Pharmacy

In the fast-paced world of health-care research, having the most up-to-date research at your fingertips is imperative for doctors, policymakers and patients to make the best, most informed decisions.

But the sheer amount of complex research available – and the fact not all of it is consistent in findings and conclusions – means it’s impossible to read everything quickly and accurately. That’s where knowledge synthesis can make all the difference.

Andrea Tricco, Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Synthesis, is leading research to advance the science of knowledge syntheses within health, including identifying and validating the best rapid review methods. She is also leading research to improve the reporting of scoping reviews and a type of systematic review that uses advanced statistical methods called network meta-analysis.

In the field of knowledge syntheses, there are systematic reviews, rapid reviews and scoping reviews to summarize all pertinent studies on a question, improve the understanding of inconsistencies and define future research agendas.

The results from knowledge synthesis can then be used to create policy briefs, clinical practice guidelines and patient decision aids.

Systematic reviews, which are the gold standard in reviewing research, take thousands of hours to complete while rapid reviews, a type of knowledge synthesis, typically take just six to 12 weeks. But it’s unclear if rapid reviews are susceptible to biased results because of short-cuts in the process. What is clear is that decision-makers need and expect the information quickly – often in three months or less.

The results of Tricco's research will be used to directly inform knowledge synthesis groups that exist in Canada, as well as internationally, on how to provide relevant, timely and high quality information to health decision-makers.

Read more about Gilbert and Hatzopoulou

Faculty of Arts and Science

Rachel Barney
Canada Research Chair in Ancient Philosophy

Debate has long raged over the role of the sophists in the development of Western philosophy. Derided even in their own time in ancient Greece as tricksters and corruptors of youth, this group of learned men gave paid lessons to upwardly mobile Athenian men to teach them how to win political arguments, regardless of their virtue.

Philosophers have commonly believed they had little influence over the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, who forcefully denounced their teachings in his influential dialogues such as the Protagoras and Gorgias more than 2,000 years ago.

Rachel Barney, Canada Research Chair in Ancient Philosophy, has offered another way of looking at Plato’s philosophy and the ancient debate to which it belongs. One that shows both Plato and his sophist contemporaries such as Protagoras made contributions to – and are continuing to influence – both our ways of thinking about ethics and methods of philosophical argument in general.

She argues Plato both responds to and appropriates the ideas and methods of the sophists in his work. As such, she will offer a new account of their debates, one which will make it accessible and exciting to a wide range of scholars, contemporary philosophers and students.

Did Plato believe virtue could be taught like the sophists? And what did he believe virtue was? Is it a kind of knowledge or mental health or perhaps a learned skill?

She will also study the origins of sophistic thought and argue it was so successfully incorporated by Plato and others into the bloodstream of philosophy that their origins tend to be forgotten, and their primary significance and functions overlooked.

John Cunningham
Canada Research Chair in Addictions

It is an unfortunate reality that most people with addictions will never seek formal, face-to-face treatment with an expert. Common obstacles include a lack of available treatments, particularly in rural settings, concerns over stigma and a desire for self-reliance.

An effective new option to promote recovery is to develop and design interventions for problem gamblers, drinkers, smokers and illicit drug users they can administer on their own.

John Cunningham, the Canada Research Chair in Addictions, is a world-leading expert in the development and evaluation of assisted self-change interventions for addictions, including pioneering research on Internet interventions for hazardous drinking.

In Canada and Australia, he’s conducting several randomized controlled trials, including Internet interventions for heavy drinkers and mailing nicotine patches to smokers to help them quit.

His research will also encompass ways to treat addictions in high-risk situations, in vulnerable or hard-to-reach populations, among illicit drug users and in integrating assisted self-change with face-to-face treatment.

For example, using gaming and intervention apps, Cunningham will target heavy drinkers with limited literacy to teach safe drinking techniques and encourage them to employ interventions based on their own reporting of situations where they’re in danger of drinking, such as the holiday season.

The long-term goal is an improved system of care for people with addictions, fully integrated within the larger health-care system and widely accessed both in Canada and internationally.

Such research will lead to sustained improvements for those suffering from addictions and contribute toward a reduction in the health and societal costs associated with this challenging health problem.

Marie-Josée Fortin
Canada Research Chair in Spatial Ecology

Understanding how many species will respond to global change is a central challenge in ecology because their population health is vital for the overall ecosystem and the survival of humans.

