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Each hospital’s research mission has a rich history. At both hospital organizations, leaders recognized opportunities to leverage in-house experts to conduct research and improve care. However, they also recognized the challenge in supporting these activities without dedicated space and resources.

Through great foresight, our hospitals founded the official research institutes that serve as Lawson's foundation:

1983: Supported by Sister Mary Doyle, former Executive Director of St. Joseph's, the Sisters of St. Joseph's establish the hospital's official research institute. LHSC and Upjohn jointly open the Victoria Upjohn Clinical Research Unit at South Street Hospital (formerly Victoria Hospital), focusing on Phase I-III clinical trials.
1987: The St. Joseph's research institute is named the Lawson Research Institute (LRI) in honour of London businessman and philanthropist Colonel Tom Lawson and his wife, Miggsie Lawson - close friends of Sister Mary Doyle and major supporters of the research mission.
1990: Victoria Hospital takes over the operation of the clinical research unit at South Street, renaming it the Victoria Clinical Trials Centre.
1997: The Victoria Clinical Trials Centre is renamed London Health Sciences Centre Research Inc. and becomes a fully incorporated research institute overseeing all hospital-based research within London Health Sciences Centre sites: Victoria Hospital, University Hospital and South Street Hospital.
2000: LRI and LHSCRI merge to form a joint venture: Lawson Health Research Institute.
2014: Lawson Research Institute (re-)launches as the hospital-based research arm of St. Joseph's with the goal of transforming imagination to innovation to impact; and as LHSCRI is also embedded into LHSC.

Today, partnerships remain strong, allowing researchers to move seamlessly between hospital locations and Western University.

Milestones

Since forming in 2000, Lawson has pioneered breakthroughs across various disciplines of health research and reached several institutional milestones.

2019: Lawson led research team is the first in the world to develop a new imaging tool, showed that MRI can be used to measure how the heart uses oxygen.
2019: New studies from Lawson and Western University found for the first time that HIV can be transmitted through the sharing of equipment used to prepare drugs before injection and that a simple intervention can destroy the HIV virus, preventing that transmission.
2019: In the first genomic analysis of head and neck cancer by smoking status, researchers at Lawson, in collaboration with researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and UCLA Cancer Centre, carried out a comprehensive genetic analysis of HPV-negative tumours to better understand the link between smoking and cancer recovery.
2019: Lawson scientists develop molecular diagnostic tool to analyze epigenetic patterns, facilitating diagnosis of rare, unknown hereditary disorders. London Health Sciences Centre is the first site in the world to offer this type of testing.
2018: Research shows high-dose radiation can improve survival in patients with cancer that has spread to give or less sites. The SABR-COMET study was the first randomized phase II clinical trial of its kind.
2018: An international collaborative study between Lawson Health Research Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Royal Marsden and Epic Sciences is one of the first to demonstrate that a blood test can predict how patients with advanced prostate cancer will respond to specific treatments, leading to improved survival.
2018: In collaborative study between Lawson and Stanford University, scientists develop and test a new synthetic surfactant that could lead to improved treatments for lung disease and injury.
2018: Scientists use brain MRI to develop first ever method examining young people before they become ill to reliably identify who will develop acute psychosis and who will not.
2018: Research team develops clinically-validated, open-source 3D printed stethoscope for areas with limited access to medical supplies.
2018: Lawson opens Clinical Research and Chronic Disease Centre (CRCDC) at St. Joseph’s Hospital to tackle chronic disease and improve patient care.
2018: Lawson researchers receive $4.4 million to study personalized medicine at LHSC, examining the value of prescribing treatments based on a patient’s genetics.
2017: In one of the largest microbiota studies conducted in humans, researchers at Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute and Tianyi Health Science Institute in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China have shown a potential link between healthy aging and a healthy gut.
2017: Lawson researchers develop transition program to help young adults with type 1 diabetes move from paediatric to adult care.
2017: Innovative study brings next-generation genome sequencing to London cancer patients, contributing to province-wide database of genomic and clinical data.
2017: Technology developed at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute can provide a new window into whether or not patients are responding to treatment for advanced ovarian cancer.
2017: Dr. Alan Getgood and his team at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to participate in an investigative trial to determine the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own cartilage cells to repair knee cartilage injuries.
2016: Lawson Researchers at Parkwood Institute are the first in Canada to develop clinical practice guidelines for managing neuropathic pain with patients who have experienced a spinal cord injury.
2016: Researchers at Lawson are the first in Canada to use a Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) probe in Positron Emissions Tomography (PET) scans to provide improved and highly specific images used for better diagnosis and management of prostate cancer.
2015: Lawson scientists, in collaboration with Ceresensa Inc., produce novel PET-transparent MRI head coil, a world first in imaging technology
2015: Lawson announces partnership with STEMCELL Technologies for commercialization of tools for Parkinson’s disease research
2015: Novare Pharmaceuticals and Lawson announce issuance of a U.S. patent for the composition-of-matter and use of RHAMM-binding peptides with a wide range of potential therapeutic uses. The patent also has claims for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer, and for prescribing a course of treatment for the diagnosed cancer.
2014: Lawson announces licensing agreement with Yabao Pharmaceutical Group in China to develop and test a new life-saving drug to treat sepsis
2014: Lawson researchers are part of a Canadian team who have developed a way to produce a key medical isotope, technetium-99m (Tc-99m), using hospital based cyclotrons
2013: The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) Western opens at Lawson
2012: Lawson installs Canada's first PET/MRI at St. Joseph's Hospital
2011: Lindros Legacy Research Building officially opens at University Hospital
2010: Lawson opens the Cyclotron and PET Radiochemistry facility at St. Joseph's Hospital
2009: Lawson receives a record $7 million donation to support the Canadian Research & Development Centre for Probiotics
2008: Lawson establishes an experimental anti-thrombolitic clinic to calculate personalized dosage of drugs based on a patient's genetics
2007: The first totally endoscopic closed-chest robotic coronary artery bypass surgery on a patient's beating heart is performed at University Hospital
2006: Lawson opens the Aging, Rehabilitation & Geriatric Care Research Centre, the first centre of its kind in Canada, at Parkwood Institute
2005: Lawson creates the first Ontario Cardiac Rehabilitation Registry
2004: Lawson scientists release a three-year study on the effects of the Walkerton water disaster
2003: Lawson opens the Victoria Research Laboratories at Victoria Hospital, the first collaboration of its kind in Canada bringing together research from cancer, children's health and vascular biology
2002: Lawson installs the first Positron Emission Tomography and Computer Tomography (PET/CT) scanner in Canada at St. Joseph's Hospital
2001: St. Joseph's is one of five sites in the world piloting the Diabetes Electronic Management Systems

