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Announced at the 2017 Lawson Impact Awards, Drs. Muriel Brackstone and Gregor Reid were recipients of Lawson’s annual Strategic Research Fund (SRF) competition. Their project, “Re-setting the breast microbiome to lower inflammation and risk of cancer,” will examine whether taking an oral probiotic can reduce inflammation and lower the risk of breast cancer.

One in nine Canadian women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime (Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation). Many cancers are considered to be the result of inflammatory processes. While inflammation has been a focus of research in breast cancer, the role of bacteria has not.

Recently, Drs. Reid and Brackstone were collaborators on a study that was the first to describe the breast microbiome, proving the existence of bacteria in human breast tissue. Led by Dr. Reid and his former PhD student, Dr. Camilla Urbaniak, further research demonstrated that the types of bacteria found in women with breast cancer differ significantly from those found in healthy tissue.

One bacterial species from the cancerous tissue, Escherichia coli (E. coli), is capable of producing low amounts of substances known to cause cancer and induce inflammation, while the bacteria found in healthy tissue, like Lactobacillus, are known to interfere with cancer processes.

“The question is whether we can manipulate this to essentially get rid of more harmful bacteria and replace them with beneficial ones like Lactobacillus,” says Dr. Reid, a Lawson scientist and Director of the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotic Research.

In this new study, Dr. Brackstone and Dr. Reid will join forces to test their theory that taking an oral probiotic lactobacilli will lead to these organisms reaching the breast tissue, displacing harmful bacteria and reducing inflammation.

Drs. Brackstone and Reid will compare bacteria from the breast tissues of women at risk for breast cancer who are taking the probiotic against those at risk who are taking a placebo. They will also compare to the breast tissue of healthy women who are not at risk. The research participants will provide nipple and needle aspirates for their bacteria to be analyzed both at the beginning of the study and after three months of either taking the probiotic or a placebo. The samples will also be tested for inflammatory compounds, levels of heavy metals and pesticides that may influence cancer risk.

“I think this study will shed light into what actually occurs in the milk ducts where most breast cancers originate,” says Dr. Brackstone, a Lawson scientist, surgical oncologist and medical director for the London Breast Care Clinic. “If successful, this project could lead to larger studies and contribute to a new way of approaching breast cancer management.”

Now in its third year, Lawson’s Strategic Research Fund (SRF) supports research projects that will advance science in alignment with Lawson’s strategic research goals, as outlined in Lawson’s 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. This year’s competition once again focused on “inflammation”. Chosen projects received $50,000 over a two-year period.

Learn more about this research project:

Sarah Best, research manager at Lawson Health Research Institute, was a recipient of this year’s Staff Award of Excellence, presented at the 2018 Lawson Impact Awards. The award was created to honour the contributions of dynamic, hardworking staff members who help advance science at Lawson.

Best is a part of the Cognitive Clinical Research Group at St. Joseph’s Heath Care London’s Parkwood Institute. In addition to managing the research group’s staff and trainees, she has a wide range of responsibilities, including developing strategies for recruitment and retention of clinical trial participants, budgeting, assisting with grant applications, and ensuring the team has the appropriate space, hardware and training to complete their research. 

“Sarah has grown a team of skilled, well-trained staff and her leadership has ultimately resulted in an increase in the volume and complexity of trials we can offer for patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Michael Borrie, Lawson researcher and medical director of the Cognitive Clinical Research Group. 

Best is also the budget officer for the Consortium of Canadian Centres for Clinical Cognitive Research and a member of the platform implementation team for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA). The CCNA was formed by more than 350 clinicians and researchers throughout Canada to accelerate progress in age-related neurodegenerative disease research. 

The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) Study is a CCNA study collecting clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI imaging data as well as blood, saliva, and urine samples from participants to learn about who is at risk of developing dementia, to determine how early dementia can be detected and to find out what tests are most effective at detecting dementia. Best has helped facilitate the study start-up and patient recruitment for the more than 30 sites involved in COMPASS-ND, including Parkwood Institute.

