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Canada racing to create the world's first virtual brain 

Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute is leading a team of international scientists in a mammoth project to create the world's first functional, virtual brain.  The effort puts Canada in a global race to pull off a neuroscience feat that is comparable to decoding the human genome. The achievement could revolutionize how clinicians assess and treat various brain disorders, including cognitive impairment caused by stroke and Alzheimer's disease.  The virtual brain will have the same functional architecture of a real, working brain. It will not only become a powerful tool for researchers, but provide clinicians - who are involved in the assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation of brain function in patients - with a cutting edge "predictive modeling" tool. 

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Neurological protein may hold the key to new treatments for depression

Neuroscientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have developed a protein peptide that may be a novel type of highly-targeted treatment for depression with a low side-effect profile. Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide. The research found that coupling between two dopamine receptors was significantly elevated in the brains of people who had been diagnosed with major depression. This peptide is an entirely new approach to treating depression, which has previously relied on medications that primarily block serotonin or norepinephrine transporters.  These conventional antidepressant medications don't work for all patients, and can cause various side effects.  The identification of this new protein peptide is a potential therapeutic target for development of novel anti-depressants.  The research was published in Nature Medicine.

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New drug sreduces risk of stroke 

Researchers at the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre were the lead investigators in a global clinical trial, RE-LY, that looked at the use of warfarin (standard of care) compared to dabigatran (new oral drug) in a clinical trial involving 18,113 patients, from 44 countries, who had atrial fibrillation (AF) and a risk of stroke. This study proved that the use of dabigatran is associated with lower rates of stroke and systemic embolism. As well, the use of dabigatran increases efficacy and safety, is easier to use (as an oral direct thrombin inhibitor), and results in a marked reduction in stokes. Health Canada and the FDA approved the use of the drug for atrial fibrillation patients at risk of stroke came in October 2010.  

New genetic findings expected to accelerate autism testing
and development of treatments 

An international team led by scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) uncovered key changes in DNA in individuals with autism.  The Phase 2 results of the multinational Autism Genome Project Consortium published in Nature, substantiate the importance of genes as susceptibility factors in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The researchers reported that individuals with ASDs tended to carry more insertions and deletions affecting their genes - called copy number variants (CNV) - than did people in the control group. Some of these CNVs appeared to be inherited, while others are considered new, because they are found only in offspring with autism and not in the parents. Dozens of new "autism risk genes" were discovered, including some that might be helpful in early diagnosis.

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Leading the way in cell signaling  

Scientists at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital identified the first global 'road map' of important protein interactions implicated in cell signaling. A greater understanding of these yeast signaling proteins will help researchers better understand similar systems in human illnesses including cancer, and assist in the development of new therapies. In the course of their research, the Lunenfeld team also created an innovative computational tool called ProHits, for storing and analyzing mass spectrometry data, as well as a novel statistical method called SAINT for the analysis of protein interaction data. These bioinformatic research tools will allow researchers globally to conduct genome-wide studies of protein interactions and communication pathways in cells.

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Toronto General Hospital
A new standard of care for patients with type 1 diabetes 

Adding a continuous blood sugar level sensor to an insulin pump helps patients with type 1 diabetes achieve better blood sugar control compared to the common standard of care, multiple daily insulin injections, concludes a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Research conducted at 30 centres across North America, including Toronto General Hospital, found a significant decrease in average blood sugar levels (or A1c levels, which measure the average blood sugar levels over the past two or three months) from a baseline of 8.3% to 7.5% in the group using sensors and insulin pumps, compared to 8.3% to 8.1% in the multiple daily injection group, at one year. The decrease in A1c levels in both adults and children occurred without an increase in the rate of severe hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, a common problem among patients who are trying to achieve better control of their blood sugar.  

Toronto Western Hospital

Deep brain stimulation shows promise for patients with Alzheimer's 

In a world first, a team at Toronto Western Hospital has shown Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) on patients with early signs of Alzheimer's disease is safe, and more significantly, may help improve memory.   The potential for DBS to treat Alzheimer's disease was first discovered while treating a patient for obesity using DBS in 2003. While stimulating areas of the brain, doctors triggered memories in the patient.  In follow-up testing the patient's memory improved and this led to the first ever DBS trial of patients with early signs of Alzheimer's disease.  In regular follow up cognitive assessments, half the patients continue to perform better than predicted - that is, their memory capacity has improved, or deteriorated less than expected. The results of the trial were published in the Annals of Neurology.  A phase 2, multi-centred trial is planned.

