Chris Ardern Archives | Research & Innovation

Better care aim of hospital research partnership between 91��ɫ and Southlake

fmaquito — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

If you're a patient at Southlake Regional Health Centre, there's now a better chance you'll be part of a research project, wrote the Newmarket Era March 16; the story also appeared on :

A will embed leading scientists from the postsecondary institution as researchers to work alongside hospital clinical staff and physicians, director of research Patrick Clifford said.

Three researchers and one special projects expert will work with staff to help turn ideas into action that could result in improved patient care and results.

The hospital has 225 research projects on the go, but Mr. Clifford hopes having these experts on hand will increase that number significantly as he feels more research needs to be done in the area of clinical care.

With 500 physicians and 3,000 staff, more than half of whom are specialists in a certain field, there are plenty of ideas at Southlake. Access to experienced researchers will allow those ideas to be developed into active research projects that evaluate how change could affect a patient, he added. “It gives the staff who have ideas a person to turn to learn how to translate the idea from their head into a research study,” Mr. Clifford said.

Each of the three research scientists will be at the hospital one to two days per week and have been assigned to specific programs, including cancer and cardiac, mental health and the surgery and chronic disease programs.

Formal meetings and an open-door policy will allow staff and the researchers to interact on a regular basis to collaborate, exchange knowledge and engage each other. The initiative will strengthen Southlake’s transition into a teaching hospital as the knowledge achieved can be passed down to students.

91��ɫ University doesn’t have a faculty of medicine or a teaching hospital and this opportunity will give the researchers greater access to patients. “The partnership will be beneficial to both parties involved as well as the patients we serve,” Mr. Clifford said.

91��ɫ professors Chris Ardern, , Paul Ritvo and Lauren Sergio will be working on-site when the initiative launches next month.

Mr. Ardern is a professor in the school of kinesiology and health science and is focused on research involving epidemiology of physical activity, obesity and cardio metabolic risk. He is investigating the role of geospatial analysis to improve the surveillance of cardiovascular disease in 91��ɫ Region and is co-investigator on pre-diabetes detection and physical activity intervention and delivery program. He will work with the hospital’s chronic disease department.

Ms Coe, a biology professor, is working to develop more personalized approaches to disease treatment. She works with proteins that transport drugs used in cancer and cardiac care. Her research in Southlake’s cardiac care and oncology programs will examine how these proteins work in each individuals.

Neuroscientist Ms Sergio examines the effects of age, gender, neurological disease and past head injuries on the brain’s control of complex movement. She will work with clinicians from Southlake’s chronic disease, emergency medicine and surgical programs.

Mr. Ritvo specializes in behaviour and will serve as the research adviser, physical and mental health liaison and special projects scientist. His current research includes electronic health interventions, using cellphones, smartphones and online programs to alter the habits of diabetics and individuals with HIV and mental health issues. He will work with Southlake clinicians to examine how innovative software applications and technology can help patients reduce health risks through healthy exercise, diet and improved medication administration.

Lauren Sergio is also a member of the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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New partnership embeds 91��ɫ researchers at Southlake Hospital

fmaquito — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

A new research initiative involving a partnership between 91��ɫ and in Newmarket will see feature leading scientists from the University serving as embedded researchers at the hospital.

91��ɫ Professors Chris Ardern, , Paul Ritvo and Lauren Sergio will work on site for one to two days a week with hospital clinicians to foster research collaborations and knowledge exchange, and engage in joint knowledge mobilization efforts.

The partnership will realize important benefits to the research communities at both institutions and for the general public, says 91��ɫ Professor (right), associate vice-president research, science & technology, who led the effort to develop the partnership with Southlake Regional Health Centre.

"The embedded 91��ɫ researchers are senior scientists who will explore and cultivate research collaborations between 91��ɫ and Southlake researchers and clinicians," says Siu. "They will act as 'matchmakers' and brokers and will bring 91��ɫ's research expertise and knowledge to Southlake to facilitate collaboration.

"The partnership will broaden the research capacity for both 91��ɫ researchers and the Southlake clinicians," says Siu. "91��ɫ does not have a Faculty of Medicine or a teaching hospital. As a result,��University researchers do not have the patient access they would like to have. By working with Southlake,��the University is enhancing a collaboration that would benefit both parties."

The embedded University scientists bring to Southlake Regional Health Centre their recognized expertise in biomedical and health research. Southlake is the only community-based hospital in Ontario to offer six regional tertiary programs, including child and adolescent mental health, maternal and child,��cardiac and cancer care.

"We anticipate this to be an outstanding opportunity for both Southlake and 91��ɫ," says , director of research at Southlake.

"Serving some 1.5 million people through our regional programs and providing tertiary level care in many areas, the depth and breadth of programs and services, and the unexplored opportunities for reasearch collaboration between Southlake and 91��ɫ are endless," says Clifford.

"Southlake is interested in strengthening its research in terms of breadth and depth and in fact, Southlake is developing a research institute with a plan to become a teaching hospital with an official affiliation with a Canadian university," says Siu.

