Podcast appearances and mentions of Hamilton Health Sciences

In this inaugural episode of DocTalks, we introduce a brand-new branch of Podagogies dedicated to exploring the world of medical education. Co-hosts Curtis Maloley and Chelsea Jones welcome the new DocTalks co-host, Dr. Heather McNeil, Interim Assistant Dean of Faculty Development at the TMU School of Medicine. To kick things off, we're joined by Dr. Teresa Chan, an educational leader, researcher, and the founding Dean of the School of Medicine. Together, we dive into the evolving role of medical educators, the importance of mentorship, and how technology—from podcasts to AI tutors—is transforming how future healthcare professionals are trained. Dr. Teresa M. Chan is the Founding Dean of the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Medicine as well as TMU's Vice-President, Medical Affairs. Previously, she served as Associate Dean, Continuing Professional Development and an Associate Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. She was also a Clinician Scientist with McMaster Education, Research, Innovation and Theory (MERIT), and has been a practicing emergency physician with Hamilton Health Sciences since 2013. Follow DocTalks on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/doctalks-presented-by-podagogies/doctalks-episode-1 Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/8tr26wey

In this episode, we discuss the Regional Cancer Plan 6 for Hamilton, Haldimand, Niagara, and Brant with Neil Johnson, Vice President of Oncology at Hamilton Health Sciences and Regional Vice President of Ontario Health (CCO); and Jennifer Smyth, Director of Regional Cancer Programs and Hematology at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre, Hamilton Health Sciences. Together with our host, Dr. Bill Evans, they talk about the importance of planning and execution in care, connecting patients and providers with peer-to-peer support, and thinking outside the box when it comes to delivery of care.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program—an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

Send us a textSummaryHamilton Health Sciences in Ontario is a success story in sustainability in the healthcare sector. They have reduced their emissions by 49% since 2016 and have implemented various waste reduction programs. They have also digitized patient records, resulting in a 200 metric ton reduction in paper use. The hospital has faced challenges in allocating resources and evaluating the effectiveness of programs. Collaboration with stakeholders and fostering engagement and interest in sustainability initiatives have been key to their success. The advice from the conversation is to invest in knowledge and literacy, do your part no matter how small, and prioritize quality over quantity.TakeawaysHamilton Health Sciences has reduced their emissions by 49% since 2016 and implemented various waste reduction programs.They have digitized patient records, resulting in a 200 metric ton reduction in paper use.Collaboration with stakeholders and fostering engagement and interest in sustainability initiatives have been key to their success.Investing in knowledge and literacy, doing your part no matter how small, and prioritizing quality over quantity are important in sustainability efforts.Thanks for listening! If you like our podcasts, please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts from. Want to be a guest on The Circular Future podcast? Email Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com Listen on: https://quantumlifecycle.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn | Facebook

On the latest Community of Innovation podcast episode, hosts Dr. Allison Sekuler, President & Chief Scientist of CABHI and the Baycrest Academy of Research and Education, and Rosanne Aleong, Executive Director, Research, Innovation and Translation at CABHI and the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, explore the benefits of exercise for optimal brain health. GERAS Dance, a CABHI-supported Spark project, is an evidence-based, recreational and rehabilitation program that provides older persons with opportunities to improve mobility, engage with their peers, and stimulate their minds through accessible dance exercises. Our guests, Dr. Alexandra Papaioannou, a Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at McMaster University, a Geriatric Medicine Specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences, and Executive Director of the Geras Centre for Aging Research and co-creator of GERAS Dance, and Kiran Gupta, founder of the Hindu Samaj Wellness Club and peer instructor for GERAS Dance, highlights the importance of functional exercise for brain health and dementia prevention.

This episode of Defy Dementia explores the role of genetics in dementia risk. First, caregiver advocate Marva Smart shares how she is taking steps to manage her genetic risk and protect her brain health in light of prior dementia diagnoses in her family. Then, Dr. Tricia Woo, a clinician expert on genetic dementia risk from Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, discusses the research on the link between specific genes and dementia. She also shares science-backed ways to reduce your risk, no matter your DNA. Tune in to this empowering new episode for practical strategies to help you protect your brain, no matter your genes. Note: Shortly after we recorded this episode, a scientific article was published in the journal Nature Medicine (Fortea et al., 2024) strengthening the potential link between individuals' genetics and Alzheimer's disease. However, these new results do not change the recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes presented in this episode on how to reduce your dementia risk. Additional resources  Your risk of dementia: Do lifestyle and genetics matter? – from Harvard Health Genes and dementia – from Alzheimer's UKAlzheimer's Disease Genetics Fact Sheet – from the National Institute on Aging 

We're joined by Dr. Chris Hillis, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Hematologist, and Chief of Oncology at Hamilton Health Sciences. In this engaging discussion, Dr. Hillis explores the role of our immune system, blood cells, and diagnosis and treatment options for those living with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Podcast and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and the guests of the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Podcast is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assistance Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Podcast. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Podcast or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.  

Join us today while we sit down with Victoria Chambers and Angela Djuric-Paulin from Hamilton Health Sciences for this important discussion.You may be thinking that all care must be patient centred, but there are some other avenues of care that may be overlooked in favour of direct treatment. These can include symptom management, psychological and social supports, and family support.Victoria and Angela discuss these topics with us to champion this 360 degree approach to healthcare.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.cancerassistpodcast.ca

Series 8 | Episode 2: Infectious Diseases in the NICU – Congenital CMV  GUEST:Jeffrey Pernica, MSc, MD, FRCPC, DTMHHead of the Division of Infectious Disease,Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ONBiography: Dr. Jeffrey Pernica is the Head of the Division of Infectious Disease and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University. His clinical interests, aside from infectious disease in general, include tropical medicine (he is a member of the Canadian Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel), immunization (he is the director of the Special Immunization Clinic at McMaster Children's Hospital), and congenital CMV (he is the regional lead for the Ontario CMV newborn screening program). His research interests relate to the optimization of the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory infections, enteric infections, and sepsis, both for children living in resource-rich as well as resource-limited settings. He has long been involved in global child health and global health research, having worked on retrospective cohort studies, prospective cohort studies, and randomized trials in Botswana and other low- and middle-income countries. He was the recipient of a Hamilton Health Sciences Early Career Award and an IDWeek 2020 Investigator Award. He has received research funding as PI from Hamilton Health Sciences, the Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation, the Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization Innovation Fund, and Grand Challenges Canada. This podcast is sponsored by Sanofi

In this episode of Security Heroes, host Lisa Falzone is joined by Todd Milne, Director of Security Services and Emergency Disaster Management at Hamilton Health Sciences and recent recipient of the IAHSS Presidential Award for his direct impact on the healthcare security profession. Together they discuss the evolving healthcare security industry, highlighting the differences between Canada and the USA, as well as the importance of communication and empathy for security professionals.

Today we speak with Dr. Dustin Costescu, Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at McMaster University, and an Obstetrician-Gynaecologist at Hamilton Health Sciences.In this informative episode, we shed light on the crucial topic of cervical screening for cancer, a life-saving preventive measure. Join us as we delve into the importance of regular screenings, the science behind the procedure, and the impact it has on early detection and treatment of cervical cancer. From debunking myths to empowering listeners with vital knowledge, this episode aims to raise awareness and promote proactive healthcare practices for all.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

Join us today while we speak with Dr. Deepak Dath, president of Hamilton Health Sciences' Medical Staff Association, and hepatobiliary surgeon.Tiger country refers to the area of the body that contains the liver, pancreas, and bile ducts, and is an area of special interest in the discussion surrounding cancer. Dr. Dath gives us his expert rundown of this area of surgery, and provides insight about developments and practices in this field. The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

Darryl Leong is a Scientist at PHRI, Director of the McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences Cardio-Oncology Program, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine (Cardiology), McMaster University, and Staff Cardiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. He has methodological expertise in clinical epidemiology and clinical trials, and content expertise in physical frailty, echocardiography, and cardio-oncology. 

 For the full show notes of this episode visit website https://treesmendus.comVerla's new book Optimize Your Heart Rate: BalanceYour Mind and Body With Green Space. Verla's previous book Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic IllnessDr. Tselios is an Assistant Professor of Medicine with the Division of Rheumatology at McMaster University since 2021. He completed his basic training and PhD in Greece and came to Canada in 2014 where he worked as a post-doc fellow with the University of Toronto Lupus Clinic. His main clinical and research interest is the field of autoimmunity and systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly the cardiovascular complications of the disease. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is currently developing the McMaster Lupus Clinic and Lupus Ontario/Anne Matheson Lupus Biobank in Hamilton.Time Stamps in minutes of our conversation:2:00 I started looking after lupus patients in 2008 in Greece, and was offered an opportunity to do a PhD in lupus to become the medical director the lupus clinic ...and there, I fell in love with lupus patients and the process of the lupus disease. 4:21 My published research caught the attention of the Toronto Lupus Clinic run by  doctors Touma   and  Gladman who were collecting data on lupus patients since 1971. This clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital at the University Health Network is one of the largest lupus clinic in the world, was a great environment for me to gain expertise in lupus. I worked there since  2014 and it was a great experience. I stayed there for 6  years. 5:00 I stayed there for 6  years as a post doc. Then I was hired at McMaster University in the Division of Rheumatology at Hamilton Health Sciences. My main goal is to develop a new Lupus Clinic for south western Ontario and this Biobank, if we want to talk about it further is about collecting samples for further lupus research. 6:00 Heart involvement and lupus: In the past lupus has been so agressive that it leads to often leads to death. But most people do significantly better now. So our patients will survive but the arteries can stiffen as the years go by (atherosclerosis) and as we get older.8:00  Lupus patients are 50% more likely to have a heart attack than people without lupus. 8:22 I started investigating this in my research with the Toronto Lupus Clinic cohort. As you dig deeper into research sometimes you find things that you would never expect. 8:60 The heart conduction system is about the heart pumping blood to every part ofFor peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to my website https://treesmendus.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space

Temperatures are dropping across Canada, leaving many homeless people to grapple with a difficult decision: risk injuries by starting a fire to stay warm — or get frostbite. Guest host Mark Kelley talks to Nicole Mucci, spokesperson for the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver; and Sarah Rehou, senior research co-ordinator at the burn unit at Hamilton Health Sciences.

Today we have a conversation with Riley Crotta, Manager of regional health programs with Hamilton Health Sciences.The doctor's office is usually the place that most people think of when they have discussions around cancer screening and prevention, but what happens when there are barriers such as transportation, housing, or mental health? How about newcomers or those that don't have a family doctor and don't know the importance of these screens?Riley Crotta's team have been providing this mobile cancer screening service to many patients across Niagara and Hamilton, in an effort to help more people keep up to date on their cancer screenings.Learn about Riley's efforts in this fascinating episode.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

In this episode the boys talk with Paul McIntyre Royston, CEO of the Grand River Hospital Foundation about the need for authenticity as a leader in both what you say and do and in and the importance of preparation when handling difficult workplace conversations. Paul brings a cause profit mentality to the Grand River Hospital Foundation focused on building an incredible staff team to support and create world-class healthcare for Waterloo Region. Paul believes you can build and create 'profit' for a cause you're passionate about, directing your energies into building what you believe for a higher purpose. Paul engages with you and all facets of your non-profit to build the fundraising, marketing and organization skills to re-position for dynamic growth and opportunity. He has worked with more than 100 organizations and spoken with over 25,000 people across Canada, the United States, and Europe since 2001 including Canadian Olympic Foundation, Calgary Public Library Foundation and Hamilton Health Sciences.—We hope you enjoy the podcast. Remember to subscribe via Apple podcasts or Spotify, share the link with your friends and colleagues and you can always reach out to as at the following email address info@ineedtof-ingtalktoyou.com.—Ready for the next step in your difficult conversations? You can buy the book on Amazon now.I Need To F***ing Talk To You! | The Art of Navigating Difficult Workplace Conversations - Amazon | Owl's Nest Books| Shelf Life Bookshttps://www.ineedtof-ingtalktoyou.com/

Dr. Iqbal Jaffer is currently a staff cardiac surgeon and the program director of the cardiac surgery residency program at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. During his undergraduate education, he switched from life sciences to religious studies at McMaster University. He went to medical school in Australia, but then decided to return to Canada for residency. Dr. Jaffer took a break from residency to complete a PhD in Medical Science. He completed residency in 2019 and began his role as a staff surgeon. Earlier in 2022, he became an Assistant Professor of Medicine and the program director of cardiac residency at McMaster.

Accidental opioid poisonings have been on the rise in Hamilton, and they can happen to anyone taking an opioid – both prescription and non-prescription. From January 1 to August 9, 2022, Hamilton Paramedic Services (HPS) responded to 447 incidents related to suspected opioid overdoses. August 31 is Overdose Awareness Day and a timely reason to shed light on the need to take proactive steps to tackle the mounting accidental opioid poisonings in the Hamilton community. Harsit Patel, a Clinical Pharmacist at Hamilton Health Sciences, chatted with Alex about this and what needs to be done to make things better.

