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. 鈥淚t gives the staff who have ideas a person to turn to learn how to translate the idea from their head into a research study,鈥� 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鈥檚 transition into a teaching hospital as the knowledge achieved can be passed down to students.

91亚色 University doesn鈥檛 have a faculty of medicine or a teaching hospital and this opportunity will give the researchers greater access to patients. 鈥淭he partnership will be beneficial to both parties involved as well as the patients we serve,鈥� Mr. Clifford said.

91亚色 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.聽 He is investigating the role of geospatial analysis to improve the surveillance of cardiovascular disease in 91亚色 Region and is co-investigator on pre-diabetes detection and physical activity intervention and delivery program. He will work with the hospital鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 control of complex movement.聽 She will work with clinicians from Southlake鈥檚 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 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色 Professors Chris Ardern, , Paul Ritvo and Lauren Sergio will work on site聽for one to聽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亚色 Professor (right), associate vice-president research, science & technology, who led the effort to develop the partnership with Southlake Regional Health Centre.

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

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

The embedded聽University scientists聽bring to Southlake Regional Health Centre聽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,听cardiac and cancer care.

"We anticipate this to be an outstanding opportunity for both Southlake and 91亚色," 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亚色 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聽become a teaching hospital with an official affiliation with a Canadian university," says Siu.

91亚色 is聽a preferred candidate for this kind of partnership with Southlake, says Siu,听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聽students working in the research teams, says Siu.

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

More about the 91亚色-Southlake embedded researchers

Chris Ardern (left) is a professor in the School of Kinesiology聽& Health Science in 91亚色's Faculty of Health.聽His current research聽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.聽Arden is currently investigating the role of geospatial analysis to improve the surveillance of cardiovascular disease in 91亚色 Region, and is a co-investigator on the Pre-diabetes Detection聽& Physical Activity Intervention and Delivery (PRE-PAID) program, a six-month trial of culturally-preferred physical activity.聽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聽professor of biology in 91亚色's Faculty of Science & Engineering, says researchers聽know very little about how these transporters work and how they differ in terms of their distribution, activity and regulation in individual patients.聽Using a molecular diagnostics approach, Coe and her team will work with Southlake clinicians from both the cardiac care and oncology聽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亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health, Ritvo鈥檚 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亚色's Sherman Health Science Research Centre. Her聽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.聽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聽types of dementia. She is also聽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亚色 and is part of an ongoing commitment by the Faculties' deans to work together.

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

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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She accepted the Institute of Aging at the annual conference of the Canadian Association on Gerontology in Montreal. The prize, which augments major scholarship聽funding she has already received,听included the money, an invitation to the conference and, best of all, a chance to adjudicate research posters.

鈥淚t鈥檚 perfect timing for me,鈥� says the first-year doctoral student in the Faculty of Health's School of Kinesiology & Health Science. 鈥淚鈥檒l be able to see what鈥檚 going on in my field. Winning this award has been very motivating."

Hawkins started work this fall developing and evaluating a clinical assessment tool to measure visuomotor integration (hand-eye coordination) that could lead to early detection of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. For this, CIHR is funding her research to the tune of $35,000 a year 鈥� $30,000 in salary plus $5,000 research allowance 鈥� for each of the next three years. It鈥檚 the biggest scholarship Hawkins has ever received.

Left: Kara Hawkins

Sit down with Hawkins at her corner desk in the office she shares with other graduate students and you鈥檒l notice only one image taped to the wall next to her computer. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my brain,鈥� says the 27-year-old of the vertical MRI scan taken this fall in 91亚色鈥檚 new Neuroimaging Laboratory, located in the Sherman Health Science Research Centre.

The brain. Hawkins became fascinated with it early in her undergraduate years.聽"You can't understand behaviour without understanding the brain. That's what interested me most."聽She started studying psychology then branched into kinesiology. It was a natural detour. 鈥淚鈥檓 an athlete,鈥� says the former varsity goalie who now plays forward for the Aurora Panthers and for the Ice-O-Topes, an intramural team at 91亚色. 鈥淚 wanted to learn how the brain controls movement.鈥�

After graduating in 2006, she jumped at an offer to work as a neuropsychology assistant at Baycrest, a centre specializing in geriatric research and care. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in clinical applications,鈥� says Hawkins. Baycrest sparked an interest in aging and two years later she returned to 91亚色 to pursue聽a master鈥檚 degree and neuroscience graduate diploma, delving deeper into the neurophysiology of complex motor control. She won three scholarships to do it and graduated last spring.