To understand and predict the impacts of global change on animal movement and the survival of isolated populations of the same species, the field of spatial ecology examines everything from the size of the “patch” where communities live to the predators that threaten prey survival and their adaptability to changes in climate, food availability, disease and reproduction rate.

Through her work, Marie-Josée Fortin, Canada Research Chair in Spatial Ecology, will provide ecologists with novel network analytical methods that can be used to propose management strategies to facilitate species dispersal in fragmented landscapes, to maintain the resilience of ecosystem services, or to prevent disease spread.

By doing so, she will provide novel perspectives on how to address fundamental and applied issues in the field of conservation biology by making novel network analytical models available to ecologists and evolutionists allowing the analysis and modeling of the complex spatial dynamics of species interactions across scales, trophic levels and ecosystems.

Collectively, the proposed conceptual and analytical models will have important implications for the protection of biodiversity and its valuable role in the maintenance of ecosystem functions as well as human health.

This research will provide fundamental and applied contributions that will significantly advance the fields of conservation biology, ecology, evolution, landscape genetics and landscape epidemiology.

Paul Frankland
Canada Research Chair in Memory Research

Memory disorders affect millions of Canadians. In some cases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, important memories can be lost, while persistent memories tied to traumatic events can lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

To develop better treatments for these disorders, it’s critical to understand how memories are organized and stored in the brain and how they can be altered after they are formed – sometimes by disease.

Paul Frankland, Canada Research Chair in Memory Research and a global leader in the field, combines behaviour, imaging and molecular approaches to study memory.

In particular, his research focuses on how changes in memory organization – from their creation in the hippocampus to their reorganization in the cortex for long-term storage – affects their quality.

He and his team are also building on their discovery that new neurons generated in the hippocampus throughout our lifetimes help the brain create new memories and forget older ones.

Like in artificial systems, there is a trade-off in brain networks between plasticity – the ability to incorporate new information – and stability, which ensures that incorporating new information does not degrade information already stored in the network.

Frankland will use whole brain mapping approaches in mice and zebrafish to define memory networks, identify areas of network vulnerability and use this knowledge to develop strategies to restore memory function.

His team will also use genetic interventions and compounds that emerge from pro-neurogenic drug screens conducted at SickKids to manipulate neurogenesis.

By weakening memories after they’ve formed – like in the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – we can develop more effective treatments for addiction and other disorders associated with abnormal memory persistence or rumination.

Sheena Josselyn
Canada Research Chair in Systems Neuroscience

Memory impairments are a hallmark of aging, mental illness, developmental disorders, as well as several neurological disorders.

Examining how the brain normally encodes and uses information is an important goal in and of itself, but also may serve as a first step to developing treatments when these complex processes go awry in conditions ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease.

The development of new tools has enabled the lab of Sheena Josselyn, Canada Research Chair in Systems Neuroscience, to identify, understand and even manipulate memory traces (engrams) in rodent brains.

First, they erased a memory. Now, they’re working on more sophisticated problems such as altering memories or recalling them at will by choosing what brain cells to turn on or off. To help in their research, Josselyn’s team has developed a state-of-the-art, 1 photon fluorescent mini-microscope that enables them to observe the brains of mice at the cellular level as they form and retrieve a memory.

They’ve also made significant progress in advancing our understanding of why certain nerve cells are used in engrams and others aren’t. Her team has successfully selected and manipulated nerve cells to boost their CREB function, which plays a role in binding DNA and regulating gene expression, after noticing that factor leads to preferential recruitment by engrams. One of their most interesting experiments shows promise for potential addiction treatments.

Martin Krkosek
Canada Research Chair in Population Ecology

The ability of the oceans to feed humanity is under threat from a number of sources including the rise and spread of infectious diseases.

As global fisheries landings have either plateaued or declined, the world has turned to aquaculture as a way to provide seafood and relieve overfishing on existing ocean stocks. The blue revolution has been so successful that most salmon people eat are now grown in open sea pens that dot the coastal seas of countries such as Canada, Norway, and Chile.

But intensive aquaculture production hasn’t been without risk. Parasites and diseases like sea lice and infectious salmon anemia virus have emerged, challenging aquaculture industries and perhaps contributing to the decline of wild marine ecosystems and fisheries.

Martin Krkosek, Canada Research Chair in Population Ecology, is studying salmon in British Columbia to probe what causes infectious diseases to emerge in wild and farmed fish and the ways to control disease spread.