In this episode we discuss a recent paper published in The Canadian Journal of Cardiology entitled Canadian Cardiovascular Society 2022 Guidelines for Peripheral Arterial Disease and co-authored by a national team of Canadian expertsWe are joined today by the two of the authors, Dr Sonia Anand and Dr. Eric KaplovitchDr. Sonia Anand is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, and a Vascular Medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences. She holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethnic Diversity and Cardiovascular Disease (Tier 1) and is the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/Michael G DeGroote Chair in Population Health Research. Dr. Anand is a senior scientist at the Population Health Research Institute, and Director of the Chanchlani Research Centre, McMaster University. Her research focuses on the environmental and genetic determinants of vascular disease in populations of varying ancestral origin, women and cardiovascular disease, and peripheral artery disease. Dr. Anand graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from McMaster University in 1992. She completed internal medicine training at McMaster University and a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, in 1996. Dr. Anand completed a thrombosis fellowship in 1997-98 under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Ginsberg at McMaster University, and Vascular Medicine Fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Mark Creager at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, USA in 2000-01. Dr. Anand received her Master's degree in clinical epidemiology in 1996 and PhD. in Health Research Methodology in 2002 under the supervision of Dr. Salim Yusuf, both at McMaster University. Dr. Anand was Principal Investigator of the WAVE trial in peripheral artery disease (PAD) patients, is the PAD Lead Investigator of the COMPASS trial, and is an executive committee member of the VOYAGER PAD trial. Dr. Anand's large-scale research programs include multi-centre prospective cohort studies and randomized trials. She has published more than 400 peer-reviewed, high-impact papers. In 2019 Dr. Anand was inducted as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2021-22 Dr. Anand Co-chaired the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Peripheral Artery Disease Guidelines.ANDDr. Eric Kaplovitch completed his Internal Medicine training at the University of Toronto before completing additional Vascular Medicine and Thrombosis training at both McMaster University and the University of Toronto, as well as a subsequent fellowship at the HoPingKong Centre of Excellence with a focus on new models of care for patients with arterial and venous disease states. He currently practices Thrombosis and Vascular Medicine at the University Health Network and the Sinai Health System in Toronto and serves as the Quality and Safety Lead for the Blood Disorders program. Dr. Kaplovitch's current academic interests include optimizing the choice and intensity of vascular protective agents following severe vascular events, the organization of vascular care within local and regional health systems, as well as the teaching of vascular medicine and thrombosis to front-line clinicians. He served as co-lead for the antithrombotics section of the recent CCS guidelines on peripheral arterial disease. Follow us on Twitter: Thrombosis Canada: @thrombosiscanDr Sonia Anand: @DrSoniaAnand1Dr Eric Kaplovitch: @kaplovitchSupport the showhttps://thrombosiscanada.caTake a look at our healthcare professional and patient resources, videos and publications on thrombosis from the expert members of Thrombosis Canada

NeoChats - Series 6 | Episode 4: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion – Dr. Andrea FrolicAndrea Frolic, PhDDirector, Program for Ethics and Care Ecologies (PEaCE)Hamilton Health Sciences, MUMC SiteAssistant Professor, Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences McMaster UniversityHamilton, ONPodcast Description: A reflective, personal conversation with Dr. Frolic about the role of mindfulness and self-compassion to develop resilience to sustain clinical practice in high-stress/high-trauma environments like the NICU. Biography: Andrea is the Director of the Program for Ethics and Care Ecologies (PEaCE) at Hamilton Health Sciences, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rice University in Houston, Texas, including a fellowship in Clinical Ethics at MD Anderson Cancer Center. As an ethicist, Andrea's expertise includes: ethics consultation; end of life care; ethics program design; whole person care, and organizational system design to support clinician resilience in healthcare.Andrea has led a collaborative venture with the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster to develop and evaluate mindfulness-based, evidence informed curricula for healthcare professionals to enhance resilience in clinical practice and teaching. This podcast is sponsored by Pampers Professional 

Neil Johnson takes a break from his busy schedule as the newly appointed Vice President of Oncology for Hamilton Health Sciences.Today, Neil tells us about his first few months in this new position. We talk about the changes that we've seen in cancer care during COVID, and how he is moving forward now to help bring care to those who need it. We discuss caregiver support, plans for the future, and how the field of oncology has changed.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Happy Friday! Today Scott is excited to get out of the house and enjoy some local events. Tomorrow the Barton Street Festival returns and Scott asks Julie Freeman, Barton Village Festival Organizer, what to expect. After all exponential growth of housing prices in the last few years, with the surge of bidding wars on the promise of a record low interest rate, now we see a problem in the road; with interest rates rising, are new homeowners going to face the consequences? Michael Taube joins Scott to give an update on the Conservative leadership race, as party membership rates soar. Eric Alper comes on to talk Stranger Things getting Kate Bush back on the charts. Catherine Ross, law professor, gives her take and a summary of the first public hearing of the January 6th committee. Is Canada -- and the West -- losing interest in the war in Ukraine? What could this lost momentum possibly do? Andrew Rasiulis of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute speaks to Scott on that. It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast. Guests: Reed Duthie, Play-by-Play announcer, Hamilton Bulldogs. Eric Alper, Publicist and Music Commentator. Julie Freeman, Barton Village Festival Organizer. Leslie Gauthier, Vice President, Clinical Support Services and Surgery at Hamilton Health Sciences. Catherine J. Ross, Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, George Washington University. Frank Clayton, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research and Land Development (CUR), Toronto Metropolitan University Michael Taube is a columnist for Troy Media and Loonie Politics, contributor to the National Post and Washington Times, and was a speechwriter to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper Andrew Rasiulis, Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Scott Radley. Host of The Scott Radley Show, Columnist with the Hamilton Spectator. Host - Scott Thompson Content Producer – Elizabeth Russell Technical/Podcast Producer - William Webber Podcast Co-Producer – Ben Straughan News Anchors – Diana Weeks, David Woodard Want to keep up with what happened in Hamilton Today? Subscribe to the podcast! https://omny.fm/shows/scott-thompson-show See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Episode 39 of our MacEmerg podcast. In this episode: 1)We receive an update from Dr. Alim Pardhan about the EPIC journey he is taking with the Hamilton Health Sciences crew. 2) Resident Corner features Dr. Katie Hayes talking about the CCFP-EM program here at McMaster.

This is Episode 4 of CLOT Conversations from Thrombosis Canada. In this episode Dr Jameel Abdulrehman and David Airdrie are joined by Dr Vinai Bhagirath and Dr Sam Schulman, two of the authors of a recently published paper entitled Carbamazepine, phenytoin, and oral anticoagulants: Drug-drug interaction and clinical events in a retrospective cohort. The paper was published in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2022;6:e12650. https://doi.org/10.1002/rth2.12650)The authors discuss the results of the retrospective cohort of patients taking carbamazepine or phenytoin with warfarin or DOACs. In particular, they explore whether there is a relationship between anticoagulant levels and thromboembolic events. Dr Schulman and Dr Bhagirath discuss their perspectives on the issues relevant to each type of anticoagulant when used in patients on anti-seizure medications and what their study added to the understanding of drug-drug interactions.Dr Sam Schulman graduated from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden in 1977 and has worked with coagulation disorders since 1984. Research activities have been clinical studies in venous thromboembolism, in hemophilia and bleeding. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the World Federation of Hemophilia, was President for the XXV ISTH Congress, Toronto, 2015, is member of the ISTH Council and Treasurer. In 2017 he received Harold R. Roberts medal of the ISTH SSC. He is Director of the Thrombosis Service at Hamilton General Hospital and professor in Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, and at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The First I.M. Sechenov Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.Dr Vinai Bhagirath, is a Thrombosis physician at Hamilton Health Sciences and Assistant Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. His research interests include bleeding risk with anticoagulants and clinical measurement of DOAC drug levels. His quality improvement interests include optimization of medical therapy in peripheral artery disease and standardization of periprocedural management of antithrombotic medications. His educational activities include Directorship of Thrombosis Fellowship programs at McMaster, and he is co-chair of the upcoming 2022 THSNA Summit and chair of Thrombosis Canada's Continuing Professional Development committee.Thrombosis Canada Tools related to the content:DOAC Drug Interaction tool: https://thrombosiscanada.ca/wp-uploads/uploads/2021/09/DDI-Tool-Final-English.pdfThrombosis Canada Clinical Guides: https://thrombosiscanada.ca/clinicalguides/Follow us on Twitter: Thrombosis Canada: @ThrombosisCan Sam Schulman: @SamSchulman6Reference: Candeloro, M., Eikelboom, J. W., Chan, N., Bhagirath, V., Douketis, J. D., & Schulman, S. (2022). Carbamazepine, phenytoin, and oral anticoagulants: Drug‐drug interaction and clinical events in a retrospective cohort. Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 6(2), e12650.Support the showhttps://thrombosiscanada.caTake a look at our healthcare professional and patient resources, videos and publications on thrombosis from the expert members of Thrombosis Canada

In this episode, Tiffany talks with Dr. Kevin Dong from Hamilton, Canada, and CanadiEM podcast extraordinaire! We reflect on two years of practicing medicine during the COVID pandemic and share our own unique challenges, lessons learned and motivation to continue to work in the department as we enter our third year of the pandemic. Take a listen! Short Bio: Dr. Kevin Dong. Kevin is an Emergency Medicine physician at the Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Canada. He is an assistant clinical professor at McMaster University and he is currently the Director of Continuing Professional Development with the Tri-Divisions of Emergency Medicine. He is a FOAMed enthusiast and is heavily involved in the CanadiEM world.  Twitter: @kevinjdongMD

Libby Znaimer is joined by Martin Firestone, President of Travel Secure Inc., and Beth Potter, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Yesterday, Ottawa announced that it would be ending the requirement for pre-arrival PCR testing for incoming travelers who are fully vaccinated. So, what does this policy shift mean for travelers thinking of coming to Canada and also our tourism industry? Our experts weigh in. ---- IS IT SAFE TO TRAVEL RIGHT NOW?