“Working in the field of neurodegeneration is really important right now as we see the numbers of individuals that have cognitive impairment growing exponentially. Currently, we only have symptomatic treatments so we’re really looking to find that breakthrough that will lead to a disease-modifying treatment to better serve patients and actually change the course of their disease,” says Best.

She adds, “I’m really honoured to receive this award, especially knowing the previous recipients and the impact that they've had on the London research community.”

A beneficial and cost-effective approach to mental health care that supports people as they go from hospital and back into the community is outlined in a new resource and has been recognized internationally by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

"The immediate period after discharge from hospital, usually the first month, can be one of the most vulnerable times in the life of someone experiencing a mental illness. It can be when they are most at risk of committing suicide,” explains Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Assistant Scientific Director at Lawson Health Research Institute. “However, what we’ve seen is that there’s often a gap between when someone says ‘goodbye’ to the hospital inpatient unit and ‘hello’ to the community care provider.” 

During a virtual book launch, a research team from Lawson and several community organizations discussed details of a new publication from Routledge, From Therapeutic Relationships to Transitional Care: A Theoretical and Practical Roadmap, edited by Dr. Forchuk. The book combines theory, research and best practices into a “roadmap” for organizations and others worldwide coordinating services or studying mental health care systems. It includes a practical toolkit for implementing the Transitional Discharge Model (TDM), developed and tested in communities across Ontario.  

Purchase your copy of the book HERE and enter promo code SMAO3 at checkout for a 20% discount. 

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How Transitional Discharge  works 

TDM was born from a participatory action project with consumers of mental health services. They identified two factors that were most important to them when they were going from hospital to the community: consistency in therapeutic relationships and a supportive peer friendship.  

It became known as a “safety net of relationships” that would bridge the gap between hospital and community services.  

As a person-centred, evidence-based model, transitional discharge supports a smooth adjustment from hospital to community in two main ways:  

• The inpatient staff continue to care for discharged clients until therapeutic relationships are established with community care providers.  
• A friendship model of support with trained peer support workers who have lived experience of mental illness as they have made the same journey.  

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Perspective of a TDM client and peer support coach  

Lance Dingman was a TDM client during the early phases of the project. “It makes a big difference when you’re able to get back to living in the community and in your own dwelling. You get to make more of your own decisions and learn about what you want to do. You grow with your experience and the guidance of others who are there to support you.”  

Later becoming a peer support coach, Dingman feels implementing TDM for mental health care is important because people can learn from each other and get healthier in the process. “As a peer support worker, I sit with people and they tell me their story. It takes me back and I know what they are going through – I was where they are. I can share my own story and tell them what I did to get better.”  

Cost-analysis and savings for the system  

Dr. Forchuk’s team analyzed the cost of TDM after being tested in nine hospitals across Ontario, including London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London.  

• On average, the length of stay in hospital was reduced by almost 10 (9.8) days per admission.  
• Each site saved approximately $3.3 million per year.  

“People can return home sooner because a higher level of care and support is in place when they leave hospital. If all hospitals in Ontario with mental health services were able to implement our transitional discharge model, we would save $60 million per year in hospital stay costs alone while providing enhanced mental health care.”  

International implementation  

In Scotland, the parliament has already declared TDM as a best practice after demonstrating a significant reduction in readmission rates. 

The TDM approach is now considered a “good practice” by WHO and was recently the only Canadian example included in its Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centered and rights-based approaches. This set of publications provides information and support to all stakeholders who wish to develop or transform their mental health system and services to align with international human rights standards including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

According to Dr. Jeremy Burton, we’re in a golden age of microbiome and probiotics research.

“Thanks to advancements in next-generation sequencing, we’re learning more and more every day about the impacts of the microbiome on the human body,” states Dr. Burton. 

Effective September 1, 2020, Dr. Burton has been appointed as Research Chair in Human Microbiome and Probiotics at Lawson Health Research Institute for a five-year term. As part of the Chair’s responsibilities, Dr. Burton will also assume the title of Director for the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics Research, which is located at Lawson. 