Meet the Team

The HULC Clinical Research Laboratory includes a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, therapists, engineers, scientists, technicians and graduate students working alongside research participants to improve patient care.

Meet the Research Team

Researchers

Joy C. MacDermid

Location: St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Role: Co-director
Phone: 519-661-2111 EXT: 64636
Degree and Qualifications: BSc, BScPT, MSc, PhD
Email: @email

Academic publication:

Google Scholar Homepage: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=O8LegU4AAAAJ&hl=en

PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?cmd=PureSearch&term=macdermid+j%5bAu…

My research aims to reduce the burden of musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, injury and chronic disease in studies that:

Develop and test useful and valid measures of MSK symptoms and work role function.
Identify modifiable biologic, psychosocial and environmental risk factors; and test how these are mediated by sex/gender.
Test workplace, surgical and rehabilitation interventions that optimize ability and function.
Assess musculoskeletal health at a population level
Conduct knowledge translation research that guides efficient and effective implementation.

I conduct my work in collaboration with HULC researchers and clinicians, trainees and committed research teams that conduct national clinical trials, and research institutes comprised of high-quality researchers including IC/ES, The Bone and Joint Institute, and CIPSRT.

Staff

Katrina Munro

Name: Katrina Munro
Location: St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Role: Clinical Research Coordinator
Phone: 519-646-6100 EXT: 64544
Email: @email

Ze Lu (Steve)

Name: Ze Lu (Steve)
Location: St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Role: Clinical research assistant
Phone: 519-646-6100 EXT: 64544
Email: @email

Bansari Patel

Name: Bansari Patel
Location: St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Role: Clinical research assistant
Phone: 519-646-6100 EXT: 64544
Email: @email

Sahar Johari

Name: Sahar Johari
Location: St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Role: Clinical research assistant
Phone: 519-646-6100 EXT: 64544
Email: @email

Students

The HULC Clinical Research Laboratory provides education and training to the next generation of clinical researchers. Under the direction of Dr. Joy MacDermid, the lab produces high-quality research on measuring, predicting and reducing upper extremity disability with a focus on surgery and rehabilitation. Students and trainees play an important role on our team. They include post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D. and Master’s candidates, co-op students, clinical fellows, residents, medical students, and physiotherapy students.

