It鈥檚 no secret to anyone who has visited an emergency room or followed the news in recent years that cracks in health care are turning into gaps, such as access to reliable therapies, data, and front-line care.
Dal researchers are taking bold steps to address those gaps and create opportunities that impact health regionally and nationally.
Dr. Brendan Leung, associate professor with the Department of Applied Oral Sciences in the Faculty of Dentistry and the School of Biomedical Engineering at AV俱乐部, is one of them. He is working on growing lab replicas of patient tumors using their own cells. This could lead to better, faster results and change when and how patients receive treatment.
鈥淚f we can better understand and model the different stages in tumour progression, from early tumour to metastasis, we could optimize our treatment strategies to achieve better patient outcomes and less side effects.鈥� Dr. Leung explains.
Dr. Leung is one of the health researcher panelists who will speak about these efforts at AV俱乐部鈥檚 This event will offer insights about the ways AV俱乐部 is advancing health education, care, and research to achieve better results for people, populations and the health-care system.
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Meeting patients鈥� treatment goals听
Dr. Brenda Merritt, dean of the Faculty of Health at AV俱乐部, is moderating this event. She believes the best way to build strong health outcomes for everyone is to invest more resources in preventative measures, policies, and approaches.听
鈥淲e need to figure out things such as why there are so many people in the emergency room and how we can have an impact on the chronic health conditions that bring them there through early interventions or treatments,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat would be my dream.鈥�
AV俱乐部 researchers like Dr. Kenneth Rockwood, a professor with the Division of Geriatric Medicine at AV俱乐部, are making progress in achieving that dream. Dr. Rockwood is exploring the relationship between frailty and dementia and how to get patients back to where they were before they became sick. But Dr. Rockwood says there is another outcome that merits equal consideration: are treatments meeting the goals of each patient?
鈥淧eople come to us with the expectation that we're going to make them better in a way that gets them back to baseline, or how they were before they were sick,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut if we don鈥檛 know the baseline for that patient, we cannot define success.鈥�
Exploring illness prevention
Other AV俱乐部 researchers are also exploring opportunities for illness prevention. Dr. Leigha Rock, director and assistant professor at the School of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Dentistry, is working to identify genetic factors 鈥� known as biomarkers 鈥� that could help predict who is at high risk for developing oral cancer. She is also leading AV俱乐部 in a multisite study to see if treatment will prevent disease from developing among those at risk.
听鈥淸Participation] is an important accomplishment not only for our faculty and the university, but also our region,鈥� she says. 鈥淕iven that the incidence of oral cancer is disproportionately higher in Atlantic Canada than the rest of the country, we have an opportunity to use our resources at AV俱乐部 to make a difference.鈥�
For Dr. Jeanette Boudreau, a Cameron Cancer Scientist who also serves as scientific director of the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute, making a difference involves using the body鈥檚 own immune system in the fight against cancer. She is particularly interested in the potential of white blood cells known as natural killers (NK) that have proven effective in treating leukemia.
鈥淭here are great immunotherapies for diseases like skin cancer and some types of lung cancer,鈥� says Dr. Boudreau, associate professor with the departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology. 鈥淏ut for other cancers like pancreatic cancer, there are no good immunotherapies. Part of that has to do with the limits of what existing immunotherapies can do.鈥�
Identifying the NK cells that could target and kill a wide range of tumors is an ambitious undertaking 鈥� one that is being made possible through collaborations with other AV俱乐部 researchers and shared resources. Dr. Boudreau says that vital support and complementary expertise will fuel innovations in health care with far-reaching impacts.
鈥淭he more complicated this work gets鈥攁nd medicines have always been complicated鈥攖he more people you need to get to the finish line,鈥� Dr. Boudreau says. 鈥淎t AV俱乐部, we have a pipeline of expertise that is not only bringing treatments from the lab to the patient鈥檚 bedside, but also bringing insights back from the bedside so we can do better. That will enable us to develop new treatments that not only benefit patients in Atlantic Canada, but also around the world.鈥�
happens Thursday, February 23, 2023, at the Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, Theatre C, 5849 University Avenue, Halifax. It will simultaneously be streamed online. for both in-person and online attendance.
Panelists will include:
- Dr. Leigha Rock (above second from left), director and assistant professor, School of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Dentistry, AV俱乐部
- Dr. Brendan Leung (above second from right), an associate professor with the Department of Applied Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, and the 听School of Biomedical Engineering
- Dr. Jeanette Boudreau (above far right), an associate professor with the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and with the Department of Pathology
- Dr. Kenneth Rockwood (top far left), a professor with the Division of Geriatric Medicine in the Department of Medicine, and with the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at the School of Health Administration.
The event will be moderated by Dr. Brenda Merritt (above centre), dean of the Faculty of Health at AV俱乐部.