Funded by an endowment through St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation, the position is responsible for leading Lawson’s Human Microbiome and Probiotics research program. The specialized research chair was established at St. Joseph’s in 2007 as a result of a significant investment by Danone International, in recognition of groundbreaking microbiome research by Dr. Gregor Reid, the inaugural holder of the Chair. 

With extensive experience in both academia and industry, Dr. Burton is a world-renowned scientist specializing in urinary microbiome research. He points to the diversity of microbiome research at Lawson as a strength to be leveraged.

“Our program is conducting a diverse array of microbiota-related research from probiotic studies to fecal transplants to the investigation of drug-microbiome interactions,” explains Dr. Burton. “There’s a lot of interest in conducting microbiome research as it’s become clear how it affects so many human systems. We are also working with a number of other groups across the city – both clinical and basic sciences – to meet their microbiota-related research needs.”

There are two pillars to Dr. Burton’s vision for microbiome and probiotics research at Lawson. The first is advancing translational research that leads to improved patient outcomes, such as new microbial therapies. The second is improving our understanding of the microbiome by studying its function in real-time.

“In most studies, we collect patient samples, put them in the freezer and then analyze them later. We now want to follow people in real-time to get a better understanding of how the microbiome functions inside the human body,” notes Dr. Burton. “We hope to accomplish this by harnessing technologies already available at Lawson. For example, we’ve been collaborating with the Lawson Imaging program to look at bacteria in real-time using the Institute’s imaging technology.”

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Above: Dr. Jeremy Burton (right) in the lab with Dr. Kait Al (left), Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Burton is known for forging strong interdisciplinary relationships to enhance knowledge translation, especially within the Division of Urology.

“Dr. Burton has established a robust academic laboratory and strategic partnerships that are advancing the Institute’s scientific mandate. He is a natural leader,” says Dr. David Hill, Lawson Scientific Director. “As Research Chair in Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Dr. Burton will further Lawson’s reputation in the field.”

Dr. Burton will build on a 30-year legacy of microbiome research.

“There’s a long history of microbiome research at Lawson and St. Joseph’s,” he says. “We were lucky to have visionaries like Dr. Gregor Reid – my predecessor in this position – who have helped revolutionize the field.”

For Dr. Burton, this is the next step in an illustrious career with Lawson. He first joined the Institute and Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2001 after completing his BSc, MSc and PhD at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

“I had a very productive time as a Fellow, publishing something like 15 manuscripts in two years. It was an amazing experience and a time that I really relished.” 

He was then recruited to industry in 2003 where he developed a strong background in clinical trials and global business development.  

“Working in industry helped shape me into the principal investigator that I am today. But there were so many questions about the microbiome that I wanted to answer and I ultimately found myself back in academia.”

Dr. Burton rejoined Lawson as a Scientist in 2011. Prior to his appointment as Lawson Research Chair in Human Microbiome and Probiotics, he held the title of Deputy Director of the Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics Research since 2011 and Miriam Burnett Chair in Urological Sciences since 2013. He is also an Associate Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Microbiology and Immunology at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. 

“What brought me back to London is the people and the collaborative environment. Researchers cross departmental and divisional borders with ease. As a scientist, I can walk from my lab to a clinic, and clinician-researchers can do the same in reverse. Everyone has a ‘can do’ attitude and they are willing to test big ideas with one another.”

Learn about recent microbiome and probiotics research at Lawson:

• Gut microbiome may influence how cancer patients respond to oral therapies, study suggests
• New urinary microbiome study could be first step in providing personalized care to patients with ureteral stents
• Fecal transplants show promise as treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Café Scientifique: The invisible world inside us
• Using probiotics to protect honey bees against fatal disease
• Could microorganisms in poop help treat the deadliest form of skin cancer?
• Researchers find gut microbiome plays an important role in atherosclerosis
• Probiotics for respiratory tract infections could save Canada nearly $100 million a year

New clinical protocol after general surgery cuts opioid prescribing in half

Recognizing the role that opioid prescribing plays in the national opioid crisis, a team of researchers at Lawson and Western University have developed a new clinical protocol called STOP Narcotics. The protocol includes a combination of patient and health care provider education and an emphasis on non-opioid pain control. The study found that they were able to reduce the overall amount of opioids being prescribed after general surgery by 50 per cent while still adequately treating a patient’s post-operative pain. Read more. 

