Department of Family Medicine

Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Jillian Achenbach, MD, CCFP

Jillian Achenbach
Department of Family Medicine

Email: Jillian.Achenbach@dal.Ca
Phone: 902-473-1234
Mailing Address: 
Dalhousie Family Medicine - Spryfield Clinic
16 Dentith Road
Halifax NS B3R 2H9
 

Education

  • Doctor of Medicine, Dalhousie University, 2008
  • Master of Science in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, 2004
  • Bachelor of Science, Co-operative Education with First Class Honours in Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, 2001

Research Interests

Dr. Achenbach's research interests involve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Her present research is on the barriers and facilitators for the periodic health check in the IDD population.

Selected Grants

  1. Designing behavior change interventions to improve the uptake of periodic health checks for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD): A co-designed, multi-stakeholder approach
    Role: Sub-Investigator
    Awarded Feb 2024 by Nova Scotia Health Authority Research Fund
    Principal Applicant: Dr. Karen McNeil
    Total Funding: $49,927.50
  2. Developing a multifaceted intervention to support annual health checks for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A step towards health equity
    Role: Co-Investigator
    Awarded Mar 2020 by Nova Scotia Health Authority Research Fund
    Principal Applicant: Dr. Karen McNeil
    Total Funding:  $24,980 CAD

Selected Publications

McNeil K, Achenbach J, Lawson B, Delahunty-Pike A, Barber B, Diepstra H (2024) Toward developing an intervention to support period health checks for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Striving for health equity. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil 37: e13169

Knox K , Stanley J,  Hendrix J, Hillerstrom H, Dunn T, Achenbach J,  Chicoine B, Lai F, Lott I,  Stanojevic S, Howlett S, Rockwood K (2021) Development of a Symptom Menu to Facilitate Goal Attainment Scaling in Adults with Down Syndrome-Associated Alzheimer's Disease: A Qualitative Study to Identify Meaningful Symptoms. J Patient Rep Outcomes. 5: 1-10

McKenna C, Gard Marshall E, Hattie-Longmire E, Hennen B, McNeil K, Achenbach J (2015) An Adult Developmental Disability Clinic- Lessons Learned. Poster at 2015 Family Medicine Forum, Toronto, ON

Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Initiative Curriculum Working Group (2014) A Curriculum Resource: Adults with Developmental Disabilities. www.surreyplace.on.ca

Young JE, Gouw L, Propp S, Sopher BL, Taylor J, Lin A, Hermel E, Logvinova A, Chen SF, Chen S, Bredesen DE, Truant R, Ptacek LJ, La Spada AR, Ellerby LM (2007) Proteolytic cleavage of ataxin-7 by caspase-7 modulates cellular toxicity and transcriptional dysregulation. J Biol Chem. 282: 30150-60.

Atwal RS, Xia J, Pinchev D, Taylor J, Epand RM, Truant R. (2007) Huntingtin has a membrane association signal that can modulate huntingtin aggregation, nuclear entry and toxicity. Hum Mol Genet. 16: 2600-15.

Asante-Appiah E, Patel S, Desponts C, Taylor JM, Lau CK, Dufresne C, Therien M, Friesen R, Becker JW, Leblanc Y, Kennedy BP, and Scapin G (2006) Conformation-assisted Inhibition of Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase-1B Elicits Inhibitor Selectivity over T-cell Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase. J Biol Chem. 281: 8010-5.

Taylor J, Grote SK, Xia J, Vandelft M, Graczyk J, Ellerby LM, LaSpada AR, and Truant R (2006) Ataxin-7 can export from the nucleus via a conserved exportin-dependent signal. J Biol Chem. 281: 2730-9.

Xia J, Lee DH, Taylor J, VanDelft M, Truant R (2003) Huntingtin contains a highly conserved nuclear export signal. Hum Mol Genet. 12: 1393-1403.