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Discovery should be ‘everyone, everywhere,’ says Lawson Research Institute Scientific Director Lisa Porter.

Lisa Porter believes excellence in health research is a continuum of inquiry, inspiration, innovation and improved patient care.

That’s why she is so energized by the promise and potential of Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) at St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s), where she is Scientific Director and Vice President Research.

“Discovery comes from exploring great questions. You can’t have a ‘eureka’ moment without asking why things work, or don’t work – and that’s what we do so well here at St. Joseph’s,” says Porter.

A distinguished scientist herself with a passion for asking those probing questions, Porter leads strategic planning for research across the organization. Her vision includes growing the rich culture of research in several specialty pillars, while also reinforcing direct links between scientific inquiry and patient health.

“There’s data to show that patients who are treated in research-intensive hospitals live longer. That’s not just patients in clinical trials who benefit; that’s all patients who live longer,” she notes.

Other elements of her vision for Lawson include elevating data sharing and research support, expanding training opportunities for young researchers, growing grant support, strengthening collaboration and partnerships, and building relationships and reputation. 
“I love that excellence is one of the values of St. Joseph’s. Excellence doesn’t mean we have all the answers. It means we’re continuously striving to be better. It means we’re asking questions that can drive better health care – not just for the patients we serve, but for national and global impact, too.”

Porter comes from a family of knowledge-seekers and problem-solvers. Her father repaired electronics and was an avid inventor. Her mother was a self-taught income –tax preparer with meticulous attention to detail. They ignited in her a curiosity that continued through her undergraduate studies in biology and pharmacology, her graduate and postdoctoral work, and her research as a cancer scientist at University of Windsor and founding director of its WE-SPARK Health Research Institute.

Now at Lawson, she wants to encourage, inspire and spotlight the innovative work of researchers, scientists, clinicians and students who are passionate about improving health.

“I want research to be everyone, everywhere,” she says. “We need hospitals, industry, people with lived experience, and policy makers coming into the fray. It can’t be just the researcher, the scientist. It’s about having champions embedded in all walks of life, from first line of care to people who can influence systemic change. It’s a messy piece, but it’s also how we fulfil this bigger mission to help everyone who comes to us for health care.” 

 Cyclotron staff at St. Joseph’s Health Care London have recorded a 10,000-mark milestone in the same understated way they work every day to improve patient care and cutting-edge research.

No balloons, no streamers, no fanfare: Just an efficient note atop a printout as the bombardment number spun past 9,999 in the early hours of Dec. 31.

“It’s taken us 15 years to get to this point and our work continues to grow,” says Michael Kovacs, PhD, Lead of Lawson’s Nordal Cyclotron & PET Radiochemistry Facility and Leader of the Imaging Research Program at Lawson Research Institute, the innovation arm of St. Joseph’s.

“The numbers are great but the real satisfaction is knowing every single bombardment means something important to a patient or a researcher working towards better patient health.”

St. Joseph’s GE PETtrace cyclotron is a particle accelerator that produces radioisotopes for use in positron emission tomography (PET) scans across Southwestern Ontario, from Windsor to Toronto. It is a vital tool for ultra-precise cancer diagnoses and for advanced research into scores of diseases.

In patient care, each “bombardment” – a grouping of radioisotopes that are then lab-processed, tested and made into smaller batches – can be used to aid cancer scans for as many as 25 people.  

“A precise scan can make a dramatic difference, a life-changing difference, in how someone’s cancer is diagnosed and custom-managed,” Kovacs says. “If we think of the PET scanner as the engine of that transformative work, the cyclotron’s radioisotopes are its rocket fuel.”

Isotopes injected into patients are designed to have a short radioactive half-life – between two minutes and 110 minutes – which is another reason St. Joseph’s cyclotron is such an asset for timely care in the region.

“You can’t store or stockpile them. You have to use them almost immediately, so it’s essential to local and area hospital centres to have a ready, reliable source nearby,” Kovacs says.

About half the batched bombardments are used in patients to help with clinical diagnoses that will guide doctors’ treatment decisions.

The other half are used for research trials and pre-clinical research through Lawson, in fields as diverse as oncology, cardiology, neurology, psychiatry, metabolic disease and infectious diseases. In one promising study, for example, they’re being used to image specific brain proteins as researchers explore new disease-modifying treatment pathways for Alzheimer disease.

The next burgeoning field, Kovacs says, is theranostics: the science of diagnosing cancer and precision-attacking it at the same time. “That’s exciting for me, to be able simultaneously to see what we treat and treat what we see.”

About 15 highly specialized staff work at St. Joseph’s cyclotron facility, plus PhD-candidate researchers and other trainees.

Generous donors through St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation have made much of this advanced research and next-level technology a reality. During the past few years, the Foundation granted nearly $800,000 in donor support to fund extensive renovations to the facility, making it possible to increase production of isotopes and expand life-saving care. Recently, $1 million in donations supported a new PET/CT scanner – the heart of Canada’s first national GE centre of excellence in molecular imaging and theranostics being developed at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“We know the cyclotron is a critical tool in our imaging work and we are grateful to those donors who stepped up to help us with renovations that enabled the doubling of our facility’s production capability,” says Michelle Campbell, President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation. “This renovation helps keep St. Joseph’s imaging program at the cutting edge of clinical care.”

The 40-tonne, room-sized cyclotron is more than a machine, and more than the experts who process, test, ship and use the radioisotopes, Kovacs notes.

It’s also testament to the vision of St. Joseph’s long-time chief medical physicist Frank Prato, PhD, and to the support of hospital administrators who saw its need and potential, he adds.

“We are innovators, and our  vision is that we’re going to expand St. Joseph’s imaging expertise on an even larger world stage,” Kovacs says.