His work includes how domesticated environments can cause pathogens to evolve antibiotic resistance and increased virulence, and how changes in host abundance and distribution can abruptly cause epidemics.

This research will help protect ocean biodiversity, as well as human health and food security.

Ito Peng
Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy

Contracting out the care of our young children and rapidly aging populations is producing significant societal changes around the world – even changing migration patterns, as females are drawn from poorer countries to work in wealthier nations.

Research by Ito Peng, Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy, has shown this urgent demand is also being driven by shifts in traditional family obligations, the growing service economy and in an ironic twist, gender equality as more and more women are working outside of home.

This has contributed to growing demands for government services. National governments have responded by providing more public care services and/or subsidies and tax incentives for families to purchase care privately. In almost all cases, care is increasingly being commodified as a service to be purchased in the market.

This change isn’t confined to Western countries. It’s even happening in many southern Mediterranean and Asian countries, which have strong cultural traditions of families providing care, Peng has found. In Spain and Italy, the government care allowance has enabled a large proportion of elderly people to hire foreign migrant caregivers. This is helped by the increased intake of foreign caregivers. But there remain holdouts such as Japan, which has resisted opening its doors to increased immigration.

Peng is globally known for her research in showing how changes in domestic factors interact with global institutions and actors in shaping social policy development within countries.

In the case of care workers, she is studying policies in North America, Asia, Oceania and Europe to examine broad theoretical issues around how care and immigration policies are informed by societal and cultural norms, expectations and trends, and how these policies in turn help influence societal and cultural norms and trends. Her research also looks at the implications of these policies for the migrants performing care work.

This knowledge will make an important contribution to public and policy debates, particularly in current socio-economic contexts where international migration continues to accelerate amidst the intensification of immigration politics and growing calls for national and regional governments to develop effective social policy and governance to address the issue.

Amar Vutha
Canada Research Chair in Precision Atomic and Molecular Physics

Atoms and molecules can be used as extremely precise tools to advance fundamental physics and practical technology.

For example, highly accurate clocks based on laser-cooled atoms can now keep time to better than one part per quintillion (1 followed by 18 zeros). Such accuracy forms the basis of our global system of measurement standards, and allows ventures ranging from deep space navigation to cellular communications networks to precision manufacturing.

Amar Vutha, Canada Research Chair in Precision Atomic and Molecular Physics, is taking this precision one step further – by developing a portable version of such atomic clocks.

These clocks have potential applications in improving metrology, navigation and mapping the earth’s gravitational field. Excitingly, these clocks could also open up a new way to “see” gravitational waves emanating from black holes and other hitherto invisible inhabitants of our universe.

Vutha’s research group will also develop other atomic and molecular tools to reveal unexplored physics. For example, very precise measurements on cold, confined molecules can shed light on physical and chemical processes occurring millions of light years away in gas clouds in space. New techniques that are needed to make such precise measurements, using lasers and terahertz radiation, will be studied in his group.

A big puzzle about the universe is the absence of natural anti-matter anywhere. While lots of anti-matter is believed to have formed after the Big Bang, the fate of all that anti-matter remains a mystery. One approach to unraveling this puzzle is to precisely probe the shape of certain atomic nuclei. Vutha’s group will develop new experiments to measure such properties of nuclei, which could also lead to practical payoffs such as improved gyroscopes for navigation.

Faculty of Dentistry

Celine Levesque
Canada Research Chair in Oral Microbial Genetics

A biofilm is a collection of microbes – such as bacteria – that stick to each other and to a surface to survive. When biofilm bacteria attack the human body, they can be difficult to fight. In fact, antibiotics need to be 100 times more concentrated than usual in order to kill biofilm bacteria.

Biofilm bacteria have also developed clever ways to stay alive. Some bacteria in biofilms can essentially commit suicide – known as “programmed cell death” (PCD) – to enable other microbes to become stronger and better able to survive. They can also remain dormant until antibiotic treatment is completed. As a result, microbes can persist for months or even years in the body and lead to recurrent infections that are very difficult to eradicate.

Celine Levesque, Canada Research Chair in Oral Microbial Genetics, is investigating how biofilm bacteria develop the means to survive and grow by studying an oral pathogen that can lead to tooth decay.

Levesque’s research will result in better understanding of the genetic networks that regulate PCD and the formation of “sleeping” bacteria. It will also help lead to better treatments for such biofilm infections as tooth decay, children’s ear infection, cystic fibrosis pneumonia and necrotizing fasciitis, the so-called flesh-eating disease.