Please join Guest Host Mercedes Carnethon, author Jason Roberts, and Associate Editor Vlad Zaha as they discuss the article "Epigenetic Age and the Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation." Dr. Carolyn Lam: Welcome to Circulation on the Run, your weekly podcast summary and backstage pass to the journal and its editors. We're your co-host, I'm Dr. Carolyn Lam, Associate Editor from the National Heart Center in Duke National University of Singapore. Dr. Greg Hundley: And I'm Dr. Greg Hundley Associate Editor, Director of the Pauley Heart Center at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia. Well, Carolyn, this week's feature we're going to learn more about the risk of incident atrial fibrillation, but as that pertains to epigenetics. But before we get to that feature, how about we grab a cup of coffee and get started on some of the other articles in the issue. Would you like to go first? Dr. Carolyn Lam: I would love to. And the first paper I want to highlight asks the question, are social economic variables associated with 30 day survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest. And this comes from Dr. Jonsson from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues. They linked data from the Swedish Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation with individual level data on social economic factors. In other words, educational level and disposable income, all from statistics, Sweden. And what they found was that both higher disposable income and higher educational level independently associated with better 30 day survival following out of hospital cardiac arrest. The relationship between disposable income and 30 day survival was more robust for mediating factors compared to educational level. Dr. Greg Hundley: Oh, wow Carolyn. Really interesting in a very, what I would call hot topic these days. So what are the clinical implications of this particular study? Dr. Carolyn Lam: Well, the results really highlight the importance of preventive efforts aimed at patients with lower social economic status. And these preventive actions could include both early recognition and warning signs and for example, CPR and AED training. So very lovely paper there. Dr. Greg Hundley: Absolutely. Very nice Carolyn. Well, my first paper comes to us from Dr. Nan Wang from Columbia University Medical Center. And Carolyn this paper focuses on a common genetic variant called link RS 3184504, and it is associated with increased platelet and neutrophil counts, coronary artery disease, thrombotic stroke, and autoimmune diseases. And so this research group previously has shown that hematopoietic link deficiency synergizes with hyperlipidemia to promote platelet production and activation, neutrophilia, platelet neutrophil aggregates, atherosclerosis and arterial thrombosis, all of those things. So platelet activation and platelet neutrophil interactions have been shown to promote neutrophil extracellular traps or net formations. So nets are formed when neutrophils release their contents leading to the formation web-like structures made of DNA, myeloperoxidase, citrullinated histone and proteases that entrap and kill bacteria. Now, while nets may help to suppress infection, the formation of nets called NETosis in blood vessels can promote atherosclerosis and thrombosis. And so this study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that linked deficiency might promote NETosis leading to formation of unstable atherosclerotic plaques, and arterial thrombosis. Dr. Carolyn Lam: Wow. What a really neat hypothesis and NETosis. I learn new things all the time. So what do they find? Dr. Greg Hundley: Right Carolyn. First of all, hypercholesterolemic mice with hematopoietic link deficiency displayed accelerated arterial thrombosis with nets in thrombi and these changes were reversed by PAD4 deficiency or OxPL antibodies. Second, linked deficient platelet from hyperlipidemic mice expose and release increased OxPL when activated promoting NETosis, when incubated with link deficient neutrophils. Third, an AntiOxPL antibody reduced OxPL levels, NETosis and arterial thrombosis specifically in link deficient mice, and finally Carolyn targeting atherothrombotic risk using OxPL antibodies might be particularly effective in genetically defined populations with reduced link function or increased JAK-STAT signaling. Dr. Carolyn Lam: Wow. Okay. So they proved their hypothesis. Could you sum it up for us, Greg? Dr. Greg Hundley: You bet Carolyn. So this foundational work suggests that perhaps future studies targeting NETosis and OxPL in patients carrying the common link loss of function variant, could reduce atherothrombotic risk. Dr. Carolyn Lam: Wow. Thanks, Greg. My next paper is super interesting in its approach. Listen up. Now the assessment of the relationship between myocardial ATP production and cardiac workload. We know is important for better understand disease development and choice of nutritional or pharmacological treatment strategies. So what Dr. Berndt from Charity University and colleagues did, was they developed a comprehensive physiology based mathematical model of cardiac energy metabolism. And this model is called cardiokine one. And what it does is it recapitulates numerous experimental findings on cardiac metabolism obtained with isolated cardiomyocytes, perfused animal hearts and in vivo studies with humans. The model encompassed all pathways along, which the possible energy delivering substrates like glucose, long chain fatty acids, keto bodies, acetate, branch chain, amino acids are utilized. Dr. Carolyn Lam: They use the proteomic space, the abundance of metabolic enzymes and cardiac tissue to generate individualized metabolic models of cardiac energy metabolism. And so to prove their case, they further applied this approach to the left ventricles of controls in patients with mitral insufficiency and aortic stenosis, and showed that despite overall preserved systolic function, the ATP producing capacity of these left ventricles of patients with valvular dysfunction was generally diminished and correlated positively with mechanical energy demand and cardiac output. Dr. Greg Hundley: So Carolyn really interesting findings. Sort of linking metabolism them with ventricular dysfunction in those with valvular heart disease. So what were the clinical implications here? What's the take home? Dr. Carolyn Lam: Well, this methodology is just awesome, but what they also found I think is a very important physiological principle. And that is, while metabolic capacity have a significant correlation with biomechanical properties like myocardial power and cardiac output, they can also vary considerably between individual patients and therefore help us to understand in future perhaps why some patients develop heart failure over time while others with similar hemodynamic conditions do not. So just interesting. I think it just opens the space to a lot more. Dr. Greg Hundley: Absolutely beautiful summary there Carolyn. Well, in the rest of the mailbag for this issue, we have an exchange of letters between Professors Hu and Trifon on the previously published paper, entitled “Short Term Treatment with Aspirin plus Clopidogrel Compared to Monotherapy of Aspirin May Not Significantly Decrease the Risk of Stroke Recurrence.” Also, there's a Research Letter from Professor Catalucci entitled, “Nano miR-133A Replacement Therapy, Blunts Pressure Overloaded Induced Heart Failure.” And then finally Carolyn, there's an In-Depth article from Professor Aengevaeren entitled, “Exercise-Induced Cardiac Troponin Elevations From Underlying Mechanisms to Clinical Science.” Well Carolyn, how about we get onto that feature discussion and learn more about incident atrial fibrillation and the age of epigenetics. Dr. Carolyn Lam: Let's go. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: Welcome to this episode of Circulation on the Run, where we're going to have a very exciting discussion about a paper on epigenetic age and the risk of incident atrial fibrillation. We're extremely excited to have the lead author here with us, Dr. Jason Roberts from the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario Canada. And I am really excited to host this episode alongside the handling editor. My name is Mercedes Carnethon and I'm the professor and vice chair of Preventive Medicine at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. And I'm pleased to be hosting this with Dr. Vlad Zaha from UT Southwestern Medical School, who was the associate editor who handled the piece. So I'm really excited to jump right into this because I think there's a lot that we can all learn from this. So welcome Jason, and thank you so much, Vlad. Dr. Jason Roberts: Thank you so much for having me, it's a delight to be here. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: So Jason, tell us a little bit about the rationale for this study, what you found and what it means. Dr. Jason Roberts: Absolutely. So as a cardiac arrhythmia specialist, I see a lot of patients with atrial fibrillation. And in 2021, our understanding of its underlying pathophysiology still remains modest. Our treatment strategies for the condition are also somewhat modest, although catheter ablation and antiarrhythmic drugs can potentially be very effective. In the context of these limitations, they're also exacerbated to some extent by the prevalence of atrial fibrillation, increasing dramatically in developed countries. Part of this is related to the obesity epidemic. Things like hypertension increasing becoming more common, but because atrial fibrillation is age dependent and because of our aging populations in developed countries, this is felt to have a major contribution to the growing prevalence of atrial fibrillation. Unlike obesity and hypertension and other risk factors, which are potentially modifiable, chronological aging is viewed as non-modifiable. It's not something that we can tackle. That said, we know within the population and just from personal experience that people age at different rates. There are some people that are 65 who behave more like they're 50, other people that are 50 who behave more like they're 65. Dr. Jason Roberts: And in that context, biological aging, we wondered whether or not, does biological aging independent of chronological aging potentially impacts the risk of atrial fibrillation. If that was the case, because there are gradually accumulating to suggest that biological aging is potentially modifiable, that could potentially open up the possibility of tackling aging as a respective for atrial fibrillation. So that drove us to ask this question. In terms of what we found in the approach that we used. So we used our biological marker of aging, was something called an epigenetic clock. So it's been found that modifications to DNA, specifically methylation at CpG at dinucleotides, they correlate with aging. This has been appreciated for a few decades. It was initially felt that with aging, methylation levels gradually reduced over time. But with more careful interrogation, it's shown that there's patterns. Some methylation areas increase, other methylation areas there's decreases. Dr. Jason Roberts: And Steve Horvath, who is a scientist at UCLA has found that using mathematical algorithms, you're able to very accurately ascertain chronological age based on the patterns of DNA methylation, he's called these things epigenetic o'clock. That said, even though they very accurately ascertain chronological age, they aren't perfect in each individual in terms of matching up to their chronological age, but that's actually turned out to be a good thing. So when people, their epigenetic age is older than their chronological age, they're said to have positive epigenetic age acceleration. They may be biologically older than their actual chronological age. And then the reverse also holds. So using this concept of epigenetic age acceleration, we ask whether or not do people that are older biologically on the basis of their epigenetic age, do they have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation? And then we tackle that using a few different core works that I'm certainly happy to elaborate on in terms of what we found. Dr. Jason Roberts: So we used three population based cohorts from the United States, the well known Framingham Heart Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study and Eric as well. There were approximately just under 6,000 people from those studies that had undergone genome wide methylation analysis that in the enabled us to calculate their epigenetic ages. The follow period for these people was just under 13 years. And then we look to see whether or not these epigenetic clocks associated with instant atrial fibrillation. In these cohorts, we look at five different clocks. So there's the Horvath Clock and the Hannum clock that were designed to predict chronological aging. The more recent clocks, things like DNAm PhenoAge and DNAm GrimAge are more designed to predict aspects of clinical phenotype and also mortality. We found that in unadjusted analyses, all of these clocks were associated with atrial fibrillation. When we then adjusted for multiple different clinical variables, we found that the DNAm PhenoAge clock and the DNAm GrimAge clock continued to exhibit statistically significant associations with atrial fibrillation. Dr. Jason Roberts: Interestingly, the multi-variable adjustment, one concern is, do these clinical factors, are they confounders where we should be adjusting, or are they potentially mediators. If we adjust for mediators that potentially masks the effect of the clock. But regardless of how we treat them both DNAm PhenoAge and DNAm GrimAge, we're associated with increased risks of incident atrial fibrillation. Alluding to the possibility that biological aging independent of chronological aging is important in terms of determining risk for atrial fibrillation. And it may be that if we're able to modify biological aging, we could potentially reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation. So that's the study in a nutshell. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: No, that is really exciting. You said something early on about chronological age being immutable. And I would have to say, both Vlad and I are not aging. And in fact, we are going in the opposite direction. If only this were not just an audio podcast, you would see that I steadily gotten younger and younger and I'm suddenly about 25 now. But no, these are really important findings. I really like the innovation of using multiple different strategies to characterize epigenetic age and genetic aging. So tell me Vlad, I want to turn to you. When this came across your desk, what excited you about this particular piece and why did you think that it would be of great interest to our readership? Dr. Vlad Zaha: Good morning Merci and Jason. This is a great question. And as in associate editor at Circulation for the bridging discipline section, it was fascinating to see this topic coming on my desk, thinking about all the genome wide association studies in nature of fibrillation and predisposition to atrial fibrillation, that in that case would not be changed by interventions because of different loci that would be determined. This was coming as a completely new perspective that was opening some new potentials. And it was very interesting to see some of the findings. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: Certainly. So Jason, I have a question. So what surprised you about the findings of this particular study? Jason Roberts: Yeah, that's a great question. So we had hoped that biological aging would be associated with atrial fibrillation. I think the concept of being able to tackle biological aging is exciting. In terms of what surprised us, I guess we were hoping for these results, I guess. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: Yeah. Dr. Jason Roberts: But we were…Yeah. So I guess we were pleasantly surprised that our hypothesis was born out. It's important to note that the epigenetic clocks don't tell the full story with chronological aging. So after we insert the clock into the model, chronological age continues to remain associated with instant atrial fibrillation. So this measure biological aging is just part of the story. So I think that's very important. I had wondered whether or not inserting the epigenetic clocks would that potentially eliminate the subsequent association of chronological aging. So that finding suggests it's part of the story. Dr. Jason Roberts: I think that in terms of the overall concept, the idea of this being reversible really excites me. In terms of the approach of how to reverse biological aging. Right now healthy lifestyle seems to be very important. I think it provides more evidence to suggest to patients with atrial fibrillation, living healthy from a diet perspective, from exercise, keeping your weight under control, all of these things that seem to impact epigenetic aging and biological aging can be helpful for preventing atrial fibrillation. So I think that can help reinforce this message to our patients. Dr. Jason Roberts: I think ultimately in terms of where we'll be at in 15 to 20 years, it's possible that new therapies in the future are developed that are able to more powerfully address biological aging. As you alluded to, will it be possible to reverse biological aging as you and Vlad are experiencing that? Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: Most definitely. Yes. Dr. Jason Roberts: I think it may be possible. This is an intense area of investigation that's being pursued and it's still in its relative infancy. But I think that could it be small molecules? Could it be potentially gene editing that can help adjust biological aging and not only increase lifespan, but also health span? I think those concepts are really exciting. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: I completely agree. There's a lot of richness in this paper and I think our readership is going to really enjoy digging in. Part of the richness is the use of three different cohorts and the use of multiple measures of epigenetic age. And I think you provided a really nice description of the unique information that each of these markers of epigenetic age provide. One thing I note are differences in the strength of association across the different measures of epigenetic age, which I think makes sense, because you said they characterize different aspects of the phenomenon, but I also see what looks like some variability across the cohorts with Framingham in particular seeming to stand out. And that being the only cohort that is 100% one race. It's white. Versus both the cardiovascular health study and the Eric study, which have more diverse study populations. I'm wondering what your hypothesis is about the differential strength of association that it seems Framingham is demonstrating and what you think is possibly the source of those differences. Dr. Jason Roberts: Yeah. I think those are great questions for all of genetics. The question is, does it apply to all races? For example, polygenic risk scores. It seems like when a polygenic risk scores develop for one race, it may not perfectly translate over to other races. So how relevant is that for epigenetic age acceleration. In this study, I think it's difficult to make definitive conclusions about it. We needed the three cohorts to have adequate statistical power in terms of being able to determine a differential effect of race. I think it would really be primarily hypothesis generating. We weren't really powered to look at the different races. So it's difficult for me to comment. Dr. Jason Roberts: I think ultimately and I want to believe anyways, that epigenetic age acceleration is relevant to all races, but in terms of, was it race that drove the differential impacts that we saw to some extent in terms of the magnitude of the hazard ratios, it's difficult to know in terms of tests for interaction and were these actually truly statistically different. We weren't adequately powered to address that hypothesis. So it's difficult for me to comment in a definitive matter I'd say. And sorry to cop out on… Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: No, not at all. I mean, I think there are a lot of things where there is no firm answer and that was just one of my hypotheses when I saw what was going on differently across the cohorts. I think that's a perfectly reasonable answer that sets us on a course for thinking about how we set up future studies. So I wanted to turn to you Vlad for the closing frame around this. As the editor, how do you hope that our readership will use these findings? Dr. Vlad Zaha: That is an excellent question. I was going to follow on this excellent unpacking of the core messages of the manuscript by Jason here to get his perspective as an electrophysiologist into what these type of work may represent for the everyday life of an electrophysiologist in the connecting with the patients and how would this type of approach influence, and maybe now, maybe later when our treatment for atrial fibrillation. Dr. Jason Roberts: Yeah. So that's a great question. I think, as I alluded to some extent before, as far as reinforcing healthy lifestyle, I think this provides more evidence in that respect. So we know that things like excessive alcohol consumption, being excessively obese, poor diets, not engaging in enough exercise, all of those things seem to accelerate your epigenetic age. And those are all things that we think or feel that are important with atrial fibrillation in terms of driving the path of physiology and people progressing. So I think this gives more data to us to reinforce the patients that in addition to the treatments that we're offering in terms of catheter ablation and antiarrhythmic drugs, the concern is that the substrate can continue you to progress. And that's likely driven by to some extent these modifiable risk factors. So keeping all of these under best control as possible, and hence trying to slow your biological aging as much as possible. Dr. Jason Roberts: I think that this will provide us more motivation to push these messages to our patients. A lot of patients can sometimes be like, "Let's just get on with a catheter ablation and I want to get on with my life…" but it really I think, provides more data to suggest that modifying these very important risk factors that can lead to accelerated biological agents, is very important. And in terms of the future as mentioned, so chronological aging, as people get older, people view it as, "Well, there's nothing I can do, and I'm just going to get gradually more and more unhealthy." I think, and this is somewhat futuristic, but to what extent can we slow biological aging? Can we potentially reverse it in the future? There's certainly lots of very compelling and interesting animal work and people are starting to delve into this in a big way. Dr. Jason Roberts: And not only to increase lifespan, will we some day live until we're 200. Who knows? But the concept of prolonging your health span as well. So the number of healthy years that you have before your body starts to gradually give way, I guess to some extent. Hopefully in the future will have therapies that will help keep us healthy. And if we do that increased health span, I think this data suggests that atrial fibrillation will be one thing that benefits from this. So hopefully in the future, maybe in terms of curbing the AFib pandemic, being able to address biological aging will help push things in the right direction. Dr. Mercedes Carnethon: Well, thank you so much Jason. And thank you so much Vlad for your thoughtful questions. I really like that the final bottom line leans towards my area as an epidemiologist, which is maintaining and promoting healthy lifestyles as a way to hopefully help prevent some of the difficulties of atrial fibrillation and its long-term outcomes. Really pleased to have you on this episode of Circulation on the Run, Jason, and thank you again Vlad, and I hope everyone enjoys this episode of the journal and has an opportunity to really dig into this piece. This is Mercedes Carnethon from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, saying thanks for listening today. Dr. Greg Hundley: This program is copyright of the American Heart Association 2021. The opinions expressed by speakers in this podcast are their own and not necessarily those of the editors or of the American heart association for more visit ahajournals.org.

Today we're talking with Bruce Squires, President of McMaster Children's Hospital and Vice President, Women's and Children's Health at Hamilton Health Sciences. In this episode, we talk to Bruce about preventable harm and his approach to turning the corner on patient safety. Bruce says it's important to be explicit when talking about harm, sharing a realistic picture with clinical leads and teams. Like many leaders, Bruce is focused on health human resources. He speaks to the need to build immersive learning environments, where staff have the tools and support from leaders to identify opportunities and act on them. Bruce also speaks to the impact of COVID-19 on children and youth, describing it as disruptive and tragic. The measures imposed to keep our kids safe affected their physical, mental, and emotional health – effects that are most concerning for vulnerable children and youth. But Bruce is ultimately optimistic. In looking to the next chapter of children's health, he believes the dialogue should be driven by the voices of children, youth and families – they are our future. Quotables “If you're going to focus on safety as a healthcare priority, you have to name it and you truly have to prioritize that. You need to make it the core mandate.” – BS “I think wherever I've seen kind of breakthrough performance, it's where the organization has made that explicit commitment to improving safety performance… to driving to zero harm.” – BS “There's lots of things that you can do outside… but if you don't have at its core a frontline situation, a day-to-day at the worksite sense of an element of control over your own work, and an opportunity to improve, then it's not going to be healthy and it's not going to support learning.” “These kids and their importance in recovery needs to be prioritized.” – BS Mentioned in this Episode: McMaster Children's Hospital Hamilton Health Sciences Children's Healthcare Canada Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Canadian Medical Association Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) Ontario College of Family Physicians Mount Allison University   Access More Interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com/podcast Follow us on Twitter, and listen on iTunes. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

Hamilton Today with Scott Thompson Today Scott gets the inside intel on a couple of announcements out of Queen's Park not least of which is to do with the new QR code vaccination "passport." How easy is it to use? What does it do? Can you get one without a phone? Scott has that and more. Remember the CanSino vaccine agreement? How we didn't get the vaccine from China that we partially paid for? Shouldn't shock you that there was something nefarious going on behind the scenes. Did COVID create a baby boom or a baby bust? The US border is opening up to Canadians on November 8th, and Scott spoke with a few experts on what that entails and what it might look like. It's al coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast! Guests: Sabrina Nanji, Founder of the Queen's Park Observer Ted Kritsonis, Tech Journalist and TV Personality. Byteddyk.com.  Ian Lee, Associate Professor with the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University Dr. Bryon DeFrance, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hamilton Health Sciences and associate professor at McMaster University Reggie Cecchini, Washington Correspondent for Global News Larry DiIanni. Former Mayor of Hamilton. Diana Weeks, anchor with Global News Radio 900 CHML Ted Michaels, anchor with Global News Radio 900 CHML William Webber, Technical Producer of Hamilton Today on 900 CHML Scott Radley, Host of The Scott Radley Show, Columnist with the Hamilton Spectator Host - Scott Thompson Technical/Podcast Producer - William Webber Content producer - Elizabeth Russel News Anchors - Diana Weeks, Ted Michaels Want to keep up with what happened in Hamilton Today? Subscribe to the podcast! https://omny.fm/shows/scott-thompson-show See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From myths about how antibodies work to the accuracy of PCR, there are many misconceptions about vaccines, testing, and more. MLPAO CEO Michelle Hoad sat down with a panel of experts to discuss in-depth. She spoke with Dr. Zain Chagla, infectious diseases physician at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton; Dr. Rodney Rohde, Professor and Chair for the Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) Program in the College of Health Professions at Texas State University; MLT Candy Rutherford, Technical Specialist Molecular Microbiology at Hamilton Health Sciences; and microbiologist and science educator Jason Tetro; to clear up some of the questions, misinformation, and inaccurate science around COVID-19 vaccines and laboratory testing.

