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The city of London, Ontario is home to a vibrant health research community. On Wednesday, May 9, researchers from across the city gathered to discuss the importance of equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in the careers of health researchers. Through participation at Exchange: A London Health Research Day Forum on Diversity & Inclusivity, guests discussed the challenges associated with EDI and potential solutions for the future.

Exchange was held the evening before London Health Research Day, the region’s premier research showcase event which features nearly 400 trainee presentations. Trainees are the future of Canadian science and EDI is crucial to that future. This is a topic of national importance that has garnered attention and action from the federal government, funding agencies and scientists across the country.

Recognizing the importance of this topic, Canada’s Minister of Science, The Honorable Kirsty Duncan, and local Member of Parliament for London North Centre, MP Peter Fragiskatos, shared video greetings with Exchange guests.

“The Exchange event highlights a vital area of discussion. It is important to not only recognize but embrace the differences between scientists and the diverse perspectives they bring to research,” said Rebecca Sullivan, a third year PhD candidate at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, training in Savita Dhanvantari’s lab at Lawson Health Research Institute, and one of the organizers of the event. “Becoming aware of our own unconscious biases and trying to change these culturally ingrained implicit associations is the only way to make active change in science!”

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Above: Rebecca Sullivan, a third year PhD candidate, leading a scenario-based group activity at Exchange

The evening’s first presenter was Dr. Janet Smylie, Director of the Well Living House Applied Research Centre for Indigenous Infant, Child and Family Health at St. Michael’s Hospital and CIHR Applied Public Health Research Chair in Indigenous Health Knowledge and Information. Dr. Smylie, who also delivered the keynote presentation at London Health Research Day, spoke about the role of anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination within health care professions, including its impact on research. This included a discussion of Dr. Smylie’s own research in the field of Indigenous health.

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Above: Dr. Janet Smylie presenting on "Addressing anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination within health care professions"

Greta Bauer, PhD, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, spoke about the role of epidemiology as a toolkit for building equity in health research. This included a discussion on incorporating intersectionality and multidimensionality into population health research methodology.

“The purpose of this work is to give researchers the measurement and statistical tools they need to shift the focus from studying broad population average effects to more heterogeneity within populations,” said Greta. “The whole point is to better study not only diversity in health outcomes, but in the processes that generate those outcomes.”

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Above: Greta Bauer, PhD, presenting on "Epidemiology as a toolkit for building equity"

This talk was followed by a presentation on Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+). GBA+ is an analytical tool used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people may experience policies, programs and initiatives. The “plus” in GBA+ acknowledges that GBA goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are; GBA+ also considers many other identity factors, like race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability. GBA+ is a method for collecting and reviewing data in an unbiased manner, one that leaves aside many of the assumptions that can mask the GBA+ impacts of a given initiative. Alysha Croker, PhD, Manager, Tri-Agency Institutional Program Secretariat, discussed how GBA+ is being used in research and grant funding, including at the federal funding agencies.

“Diverse research teams can lead to more innovation, greater collective intelligence and an increased capacity to tackle complex issues,” said Alysha, when discussing the importance of EDI in the careers of health researchers.

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Above: Alysha Croker, PhD, presenting on "Incorporating Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in research and beyond"

The evening also included a presentation from Shantal Feltham, founder and CEO of Stiris Research, a North American clinical trials management company based in London. Shantal discussed the importance of ensuring that clinical trials are designed to recruit diverse research participants that represent real patient populations. She also discussed her own experiences and perspectives as a female entrepreneur.

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Above: Shantal Feltham delivering a presentation titled "That’s a great idea – It’ll never work"

A group of health research trainees concluded the night with a scenario-based presentation and activity. Audience members were divided into small groups and given a diversity scenario to discuss. Topics ranged from the experiences of LGBTQ+ researchers, racial diversity, physical ability barriers in research labs and more. Notes and ideas from these conversations were recorded and displayed the next day at London Health Research Day.