Faculty of Medicine

Ana Andreazza
Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pharmacology of Mood Disorders

One in 10 Canadians suffers from highly disabling mood disorders including bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Currently, diagnosis is based upon self-reported symptoms or behavioural observations that lack substantial biological validation.

Ana Andreazza, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pharmacology of Mood Disorders, is an emerging international leader in this field, which is searching for affordable, easy-to-use and clinically relevant biological markers that can be used for biological confirmation of a mood disorder diagnosis or to identify people at risk of developing a mood disorder.

The identification of biological targets will open doors to the development of new treatments strategies that treat abnormalities or impairments in oxidation processes in the periphery that contribute to mood disorders.

Her research, in collaboration with other laboratories, has produced some of the most convincing insights to date into the mechanisms that underlie mood disorders by focusing on metabolic processes known as oxidation and reduction reactions or redox modulations.

Oxidation in our cells is a natural process that converts energy from food to ATP, a molecule that carries energy to where the body needs it. But the oxidation process isn’t always well modulated.

For example, Andreazza's research demonstrates increased mitochondrial dysfunction and redox modulations in brain and blood cells of patients with mood disorders. This discovery led to treatments with antioxidants that have shown promising results when used with other therapies in treating mood disorders.

She is currently furthering her study of the role these redox abnormalities or impairments play in mood disorders and is exploring the possible effects of redox modulations on molecular pathways leading to synaptic alterations, particularly those that might provide potential avenues for therapy. She is also investigating the role these redox mistakes and inflammation in signalling white matter changes in mood disorder.

Anne-Claude Gingras
Canada Research Chair in Functional Proteomics

Inside a living cell, proteins associate with one another to perform their activities in a tightly regulated manner to maintain proper cellular function, similar to the different parts of an assembly line and temperature controlled rooms in a factory.

Research by Anne-Claude Gingras, Canada Research Chair in Functional Proteomics, is developing a map showing how the factory is organized, in order to better understand the processes that go awry in disease.

Using advanced protein identification instruments known as mass spectrometers, she will identify the precise physical interactions and location of a large number of proteins to begin constructing a physical blueprint of a human cell.

Her research team will make this blueprint openly available to researchers to accelerate health research worldwide.

This dovetails nicely with the significant contributions they’ve made in the field of protein-protein interactions by creating tools that enable researchers worldwide to analyze their own mass spectrometry data, increasing the impact of Gingras’ research beyond the specific biological questions she’s investigating.

In addition, she will create an in-depth analysis of specific signalling pathways, part of a complex system of communication governing and coordinating the basic activities and actions of cells, and how errors in processing can lead to diseases, such as cancer. Her systematic analysis of normal and mutated proteins is already paving the way for new opportunities for therapeutic options.

Mikko Taipale
Canada Research Chair in Functional Proteomics and Protein Homeostasis

Proteins perform a wide variety of important jobs in cells. But in their crowded milieu, stressors can easily derail their finely tuned network, leading to mutant, misshapen proteins that have been implicated in human diseases such as cancer, cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia.

How this network – known as cellular protein homeostasis (proteostasis) network – coordinates all these processes is poorly understood, making it difficult to develop targeted treatments.

Mikko Taipale, Canada Research Chair in Functional Proteomics and Protein Homeostasis, is drawing on his expertise in protein quality control, high-throughput biology and chemical biology to understand how this network is organized – with particular focus on deciphering the Hsp70 chaperone and its co-chaperones – and how it contributes to human diseases.

Chaperones are the most prominent class of proteins that shape the proteostasis network. They briefly bind thousands of substrate proteins in the cell and promote their folding, trafficking and degradation. In fact, they act as guardians controlling the fate of mutant proteins.

Studies have shown the Hsp70 network is at the crux of devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s and plays also a central role in rare Mendelian diseases.

By focusing on Hsp70, Taipale and his team will generate the largest and most comprehensive interaction network for cellular quality control factors and their client proteins including 2,500 mutant variants associated with 1,100 Mendelian diseases.

This network will be complemented with followup studies to further develop chaperone-based thermodynamic and conformational sensors for biotechnological applications, and to develop innovative methods to detect drug/target interactions in human cells.