91��ɫ is a preferred candidate for this kind of partnership with Southlake, says Siu,��because the two institutions have shared goals and visions, and a willingness to work together.

The partnership offers exceptional training and educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students working in the research teams, says Siu.

In addition, the opportunity presented by the collaboration between the two institutions is consistent with the goal of integrating teaching and research with the world outside the University that was articulated in 91��ɫ's recent .

More about the 91��ɫ-Southlake embedded researchers

Chris Ardern (left) is a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Health. His current research interests include the epidemiology of physical activity, obesity and cardiometabolic risk. His most recent work has focused on the use of risk algorithms, behavioural profiling and trajectory modelling approaches to identify high-risk subgroups for the development of the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease mortality. Arden is currently investigating the role of geospatial analysis to improve the surveillance of cardiovascular disease in 91��ɫ Region, and is a co-investigator on the Pre-diabetes Detection & Physical Activity Intervention and Delivery (PRE-PAID) program, a six-month trial of culturally-preferred physical activity. Ardern will be embedded in Southlake's chronic disease portfolio.

In her research, (right) works on a family of proteins known as nucleoside transporters. These transporters play significant roles in a number of clinical settings because they transport drugs used in cancer and are targets of drugs used in some cardiac care settings. Despite their clinical relevance, Coe, who is a professor of biology in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Science & Engineering, says researchers know very little about how these transporters work and how they differ in terms of their distribution, activity and regulation in individual patients. Using a molecular diagnostics approach, Coe and her team will work with Southlake clinicians from both the cardiac care and oncology portfolios to investigate the transporter profiles in individual patients and correlate these profiles with drug treatments and outcomes. The ultimate goal of this work is to contribute to the efforts to develop more personalized approaches to the treatment of disease.

Paul Ritvo (left) is a behavioural scientist who will serve as the research adviser, physical and mental health liaison and special projects scientist. A professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health, Ritvo’s research interests focus on electronic health interventions that employ cell phones, smartphones and online programs to change health behaviours in diabetics, HIV-positive individuals and individuals with mental health difficulties. Ritvo will work with Southlake clinicians to extend current intervention studies that use Blackberry smartphones and innovative software applications to help patients reduce health risks by way of healthy exercise, diet and improved medication adherence.

Lauren Sergio (right) is a neuroscientist working in 91��ɫ's Sherman Health Science Research Centre. Her current research projects examine the effects of age, sex, neurological disease and past head injuries (of athletes versus non-athletes) on the brain's control of complex movement. In her role with Southlake Regional Health Centre, Sergio will be an embedded researcher in the chronic disease, emergency medicine and surgical portfolios. She works with a wide range of adult populations, including professional hockey players and Alzheimer's disease patients. Her findings have implications for neurological disease diagnosis and rehabilitation and for understanding the fundamental brain mechanisms for movement control. She is using cognitive-motor integration research to test if new instrumentation developed in her laboratory can differentiate between types of dementia. She is also researching the long-term effects of concussion in young athletes. Sergio is a member of the .

The embedded researcher program at Southlake Regional Health Centre is an example of the collaboration between the Faculty of Science & Engineering and the Faculty of Health at 91��ɫ and is part of an ongoing commitment by the Faculties' deans to work together.

For more information on 91��ɫ's partnerships with regional hospitals, see YFile,��April 17, 2009 and April 21, 2009.

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ study examines mortality risk associated with obesity

fmaquito — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Being seriously overweight will cut your life short, even if you experience no major health problems as a result of your condition, according to a new study by researchers in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health.

The study examined the mortality risk of more than 6,000 Americans aged 18 to 65 years over a nine-year span using data from the Third National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey.

Researchers compared metabolically normal obese people with those who had multiple metabolic risk factors known to increase one’s risk for early mortality. Surprisingly, although both groups were at elevated mortality risk, there were no significant differences in the mortality risk between the groups.

"Our findings challenge the idea of a ‘healthy’ obese person," says the study lead Jennifer Kuk, a professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science. "It doesn’t matter if you currently have no other medical problems. You are still at a similar risk level as someone who has the classic disease states triggered by obesity, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular problems."

Right: Jennifer Kuk

For the purposes of the study, obesity is classified as anyone with a body mass index (BMI) of over 30. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adults. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Respondents were defined as metabolically normal or abnormal based on measures of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and triglycerides. Only 1.3 per cent of respondents were classified as obese but metabolically normal.

"It’s important to note that metabolicallynormal obesity is an extremely rare subtype, but when it does occur, treatment is absolutely necessary," says Kuk.

"We already know that in addition to diabetes and heart disease, obese individuals are also more likely to die from trauma and have cancer diagnosed at more advanced stages. This research reinforces the seriousness of this condition, and highlights the need for both treatment and prevention," she says.

The study, "Are Metabolically Normal but Obese Individuals at Lower Risk for All-Cause Mortality?", appears in the December issue of Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association. It is co-authored by Chris Ardern,��a professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science.

From YFile - 91��ɫ's daily e-bulletin

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