“Exchange highlighted EDI in health research in action. It featured talks by leading female researchers on issues in Indigenous health and LGBTQ health, implementation of equity in the Canada Research Chairs program, and female entrepreneurship in the field of health research,” said Savita Dhavantari, PhD, assistant director and scientist at Lawson and assistant professor at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. Savita was also one of the Exchange organizers and the facilitator for the event. “Above all, I hope attendees were encouraged to be fearless in advocating for equity, diversity and inclusivity in health research.”

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Above: Guests at Exchange discussing a diversity scenario

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Above: Savita Dhanvantari, PhD, facilitating the Exchange event

Psychiatric disorders are often difficult to diagnose. As research advances, we are learning there are multiple subtypes of illness that differ in symptoms and treatment needs, making classification even harder. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one example. Individuals with the more common type of PTSD experience active defensive responses like hyperarousal or outbursts of emotion while those with the dissociative subtype experience additional passive defensive responses like ‘shutting down’ or out-of-body experiences.

In a new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, researchers combined brain imaging and machine learning to classify with 92 per cent accuracy whether individuals had PTSD and whether or not it was the dissociative subtype. The results highlight the promise of brain imaging as a tool for early diagnosis of psychiatric illness, helping to predict symptom development and treatment needs. 

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Brains scans and machine learning were combined to classify PTSD with 92 per cent accuracy. 

The study involved 181 research participants, including those diagnosed with the more common form of PTSD, the dissociative subtype of PTSD, and healthy individuals with no history of PTSD. They participated in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Robarts Research Institute.

Researchers used the high-powered imaging to analyze patterns of resting-state brain activity where participants simply remained in a state of restful wakefulness in an fMRI scanner. The team found that unique patterns of brain activity differed significantly between the three groups.

“Our research group has been leading a number of studies that have shown differences in brain activity and neural connections between healthy individuals and those with different subtypes of PTSD,” says Dr. Ruth Lanius, a researcher at Lawson, professor at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University and psychiatrist at London Health Sciences Centre. “This study further validates that unique patterns of brain activity are associated with different forms of PTSD.”

In the second part of the study, the research team inputted the patterns of brain activity into a machine learning computer algorithm. They found the machine learning system could analyze brain scans to predict whether an individual had PTSD, the dissociative subtype of PTSD or no PTSD with 92 per cent accuracy. 

“Our study suggests brain activity can be used to assist diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and help predict symptoms,” says Andrew Nicholson, PhD, lead author on the study and a post-doctoral fellow at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry who is conducting research at Lawson.  “Patterns of brain activity are objective biomarkers that could be used to diagnose PTSD and, with more research, even predict response to treatment.”

Objective biomarkers hold promise for transforming psychiatric medicine.

“The field of psychiatry does not currently have objective biomarkers like those used to diagnose and understand other illnesses or diseases like cancer,” says Nicholson. “By discovering and validating patterns of brain activity as biomarkers, we can bring objective measures to psychiatry and transform patient care.”

The study, “Machine learning multivariate pattern analysis predicts classification of posttraumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype: A multimodal neuroimaging approach,” is published in Psychological Medicine. 
 

St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Lawson Health Research Institute have announced plans to move forward with clinical trials testing a drug that could potentially be used to prevent and treat COVID-19. St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation will accelerate the creation of the studies by providing seed funding to get the research started through donor support. Based on the immediate need, The St. Joseph’s Health Crisis Fund has been created by St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation to enable these and other research studies currently in development through Lawson, the research arm of St. Joseph’s. 

While supporting urgent COVID-19 clinical trials will be an immediate focus, The St. Joseph’s Health Crisis Fund will also support critical patient care equipment and care and comfort items for healthcare staff and volunteers working on the frontlines of the pandemic across St. Joseph’s.