Producing low-cost drugs & vaccines on-site: new research from U of T, Harvard, MIT and U of O

ullahnor — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:08:44 +0000

Producing low-cost drugs & vaccines on-site: new research from U of T, Harvard, MIT and U of O

ullahnor Thu, 09/22/2016 - 13:08

Cutline

The portable biomolecular manufacturing system can produce a broad range of biomolecules, including vaccines, antimicrobial peptides and antibody conjugates, without power or refrigeration (Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Jef Ekins

Author legacy

Jef Ekins

Topic

Breaking Research

Research & Innovation

Pharmacy

Keith Pardee

Drugs

Subheadline

Research team has developed a portable drug-manufacturing system that can be used anywhere in the world

As much as 80 per cent of the cost of bringing vaccines to the developing world comes from ensuring that the medications are properly refrigerated and transported.

A team of researchers from the �ؿ�ζSM, MIT, Harvard, and the University of Ottawa have developed a new portable drug-manufacturing system that uses two sets of freeze-dried pellets, which when mixed with water, are able to produce medications, vaccines and diagnostic tools virtually anywhere in the world.

(courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

The team published a proof-of-principle paper in Cell that details the development of a drug manufacturing system that's able to produce on-site, on-demand therapeutics and biomolecules.

“In essence, it’s like having a portable pharmacy that you can use to create the medications you need,” said Assistant Professor Keith Pardee of U of T’s Faculty of Pharmacy, co-lead author of the paper.

Most vaccines need to maintain a consistent temperature to prevent spoilage and maintain their efficacy, which necessitates a cold chain from production to application.

Despite these precautions and the attention paid to their transportation, the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund estimate that the amount of essential vaccines that end up wasted could be as high as 50 per cent.

The first of the freeze-dried pellets, developed by the researchers in 2014, is an innovative cell-free synthetic biology “machinery” that provides the manufacturing infrastructure to create an end product.

The second pellet consists of DNA instructions that tell the manufacturing piece what compound to produce. This pellet can be customized to generate a variety of products, including vaccines, anti-cancer antibodies, and diagnostic tools.

When the two freeze-dried pellets are combined with water, the production process begins.

NSERC prizes awarded to five �ؿ�ζSM scholars

sgupta — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:04:08 +0000

NSERC prizes awarded to five �ؿ�ζSM scholars sgupta Tue, 02/16/2016 - 08:04

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David Sinton, Shana Kelley, Ted Sargent, Stephen Wright and Barbara Sherwood Lollar (all photos by NSERC/composite image by Geoff Agnew)

Arthur Kaptainis

Author legacy

Arthur Kaptainis

Topic

Breaking Research

Research & Innovation

Pharmacy

NSERC

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Arts & Science

Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering

Awards

Research

Read about previous NSERC awards for U of T researchers

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Brockhouse Canada Prize goes to Professors Shana Kelley, Ted Sargent

sgupta — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:38:34 +0000

Brockhouse Canada Prize goes to Professors Shana Kelley, Ted Sargent sgupta Tue, 02/16/2016 - 05:38

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U of T Professors Professor Ted Sargent and Shana Kelley are co-recipients of this year’s Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering (photo by NSERC)

Tyler Irving

Author legacy

Tyler Irving

Topic

Breaking Research

Awards

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

University Professor Ted Sargent of U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Professor Shana Kelley of U of T’s Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine are co-recipients of this year’s Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) award recognizes an 11-year research partnership that has led to a faster, more cost-effective way to diagnose infectious diseases.

Today, many diagnoses can only be confirmed by taking a sample from a patient and sending it off to a specially-equipped lab to perform DNA analysis. These tests are costly, and it can take days or weeks to receive the results, which compromises patient care.

Kelley and Sargent have worked together to design a toaster-sized device that can provide the same information in about 20 minutes. It is designed to be simple enough to be used by doctors and nurses on the front lines of patient care without any specialized lab training.

The technology is based on chemical sensors that bind to specific DNA sequences present in bacteria, viruses or other disease-causing organisms. When they bind, the sensors give off an electrochemical signal that is easily detected by the device. The project leverages Kelley’s expertise in electrochemistry and biochemistry and Sargent’s experience in engineering physics, electrical engineering and nanomaterials.

Kelley and Sargent were among five U of T scholars awarded major NSERC prizes on Feb. 16. University Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar received the John C. Polanyi Prize for her pioneering research into billion-year-old water and Professor David Sinton and Associate Professor Stephen Wright both received E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships.