Now a doctoral student, she鈥檚 back in a clinical setting. At 91亚色 Central Hospital, she is collaborating with the geriatric physician to diagnose aging patients who show signs of mental deterioration. Currently, doctors use language, cognition, memory and attention tests to score patients鈥� mental status out of 30. It鈥檚 an imprecise science, and Hawkins has developed and is testing a new measurement tool that could be more precise.

The tool looks like a laptop. There are two touch-sensitive screens, one vertical and the other horizontal (where the keyboard would normally be). The patient is instructed to reach for a target that appears on the vertical screen, at first directly with her hand and then more indirectly using the horizontal touch screen to聽manipulate a cursor. The test is not educationally or language biased, and Hawkins can determine which part of the brain the patient is using and the level of dysfunction based by the accuracy and speed of the response.

The brain is a complex network of communicating parts. When someone has dementia, the lines of communication deteriorate and misfire. Hawkins鈥� test aims to detect the breakdown in the visual-motor and cognitive-motor communication lines. 鈥淭hese touch-screen tracking tests tap into that.鈥�

Hawkins is currently trying to recruit 60 to 90 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and the same number who are aging normally. Over the next three years, she鈥檒l test her diagnostic tool. She is particularly interested in finding out if it can detect early and more subtle stages of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. Interested participants may contact her at karah@yorku.ca.

The earlier we can catch signs of mental deterioration, the more time there will be for intervention that could delay the onset, says Hawkins. Earlier and more precise diagnosis could lead to better education and better care for patients, she says.

Hawkins, now a member of the , is doing her research under the supervision of 聽Prof. Lauren Sergio, an expert in hand-eye coordination and director of 91亚色鈥檚 Sensorimotor Neuroscience Laboratory. When she鈥檚 finished her PhD, she hopes to continue exploring diseases associated with聽aging.

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributing writer

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The study, recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, examined the inner workings of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), located towards the top and back of the skull. It acts as the brain鈥檚 game card for hand-eye coordination, playing a critical role in planning visually guided actions.

Above: Professor Doug Crawford performs computer-controlled tests to measure the accuracy of Pat Byrne's聽gaze and reach. Byrne, a postdoctoral聽Fellow聽working in 91亚色's Centre for聽Vision Research, is hooked up to聽eye-tracking headgear.

鈥淔ootball is a good example to illustrate our results. A quarterback trying to deke out the opposition would actually use separate parts of the posterior parietal cortex in rapid succession...to achieve this,鈥� says principal investigator Doug Crawford, professor of psychology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health and Canada Research Chair in Visuomotor Neuroscience.

The findings suggest that within the PPC, the superior parietal occipital cortex (SPOC) specializes in encoding reach goals. 鈥淚n the case of trying to fake a pass, SPOC would help you pick the real player you want to throw the ball to,鈥� says Crawford. 鈥淭he midposterior intraparietal sulcus (mIPS), would help you to look at the decoy player. Then the angular gyrus (AG) would compare your current hand position to the goal you鈥檙e aiming for in order to guide your throw."

Simply put, SPOC picks the goal, while mIPS and AG are involved more closely in planning the motor functions for both our view and our reach.

Scientists at 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Vision Research (CVR) used a non-invasive procedure called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to create activity in these three areas of the brain. TMS delivers mild, split-second electromagnetic pulses, with little to no side effects for participants.

Participants then performed computer-controlled tests to measure the accuracy of their view and reach, while hooked up to eye-tracking headgear. Both left and right hands were tested, as well as reaching with and without visual feedback. By observing differences between subjects tested both with and without TMS over different brain areas, Crawford and his colleagues were able to map the unique responsibilities of each area.

鈥淏ecause mIPS and AG are involved in calculating both hand and eye movement, and SPOC is dedicated to encoding the reach goal, the whole assembly is likely important for hand-eye coordination,鈥� says Crawford.

鈥淚t鈥檚 also a good reason to wear a helmet. You wouldn鈥檛 want a hard knock on the parietal cortex,鈥� he says.

