirk A, Stewart N.  The anticipated and experienced benefits of early diagnosis according to informal caregivers of memory clinic patients.  Social Science and Medicine, 102: 111-118, 2014.
  • *Kosteniuk J, Morgan D, Innis A, Keady J, Stewart N, D’Arcy C, Kirk A.  Who steers the ship?  Rural family physicians’ views on collaborative care models for patients with dementia.  Primary Healthcare: Research and Development, 15(1):  104-110, 2014.
  • *Saleh S, Kirk A, Morgan D, Karunayake C.  Less education predicts anticholinesterase discontinuation in rural and remote patients with dementia.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 40(5):  684-690, 2013.
  • *Russell JF, *Steckley JL, Coppola G, Hahn AFG, Kornberg Z, Huang A, Merriman B, Klein E, Choi M, Lee H-Y, Kirk A, Nelson-Williams C, Gibson G, Lifton RP, Geschwind DH, Fu Y-H, Ptacek L.   Familial cortical myoclonus with a mutation in NOL3.  Annals of Neurology, 72(2):  175-183, 2012.
  • *Lacny C, Kirk A, Morgan D, Karunanayake C.  Predictors of cognitive impairment severity in rural patients at a memory clinic.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 39(6):  774-781, 2012. 
  • Jette N, Quan H, Tellez-Zenteno J, Macrodimitris S, Hader WJ, Sherman EMS, Hamiwka LD, Wirrell EC, Burneo JG, Metcalfe A, Faris PD, Hernandez-Ronquillo L, Kwon C-S, Kirk A, Wiebe S, Andermann F, Camfield P, Carmant L, Davenport WJ, Farmer J-P, Gross D, Huntsman R, Sadler RM, Snead CO, Steven DA, Wheatley M.  Development of an Online Tool to Determine the Appropriateness for an Epilepsy Surgery Evaluation.  Neurology, 79:  1084-1093, 2012.
  • Thorpe L, Pahwa P, Bennett V, Kirk A, Nanson J.  Clinical predictors of mortality in adults with intellectual disability with and without Down’s syndrome.  Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, 2012;2012: 943890, 2012.
  • *Heggie, M, Morgan, D, Crossley, M, Kirk A, Wong, P, Karunanayake, C, Beever, R.  Quality of life in early dementia: Comparison of rural patient and caregiver ratings at baseline and one year.Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 11(4):  521-541, 2011.
  • *Lacny C, Kirk A, Morgan D, Karunanayake C.  Does day length affect cognitive performance in memory clinic patients?  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 38:  461- 464, 2011.
  • Morgan, D, Crossley, M, Kirk, A, McBain, L, Stewart, N, D’Arcy, C, Forbes, D, Harder, S, Dal Bello-Haas, V, Basran, J.  Evaluation of telehealth for pre-clinic assessment and follow-up in an interprofessional Rural and Remote Memory Clinic.  Journal of Applied Gerontology, 30:  304-331, 2011.  
  • Kirk A.  Morning report.  Ars Medica, 6(2):  64-65, 2010.
  • Morgan, D., Crossley, M., Kirk, A., D’Arcy, C., Stewart, N., Biem, J., Forbes, D., Harder, S., Basran, J., Dal Bello-Haas, V., & McBain, L.
  • Improving Access to Dementia Care: Development and Evaluation of a Rural and Remote Memory Clinic.  Aging & Mental Health, 13:  17-30, 2009.
  • Kirk A.  Music of the hemispheres.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 36:  531-533, 2009.
  • Crossley, M., Morgan, D., Lanting, S., Dal Bello-Haas, V., & Kirk, A.  (2008).  Interdisciplinary research and interprofessional collaborative care in a memory clinic for rural and northern residents of Western Canada: A unique training ground for clinical psychology graduate students.  Australian Journal of Psychology, 43(4):  231-238, 2008.
  • *Steve T, Kirk A, Crossley M, Morgan D, D’Arcy C, Biem J, Forbes D, Stewart N.  Medication use in patients presenting to a rural and remote memory clinic.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 35:  669-671, 2008.
  • *McEachern W, Kirk A, Morgan DG, Crossley M, Henry C.  Reliability of the MMSE administered in-person and by telehealth.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 35:  643-646, 2008.
  • Wilcock GK, Black SE, Zavitz KH, Swabb EA, Laughlin MA on behalf of the Tarenflurbil Phase II Study Investigators.  Efficacy and safety of tarenflurbil in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease:  a randomized phase II trial.  Lancet Neurology 7(6):  483-493, 2008.  (I participated as one of the investigators).
  • *Hunter G, *Ringrose J, Kirk A.  Malignant thymoma presenting as sensorineural deafness.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 35:  265-266, 2008.
  • Kirk A.  Martha’s Forest.  Canadian Medical Association Journal, 177: 757, 2007.
  • Morgan D, Funk F, Crossley M, Basran J, Kirk A, Dal Bello-Haas V.  The potential of gait analysis to contribute to differential diagnosis of early-stage dementia:  current research and future directions.  The Canadian Journal on Aging, 26:  19-32, 2007.