Pharmacy, Leslie Dan Faculty of

sgupta — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:47:18 +0000

Pharmacy, Leslie Dan Faculty of sgupta Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:47

URL

https://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca

His study paved the way for drugs that help millions (including his mother-in-law)

sgupta — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 15:51:16 +0000

His study paved the way for drugs that help millions (including his mother-in-law) sgupta Tue, 06/16/2015 - 11:51

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“We always have a little light on that says, beyond the pure joy and satisfaction of understanding how this works, might this be relevant to treatment of human disease, and might this have commercialization potential?” (photo by Bernardo Yusta)

Jenny Hall

Author legacy

Jenny Hall

Topic

Subheadline

Daniel Drucker on the importance of basic science, commercialization and failure

When Daniel Drucker was a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in the mid-1980s, he worked in a lab studying GLP-1, a hormone released in your gut after you eat.

Like any good scientist, he was motivated by curiosity. He wanted to know how this uncharted biological process worked and what effects it had in the body.

What he didn’t know back then – what he couldn’t have known – was that 19 years later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would approve a new class of drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes based on his work on GLP-1.

Subsequent work on a chemical that gets in the way of gut hormones doing their jobs yielded another class of drug called DDP-4 inhibitors. Both classes of drugs help people with diabetes lower their blood sugar without causing weight gain or hypoglycaemia, which were troublesome side effects of previous generations of drugs.

Today, millions of people – including Drucker’s own mother-in-law – benefit from these drugs.

“The path to commercial success and the introduction of a drug to the clinic is not always a rapid, straightforward journey,” he says. “There are all kinds of challenges to be met, and it can be a long and difficult process. But many things in life are like that.”

Drucker, who is today a professor of medicine at U of T and a senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, has gone on to repeat his commercialization success. In addition to paving the way for the development of diabetes drugs, his lab discovered the actions of another hormone, GLP-2, and filed a series of patents describing how it improves intestinal growth and function. Today, teduglutide, a drug for short bowel syndrome based on that research, is available in Europe and the U.S. and is pending approval in Canada.

He has also developed cell lines and mice engineered for the study of gut hormones. He makes these cell lines and mice freely available to academic researchers worldwide and licenses them to researchers in industry.

U of T benefits directly from Drucker’s success. The university’s approach to inventions and commercialization includes the sharing of revenues with the institution. In some cases – and Drucker has been one over the years – the revenue is directed to the Connaught Fund, a special U of T endowment dedicated to the support of research and innovation. Connaught awarded Drucker a New Staff Grant in 1987 to study the molecular biology of glucagon gene expression.

In the 25 years since Drucker’s initial discovery, the accolades have rolled in. They include the American Diabetes Association’s Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement, Japan’s Manpei Suzuki International Prize for Diabetes research and election to the Royal Society in London.

But, he says, despite his impressive record, he never sets out to commercialize his findings.

“We study basic mechanisms of hormone action. We do not set out initially to design our experiments with a view towards discovering an invention. We do the science, we hope that we ask good questions and we hope that our findings are novel and of interest.”

But, he says the key is in the mindset, in doing good science and being open to whatever emerges in the lab.

“When we make observations or discoveries, we always have a little light on that says, beyond the pure joy and satisfaction of understanding how this works, might this be relevant to treatment of human disease, and might this have commercialization potential? Keeping that light on is part of what we want to do.”

“Keeping the light on” is something we could do a much better job of, he says. “In Canada, we have fantastic basic science. We lag behind in commercialization.”

Statistics bear this out. In a recent World Economic Forum report, Canada fell from its spot as the 12th most innovative country in the world in 2010 to 25th in 2014. And, according to the Conference Board of Canada, “Countries that are more innovative are passing Canada on measures such as income per capita, productivity and the quality of social programs.”

How help close the innovation gap? Drucker has a few thoughts on the matter.

First, support basic science.

“If you say, ‘We’re only interested in work that has commercialization potential,’ you’re likely to miss 95 per cent of the key basic science discoveries, which at the time they’re made, may not have immediately obvious commercialization potential. Understanding at a very basic level how things work underlies the commercializing of subsequent more applied applications in the vast majority of instances. So neglecting basic sciences, or attempting to redirect funding away from basic science toward work that clearly has an obvious commercialization flavour, is a long-term recipe for failure.”

Second, reward commercialization.

This means, he says, that we need both regulatory change, such as tax regimes more favourable to commercialization revenue, and culture change within institutions.