CloudDX (CVE: CDX) CEO Robert Kaul joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the company is team up with Hamilton Health Sciences and St Joseph's Healthcare to help reduce the backlog for elective and non-urgent surgeries that were postponed due to the Pandemic. Kaul telling Proactive, Patients will be sent home from surgery earlier than usual and monitored using Cloud DX Connected Health technology at home. The patients are monitored using the technology backed up by a 14-hour-per-day nursing "command center" which can safely monitor for post-surgical complications.

Cloud DX (CVE: CDX) is teaming up with Hamilton Health Sciences and St Joseph's Healthcare to help reduce the backlog for elective and non-urgent surgeries that were postponed due to the Pandemic. Dr. PJ Devereaux from HHS joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share details of the plan to reduce those surgical wait times. Dr. Devereaux telling Proactive who the plan will work and how patients will be monitored at home following their surgeries using a nursing "command center" which can safely monitor for post-surgical complications.

In this episode, you will hear from our guest, Caryl Registe who is an Organization Development & Effectiveness Consultant and educator.  Her areas of expertise include change management, employee engagement and leadership and team development.  She is currently employed with Hamilton Health Sciences group of hospitals as an internal consultant but has held progressive roles in HR and OD in both the public and private sectors.  Caryl also teaches Human Resources Planning at the George Brown College in Toronto, a perfect fit since she is an avid reader and life-long learner.  Caryl will be sharing with us some strategies that we can use to become more empowered during uncertain times.

A new effect of red ginseng: suppression of lung cancer metastasis KIST Gangneung Institute (South Korea), March 3, 2021 Red ginseng, which has long been used as an ingredient in traditional Korean medicine, has recently drawn increased attention as a functional material for its health-promoting effects. The composition and activities of red ginseng vary depending on the processing method, and this has become an active area of research. Recently, a research team in Korea has entered the spotlight as they discovered that red ginseng has inhibitory effects against lung cancer metastasis. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) reported that a joint study conducted by Dr. Jungyeob Ham from the Natural Product Research Center at the KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products and Dr. Hyeonseok Ko of Seoul Asan Medical Center revealed that two components of red ginseng, Rk1 and Rg5, can significantly suppress lung cancer metastasis. Dr. Ham of KIST developed a new microwave processing method for red ginseng that is based on the same principle as a microwave oven, which when compared to existing processing methods, such as repetitive steaming and drying, increases the concentration of the three main active components, Rg3, Rk1, and Rg5, more than 20 times. The research team previously demonstrated that red ginseng produced by this microwave processing method, which they have called KMxG, is effective against prostate, cervical, and skin cancers, and has protective effects against by drug-induced kidney damage. This technology was transferred to Ponin Bio Co., Ltd. in 2020 for a technology fee of KRW 800 million and is currently being developed for commercialization. Unlike normal cells, which die when separated from their original tissue, cancer cells can spread to other tissues where they invade and grow, in a process called metastasis. TGF-β1, a cytokine protein that functions as a signaling substance in the body, induces lung cancer metastasis and promotes the development of stem cell-like properties in cancer cells. The KIST research team treated lung cancer cells with Rk1 and Rg5, the main components of KMxG red ginseng and showed that both components effectively inhibited various processes related to cancer metastasis induced by TGF-β1. "Although components of red ginseng previously have been shown to kill cancer cells, this study proved that these components of red ginseng have other anti-cancer effects and can inhibit lung cancer metastasis. This provides scientific evidence that may lead to the future development of anti-cancer drugs derived from natural products," remarked Dr. Ham. He added, "Because we can control the active ingredient contents of red ginseng by using microwave processing methods like the one that produced KMxG, it may be possible to develop customized functional materials for various diseases."   Intermittent fasting promotes anti-anxiety effects Federal University of Porto Alegre (Brazil), February 28, 2021 According to news reporting originating from Porto Alegre, Brazil, research stated, “Anxiety disorders are linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and decreased neurotrophic support. Since anxiolytic drugs target mitochondria, non-pharmacological approaches to improve mitochondrial metabolism such as intermittent fasting (IF) may cause parallel behavioral benefits against anxiety disorders.” Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Federal University, “Here, we investigated whether a chronic IF regimen could induce anxiolytic-like effects concomitantly to modulation in mitochondrial bioenergetics and trophic signaling in mice brain. A total of 44 Male C57BL/6 J mice (180 days old) were assigned to two dietary regimens: a normal, ad libitum diet (AL group) and an alternate-day fasting (IF group), where animals underwent 10 cycles of 24 h food restriction followed by 24 h ad libitum access. Animals underwent the open field test, dark/light box and elevated plus maze tasks. Isolated nerve terminals were obtained from mice brain and used for mitochondrial respirometry, hydrogen peroxide production and assessment of membrane potential dynamics, calcium handling and western blotting. We showed that IF significantly alters total daily food intake and food consumption patterns but not body weight. There were no differences in the exploratory and locomotory parameters. Remarkably, animals from IF showed decreased anxiety-like behavior. Mitochondrial metabolic responses in different coupling states and parameters linked with HO production, Ca buffering and electric gradient were not different between groups. Finally, no alterations in molecular indicators of apoptotic death (Bax/Bcl-2 ratio) and neuroplasticity (proBDNF/BDNF and synaptophysin were observed).” According to the news editors, the research concluded: “IF exerts anxiolytic-like effect not associated with modulation in synaptic neuronergetics or expression of neurotrophic proteins. These results highlight a potential benefit of intermittent fasting as a nutritional intervention in anxiety-related disorders.” This research has been peer-reviewed.     Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and less sitting reduce the risk of diabetes in older adults University of Oulu (Finland), February 26, 2021 According to a recent study, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and less sedentary time improve glucose metabolism and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults. Based on the results, it is important to encourage older adults to avoid sedentary time and increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to improve their glucose metabolism. The study is part of the population-based Oulu1945 survey conducted in 2013–2015 by the University of Oulu and Oulu Deaconess Institute's Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Finland. The survey involved a total of 660 Oulu residents born in 1945 and between the ages of 67 and 69, at that time. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured with a wrist-worn accelerometer for a period of two weeks, and the glucose metabolism was examined using an oral glucose tolerance test. The subjects were divided into the following four profiles based on the amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary time: "couch potatoes," "light movers," "sedentary actives" and "actives." "Active" older adults had a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes than older adults in the 'couch potatoes' profile, one in two of whom were found to have a glucose metabolism disorder. The blood glucose and insulin concentrations in the 'active' profile were lower throughout the glucose tolerance test compared to those in the less physically active groups. Older adults in the 'active' profile had a better glucose tolerance and muscle insulin sensitivity than those in the 'couch potatoes' profile, both clear signs of a reduced risk of diabetes. "Previous surveys have suggested a link between older adults' physical activity and glucose metabolism, but the use of the accelerometer in studies involving older adults has been negligible. In this study, we were able to make a distinction between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary time through accelerometry and to then profile the subjects on that basis in different activity profiles. We analyzed the association between the physical activity profile and glucose metabolism, which is a new perspective. By the activity profiles, we can see that, from the point of view of glucose metabolism, physical activity alone is not enough: you should be active and potter about throughout the day," says researcher Miia Länsitie. The risk of glucose metabolism disorders increases significantly in older age, making it essential to find ways to prevent diabetes in older adults. Based on this study, an active lifestyle, including moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and limited sedentary time, also promotes older adults' glucose metabolism and can play a significant role in preventing diabetes in older people. "Older adults with long-term illnesses or functional limitations, who may find it impossible to achieve the recommended level of physical activity, should spend less time sitting down and more pottering about every day to enhance their glucose metabolism," Länsitie says.   The right '5-a-day' mix is 2 fruit and 3 vegetable servings for longer life Harvard Medical School, March 1, 2021  Studies representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide show that eating about five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in which 2 are fruits and 3 are vegetables, is likely the optimal amount for a longer life, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables help reduce risk for numerous chronic health conditions that are leading causes of death, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Yet, only about one in 10 adults eat enough fruits or vegetables, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “While groups like the American Heart Association recommend four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables daily, consumers likely get inconsistent messages about what defines optimal daily intake of fruits and vegetables such as the recommended amount, and which foods to include and avoid,” said lead study author Dong D. Wang, M.D., Sc.D., an epidemiologist, nutritionist and a member of the medical faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Wang and colleagues analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, two studies including more than 100,000 adults who were followed for up to 30 years. Both datasets included detailed dietary information repeatedly collected every two to four years. For this analysis, researchers also pooled data on fruit and vegetable intake and death from 26 studies that included about 1.9 million participants from 29 countries and territories in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Analysis of all studies, with a composite of more than 2 million participants, revealed: Intake of about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily was associated with the lowest risk of death. Eating more than five servings was not associated with additional benefit.  Eating about two servings daily of fruits and three servings daily of vegetables was associated with the greatest longevity. Compared to those who consumed two servings of fruit and vegetables per day, participants who consumed five servings a day of fruits and vegetable had a 13% lower risk of death from all causes; a 12% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke; a 10% lower risk of death from cancer; and a 35% lower risk of death from respiratory disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Not all foods that one might consider to be fruits and vegetables offered the same benefits. For example: Starchy vegetables, such as peas and corn, fruit juices and potatoes were not associated with reduced risk of death from all causes or specific chronic diseases. On the other hand, green leafy vegetables, including spinach, lettuce and kale, and fruit and vegetables rich in beta carotene and vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, berries and carrots, showed benefits. “Our analysis in the two cohorts of U.S. men and women yielded results similar to those from 26 cohorts around the world, which supports the biological plausibility of our findings and suggests these findings can be applied to broader populations,” Wang said. Wang said this study identifies an optimal intake level of fruits and vegetables and supports the evidence-based, succinct public health message of ‘5-a-day,’ meaning people should ideally consume five servings of fruit and vegetable each day. “This amount likely offers the most benefit in terms of prevention of major chronic disease and is a relatively achievable intake for the general public,” he said. “We also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same degree of benefit, even though current dietary recommendations generally treat all types of fruits and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices and potatoes, the same.” A limitation of the research is that it is observational, showing an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of death; it does not confer a direct cause-and-effect relationship. “The American Heart Association recommends filling at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables at each meal,” said Anne Thorndike, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “This research provides strong evidence for the lifelong benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and suggests a goal amount to consume daily for ideal health. Fruits and vegetables are naturally packaged sources of nutrients that can be included in most meals and snacks, and they are essential for keeping our hearts and bodies healthy.”   Mechanisms through which melatonin prevents osteoporosis explore Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (China), February 26, 2021 According to news reporting from Liaoning, People’s Republic of China, research stated, “Melatonin, secreted in a typical diurnal rhythm pattern, has been reported to prevent osteoporosis; however, its role in osteoclastogenesis remains unclear. In the present study, the ability of melatonin to inhibit receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis and the associated mechanism were investigated.” The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from China Medical University, “Raw264.7 cells were cultured with RANKL (100 ng/ml) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF; 30 ng/ml) for 7 days, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining was used to detect osteoclastogenesis following treatment with melatonin. In addition, the effect of melatonin on cathepsin K and microRNA (miR)-882 expression was investigated via western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Melatonin significantly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in Raw264.7 cells. From bioinformatics analysis, it was inferred that nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group D member 1 (NR1D1/Rev-erb alpha) may be a target of miR-882. In vitro, melatonin upregulated Rev-erb alpha expression and downregulated miR-882 expression in the osteoclastogenesis model. Rev-erb alpha overexpression boosted the anti-osteoclastogenesis effects of melatonin, whereas miR-882 partially diminished these effects.” According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The present results indicated that the miR-882/Rev-erb alpha axis may serve a vital role in inhibiting osteoclastogenesis following RANKL and M-CSF treatment, indicating that Rev-erb alpha agonism or miR-882 inhibition may represent mechanisms through which melatonin prevents osteoporosis.” This research has been peer-reviewed.     Rhythm Of Breathing Key To Controlling Fear And Emotional Behavior Northwestern University, March 2, 2021    We live in a fearful world with exposure to a deluge of stressors every day. As much as fear is a result of reacting to the actual or perceived events in our lives, it is also a biological function of the human body, and when equipped with an understanding of how the body manages the emotional system, we can easily outsmart it, tricking ourselves into emotional balance. This perspective is scientifically validated by new research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago Illinois, which discovered how the various rhythmic patterns of breath profoundly impact memory recall and the emotional body, specifically the fear response.   The brain creates electrical impulses which link physical functions to emotional reactions, and the electrical activity of the brain is deeply affected by our breathing patterns. The outcome of this balance is determined by whether or not we are inhaling or exhaling, as well as if we are  breathing through the nose or the mouth, as each variable creates a different electrical response within the brain.   In the Northwestern study, participants were shown images of human expressions, some frightful, while engaging in various patterns of breathing. Researchers observed that people more easily process fear, and more readily recall images, while inhaling through the nose.   One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation. When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system. ~Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study   The amygdala is decisively liked to the processing of emotions, especially those related to fear, while the hippocampus is strongly linked to memory recall, and the breath, which originates with the diaphragm, plays the critical role of regulating their function.   Breathing is modulated at the diaphragm, and it is also the location where many physical symptoms associated with fear and anxiety manifest. ~Brett Wilbanks The differences in brain activity which occur during unique breathing rhythms were recognized by looking at brain activity during the introduction of fearful or surprising human faces, finding distinctively heightened activity during inhaling. Knowing this can be highly advantageous when you realize that your fear reaction is working overtime.     We can potentially use this fact to our advantage. For example if you’re in a dangerous environment with fearful stimuli, our date indicate that you can respond more quickly if you are inhaling through your nose. ~Christina Zelano   Furthermore, this further validates the importance of meditation, which commonly centers of developing control of the breath in order to quiet the mind and normalize physiological function in the body. The long-term results of a dedicated meditation practice include more stable and optimal emotional reactions to the world around us, indicating again that breathing is a critical component of living a fearless life.       Study: Diet high in poor quality carbohydrates increases heart disease and death McMaster University (Ontario), February 28, 2021 A global study of people living on five continents has found a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates leads to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death. The higher risks of a diet high in poor quality carbohydrates, called a high glycemic diet, were similar whether people had previous cardiovascular disease or not. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine today, is the largest of a geographically and dietary diverse population on this issue, as previous studies have chiefly focused on high income Western countries. A total of 137,851 people aged 35 to 70 years old were followed for a median of 9.5 years through the Population Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study run by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. The research team used food questionnaires to measure long term dietary intake of participants and estimate the glycemic index (the ranking of food based on their effect on blood-sugar levels) and glycemic load (the amount of carbohydrates in a food times its glycemic index) of diets. There were 8,780 deaths and 8,252 major cardiovascular events recorded among the participants during the follow-up period. The investigators categorized dietary intake of carbohydrates depending on whether specific types of carbohydrates increased blood sugars more than others (high glycemic index) and compared this index to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease or death. Those people consuming a diet in the highest 20 percent of glycemic index were 50 percent more likely to have a cardiovascular attack, stroke, or death if they had a pre-existing heart condition, or 20 percent more likely to have an event if they did not have a pre-existing condition. These risks were also higher among those people who were obese. "I have been studying the impact of high glycemic diets for many decades, and this study ratifies that the consumption of high amounts of poor quality carbohydrates is an issue worldwide," said first author David Jenkins, professor of nutritional sciences and medicine at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, who is also a scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. "PURE study papers have already indicated that not all carbohydrates foods are the same. Diets high in poor quality carbohydrates are associated with reduced longevity, while diets rich in high quality carbohydrates such as fruit, vegetables and legumes have beneficial effects," he said. PHRI research investigator Mahshid Dehghan added: "This study also makes it clear that among a diverse population, a diet low in both its glycemic index and load has a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death." Most fruits, vegetables, beans, and intact whole grains have a low glycemic index, while white bread, rice, and potatoes have a high glycemic index. "The present data, along with prior publications from the PURE and several other studies, emphasize that consumption of poor quality of carbohydrates are likely to be more adverse than the consumption of most fats in the diet," said Salim Yusuf, senior author of the study. "This calls for a fundamental shift in our thinking of what types of diet are likely to be harmful and what types neutral or beneficial." Yusuf is also the principal investigator of the PURE study, executive director of the PHRI, and a professor of medicine at McMaster.