Led locally by Dr. Michael Silverman, Medical Director of St. Joseph’s Infectious Diseases Care Program, one trial will assess the safety and efficacy of using hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to prevent COVID-19 in health care workers recently exposed to the virus. This trial will also assess the drug as a treatment for non-hospitalized patients with mild cases of the illness. St. Joseph’s will be one of many participating sites in the trial, which is being led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

“There is much debate surrounding the drug hydroxychloroquine. We do not yet know whether it’s safe or effective, and it should not be routinely recommended until we do,” says Dr. Silverman, also a Lawson Associate Scientist and city-wide Chair/Chief of Infectious Diseases. “We plan to carefully study the drug through a randomized controlled trial and assess whether it can help combat COVID-19.”

Dr. Silverman is also partnering with Dr. Michael Borrie, Geriatrician at St. Joseph’s and Lawson Scientist, on a prevention trial to test the safety and efficacy of the drug for patients and residents at Parkwood Institute who have been exposed to COVID-19. They are at a higher risk of infection, as well as serious complications and potential admission to acute care.

“There are two critical goals with this prophylactic trial,” explains Dr. Borrie. “First, we want to see if the drug, taken for five days, is safe for the participants in the study. We will then look to see whether it is effective to prevent illness or lessen symptoms and complications.” 

They are testing whether HCQ may inhibit the coronavirus similar to how the antiviral drug Tamiflu is used to prevent influenza after exposure. The research team will recruit patients and residents who have been accidentally exposed to the virus by a confirmed or presumed case of COVID-19, but who aren’t yet experiencing symptoms. In addition to cardiograms and blood tests for safety, they are collaborating with Dr. Saman Maleki, Lawson Scientist and Immunologist, to analyze the blood for a variety of indicators including the presence of antibodies and immune response. They will collect clinical data and information on common health conditions to gain insights into why some vulnerable individuals get the disease and others don’t.

“We are aware of two small studies that were published rapidly last week, one in France and the other in China, testing the use of chloroquine for potentially treating COVID-19. Further studies are greatly needed,” adds Dr. Borrie. “This study at Parkwood Institute is a good start and we hope to have other Canadian sites join us in recruiting participants so that we can offer statistically significant results as soon as possible.”  

Those interested in donating to St. Joseph’s Health Crisis Fund are asked to visit St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation’s website to learn more at sjhcfoundation.org. Donations can be made online, through direct mail submissions or by calling the Foundation directly at 519-646-6085. 

“The Sisters of St. Joseph, who founded our organization, faced contagious diseases and other pandemics at different times in our 150+ year history,” says Michelle Campbell. “Today, it’s a different time, and a new disease. Now, more than ever, we ask our community to help us address the crisis facing us all.” 

In the news:

• Global News - London, Ont., researchers to study hydroxychloroquine’s potential to prevent, treat coronavirus
• CTV - London researchers testing drug to prevent COVID-19 spread in long-term care homes
• The London Free Press - New fund set up to help bankroll London research into COVID-19 drug

Lawson Health Research Institute has ranked eighth in the country for the 2021 edition of Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals List by Re$earch Infosource. This is the eighth consecutive year that Lawson has maintained this strong national position, which puts the institute within the top five in Ontario.

Lawson, the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care London, has also maintained the top ranking for research intensity among the large tier institutions with a little more than $600,000 of research spending per researcher.

“This is a validation of the extensive support from LHSC and St. Joseph’s, our hospital foundations, Western University and our staff and physicians,” says Lawson’s Scientific Director Dr. David Hill. “These strong partnerships make the hospital environment in London a nationally recognized centre of discovery and knowledge translation.”

Hospital-based researchers belong to a health system at the forefront of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With close proximity to patients and access to samples, they have mobilized to address COVID-19 in many different ways, and are making a difference around the world when it comes to advances and discoveries.

“The Province of Ontario designated health research as an essential service early in the pandemic,” explains Dr. Hill. “They understood that only science can get us through this, be it through vaccine development, surveillance and testing, evaluating new drugs to help patients in ICU survive, or studying the long-term health impacts. We have made substantial contributions of new knowledge through Lawson.”