“We can do a better job educating and rewarding people involved in commercialization. In many parts of the academic enterprise, it’s either passively or almost actively discouraged to interact with companies or to partake in commercial activity.”

Finally, embrace failure.

“We have had discoveries where although the science turned out to be correct, the commercialization potential never materialized. Inventors and scientists shouldn’t feel that every single patent they file has to be a home run. You need to file patents and protect your discoveries. Sometimes these will be commercializable and have great value, but many times they won’t. And there’s no way to predict it. There shouldn’t be any stigma attached to failure.”

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WHO backs U of T professor's recommendations for reducing pain of vaccines

sgupta — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:39:51 +0000

WHO backs U of T professor's recommendations for reducing pain of vaccines sgupta Tue, 06/02/2015 - 10:39

Cutline

Yellow fever vaccination drive in Togo, Africa (photo by Norbert Domy via flickr

Michael Kennedy

Author legacy

Michael Kennedy

Topic

Global Lens

New chip makes testing for antibiotic-resistant bacteria faster, easier

sgupta — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:07:29 +0000

New chip makes testing for antibiotic-resistant bacteria faster, easier sgupta Tue, 05/26/2015 - 09:07

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Infectious bacteria or superbugs that don't respond to antibiotics kill an estimated 23,000 people in the U.S. each year (image by Shutterstock)

Marit Mitchell

Author legacy

Marit Mitchell

Topic

Breaking Research

U of T, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College to work together

sgupta — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 10:22:12 +0000

U of T, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College to work together sgupta Wed, 12/10/2014 - 05:22

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Model of a spine with disc herniation (photo by Michael Dorausch via Flickr)

Subheadline

“We’re delighted to partner with an organization committed to improving health with an evidence-based approach,” says Faculty of Medicine dean

The Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) has signed an official Memorandum of Understanding to explore education and research collaborations with the �ؿ�ζSM, through the Faculty of Medicine, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

“This collaboration shows our commitment to expanding research and educational opportunities across the health care spectrum,” said Professor Catharine Whiteside, U of T’s dean of medicine and vice-provost, relations with healthcare institutions. “We’re delighted to partner with an organization committed to improving health with an evidence-based approach.”

The memorandum, a first between the two institutions, provides the opportunity for cooperation in areas of research and education, Whiteside said. For example, the memorandum could lead to: joint applications for funding; joint educational courses; graduate and undergraduate student mobility; exchange of faculty and participation in, and co-hosting of lectures, meetings, seminars, symposia and conferences.

“We are delighted to have reached this historic moment between our two institutions,” said CMCC President Dr. David J. Wickes. “CMCC is deeply committed to developing meaningful partnerships with health care professionals and educators of all disciplines to study ways and models to improve the care and ultimately the health of our patients. We look forward to developing many collaborative activities with our colleagues at the �ؿ�ζSM.”

Representatives from CMCC and the three U of T faculties described the memorandum as an important step forward in advancing research initiatives.

“This agreement formalizes research collaborations which have been ongoing between the two institutions for many years,” said Professor Heather Boon, dean of U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate on studies that answer important health system and patient care questions.”

Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, said the Faculty was looking forward to expanding its collaborative health science education and research network to include CMCC, adding “our scientists are already engaged in some research collaborations with CMCC colleagues and many of our students use their undergraduate kinesiology degrees as a foundation for subsequent studies in a variety of health disciplines, including chiropractic.”

Dr. Silvano Mior, the CMCC research scientist who spearheaded the partnership, is a proponent of collaboration between academic institutions and between chiropractors and physicians in the community primary health care setting.

“We have worked collaboratively with a number of U of T faculty in areas of research and education,” Mior said. “This agreement is an acknowledgement of the quality of that work and provides a wonderful opportunity to expand into new areas of mutual benefit.”

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IMAGINE health clinic: U of T students serve city's most marginalized citizens

sgupta — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:27:42 +0000

IMAGINE health clinic: U of T students serve city's most marginalized citizens sgupta Tue, 12/02/2014 - 03:27

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A physiotherapy student helps Sandra* who suffers from back pain (photos by Jelena Damjanovic)

Jelena Damjanovic

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Jelena Damjanovic

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Providing integrated health care for free to people without insurance, ID or funds

Imagine a clinic providing free health care to Toronto’s most vulnerable residents: people with no fixed address, health insurance or ID. Too bold, utopian, or disruptive?