This episode of the PRS Global Open Keynotes Podcast discusses the wide scope of breast reconstruction. Guests are Sophocles H. Voineskos, Christopher J. Coroneos MD, Achilleas Thoma MD and Ronen Avram MD The PRS Global Open McMaster University Mini-Series on “Breast Reconstruction” contains 3 peer-reviewed articles on the topic and is available to read for free on PRSGlobalOpen.com. Read it here: http://bit.ly/McMasterMiniSeries At the time of recording, all of the guests were affiliated with the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada: Dr. Coroneos is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University. Dr. Thoma is a board-certified plastic surgeon, Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery and associate member of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Dr. Avram is a board-certified plastic surgeon, Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University and Head of the Plastic Surgery Division at Hamilton Health Sciences. Dr. Voineskos is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University. Your host, Dr. Damian Marucci, is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Sydney in Australia. #PRSGlobalOpen #KeynotesPodcast #PlasticSurgery

This episode of the PRS Global Open Keynotes Podcast discusses recent advances in  breast reconstruction. Guests are Sophocles H. Voineskos MD, MSc; Christopher J. Coroneos MD, MSc; Achilleas Thoma MD, MSc;  and Ronen Avram MD, MSc. The PRS Global Open McMaster University Mini-Series on “Breast Reconstruction” contains 3 peer-reviewed articles on the topic and is available to read for free on PRSGlobalOpen.com. Read it here: http://bit.ly/McMastersMiniSeries At the time of recording, all of the guests were affiliated with the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada: Dr. Coroneos is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMasters University. Dr. Thoma is a board-certified plastic surgeon, Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery and associate member of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Dr. Avram is a board-certified plastic surgeon, Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University, and Head of the Plastic Surgery Division at Hamilton Health Sciences. Dr. Voineskos is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at McMaster University. Your host, Dr. Damian Marucci, is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Sydney in Australia. #PRSGlobalOpen #KeynotesPodcast #PlasticSurgery

Op-ed: Get the children back to class: We are writing to strongly support the Ontario government’s plan to reopen elementary schools on Jan. 11 and secondary schools on Jan. 25 for in-person instruction. While the Ontario government decided to temporarily close schools as part of broader social, retail and industrial restrictions to counter COVID-19, extending the school closures beyond the anticipated end dates will lead to unnecessary, and likely irreversible, short-term and long-term damage to our children. As our understanding of COVID-19 has matured over the past year, several facts are better understood and, as a result, our current strategy must differ from our initial expansive pandemic response. First, our children are at low risk of developing significant disease due to COVID-19. The likelihood that a given child will require hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit or mechanical ventilation is lower with COVID-19 than it is after infection with RSV or influenza, which is reassuring for Canadian parents. GUEST:  Dr. Martha Fulford, Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at McMaster Children's Hospital and Hamilton Health Sciences - Why did Ontario COVID-19 rates surge after Christmas? New cellphone mobility data offers some clues. Provincial modelling is set to be released tomorrow. On Saturday, Sources told Global’s Travis Dhranraj the provincial government is considering an 8pm-5am curfew (Same as Quebec) w/ exemptions for essential workers and some others.  Experts now say the holiday period accelerated what was already an alarming trajectory before Christmas. According to mobility data shared exclusively with the Toronto Star, some health units that have seen dramatic increases in post-holiday infection rates also had among the province’s highest rates of movement. GUEST: Dr. Michael Warner, Head of ICU at Michael Garron Hospital - Update on vaccination in Hamilton Beginning Sunday, the COVID-19 vaccination program is going out to residents at long-term care and high-risk retirement homes using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In addition to the existing fixed-site Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton Public Health Services, in conjunction with Primary Care Physicians and Hamilton Paramedic Services will begin a pilot program and pivot the focus onto this priority group.  The mobile clinic will begin at Idlewyld Manor and will expand to include the vaccination of all long-term care home residents and those living in high-risk retirement homes in the city of Hamilton by January 18, 2021, including residents of homes that are currently in outbreak. GUEST: Paul Johnson, Director of Emergency Centre, City of Hamilton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest host Ted Michaels welcomed Dr. Menaka Pai to the show to talk about the concerns about combining blood thinners with a COVID-19 vaccine. Guest: Dr. Menaka Pai, Head of Service, Benign Hematology, Hamilton Health Sciences, and Associate Professor in Hematology & Thromboembolism at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Check out the newest podcast of the Scott Thompson Show for a look at how to maintain good financial, physical and mental health in 2021! Want to keep up with Ted Michaels on The Health & Wellness Show? Visit the show's homepage and subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your favourite shows! https://globalnews.ca/hamilton/program/health-and-wellness-show See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the months since the pandemic hit, many parts of normal life have come to a stop. But while so much has been on hold or locked down to keep people safe and the health-care system functioning, oncologists fear that pause has contributed to another potential crisis. "What we're worried about, of course, is that there may be a tsunami of cancer out there that's going to suddenly show up," said Dr. Keith Stewart, director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.  Cancer specialists are worried about the significant drop in the number of cancer screening, referrals and diagnoses in Canada since the pandemic began in March. It doesn't mean that cancer rates are dropping — experts say it means that cases are being missed and people aren't getting the treatment they need. GUEST: Dr. Ralph Meyer, Vice President, Oncology and Palliative Care with Hamilton Health Sciences, Regional Vice President of Cancer Care Ontario and a Professor in the Department of Oncology at McMaster University See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the increasing numbers we have seen in Ontario and in Hamilton, Rob MacIsaac is warning that the city’s health system is in a very high-stakes situation that could see hospitals being unable to address waitlists and backlogs if something does not change soon.  Guest: Rob MacIsaac, CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he28 Welcome to Episode #28 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture. Our guest is Rob MacIsaac, the president of Hamilton Health Sciences, from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Today, we talk about how he got involved in healthcare leadership (after previously being the mayor of Burlington, Ontario, among other leadership roles. Rob shares reflections on meeting the late Paul O'Neill and what he learned from those interactions. Rob also shares three key takeaways about leadership: everybody has to be valued and respected everyone feels they are a member of a team, contributing to mission everybody needs to have the right tools to do their job We also discuss what it means to be respected in the workplace, what it means to be recognized, and why leaders need to push toward "theoretical limits." We hope you enjoy the episode. We'll be back in two weeks after taking the Thanksgiving week off...

Screening for cancer was delayed due to the pandemic, but is slowly starting to catch up again. However, it is moving slower than it was last year. Guest: Kristi MacKenzie, the Director of the regional cancer program, Hamilton Health Sciences

On Sunday fire destroyed the barn at Ayrporte Farms near Winchester. Ian Porteous says the family lost half their milk herd. Since then the community has come forward with help. We hear from Vanessa Durand and Lee Brien about their efforts; The 'Baroness Von Sketch Show' is about to begin its fifth and final season. We hear from Carolyn Taylor, one of the stars, writers, and executive producers of the show; Anne Duffy is a psychiatrist at Queen's University. She talks about the mental health issues that students can be prone to; Our happiness columnist Jennifer Moss talks about the value of expressing gratitude as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday; Jordan Press discusses the prospects for the federal Green Party following the election of their new leader, Annamie Paul; Dr. Dominik Mertz, medical director of infection prevention and control at Hamilton Health Sciences, discusses the province's new protocols for providing tests for COVID-19; The CBC's Family Feud wants you - and your family. The show's producer Molly Middleton tells about the show - and the kind of contestants they're looking for.

As of today, there are new guidelines for COVID-19 testing in Ontario. Meanwhile, online booking for COVID-19 tests is now an option in the city of Hamilton. Scott spoke with Dr. Tammy Packer to find out how and when to book a test. Guest: Dr. Tammy Packer, Chief of the Departments of Family Medicine with Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph's Healthcare - With the second wave upon us, now might be the right time to download the COVID Alert app. Some people, however, are still concerned about how the app works. With that in mind, Scott welcomed Dr. Michael Geist to the show to explain what the app does, how it does it, and how safe it is to have on your phone. Guest: Dr. Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law and is a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society Download the COVID Alert app is available from the Apple App Store and from the Google Play Store, and it works on iOS and Android. Learn more about it here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html - With new rules for COVID-19 testing in effect, Dr. Ahmad Firas Khalid joined Scott to discuss the current state of COVID-19 in Ontario and how the government and the public is battling the novel coronavirus that causes the disease. Guest: Ahmad Firas Khalid, medical doctor and health policy expert Like what you hear? Subscribe to the Scott Thompson Show wherever you find your favourite shows, and never miss out on another interview – be it the daily podcast or a bonus episode like this!

The Scott Thompson Show Podcast MP Karina Gould, the Minister of International Development, joined Scott to discuss the reactions to the throne speech, as well as whether or not the prorogation of parliament was ultimately necessary. Then Scott spoke with the Deputy House Leader for the Official Opposition, MP Karen Vecchio, to get her input on the speech. Guests: Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, MP for Burlington Karen Vecchio, MP for Elgin—Middlesex—London, Deputy House Leader for the Official Opposition - Was Prime Minister Trudeau's address to the nation a political stunt or did it provide valuable information for the Canadian public? Guest: Michael Taube, Troy Media syndicated, columnist, and Washington Times contributor - As of today, there are new guidelines for COVID-19 testing in Ontario. Meanwhile, online booking for COVID-19 tests is now an option in the city of Hamilton. Scott spoke with Dr. Tammy Packer to find out how and when to book a test. Guest: Dr. Tammy Packer, Chief of the Departments of Family Medicine with Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph's Healthcare

Welcome back to Guest Life Podcast. We have now published a new episode on allplatforms.Today we have the privilege of talking to Jordan McCarter, Co-Founder and Presidentof McCarter Unlimited Inc. Jordan is a young and hungry entrepreneur. Since as earlyas he can remember, Jordan has been making deals. From lemonade at the end ofthe driveway to creating and being a part of building a number of businesses ininsurance, technology, biosciences and real estate. With a unique ability to build andmaintain relationships and mobilize resources towards opportunity, Jordan is, withouta doubt, a connector. With his formal career starting as a licensed insurance broker at18 years old, Jordan enthusiastically explored the insurance industry with his fatherand mentor, George McCarter.Jordan serves his community and fulfils his passion for philanthropy through thenewly established TBD Foundation and by fundraising and volunteering with socialprofit organizations like Hamilton Health Sciences, The Good Shepherd Centres andThe Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice.These are the amazing stories of how Jordan, the love of his life, Fiorella, his familyand his teams have added value to our great city.Name: Jordan McCarterField: Building RelationshipsOrganization: McCarter Unlimited IncJordan McCarter LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2F18XI6Company website: https://www.mccarter.caEmail: jordan@mccarter.caAddress: 201 - 41 King William Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8R 1A2

1.00) Carl has been looking at PCR testing, and explains why it picks up both viable SARS-cov-2, but also fragments of it's RNA - leading to potential over diagnosis. (8.50 ) What did the Living systematic review and accompanying guidelines say about treatment options for covid-19 (14.35) Helen talks to Reed Siemieniuk,  general internist from McMaster University, about creating a living network meta-analysis, to try and synthesis all the evidence on covid-19 (22.48) Helen also talks to Bram Rochwerg, associate professor at McMaster University and consultant intensivist at Hamilton Health Sciences, about turning the outcomes of a meta-analysis into guidelines, and why at the moment they're still calling for more evidence on Remdesivir (30.08) Finally, there are worries about the uncertainty expressed in the living review - and in the way in which we communicate that. Helen goes back to Reed to find out how the review might evolve in the future. (33.50) Covid isn't just an acute disease, there is emerging consensus that it's systemic effects lead to long term problems for some patients - but there's a lot of uncertainty there. (38.40) Carl talks about the IMMDS review and his involvement in it - and what recommendations we'll be covering in future Talk Evidence programmes. Reading list: Drug treatments for covid-19: living systematic review and network meta-analysis -https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2980 Remdesivir for severe covid-19: a clinical practice guideline - https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2924 Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care - https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3026

1.00) Carl has been looking at PCR testing, and explains why it picks up both viable SARS-cov-2, but also fragments of it's RNA - leading to potential over diagnosis. (8.50 ) What did the Living systematic review and accompanying guidelines say about treatment options for covid-19 (14.35) Helen talks to Reed Siemieniuk,  general internist from McMaster University, about creating a living network meta-analysis, to try and synthesis all the evidence on covid-19 (22.48) Helen also talks to Bram Rochwerg, associate professor at McMaster University and consultant intensivist at Hamilton Health Sciences, about turning the outcomes of a meta-analysis into guidelines, and why at the moment they're still calling for more evidence on Remdesivir (30.08) Finally, there are worries about the uncertainty expressed in the living review - and in the way in which we communicate that. Helen goes back to Reed to find out how the review might evolve in the future. (33.50) Covid isn't just an acute disease, there is emerging consensus that it's systemic effects lead to long term problems for some patients - but there's a lot of uncertainty there. (38.40) Carl talks about the IMMDS review and his involvement in it - and what recommendations we'll be covering in future Talk Evidence programmes. Reading list: Drug treatments for covid-19: living systematic review and network meta-analysis -https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2980 Remdesivir for severe covid-19: a clinical practice guideline - https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2924 Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care - https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3026

How has healthcare delivery changed as a result of COVID-19? What is being done at Juravinski Cancer Centre to keep patients and staff safe during this pandemic?Dr. Bill Evans is joined by Debbie Logel Butler Executive Director, Cancer Assistance Program, Dr. Ralph Meyers VP, Oncology & Palliative Care at Hamilton Health Sciences and Regional VP at Cancer Care Ontario, and Kristi MacKenzie, Director, Regional Cancer Program at Juravinski Cancer Centre for a discussion on cancer care during phase 2 of the province's reopening.The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

Rob MacIsaac is a distinguished public servant, business leader and currently the President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences. Since joining HHS, Rob has led the development of a new strategic plan and approach for HHS, focused on enhancing HHS’ role and relationships with the communities it serves. Rob sits down with Louis Frapporti to discuss how his past experiences have contributed to his current role at HHS. From his time as the Mayor of Burlington to President of Mohawk College to Lead Chair at Metrolinx, Rob has led with the ambition to leave every organization a little better than he found it.