The top 40 list analyzes hospital-based research institutes from across the country on several metrics, including total research income from the previous fiscal year. According to the report, Lawson received $121,888 million in research income in 2021.The ranking looks at funds received from all sources, including both internal and external, to support research at LHSC and St. Joseph’s.

Quick summary of Lawson’s ranking 

• Rank in Top 40 Research Hospitals 2021: 8 (same as 2020) 
• FY2020 research spending: $121.888 million  
• Percentage change 2019-2020: 2.6% 
• Research intensity: $618,700 per researcher  
• Research intensity - percentage of total hospital spending: 7.0% 

Over 400 learners, faculty and researchers from across London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) and Western University gathered for London Health Research Day (LHRD) on May 7, 2024. 

LHRD is one of southwestern Ontario’s largest cross-disciplinary health research conferences, and is presented in partnership by Lawson Health Research Institute (the research institute of LHSC and St. Joseph’s) and Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Faculty of Health Sciences. It is an opportunity for students to share innovative research on a wide variety of health topics, practice science communication, network, and learn from an insightful keynote presentation and informative workshops.

“There is an amazing diversity of health research being conducted in London, Ontario right now, all represented at this event,” says Dr. David Hill, Interim Research Executive and Scientific Director for London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). “Looking at all these presentations, the future of health research is bright.”

More than 420 guests, 340 poster presenters, 50 volunteer judges and 24 symposia speakers registered to attend the event held at Western University. 

“An event like this, focused on health research by learners, provides an outstanding opportunity for our trainees to showcase their research and network with peers and leaders in the field,” says Susanne Schmid, Vice Dean of Basic Medical Sciences at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. “As one of the largest health research gatherings in our city, London Health Research Day not only highlights the amazing work being done at Western, LHSC and St. Joseph’s, but also underscores the powerful collaborations that drive our success.” 

Dr. Lisa Porter, Vice President, Research and Scientific Director at St. Joseph’s, was also on-hand to speak with presenters and learn more about ongoing research.

“I am so proud of the great research happening in London,” says Dr. Porter. “This event is a wonderful opportunity to explore the fabulous research and see what the future holds for health care.”

The event was preceded on May 6 with a public lecture by Dr. Mark Daley, Chief AI Officer at Western University, who addressed how artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to change the future of health research and the lives of Canadians. The potential of AI to address ongoing challenges in health care, was echoed by keynote speaker Dr. Laura Rosella, Canada Research Chair in Population Health Analytics at the University of Toronto.

The impact of technology on health research was already visible in many of the projects presented by learners, highlighting the rapid advancement of health research in London, Ontario.

Lawson Health Research Institute is again ranked eighth in the country according to the 2020 edition of “Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals List” by Re$earch Infosource. This strong national position has been maintained by Lawson for the past seven consecutive years and keeps the Institute within the top five in Ontario.  

Lawson, the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London, has also maintained the top ranking for research intensity among the large tier institutions with $600,000 of research spending per researcher.  

“Now, more than ever, people are understanding the critical importance of hospital-based research and its impact on health care,” says Dr. David Hill, Lawson Scientific Director and VP, Research for London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

“We have remarkable people right here in London working on solutions for health challenges that have a worldwide impact. Their knowledge, creativity and dedication never fail to astound.” 

The top 40 list analyzes hospital-based research institutes from across the country on several metrics, including total research income from the previous fiscal year. The ranking looks at funds received from all sources, including both internal and external, to support research at the organization. According to the report, Lawson received $118,796 million in research income in 2019. Despite representing a 4.0 per cent drop from the previous fiscal year, Lawson has maintained its rankings on the national list.  