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Princess Margaret Hospital
Unique research centre focuses on cancer survivors 

As communities of cancer survivors continue to grow, the Electronic Living Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Cancer Survivorship Research (ELLICSR) located at Toronto General Hospital represents a first of its kind research centre in Canada. This unique area of interdisciplinary research will look at ways to improve the cancer experience by exploring novel ways to learn from expert survivors, develop new survivorship communities and study how to engage, empower and activate cancer survivors to adopt healthier behaviours that minimize the negative impact of cancer and its treatment. The spacious facility provides a calm, supportive community centre environment with teaching and self-management areas including a full kitchen, a community resource space, simulated clinic rooms and an exercise facility. It is fully wired to support virtual programming, community connections and global collaborations.

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Infectious disease intelligence counters global epidemics 

Officials at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa turned to intelligence systems to track potential public health threats to these international mass gatherings.   The BIO.DIASPORA Project allows researchers to study air traffic patterns and map the spread of infectious diseases. Used in combination with HealthMap, an on-line global disease-tracking and mapping tool, these two systems helped keep the public safe.  

Making breast cancer treatment safer 

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Sunnybrook researchers found that use of paroxetine, known under the brand name Paxil, was associated with a significantly increased risk of death among women taking tamoxifen for breast cancer. The researchers estimated that one additional breast cancer death would result for every 20 women taking the two drugs together over a mean time span of 2.3 years. Moreover, they found the longer a woman took the two drugs together, the greater her risk. Tamoxifen reduces the risk of recurrence in women with estrogen-positive breast cancer by about one-half. Women typically take the drug for five years following initial treatment, and one in three women who take it also take an antidepressant (for anxiety, depression or to limit the hot flashes caused by tamoxifen), with paroxetine being a common choice. The study was the largest and most statistically rigorous to date on this drug-drug interaction.  Since its publication, many oncologists who prescribe an antidepressant with tamoxifen now choose one other than paroxetine—several of which the study showed were safe.
 

Combining robotics and rehab 

Toronto Rehabilitation institute, Canada's largest adult rehabilitation hospital, and Quanser Inc., an industry leader in robotics and control design, joined forces to  find ways to use robotics to benefit people recovering from disabling illness and injury. Their first collaborative project was to make a robotic device to help stroke patients rebuild upper-body strength. Therapists typically spend a lot of time guiding patients through exercises to regain motor skills. The new device will enable patients to do these exercises unsupervised at any time, with individual adaptation thanks to artificial intelligence. Clinical trials are set to begin and there is already interest in North America, the U.K. and Asia.

 


Making human blood from adult human skin 

Researchers at McMaster's Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine have discovered how to make human blood from adult human skin. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, could mean that in the foreseeable future people needing blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of other blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created from a patch of their own skin to provide transfusions. The potential for clinical trials will be assessed in 2012. The team has also shown that the conversion is direct. Making blood from skin does not require the middle step of changing a skin stem cell into a pluripotent stem cell that could make many other types of human cells, then turning it into a blood stem cell. The discovery was replicated several times over two years using human skin from both the young and the elderly to prove it works for any age of person.

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Finding genetic clues to fight disease 

Salmonella is a major source of food poisoning in North America. University of Toronto researchers were part of an international team that uncovered three genes in the Salmonella bacteria critical for it to cause disease and withstand antibiotic treatment, and may hold the key to improved disease treatment.  The team found that three bacterial genes called poxA, yjeK and efp work together to protect the bacterial cell from stresses it encounters during infection and antibiotic treatment. Mice infected with Salmonella strains lacking any one of these genes do not get sick. Even more crucial is the discovery that these Salmonella strains are also highly sensitive to treatment with a variety of antibiotics and disinfectants.  These genes exist in other bacteria that cause disease including E. coli, providing new insight into the development and treatment of these potentially lethal diseases. The study was published in the journal Molecular Cell.

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How you see yourself changes how your brain responds to others 

Researchers at Laurier's Cognition in Action Lab discovered that changing a person's concept of self, known as self-construal, changes the excitability of the brain's motor system.  At least two different types of self-construal are known: interdependent and independent. The researchers demonstrated for the first time that priming people to think interdependently or independently dramatically changed the excitability of the brain's motor system. Combining words like "together" and "integrate" with video of a person acting increased brain activity, while showing words like "alone" or "independent" over the same video reduced activity. The increases/decreases in brain activity, determined through transcranial magnetic stimulation, changed within seconds of switching the type of self-construal.  This process could increase the speed and ease of learning tasks that use the brain's motor system, like teaching someone to dance or to use sophisticated equipment. It could also help individuals with disorders affecting social cognition - such as autism - to process social information.

What's New

New support for better Health Care, Life Science Jobs More

McMaster scientists turn skin into blood More

Ontario invests $6.5 million in Teva Canada, part of $56 million expansion More

University of Toronto researchers crack 'splicing code'  More

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Ontario invests $86 million in 14 Toronto research projects More

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) invests $5 million in Toronto Region research projects More

Ontario invests $11.5 million in McMaster University to develop stem cell-based therapies More

Pfizer Global Research and Development funds colon cancer research in Ontario More