  • Kirk A.  The fictional neurologist.  (Invited Editorial) The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 34:  124-125, 2007.
  • Kirk A.  Target symptoms and outcome measures:  cognition.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 34:  S42-46, 2007.
  • Feldman, HH, Gauthier S, Chertkow H, Conn DK, Freedman M, MacKnight C for the Canadian Conference on Antidementia Guidelines (I contributed to the section on cognition as a member of the Conference – see list of contributors at end of article).  Canadian guidelines for the development of antidementia therapies:  a conceptual summary.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 33:  6-26, 2006.
  • *Strueby L, Nair B, Kirk A, Taylor-Gjevre RM.  Arthritis and Bursitis in multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon-beta.  Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, 34(6):  485-488, 2005.
  • Morgan DG, Stewart NJ, Crossley M, D’Arcy C, Biem J, Kirk A, Forbes D. Dementia care in rural and remote areas:  the first year of a CIHR New Emerging Team.  Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 37:  177-182, 2005.
  • *Kole MK, Steven D, Kirk A, Lownie SP.  Superficial siderosis of the CNS from a bleeding pseudomeningocele.  Journal of Neurosurgery, 100(4):  718, 2004.
  • *Toth C, Kirk A.  Representational bias does not affect bisection of lines with a pictorially or semantically defined top by patients with left hemispatial neglect.  Brain and Cognition, 50: 167-177, 2002.
  • An open letter to the Committee on the Nobel Prize in Medicine.  Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, 7:  149-155, 2001 (one of 171 neuroscientists signing this letter).
  • *Braun JG, Kirk A.  Line bisection performance of normal adults: two subgroups with opposite biases.  Neurology,    53:  527-532, 1999.
  • Taylor DW et al.  (participated as one of the ASA and Carotid Endarterectomy (ACE) Trial Collaborators).  Low-dose and high-dose acetylsalicylic acid for patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy:  a randomized controlled   trial.  Lancet, 353:  2179-2184, 1999. 
  • Barnett HJM et al. (participated as one of the "North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial Collaborators").  Benefit of carotid endarterectomy in patients with symptomatic moderate or severe stenosis. The New England Journal of Medicine, 339:  1415-1425, 1998.
  • Noseworthy JH, O'Brien P, Erickson BJ, Lee D, Sneve D, Ebers GC, Rice GPA, Auty A, Hader WJ, Kirk A, Duquette P,  Carter J,  Francis G, Metz L, Shuster E, and the Mayo Clinic-Canadian Cooperative Study Group.  The Mayo Clinic-Canadian cooperative trial of sulfasalazine in active multiple sclerosis.  Neurology, 51:  1342- 1352, 1998.
  • *Zacharias S, Kirk A.  Drawing with the non-dominant hand: implications for the study of               construction.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 25:  306-309, 1998.
  • *Kashmere JL, Kirk A.  The complex interaction of normal biases in line bisection. Neurology, 49:  887-889, 1997.
  • *Boyle CAJ, Kirk A.  Ictal radial and horizontal neglect.  Neurology, 47:  299-300, 1996.
  • *Toth C, Kirk A.  A normal bias towards a pictorially defined top in line bisection.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 23:  110-113, 1996.
  • *Tanha F, Donat JR, Gulka IB, Kirk A, Shuaib A.  "Top of the basilar" syndrome and thalamic aphasia.  Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases 5:  227-231, 1996.
  • Kirk A, Ang LC.  Unilateral Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting as rapidly progressive aphasia.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 21:  350-352, 1994.
  • *Jeerakathil TJ, Kirk A.  A representational vertical bias.  Neurology, 44:  703-706, 1994.
  • Kirk A, Kertesz A.  Cortical and subcortical aphasias compared.  Aphasiology, 8:  65-82, 1994.
  • Kirk A, Rutledge Harding S.  Cardioembolic caudate infarction as a cause of hemichorea in lupus anticoagulant syndrome.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences,     20:  162-164, 1993.
  • Kirk A, Kertesz A.  Subcortical contributions to drawing.  Brain and Cognition, 21:  57-70, 1993.
  • Kirk A.  Literary illusions (letter).  Archives of Neurology, 50:  14, 1993.
  • Kertesz A, Polk M, Kirk A.  Posterior cortical atrophy – degenerative disease with primary visuospatial and visuosemantic deficits.  Annals of Neurology, 32(2):  236, 1992.
  • Kirk A, Heilman KM.  Auricular myoclonus.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 18:  503-504, 1991.
  • Kirk A, Blonder LX, Wertman E, Heilman KM.  Phonolexical agraphia:  superimposition of acquired lexical agraphia on developmental phonological dysgraphia.  Brain, 114:  1977-1996, 1991.
  • Kirk A, Kertesz A, Polk MJ.  Dementia with leukoencephalopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus.  The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 18: 344-348, 1991.
  • Kirk A, Kertesz A.  On drawing impairment in Alzheimer's disease.  Archives of Neurology 48: 73-77, 1991.
  • Kirk A, Kertesz A.  Hemispheric contributions to drawing.  Neuropsychologia 27: 881-886, 1989.