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Probiotics for respiratory tract infections could save Canada nearly $100 million a year

A recent study suggests the use of probiotics to prevent respiratory tract infections in Canada could result in nearly $100 million per year in savings. There is growing evidence that probiotics can reduce the risk of respiratory tract infections and lower their frequency, as well as reduce the duration of an infection, antibiotic use and absences from work. Replicating a research model used in France, researchers examined the potential clinical and economic impacts in Canada. Read more. 

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Blood test can predict optimal treatment for advanced prostate cancer, study finds

An international collaborative study between Lawson, 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. The study used a liquid biopsy test that examines circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in blood samples from patients with advanced prostate cancer who are deciding whether to switch from hormone-targeting therapy to chemotherapy. Read more. 

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Machine learning could predict medication response in patients with complex mood disorders

Mood disorders like major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder are often complex and hard to diagnose, especially among youth when the illness is just evolving. This can make decisions about medication difficult. In a collaborative study by Lawson, The Mind Research Network and Brainnetome Center, researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that analyzes brain scans to better classify illness in patients with a complex mood disorder and help predict their response to medication. Read more. 

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Lawson researchers receive $4.4 million to study personalized medicine at LHSC

Personalized medicine is the analysis of a patient’s DNA to predict how they will respond to medications. Led by Dr. Richard Kim, scientist at Lawson and clinical pharmacologist at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), researchers at Lawson have received $4.4 million to study an expanded personalized medicine program at LHSC that involves full integration of research into patient care. Read more. 

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Drinking more water does not slow decline of kidney function for patients with kidney disease clinical trial shows

A study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) by researchers at Lawson and Western University found that coaching patients with Chronic Kidney Disease to drink more water does not slow down the decline of their kidney function. Read more. 

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Funding for unique strategy to prevent homelessness after hospital discharge

On September 10, the Ministry of Families, Children and Social Development, announced that Lawson will receive $223,572 from the Homelessness Partnering Strategy’s Innovative Solutions to Homelessness funding stream to support the project “No Fixed Address Version 2 Expansion” research project. This research will further refine the No Fixed Address strategy for reaching and supporting patients during the crucial transitional period when they are being discharged from the hospital and re-integrated into the community. Read more. 

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Synthetic surfactant could ease breathing for patients with lung disease and injury

Human lungs are coated with a substance called surfactant which allows us to breathe easily. When lung surfactant is missing or depleted, which can happen with premature birth or lung injury, breathing becomes difficult. In a collaborative study between Lawson and Stanford University, scientists have developed and tested a new synthetic surfactant that could lead to improved treatments for lung disease and injury. Read more. 

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Research team develops clinically-validated 3D printed stethoscope

A team of researchers have developed an open-source, clinically validated template for a 3D printed stethoscope for use in areas of the world with limited access to medical supplies – places where a stethoscope could mean the difference between life and death. Read more. 

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Family environment influences emotional well-being of children with epilepsy

Children with epilepsy have a higher risk of developing emotional and behavioural disorders, including depression, anxiety and poor self-esteem, yet it has been difficult for researchers to pinpoint why this occurs. Researchers at Children’s Health Research Institute, a Lawson program, have found that family environment influences the relationship between clinical characteristics of epilepsy at diagnosis and children’s emotional well-being two years later. Read more. 

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How the brain is folded provides researchers with an accurate marker to predict psychosis in high-risk patients

By using images of the brain to look at how its outer surface is folded on itself, researchers can predict which high-risk patients will develop psychosis with more than 80 per cent accuracy.  Before now, there has been no way to examine young people before they become ill to reliably identify who will develop acute psychosis and who will not. Read more. 

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High-dose radiation can improve survival in cancer patients once thought incurable

Cancer that spreads from an original tumour to other parts of the body is generally considered incurable. In an international study led by Lawson, researchers challenged this idea by showing that high-dose radiation can improve survival in patients with cancer that has spread to five or less sites. The study called SABR-COMET was the first randomized phase II clinical trial of its kind. Read more. 

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