Dr Wes Stephen, Executive VP of Clinical Operations and COO with Hamilton Health Sciences, joined Scott to discuss how the city of Hamilton is preparing for the next stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Guest: Dr. Wes Stephen, Executive Vice-President of Clinical Operations and COO with Hamilton Health Sciences Subscribe to the Scott Thompon Show podcast wherever you find your favourite shows, like Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts and Stitcher.

There are still a lot of unknowns out there regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the finer details of it along with what the future could look like for us. Guest: Ahmad Firas Khalid, MD, PhD, MMgmt, MEd, GradCertPHM, faculty member in Human and Social Sciences, a medical doctor and a health policy advisor, Wilfrid Laurier University - Following a press conference from Public Health Ontario about the modelling for what the death toll could look like for Ontario, Scott talks with Ian Lee to help break down what was said and more. Guest: Ian Lee, Sprott School of Business. Carleton University - How serious is the situation involving PPE's at our hospitals. We have a representative of Hamilton Health Sciences joining us to go into this further. How can people help out the front line workers? Will the newly released modelling help with that? Guest: Dr. Sarah Khan, associate medical director of infection prevention and contro​l, Hamilton Health Sciences

Starting at noon today, all Hamilton Health Sciences' hospitals will no longer allow visitors due to COVID-19. However, there will be some exceptions. Scott welcomed Dr. Barry Lumb, physician in chief for HHS, onto the show, to explain the reasoning. Guest: Dr. Barry Lumb, physician in chief, Hamilton Health Sciences

The Scott Thompson Show Podcast Ontario's Minister of Health, Christine Elliot, joined Scott to discuss the province's fight against COVID-19. Guest: Christine Elliot, Minister of Health for Ontario, Deputy Premier of Ontario - Starting at noon today, all Hamilton Health Sciences' hospitals will no longer allow visitors due to COVID-19. However, there will be some exceptions. Scott welcomed Dr. Barry Lumb, physician in chief for HHS, onto the show, to explain the reasoning. Guest: Dr. Barry Lumb, physician in chief, Hamilton Health Sciences - Randall Denley, columnist for the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post, spoke with Scott about education in Ontario in the time of COVID-19. Guest: Randall Denley, columnist for the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post - Beverly Beuermann-King is an expert on stress and wellness. She talked with Scott about the effect of social distancing and self-isolation, people who are still going out for major events and/or vacations, 'quarantine shaming' and more. Guest: Beverly Beuermann-King, stress and wellness expert with WorkSmartLiveSmart.com - Globally, the death toll from COVID-19 has now reached 10,000. How does Canada and U.S. stack up against how the other countries are doing? Guest: Dr. Rodney Rohde, Professor, and Chair of the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at the College of Health Professions at Texas State University - How concerned should we be about internet security during this pandemic? Many of us are now working from home. Could we see a rise in hacking and scams? Guest: Dave Masson, Director of Enterprise Security, Darktrace - How hard is it to clean the COVID-19 off of surfaces? Are there specific products that will work better than others? Guest: David Evans, PhD FCAHS, Professor, Dept. of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of Alberta

Hamilton has received and opened it's assessment and testing centres for battling COVID-19. Guest: Dr. Wes Stephen, EVP clinical operations and COO, Hamilton Health Sciences  - Doug Ford made the announcement this morning that  Ontario is in a state of emergency. What does that entail?  Guest: Genevieve Tellier, Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa - Today is St. Patrick's Day but there won't be flowing of beer at restaurants and bars due to COVID-19. The government called yesterday for restaurants and bars to close to stop the spread. Guest: Michael J Cipollo, runs Hambrgr and Fish, part of Local Restaurants. 416-655-7532 10:45 – Stocks continue to be volatile as COVID-19 continues. How big is that economic impact of the virus? Guest: Marvin Ryder. Business Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University

Welcome to ClerkCast! A podcast for medical students by medical students, focusing on cognitive approaches to common EM presentations. This episode covers how to succeed in the Emergency Department as a medical student with our guest co-host Dr. Teresa Chan, staff EM doc at Hamilton Health Sciences, CanadiEM co-founder, and medical educator extraordinaire We cover: 1. How to structure your differential diagnosis in the ED 2. Eye-balling a patient - edits have been made clarifying the ABCs 3. How to prioritize management in the ED using the RAPID mnemonic 4. How to present a case in the ED 5. Feedback at the end of a shift Enjoy!

Welcome to ClerkCast! A podcast for medical students by medical students, focusing on cognitive approaches to common EM presentations. This episode covers how to succeed in the Emergency Department as a medical student with our guest co-host Dr. Teresa Chan, staff EM doc at Hamilton Health Sciences, CanadiEM co-founder, and medical educator extraordinaire We cover: 1. How to structure your differential diagnosis in the ED 2. Eye-balling a patient - edits have been made clarifying the ABCs 3. How to prioritize management in the ED using the RAPID mnemonic 4. How to present a case in the ED 5. Feedback at the end of a shift Enjoy!

Dr. Anand Swaminath (Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University) describes recent improvements in radiation therapy planning and delivery and the benefits of these developments. Radiotherapy may be used alone, in combination with chemotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. It also plays a role in palliation. Dr. Peter Ellis (Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University) discusses recent advances in systemic therapies including immunotherapy. These advances show promise for improved patient outcomes.  The Cancer Assist Show is hosted by Dr. Bill Evans, MD, FRCP, Past President of the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at HHS. Brought to you by the Cancer Assistance Program – an organization lending support to cancer patients and families of those affected by cancer.---The Cancer Assist Show and its content represent the opinions of Dr. Bill Evans and guests to the podcast. Any views and opinions expressed by Dr. Bill Evans and guests are their own and do not represent those of their places of work. The content of The Cancer Assist Show is provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended as professional medical, legal or any other advice, or as a substitute or replacement for any such advice. The Cancer Assist Program, Dr. Bill Evans and guests make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or validity of any information or content offered or provided by The Cancer Assist Show. For any medical needs or concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional. No part of The Cancer Assist Show or its content is intended to establish a doctor-patient or any other professional relationship. This podcast is owned and produced by the Cancer Assistance Program.