The study鈥檚 lead investigator was kinesiology PhD student Michael Vesia, currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Sunnybrook Research Institute Brain Sciences Research Program at the University of Waterloo. It was co-authored by CVR colleagues Steven Prime, a psychology PhD student, Xiaogang Yan, research associate, and Lauren Sergio, a kinesiology professor in the聽School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91亚色's Faculty of Health.

The research was funded by the .

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Lead author and PhD candidate Joshua Granek and colleagues concluded that the reorganization of the brain鈥檚 cortical network, which聽they discovered in the young men with significant video game-playing experience, gave them an advantage not only in playing video games but also in performing other complex visuomotor tasks.

The authors wrote that other studies have suggested that individuals skilled in video game-playing have a more efficient brain network for controlling movement that includes the prefrontal, premotor, primary sensorimotor and parietal cortices.

Senior investigator Lauren Sergio, a professor in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the Faculty of Health, told the press that using high-resolution brain imaging, they were able to measure which brain areas were active at given times during the experiment. And, she said, rather than just looking at brain activity, they also 鈥渢ested how the skills learned from video game experience can transfer over to new tasks鈥�.

A key result was finding that during the increasingly difficult tasks, the less experienced video game players relied mostly on the parietal cortex (the brain area typically involved in hand-eye coordination), while the brain scans of the experienced gamers showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex at the front of the brain.

The study was also covered in on Sept. 27, on Sept. 26., Sept. 27 and on Sept. 26.

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Playing video games for hours on end may prepare young Billy to become a laparoscopic surgeon one day, a study from 91亚色 has shown.

The findings, published online in the journal , demonstrate that playing video games reorganizes the brain鈥檚 activity and can lead to better control of skilled movements. Alterations to the brain鈥檚 cortical network in young men who have significant experience playing video games gives them an advantage not only in playing the games, the study concludes, but in performing other dissociated visuomotor tasks.

The most common example of a dissociated visuomotor task聽鈥� in which visual information received by the brain is dissociated from the required motor action聽鈥� is using a mouse while focusing on a computer screen. A much more challenging dissociated visuomotor task would be performing laparoscopic surgery.

The study鈥檚 conclusion that using gaming skills can reorganize how the brain works also offers hope for future research into the problems experienced by patients with early Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, who struggle to complete the simplest visuomotor tasks.

Above: The study compared a group of avid video gamers with those who did not have the experience of playing. Using high-resolution brain imaging, researchers were able to test how skills learned from gaming can transfer to new tasks. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The study compared a group of 13 young men in their 20s, who had played video games at least four hours a week for the previous three years and were very proficient, to a group of 13 young men who did not have that experience. After some training, the subjects were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine and asked to do a series of increasingly difficult tasks, such as using a joystick or looking one way while reaching another way. The fMRI machine imaged cortical activity as their brains planned to do the tasks, so the results were not affected by any physical movement.

鈥淏y using high-resolution brain imaging (fMRI), we were able to actually measure which brain areas were activated at a given time during the experiment,鈥� says Lauren Sergio (right),听a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health.聽 鈥淲e tested how the skills learned from video game experience can transfer over to new tasks, rather than just looking at brain activity while the subject plays a video game.鈥�

Sergio supervised the study by graduate student and lead author Joshua Granek (BSc. Spec. Hons. 鈥�06, MSc. 鈥�08), now a PhD student at 91亚色, and Diana Gorbet (MSc. 鈥�02, PhD 鈥�06), a PhD student at the time. All work in 91亚色鈥檚 .

The parietal cortex is the part of the brain that a person typically relies on most in complex eye-hand tasks to translate what he or she sees into an action, with less reliance on the prefrontal cortex. The study found that in experienced video gamers鈥� brains, there is increased activity in the prefrontal cortex.

鈥淲e had noticed differences in brain activity between two gamers and other subjects in an earlier pilot study. We decided to do a study with an fMRI because we were curious about the differences in brain activity between skilled gamers and people with much less experience,鈥� says Granek. 鈥淭he video gamers exhibited increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is at the very front of the brain. While performing the same task, the less-experienced players聽鈥� the people in the control group聽鈥� used predominantly the parietal cortex, farther back.鈥�

In the聽future, it would be interesting to study if the brain pattern changes are affected by the type of video games a player has used and the actual total number of hours he has played, Granek says, and to study female video gamers, whose brain patterns in earlier studies were different than those of males.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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