Trainees
The HULC Clinical Research Laboratory provides education and training to the next generation of clinical researchers. Under the direction of Dr. Joy MacDermid, the lab produces high-quality research on measuring, predicting and reducing upper extremity disability with a focus on surgery and rehabilitation. Students and trainees play an important role on our team. They include post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D. and Master’s candidates, co-op students, clinical fellows, residents, medical students, and physiotherapy students.

Current Trainees

Daniel Briatico

Dorota Maria Klubowicz

Reza Jafari Nodoushan

Sahar Johari

Sara M. Stretton

Seyed Javad Raeesi

Seyed Mohammad Mahdavi Salimi

Shokoofih Abbasalipour

Tania Al-Jilawi

Temitope Osifeso

Victoria D'Alessandro

Past Trainees

Aksha Mehta

Bansari Patel

Christina (Tina) Ziebart

Hajra Batool

Hoda Seens (Malakouti-Nejad)

Lisbeth A. Pino Gavidia

Lisa Carlesso

Mahdiyeh Shafiezadeh Bafghi

Marudan Sivagurunathan

Safa Jamaluddin

Tachit Jiravichitchai

Zakir Uddin

Ze(Steve) Lu

Opportunities

All of the HULC labs provide excellent training opportunities. See each of our lab websites for details.

There are about 20-25 trainees in the Clinical Research Lab. The lab has opportunities available for post-doctoral fellows, PhD and master’s candidates, co-op students, clinical fellows, residents, medical students and physiotherapy students.

Students can pursue a master’s or Ph.D. with Dr. MacDermid by enrolling in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr. MacDermid supervises students in multiple fields including Physical Therapy, Measurement and Methods, and Health Promotion. For more details on these programs and the admission requirements and process consult with the website and program staff. Funding is available for students who meet program requirements.

https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/programs/hrs/programs.html

Post-docs are individually arranged and dependent on funding.

Medical trainees can take research training by enrolling in the Masters in Surgery:

https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/surgery/education/msc_in_surgery/index.html

Training and Permissions

As a hospital-based clinical research lab, HULC adheres to the policies of St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Lawson Health Research Institute. Students and trainees are required to complete the appropriate training and permissions through Medical Affairs at St. Joseph’s.

Learn more about orientation information at St. Joseph’s, including required learning.

If you have any questions related to training or permissions in your role at HULC, please speak to your supervisor.

Partners

Open Access Publications

The HULC Clinical Research Laboratory publishes a number of papers every year to share the important findings of our studies. The following are a list of open-access publications that anyone can access to read.

View open-access publications in the following categories:

Neck/Shoulder
Elbow
Wrist/Hand
Work/Nerve/Other

Neck/Shoulder

Elbow

Wrist/Hand

Work/Nerve/Other

Tools or Products of Research

Tools

Theoretical, Evidence-informed And Co-designed Health Innovation Teamwork (TEACH-IT)

Credit and Source: Dr. Joy MacDermid (@email).

Cognitive interviewing (CI) - to identify sources of interpretation dissonance in patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) (2021)

Appraisal of inclusion of sex and gender in research (2017)

ICF Linking and Cognitive Interviewing Are Complementary Methods for Optimizing Content Validity of Outcome Measures: An Integrated Methods Review

Credit and Source: Dr. Joy MacDermid (@email).

Critical Appraisal

Evaluation Guidelines for Rating the Quality of an Intervention Study

Evaluation Checklist for Rating the Quality of an Intervention Study

Critical Appraisal of Research Evidence for Its Validity and Usefulness

Protocols

FIT- HaNSA (The Functional Impairment Test-Head, and Neck/Shoulder/Arm) Protocol
- This test is a functional endurance test that assesses tasks of the upper limb performed in a standardized way over 15 minutes.
  Credit and Source: Dr. Joy MacDermid (@email).
Cold Stress Test and The Ten Test Manual
- Two simple quantitative sensory tests (youtube.com)
- The Cold Stress Test is a standardized cold test that measures pain and vascular response to cold immersion.
  Credit and Source: Dr. Zakir Uddin (@email) ) & Dr. Joy MacDermid (@email).

Knowledge Translation

Pain+
- Free resource on pain evidence to support your clinical decisions
Rehab+
- Free resource on rehab evidence to support your clinical decisions

Please note: if you require an accessible version of files on this page, reach out to us at @email as work is currently underway to code the files attached here.

Urgent Care Centre Updates

2018 Media Releases

2020 Media Releases

2022 Media Releases

History