Dr Carolyn Lam:                Welcome to Circulation On The Run, your weekly podcast summary and backstage pass to the journal and its editors. We're your cohosts. I'm Dr Carolyn Lam, associate editor from the National Heart Center and Duke National University of Singapore. Dr Greg Hundley:             And I'm Greg Hundley, associate editor from the Pauley Heart Center at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia. Dr Carolyn Lam:                So Greg, have you ever wondered what is the clinical significance of exercise induced cardiac troponin eye release with regards to mortality and cardiovascular events? Dr Greg Hundley:             Well, being a runner, and you are too, I actually have wondered about that. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Well guess what? I'm not going to tell you the answer because you're going to have to wait for our feature discussion coming right up after we chat about a few wonderful papers in this week's issue. And I want to start. So the first paper I chose really sought to discover new and effective drug treatments for ischemic stroke. And it did this by integrating genetic and proteomic data through Mendelian randomization analysis. Dr Greg Hundley:             So Carolyn, what is Mendelian randomization analysis? Dr Carolyn Lam:                Well, I would have loved to quiz you on that, but since you already asked me, I'll tell you. So Mendelian randomization is a statistical genetics framework that's used to assess causality between an exposure and an outcome. So similar to how randomized controlled trials randomly allocate an intervention to test its causal effect on an outcome. Well, Mendelian randomization represents a sort of natural randomized control trial that leverages the random allocation of exposure influencing genetic alleles.                                                 Now previously, this technique of Mendelian randomization was applied in a hypothesis driven manner to assess causality of selected biomarkers on stroke risk, for example. However, there has been no systematic scan of the human proteome for novel causal mediators of stroke. And beyond drug target prioritization, Mendelian randomization can actually also be applied to predict target mediated side effects to reveal unanticipated adverse effects and opportunities for drug re-purposing. Hence, in the current paper, the authors led by Dr Paré from Hamilton Health Sciences, McMasters University and colleagues, use Mendelian randomization to firstly systematically screen 653 circulating proteins to identify novel mediators of ischemic stroke subtypes.                                                 Secondly, examine the relationship between identified biomarkers and the risk of intracranial bleeding. And thirdly, predict target mediated side effects through phenome wide analysis. They found that among these 653 proteins, seven were causal mediators of ischemic stroke, including two established targets, apolipoprotein allele and coagulation factor 11. As well as two novel mediators of cardioembolic stroke, which were scavenger receptor class A5, or SCARA5, and tumor necrosis factor weak inducer of apoptosis.                                                 They further showed that targeting SCARA5 was predicted to also protect against subarachnoid hemorrhage with no evidence of it for side effects. Some biomarkers mediate at risk of multiple non-stroke disorders. So in summary, integrating genomic, proteomic and phenomic data through Mendelian randomization facilitated discovery of drug targets and their side effects. Their findings provide confirmatory evidence for pursuing clinical trials of coagulation factor 11 and apolipoprotein allele. Furthermore, SCARA5 represents a new therapeutic target. Neat, huh? Dr Greg Hundley:             You bet. Well, my basic paper, Dr Carolyn Lam, focuses on the border zones of infarcts. And it comes to us from Vincent Christoffels from the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. So surviving cells in the post infarction border zone is subjected to intense fluctuations of their microenvironment. We can imagine that. And recently border zone cardiomyocytes have been specifically implicated in cardiac regeneration. Here in this study, the investigators define their unique transcriptional and regulatory properties and comprehensively validated new molecular markers, including NPB or encoding B-type natiriuretic peptide after infarction.                                                 So, in the study, transgenic reporter mice were used to identify the NPB positive border zone after mitochondrial infarction, and transcriptome analysis of remote border and infarct zones, and of purified cardiomyocyte nuclei was performed using some RNA sequencing. Top candidate genes displaying border zone spatial specificity were histologically validated in ischemic human hearts. So like these great papers we have in basic science, there is a fundamental mouse and then human subject validation. Dr Carolyn Lam:                 Nice. A lot of work. So what did they show? Dr Greg Hundley:             So Carolyn, the investigators identified the border zone as a spatially confined region transcriptionally distinct from remote myocardium. The transcriptional response of the border zone was much stronger than that of that remote ventricular wall involving acute downregulation of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid metabolism, calcium handling and sarcomere function, and activation of the stress response program.                                                 Analysis of infarcted human hearts revealed that the transcriptionally discrete border zone is conserved in humans and led to the identification of novel conserved border zone markers including NPBB and a whole list of others. So in conclusion, cardiomyocytes in a discrete zone bordering the infarct switch gene expression programs, this post switch program is conserved between mouse and humans, includes the NPPB expression, which is required to prevent acute heart failure after infarction. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Wow, really interesting. Well, my next paper is also really just novel information, and it's a promising clinically-relevant approach for immune modulation in transplantation medicine. And that is by selectively targeting notch one. Dr Greg Hundley:             Tell us a little bit about notch signaling. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Well, I'm glad you asked me before I asked you again because notch signaling is a highly conserved pathway, pivotal to T cell differentiation and function, rendering it a target of interest in efforts to manipulate T cell mediated immunity. Now this is relevant in transplantation since, despite advances in immunosuppression, long-term outcomes remain suboptimal and is hampered by drug toxicity and immune mediated injury, the leading cause of late graph loss.                                                 So, the development of therapies that promote regulation while suppressing effector immunity is imperative in improving graph survival and minimizing conventional immunosuppression. In today's paper, Dr Riella and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts investigated the pattern of notch one expression and effector and regulatory T cells in both murine and human recipients of a solid organ transplant. They further examine the effect of notch one receptor inhibition in full murine cardiac and lung transplant models as well as in a humanized skin transplant model, and also in T regulatory cells. They found that notch one is a potent novel target to modulate aloe immunity. Blockade of notch one signaling prolongs allograph survival and enhances tolerance in animal transplant models in a regulatory T-cell dependent manner.                                                 So, in summary, these data suggests that notch one signaling pathway is a potentially clinically relevant target to control effector function and promote immune regulation after transplantation. Dr Greg Hundley:             Oh wow. A lot of intense work, and I learned about notch pathways. I am going to switch and talk about a clinical situation that's really emerged over the last five years, particularly in our scientific literature. And that's tricuspid regurgitation. And this paper comes to us from Dr Jeroen Bax from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. So in patients with moderate and severe tricuspid regurgitation, the decision to intervene is often influenced by right ventricular size and function. And right ventricular remodeling in significant secondary TR however been under explored. And so in this study the investigators characterize right ventricular remodeling in patients with significant secondary tricuspid regurgitation, and they investigated its prognostic implications. Dr Carolyn Lam:                 Indeed, very important topic. So please tell us what they found. Dr Greg Hundley:             Okay, so they use transthoracic echo-cardiography, and it was performed in 1,292 patients with significant secondary tricuspid regurgitation with patients having an average or median age of 71 years. Half were men, half were women. They had four patterns of right ventricular remodeling, and they were defined according to the presence of RV dilation with the tricuspid annulus of greater than 40 millimeters and RV systolic dysfunction. So pattern one was normal RV size and normal RV systolic function. Pattern two was a dilated RV with preserved systolic function. Pattern three, normal RV size with systolic dysfunction. Pattern four was a dilated RV and systolic dysfunction.                                                 So the primary end point was all caused mortality and event rates were compared across these four patterns of remodeling. So what did they show, Dr Carolyn Lam? The five-year survival rate was significantly worse in patients presenting with either pattern three or pattern four remodeling compared to pattern one, which was normal. And they were independently associated with poor outcome in multivariable analysis. Thus, in patients with significant secondary tricuspid regurgitation, patients with RV systolic dysfunction have worse clinical outcomes regardless of the presence of the magnitude of RV dilation. So really helps us as we're trying to decide what going to do with that tricuspid valve and modifying the severity of tricuspid regurgitation. Very nice work. Dr Carolyn Lam:                 Yeah. Very interesting. Now let's get to our feature discussion. Dr Greg Hundley:             You bet. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Our feature discussion today is all about cardiac troponin increases after endurance exercise. Is it a new marker of cardiovascular risk? What should we think of it? Is it associated with cardiovascular events? Now I know many of us has thought of this many times and we're going to get some beautiful answers with today's feature paper. I'm so glad to have the corresponding author, Dr Thijs Eijsvogels, from Radboud Medical Center that's in Nijmegen. And I also have our associate editor and editorialist for this paper, Dr Torbjørn Omland from University of Oslo. So welcome gentlemen, and if I could please start. Thijs, I think a good place to start would be for you to tell us about this four-day march of Nijmegen. Tell us about that and how your study builds on that. Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           The Nijmegan four-day marches is actually the largest walking march in the world, so it's hosted every year in July in the Netherlands, and about 45,000 people walk for four consecutive days. And this gave us the opportunity to collect some research data during this great exercise event. What we did over the past couple of years is that we've collected blood samples and participants of this Nijmegan marches. We did a before exercise and also directly after exercise. Within those blood samples we determined the concentration of cardiac troponin eye, which is a marker of mitochondrial damage. And what we subsequently did is that we followed this group of walkers over time and we collected data about diverse events that occurred, and also whether they survived or whether they died over time. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Thijs, it's such a clever setup for a study. Now give us some idea though. We're saying walking for four days; how many kilometers is covered? And when you say before and after your troponin sampling, give us an idea of how many hours of walking that would be. Because I believe you did it only on the first day, right? Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           Yeah, that's correct. So the distance that they must cover is dependent on sex and on age. So for example, if you're a male older than 50 years old, you can walk 30 kilometers per day, but then for four days in a row. But if you are a young individual like me, then you have to cover 50 kilometers per day. So that's a lot more. Typically, they walk about four to five kilometers per hour. So that means that if you walk the shorter distances then you are done within six to seven hours of walking. But if you walk for a longer period of time, then you need 10, 11, and sometimes even 12 hours to complete the distance. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Okay, there you heard it everybody. So we've got a stress test of a mean, I'm reading from your paper, 8.3 hours of walking at almost 70% of maximum heart rate. So that's really cool. Now before you go on further too, tell us a little bit about the population because everybody's wondering, oh no, does this apply to me? Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           So the population participating in this walking event, I would almost say it's about a representation of the general population. So we have very healthy and very trained individuals. So you could say athletes. But we also have people with cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors. And even obese individuals. So it's a very mixed population, and it's not like the typical athlete population that you see at a runner’s event, for example. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Great. That's important. So now with that backdrop, please tell us your main findings. Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           We measured this cardiac troponin and eye concentration, and we determined the number of individuals that were above the clinical threshold, which is the 99 percentile. And then we've compared the event rate. So major at first cardiovascular events and mortality with those walkers who had a cardiac troponin above the 99 percentile and those below it. And then we found that it was way higher in the walkers with the high troponin concentration. So they had an event rate of 27%, whereas the reference group they only had an event rate of 7%. So that was quite a marked difference. Dr Carolyn Lam:                That's huge. So first data of its kind and it's so scary because I think, Torbjørn, as you discussed in your editorial, a lot of us have sort of excused the rises in troponin that we know have been reported at the marathons and all that. So how do you put it all together, Torbjørn? what are your thoughts? Dr Torbjørn Omland:      So I would just like to congratulate Dr Eijsvogels with a very interesting article. And the findings are, as you say, very novel and significantly enhances our understanding of the prognostic implications of exercise induced increase in cardiac troponins. That transient increase in cardiac troponin concentrations may occur in many circumstances, and it's usually considered to reflect acute mitochondrial injury. And thus it has been considered to reflect harmful pathophysiological processes.                                                 But there has to be in one notable exception and that has been the rise in cardiac troponin after endurance exercise, which has commonly been considered a benign phenomenon. But until this study, definitive data relating post exercise troponin concentrations, or the magnitude of the cardiac troponin response following exercise have been lacking. So with Dr Eijsvogels' study we now have clear data showing that these are associated with increased risk. Dr Carolyn Lam:                That's amazing. So thank you for that in context. Thijs, do you agree? I mean that is a beautiful summary, but what is the take home for listeners? What should we be thinking about now first pertaining to our own exercise I suppose, but also then how do we interpret this clinically? Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           I think that Dr Omland made a great point. So for a long period of time we thought that it wasn't a benign phenomenon, that everybody had those increases in cardiac proponents following exercise and also the pattern that was way different from what we see in clinical populations. So we thought, it's just a physiological phenomenon and it doesn't hurt the heart. But clearly our study now shows that there is an association between high post-exercise troponin concentrations and clinical outcomes. So this is an important finding.                                                 And basically there are two hypothesis I guess that could explain those findings. So first of all, it could be that participants with higher troponins have subclinical or underlying disease. And due to this walking exercise, that could be a stress test for the heart. And then those with vulnerable hearts, they demonstrate a greater increase in cardiac troponins. On the other hand, we should also acknowledge the hypothesis that even though it's moderate intensity exercise, it could be some damage to cardiomyocytes. And those individuals with the greatest or the highest troponin concentrations, they could have more cardiomyocyte damage compared to individuals with lower troponin concentrations. And if you then have repetitive exposures to exercise bouts, it could be harmful in the long run as well. Dr Carolyn Lam:                And so, Torbjørn, you discuss this along with several different mechanisms by which troponin could be increased. Do you have anything else to add to that? Dr Torbjørn Omland:      No, I think it's very right what the Dr Eijsvogels point out. So on one hand we can consider this like a stress test. And there are some data suggesting that that could be the main effect, in that those who had the higher baseline troponin in the trifocal study also demonstrated the highest increase. So in one way you could consider this as a long-term exercise test. Of course that makes it less applicable in clinical practice. So because we can't have exercise test that last for so many hours, but I think that should be an impetus to have more standardized tests that could be applied to the clinical practice. Dr Carolyn Lam:                There's also a comment that you made about the kind of troponin tests that we're applying here, that people should understand that we're using the high sensitivity ones, right? Is that correct? Dr Torbjørn Omland:      Actually, it is not the high sensitivity, but it is a contemporary essay, but it had quite good sensitivity even though it is not classified as a high sensitivity test. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Thank you for clarifying that. I know you made a point about that, that we should know what kind of tests we're talking about. The other thing is what are the remaining unanswered questions then? Like you said, we can't do an eight-hour walking test. Should we be measuring troponins now in our exercise stress? Which kinds? What time? No, it's not time yet? What are the next steps? I'd like to hear from both of you, actually. Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           First of all, indeed it's not possible in clinical practice to do an eight-hour tests whatsoever. But I think that it could be interesting to explore that maybe with some small modifications to current stress tests, if we do it maybe on a little bit lower intensity. For example, moderate intensity exercise, but we do it for a fixed amount of time and then collect blood sample to determine a highly sensitive correct proponents., then maybe also the Delta, so the increase in proponents could be predictive sign of underlying disease. Because what you see in studies that have been published so far is that the duration of most stress test is too short to induce any substantial changes in aortic troponin concentrations. So I think if we modified a protocol a little bit, we can see greater increases in cardiac troponins, and that could provide us with more information, of course. Dr Torbjørn Omland:      I completely agree. And I think like all great studies, this study raises many new questions, and of course how we should use this clinically is very important one. And as such Eijsvogels pointed out, standardized tests will be required. And I think how much the Delta information we get from measuring the Delta to just the baseline should be one topic for future studies.                                                 And then of course we know that the cardiac troponin increase is a risk factor. But what we also would like to know is whether the at risk is modifiable in some way. So there are some studies that have suggested that increasing your physical activity over time can actually decrease your sort of chronic cardiac troponin concentration. And it would be interesting to see whether increased physical activity over time will also reduce the increase that you observe after a stress test like in Nijmegan march. Dr Carolyn Lam:                That's such great points. And if I could add too, not to forget that the study population here, would I be right to say the majority are middle aged individuals and they do have cardiovascular risk factors or even prior cardiovascular disease in a sizeable proportion? So to what extent these findings generalized to a really, like the young, athletic, competitive, athletic population? Could you comment on that Thijs? Dr Thijs Eijsvogels:           I think that's a very good point, that we cannot compare this population where the fit population competing in running events or cycling events or triathletes or whatsoever. So I think we definitely need follow up studies that reproduce our findings in different cohorts with different training modalities, with different age categories, and so on. So that's definitely a topic of interest for future studies. Dr Carolyn Lam:                Thank you so much. I mean, you've inspired me on so many levels. You've been listening to Circulation On The Run. Don't forget to tune in again next week. Dr Carolyn Lam:                 This program is copyright American Heart Association 2019.  

Kelly talks to Dr. P.J. Devereaux, senior scientist at the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

Hamilton philanthropists Charles and Margaret Juravinski will create an endowment of more than $100 million to support researchers across Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Charles joins 900 CHML's Bill Kelly to discuss the Juravinski Research Centre.

Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences.   Rob MacIsaac followed his father’s advice to become a professional, but after a couple of years as a lawyer, he realized he was drawn to public service. Without being a subject matter expert in any of the diverse roles he’s had – at Mohawk College, at Metrolinx, as mayor of the City of Burlington – Rob has developed a leadership philosophy built on humble inquiry and bringing people together around a vision. He is now CEO of one of Hamilton’s biggest employers, Hamilton Health Sciences, a city onto itself comprised of 7 hospitals, a cancer centre, an urgent care centre, and over 11,000 employees. For someone who loves change and rushes toward big projects, Hamilton Health Sciences is a perfect fit – the hospital is in the early stages of a massive 20-year transformation plan called Our Healthy Future.      Key Takeaways: [1:02] How Rob stays connected to staff across the organization [1:28] How ‘Teach Rob Your Job’ became a successful technique for meeting frontline workers [5:35] Rob has had to develop a contribution around leadership for every role he’s held [6:30] A key influencer in Rob’s life has been Clay Christensen, author of How will you measure your life? [7:10] The philosophy that has guided Rob’s career [8:45] Why Rob moved from Mohawk College to Hamilton Health Sciences [13:30] How Our Healthy Future is part of a larger strategy for the hospital, focussed on four directions [14:55] How healthcare can benefit from ideas taken from other sectors [16:32] How a series of public consultations helped shape Our Healthy Future [20:29] Why Rob is attracted to big transformation projects [20:41] His principle motivation - we all have a chance to leave our community a little better than the way we found it [21:20] The three responsibilities a chief executive always has to keep in mind [25:43] Why looking at the city of Hamilton today – prosperous and still gritty – makes Rob smile   Mentioned in this Episode: Hamilton Health Sciences Our Healthy Future Mohawk College Metrolinx The City of Burlington The City of Hamilton Clay Christensen The World Business Forum Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Fast and Slow     Listen to more interviews with Healthcare Leaders at HIROC.com Follow us on Twitter, and listen on iTunes and Google Play Music. Email us at Communications@HIROC.com.

Hamilton Health Sciences will be hosting a Facebook Live event this evening to answer parents' questions when it comes to marijuana and their children. Are we truly ready for cannabis legalization?Guest: Dr. Christina Grant, pediatrician at Hamilton Health Sciences, specializes in adolescent health (Photo: Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Alex is joined by CannTrust CEO, Eric Paul, to talk about his companies partnership with two Canadian educational institutions that are trialing medicinal marijuana to help combat chronic pain.