Not for a group of �ؿ�ζSM students.

In 2007, U of T students from a variety of health profession programs came together to form the Interprofessional Medical and Allied Groups for Improving Neighbourhood Environment (IMAGINE). And by 2010, with support from faculty and community partners, the IMAGINE clinic was open and offering medical, nursing, pharmacy and social work services.

In 2012, physiotherapy was integrated and the clinic became a recognized Centre for Interprofessional Education credit program.

“It seemed like a really unique opportunity for a student to get involved both first line interacting with patients and interacting in a team with all the other professions that you might see in the real world,” says Claire Hooper, a third-year pharmacy student volunteering at IMAGINE.

“It’s also a very unique, underserved patient population, so it’s a great opportunity to be able to help, especially as a student.”

Students volunteer at the clinic (pictured at right) for three consecutive Saturdays, followed by a reflection day. They work in teams of five students drawn from each health discipline, supervised by five preceptors – licensed healthcare practitioners, who are also volunteering at the clinic.

Working in pairs, the students start the visit, take the patient’s history, perform a physical exam, interpret information and present the case to the rest of the team.

Christopher Wang, now in his second year of medicine, likens the experience to doing a puzzle. “It’s hard to know what to expect when we walk through the door. We try to gather all the pieces and then we go back and debrief with the team and that’s where we start putting the puzzle together. With the expertise of everybody sitting around that table we try to figure out what this patient is here for and what we can do to help.”

In the process, students also learn to write clinical notes, collaborate with other disciplines and develop a treatment plan. And they gain confidence along the way.

“Because they are in pre-clinical years, most med students have not yet been told to “go get your patient and bring them into the room,” says Norma C. Carter, a family doctor/general practitioner, who has been volunteering at IMAGINE as a physician preceptor over the last three years. “By the third clinic, the same student is confidently giving polished, organized presentations and developing plans with their fellow students.”

More than 200 clients are assessed and treated at IMAGINE every year. Many patients come in for physiotherapy, because it’s generally not covered by health plans, but students also see people suffering from common ailments to infections to mental health issues and they treat them all.

Wang’s fondest memory is of a patient who came in with an infected thumb. After examining it and debriefing with the team, the preceptor came in and together they had a good chat with the patient, who turned out to be an IV drug user trying hard to overcome his addiction.

“After explaining to the patient that the thumb is related to his drug use he seemed to have more of an incentive to keep on working on that aspect of his life,” says Wang. “That was very memorable because people will often question how much we can do in a one-hour session like this, and I think there’s actually a lot we can do in terms of getting people back on the right track even.”

Such encounters teach students that patients from marginalized populations have the same health issues as other patients but with additional challenges that make management much more complex at times, says Carter. “They’re getting intensive exposure to the social determinants of health, while also learning not to be afraid of a challenging population.”

Wang agrees. “As training medical students it’s very easy to be only shown the best cases, high blood pressure, etc. But that’s not at all what the health scene of the city is like. I think it’s important for students to see that.”

Hooper concurs: “It makes you a better health practitioner.”

(Above: team members discuss case with preceptors.)

The benefits from IMAGINE’S open, enthusiastic and collaborative care extend beyond the students and the city population they treat, organizers say. Preceptors say they – along with the patients they see in their regular practice outside IMAGINE – also benefit from the inter-professional learning opportunities IMAGINE provides.

Like Carter, Vivian Law is among the 100 preceptors from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and social work volunteering at the clinic this year. She started volunteering at IMAGINE as a pharmacy student and has been volunteering as a pharmacy preceptor for the last three years.

Working alongside preceptors and students from other professions, you learn together, Law says. And when students go out to do practice, they’ll be better equipped to interact with other healthcare professionals, she says, and they’ll know what information and support they can get for the patient.

“That’s important because the underprivileged come in with multiple common diseases and issues, so it’s good that the students get to look at the patient in a more holistic view.”

Sandra*, returning to the clinic for a follow-up visit about her back pain, is happy with the service she is getting.

“I like when they show me some exercises or give me a handout so I can practice at home,” she says. “They really want to keep me on track.”

The clinic is open every Saturday except on long weekends and holidays from 10am to 2pm. (Learn more about volunteering, supporting or accessing the clinic.)

*Name changed for privacy reasons.

Jelena Damjanovic writes about communities and urban outreach for U of T News.

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IMAGINE health clinic: U of T students serve city's most marginalized citizens