Hospital-based researchers belong to a health system at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. With close proximity to patients and access to samples, they have mobilized to address COVID-19. Many Lawson research teams are implementing pre-clinical, clinical observational and clinical trial studies to prevent or soften the worst effects for patients with COVID-19. They are also studying the long-term and mental health impacts related to the pandemic.  

“The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be one of the most pressing health challenges of our time,” notes Dr. Hill. “Lawson excels in rapid response research and is uniquely positioned to tackle health problems from within hospital walls.”  

Quick summary of Lawson's ranking 

• Rank in Top 40 Research Hospitals 2020: 8 (same as 2019) 

• FY2019 research spending: $118,776 million  

• FY2018 research spending: $123,790 million 

• Percentage change 2018-2019: -4.0% 

• Research intensity: $600,000 per researcher  

• Research intensity - percentage of total hospital spending: 7.0% 

Lawson Health Research Institute is ranked eighth in the country according to the 2019 edition of “Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals List” by Re$earch Infosource. This strong national position has been maintained by Lawson for the past six years and also keeps the institute within the top five in Ontario.  

The results 

The research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s), Lawson has also maintained the top ranking for research intensity among the large tier institutions with $612,800 of research spending per researcher. 

“As a hospital-based research institute, our innovation happens where care is delivered,” says Dr. David Hill, Lawson Scientific Director. “Every day, teams of researchers are working directly with clinicians and patients to improve treatments or create entirely new ones. They also find innovative methods of delivering services that drive efficiency and reduce costs.” 

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The top 40 list analyzes hospital-based research institutes from across the country on several metrics, including total research income from the previous fiscal year. The ranking looks at funds received from all sources, including both internal and external, to support research at the organization. According to the report, Lawson received $123,790 million in research income in 2018, which represents 0.4 per cent in growth from the previous fiscal year.

“We are known across the country and around the world for our high level of research activity and success, despite our size. London punches well above our weight when it comes to health research,” adds Dr. Hill.

“Our position as a leading research institute is the foundation for brilliant research and worldwide partnerships tackling the most pressing challenges in health care.” 

What does this mean for London, Ontario? 

There are millions of dollars every year coming in London from elsewhere in Canada and in the world. Approximately 60 per cent of that is spent on jobs. Lawson employs over 2,000 people in hospital-based research. This is a major source of quality employment for Londoners and people in the surrounding region. Dr. Hill notes that this is one of the real benefits of having a strong biomedical industry associated with the city. 

“Another real benefit of having research directly in the hospitals is that our researchers focus on gaining knowledge that advances our ability to treat patients and find solutions to wicked problems that have been around for a long time.” 

For example, Lawson researchers have been tackling the issue of homelessness from within hospital walls. The No Fixed Address (NFA) strategy reaches and supports patients during the crucial transitional period when they are being discharged from the hospital and re-integrated into the community. Learn more about this successful research initiative. 

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How are we adapting to the current funding environment? 

While federal funding for research in Canada is slowly starting to increase, this sector experienced over a decade of decreasing funding that placed the country far behind other nations in terms of investing in health research. 

“We have become better at what we do in competing for grants and other funding sources, in particular from the government,” explains Dr. Hill. 

Also, “Lawson has been diversifying our sources of funding. We’ve have engaged in more partnerships with industry and joint research and development projects with companies. Not only does that have the advantage of providing additional resources, but also is often a more practical way of directly delivering our knowledge into salable products”

Strong partnerships 

This year, Re$earch Infosource is showcasing “Building Bridges: Pathways to Building Research Capacity and Discovery through Collaboration.” Health researchers in London have collaborations across many sectors that result in big impacts for the people in this region and beyond. 

As just one example, a group of scientists from Lawson, Brescia University College and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University provide academic support to London’s Fermented Foods Project that brings together industry partners, the agricultural sector, academic and health institutions, the City of London and the London Economic Development Corporation. 

The goals of this group, funded by the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative, are to support new product development and batch production, enhance customer confidence, quantify health benefits and establish a competitive advantage. 

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