  This week brings around new research from an international study that claims an average sodium intake does not harm your health; NSERC grants 1.65 million for a new biomedical technology program; Prometic Life Sciences elucidates the mechanism of action of their proprietary drug; and Milestone Pharmaceuticals randomises their first patient in their phase 3 clinical trial.   Keep on listening to hear all the juicy details!   +++++  No need to fret when you ask someone to pass you the salt at the dinner table anymore. New research by scientists of the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences as well as researchers from 21 countries suggests sodium intake does not increase health risks except for those who eat more than five grams a day – an equivalent of 2.5 teaspoons.  This large-scale international study expresses for most individuals that this is good news. Any health risk of sodium consumption is virtually eliminated if people improve their diet quality by adding fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, potatoes, and other potassium rich foods.  The study followed 94,000 people, aged 35 to 70, for an average of eight years in communities from 18 countries around the world and found there an associated risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes only where the average intake is greater than five grams of sodium a day.  China is the only country in their study where 80 per cent of communities have a sodium intake of more than five grams a day. In the other countries, most communities had an average sodium consumption of 3 to 5 grams a day.  The World Health Organization recommends consumption of less than two grams of sodium — that’s one teaspoon of salt — a day as a preventative measure against cardiovascular disease, but there is little evidence in terms of improved health outcomes that individuals ever achieve at such a low level.  The American Heart Association recommends even less — 1.5 grams of sodium a day for individuals at risk of heart disease.  Andrew Mente, first author of the study and a PHRI researcher says, “Only in the communities with the most sodium intake — those over five grams a day of sodium – which is mainly in China, did we find a direct link between sodium intake and major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. In communities that consumed less than five grams of sodium a day, the opposite was the case. Sodium consumption was inversely associated with myocardial infarction or heart attacks and total mortality, and no increase in stroke.”  Researchers found that all major cardiovascular problems – including death – decreased in communities and countries where there is an increased consumption of potassium which is found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy foods, potatoes and nuts, and beans.  Martin O’Donnell, co-author of the report, an associate clinical professor of medicine at McMaster says that most previous studies relating sodium intake to heart disease and stroke were based on individual-level information, and that public health strategies should be based on best evidence.   Their findings demonstrate that community-level interventions to reduce sodium intake should target communities with high sodium consumption and should be embedded within approaches to improve overall dietary quality. There is no convincing evidence that people with moderate or average sodium intake need to reduce their sodium intake for prevention of heart disease and stroke.  This study lends a hand to simmer down those creeping thoughts of sodium consumption and health issues. Of course, it is still best to use in moderation; but next time someone asks you to pass the salt, you can now more comfortably allow your worry to subside.  +++++  Medical innovations improve and save lives. It for this reason that Canada invests so heavily into the health and life sciences. But when it comes to health technology, innovative designs like prosthetic limbs or pacemakers must be designed by a special type of engineer – one who solve engineering problems and can identify medical technology needs.    Catherine Burns, professor of systems design engineering and executive director of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, has been awarded a Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program (CREATE) grant to establish a biomedical engineering graduate program that will help produce this type of engineer. The $1.65 million grant awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) will help fund a new program in global biomedical technology research and innovation at Waterloo starting in the fall of 2018, the only one of its kind in Canada.  Burns says that most students come out of biomedical engineering graduate programs as great researchers, but not necessarily with a good understanding of how the industry works. That this program will produce students who know both the research side and the business side of the industry.  To understand the needs of medical technology users, students will get out into the field to work alongside clinicians and patients to better understand real-life scenarios before developing solutions.  Grand River Hospital is one of the partners to the program, as well as Starfish Medical and Synaptive Medical – both of which are very successful Canadian medical device companies.  The curriculum at Waterloo will include clinic and industry internships, commercialization courses, international exchanges, and professional skills workshops. Students will graduate knowing how to work with patients and clinicians with understanding of medical device regulation. They will also have the skills and industry contacts in place to help secure jobs in the biomedical industry or commercialize their own inventions.  Charmaine Dean, the vice president of university research  says that the technical expertise, professional skills, and interdisciplinary experience students gain in this program will produce biomedical engineers capable of transforming the Canadian health technology landscape and is another step in growing Waterloo’s role in the biotechnology and research ecosystem.  There is a proposed initiative for the program at Toronto Western Hospital, where a Critical Care physician manages a large amount of data on brain injuries. The goal would be to integrate the data with data from laboratory and patient records, which will provide new insights into the complex physiological relationships in brain injury patients. Students in the program will work with the physician to acquire an understanding of brain injuries, and then develop a data integration solution.  Each student will be part of a team that includes a research supervisor, a clinician, and the manager of a biomedical engineering company. Before commencing their research, students will need to prove that they’ve spent time with clinicians and patients in settings relevant to their area of research. This will help ensure that the solutions they develop are viable and easier to commercialise.  Overall, this one-of-a-kind program will continue to make Canada an economic powerhouse and punch above its weight in health and life sciences.  +++++  Prometic Life Sciences Inc. announces the publication of a paper that further elucidates the mechanism of action of its lead drug candidate, PBI-4050, on liver fibrosis in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.   The drug’s clinical activity has already been shown to significantly reduce liver and cardiac fibrosis in patients in the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with Alström syndrome.  Dr. Lyne Gagnon, senior author of the paper and Prometic’s vice president of R&D says that studying the mechanism of action of PBI-4050 in liver diseases, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), has clearly demonstrated that PBI-4050 acts through a major signaling AMPK pathway, thus linking metabolism to fibrosis. The data shows the potential therapeutic effects of PBI-4050 in liver fibrosis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.  There are several stages of liver fibrosis, and if left untreated or without changing significant lifestyle choices, may lead to liver cirrhosis.  Pierre Laurin, chief executive officer of Prometic adds that they have seen the benefits of PBI-4050 in reducing liver fibrosis in Alström syndrome patients. With this further validation that the signaling pathway targeted by PBI-4050 is indeed at the core of the genesis of fibrosis in the liver, they are very confident about its potential to address fibrosis-related conditions such as Alström syndrome, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. We look forward to initiating our Phase 3 pivotal clinical trial for PBI-4050 in IPF and expanding the program in Alström syndrome.”  +++++  Milestone Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage cardiovascular company, randomises their first patient in its Phase 3 clinical study of etripamil. Etripamil is a new investigational, rapid-onset, short-acting calcium channel blocker administered intranasally by the patient designed to terminate paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) episodes wherever they occur.  paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is a recurring and sporadic heart arrhythmia caused by abnormalities in the cardiac conduction system. The current standard of care to terminate these episodes is intravenous medication delivered in the emergency department.  The Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, event-driven study is planned to be conducted in more than 50 cardiology centers in the United States and Canada and will enroll up to 500 patients. Following an in-office test dose of etripamil, patients will take home either 70 mg of etripamil or placebo for when a paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia episode occurs. Upon onset of an episode, patients will apply a wireless cardiac monitor to their chest to record their heart rhythm, perform a vagal maneuver, and if symptoms persist, administer study drug.  Bruce Stambler, MD, FHRS, Piedmont Heart Institute says that the design of the NODE-301 study of etripamil will allow them to obtain more clinical evidence of the benefits of this potential treatment for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in an outpatient, real-world setting. paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is an unpredictable disorder and the potential for a fast-acting therapy to resolve the symptoms of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia wherever the episodes occur could significantly reduce the burden this condition puts on patients and the health care system.  The primary endpoint of the study is time to conversion of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia to sinus rhythm after the administration of study drug as confirmed by a central independent adjudication committee. Secondary study endpoints include relief of symptoms commonly associated with an episode of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia such as heart palpitations, chest pain, anxiety, shortness of breath, dizziness, and fainting.  Francis Plat, MD, Milestone’s Chief Medical Officer  says that the initiation of the NODE-301 study is an example of our ongoing commitment to improve the lives of patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Etripamil, if approved by regulatory authorities, could empower patients to take control of this anxiety-producing arrhythmia without being reliant on chronic medications or trips to an acute-care facility for treatment.  The study will enroll patients at least 18 years of age with a documented history of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Patients receiving study treatment in NODE-301 will be eligible to participate in an open-label extension study (NODE-302) where etripamil will be provided for subsequent paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia episodes.  There are well over a million people in the US living with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, resulting in hundreds of thousands of emergency department and doctor’s office visits each year. There are countless other patients who exist and don’t seek care, suffering through their episodes in silence as the current approved treatment options are unpleasant, inconvenient, and/or costly.  Providing a way to self-manage paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia episodes could offer immediate relief for those living with this arrhythmia.  +++++  Well that’s it for this week! If you have a story idea, please feel free to reach out to me at press@promotivemedia.ca and be sure to check out the stories in full at our website biotechnologyfocus.ca. Until next time, from my desk to yours – this is Michelle Currie.

Six partners have joined together to help expand and advance a downtown community hub that will be hosted at the site of Sir John A MacDonald Secondary School. These organizations include the City of Hamilton, Hamilton Community Foundation, Hamilton East Kiwanis, the HWDSB, Hamilton Health Sciences and the YMCA. Guest: Todd White, Board Chair and Ward 5 Trustee with Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. 

Hot Spot Hamilton How does our health care system handle demand in times of crises? How do we ensure that all residents in our city have access to health care?  Guest: Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences.  Guest: Jennifer Vickers-Manzin, Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Healthy Families Division at Public Health. 

Today, an ER Doctor with Hamilton Health Sciences will demonstrate how risingtemperatures in hot cars can be dangerous as part of the “hot car challenge”. Guest: Dr. Anthony Crocco, ER Doctor, Hamilton Health Sciences. Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and is Head and Medical Director for the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Mcmaster. Photo: (Hamilton Health Sciences) 

Rick believes that the Ontario government should institute mandatory driver retesting every 10 years (when you get your updated driver's licence). Is it a good idea? Guest: Dr. Louisa Gembora, independent clinical psychologist specializing in rehab, also appeared as a judge on Canada's Worst Driver Season 4, 5 & 6, Psychological Health and Rehabilitation Services, Today, an ER Doctor with Hamilton Health Sciences will demonstrate how rising temperatures in hot cars can be dangerous as part of the “hot car challenge”. Guest: Dr. Anthony Crocco, ER Doctor, Hamilton Health Sciences. Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and is Head and Medical Director for the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Mcmaster. Athlete Michael Vick made a comment about Colin Kaepernick which he has since walked back on. Vick said that Kaepernick should “lose his hair”. Is losing the hair the thing that will get Kaepernick employed? Or what exactly is going on? Guest: Kelli Masters, Founder of KMM Sports, certified NFL agent, and attorney.

Hamilton Health Sciences has been announced as one of the hospital systems in Ontario that will share in the $9 billion government of Ontario pledge to rebuild and renew hospitals.Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences

The Opioid Crisis in Hamilton: This week on the Bill Kelly Show we will be taking a look at the growing opioid crisis in our country and in particular, what has been happening in Hamilton. What causes people to become addicts? How addictive are opiates, and in particular ones such as fentanyl? Heidi Klett, Addictions Worker, Suntrac, Mission Services of Hamilton Dr. Suneel Upadhye, emergency physician at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Dr. Bill Krizmanich, our chief of ER, Hamilton Health Sciences. Victor Cyr – Chaplain at Mission Services and works out of the downtown shelter on James Street North, Mission Services of Hamilton 

Ten institutions in our city – including Dofasco, Hamilton Health Sciences, and the school boards – have come out in favor of LRT. They say they want to see the BLAST rapid transit network to happen.Keanin Loomis. President & CEO, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

This is EM Cases Journal Jam podcast on a randomized control trial of dilute apple juice vs PediaLyte for mild pediatric gastroenteritis. While IV rehydration is required in cases of severe gastroenteritis (which we rarely see in North America) and oral rehydration with electrolyte maintenance solutions is still the mainstay in treating moderate gastroenteritis, could better-tasting, more cost-effective fluids such as diluted apple juice be just as effective as traditional electrolyte solutions in milder cases? Listen to Dr. Justin Morgenstern (@First10EM) interviewing Dr. Stephen Freedman, the world-renowned pediatric EM researcher who put ondansetron for pediatric gastroenteritis on the map and who was one of our guest experts on our main episode on Pediatric Gastroenteritis, Constipation and Bowel Obstruction, about this practice-changing paper. This is followed by a hilarious rant on the topic from Dr. Anthony Crocco ("Ranthony"), the Division head and medical director of pediatric EM at Hamilton Health Sciences. The post Journal Jam 8 – Dilute Apple Juice for Pediatric Gastroenteritis appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.

A story broke last week about how hospitals in Hamilton are running at maximum capacity. How do we break the cycle of crowded hospitals? Rob MacIsaac. President/ CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences. Hamilton's LRT will have electrically powered trains running on tracks, but how will the city deal with the vast amount of poles needed to support wires that power the trains. ALSO; One city Councillor wishes for the LRT subgroup to be nixed and the project be dealt with by council. John Best. President, The Bay Observer   Tomorrow night, AM900 CHML and Corus affiliates will air US election coverage, hosted by Charles Adler. Charles Adler, Host of The Charles Adler Show on @SIRIUSXM 167, hosting US election coverage that will air on AM900 CHML.

A story broke last week about how hospitals in Hamilton are running at maximum capacity. How do we break the cycle of crowded hospitals? Rob MacIsaac. President/ CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in game 7 of the World Series, which means it could be the perfect time for a switch. At times this year Hamilton has had one single ambulance able to answer emergency calls. How does this happen? Guest - Joanna Frketich The World Series is over so how did it fair on television? Guest - Chris Zelkovich

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Council has released their first "red" warning for the national housing market yesterday. Their report says homebuyers are being priced out of markets and that the problem is spreading out of Toronto and into Hamilton. Hamiltonians are moving out of the city in greater numbers to cities such as Brantford and St. Catharines. Why are housing prices out-pacing wages and how can we cope with the changing landscape?  Conrad Zurini, RE/MAX agent.  Garbage collection has been a contentious issue in Hamilton. The City has been discussing the possibility of going to a system where garbage is collected every other week. Can you live with bi-weekly collection or are you against the potential decrease in your garbage collection service? Guest: Chad Collins. City Councillor, Ward 5, City of Hamilton. 9 As Halloween approaches it's getting darker earlier and limited visibility conditions while driving become more common. Traffic incidents spike this time of year due to these conditions. What can we do about it and how to do you stay safe while driving and as a pedestrian? Pam Foster, Adult Trauma Nurse Clinician, Hamilton Health Sciences

As Halloween approaches it's getting darker earlier and limited visibility conditions while driving become more common. Traffic incidents spike this time of year due to these conditions. What can we do about it and how to do you stay safe while driving and as a pedestrian? Guest: Pam Foster, Adult Trauma Nurse Clinician, Hamilton Health Sciences

Zymeworks, ProMetic Life Sciences, Innovative Targeting Solutions all back in the news again; Saskatchewan researchers make a breakthrough on a devastating pig virus, and healthcare behemoth GE partners with STEMCELL Technologies.We have this and more on this week’s Biotechnology Focus Podcast! Welcome to Biotechnology Focus Podcast. I’m your host Shawn Lawrence. Story 1 We kick things off this week in the prairies, where in less than a year, University of Saskatchewan (U of S) scientists have developed and tested a prototype vaccine that could protect the North American swine industry from a virus that has killed more than eight million pigs and cost more than $400 million in lost income since 2013. The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) hit the U.S. in 2013 and spread to Canada in 2014. It is a coronavirus, a virus group which includes important emerging human diseases such as SARS and MERS. It was first discovered in Europe, and has become increasingly problematic in Asian countries. Occurring only in pigs, PEDV can kill up to 100 per cent of infected piglets. Using its new containment Level 3 facility, the Universtiy of Saskatchewan Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) quickly launched a vaccine development project. The project has resulted in a prototype vaccine that protects 100 per cent of the piglets who have received it, according to  Dr. Volker Gerdts, VIDO-InterVac’s research director. The successful vaccine results have since triggered the interest of several animal health companies including Huvepharma, which has partnered with VIDO-InterVac to develop the technology for commercial production in North America. With the support of the swine industry, the vaccine is now undergoing field testing in Saskatchewan, as well as in Manitoba where it is being used to help protect piglets from a recent PEDV outbreak. VIDO-InterVac director Andrew Potter said such a project wouldn’t be possible without this facility, adding that “This is a perfect example of why InterVac was constructed – it is one of the only facilities available internationally with the capacity to conduct vaccine development and testing on this scale for emerging infectious diseases and It helps Canada remain prepared to quickly respond to outbreaks like this,” he said. The PEDV vaccine development project has been supported by a variety of funders including the Government of Saskatchewan (ADF), Sask Pork, and the Canadian Swine Health Network. Story 2 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Toronto’s Trillium Therapeutics Inc. the go-ahead to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for its lead drug candidate, TTI-621 (SIRPaFc), in solid tumours and mycosis fungoides. Trillium is developing TTI-621 as a novel checkpoint inhibitor of the innate immune system, and the drug is currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1 dose escalation study in patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. Patient enrollment in the Phase 1 trial is anticipated to commence by year end. The trial will be multicenter and open-label, with TTI-621 being delivered to patients with relapsed and refractory, percutaneously-accessible cancers by intratumoral injection that increase in dose and dosing frequency to characterize safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary evidence of antitumour activity. In addition, detailed evaluation of serial, on-treatment tumor biopsies of both injected and non-injected cancer lesions will help characterize tumor microenvironment changes anticipated with CD47 blockade. Story 3 As part of its strategy to leverage and attract investor interest to Québec’s life sciences sector, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ has made a $15 million investment in Genesys Capital’s latest venture fund Genesys Ventures III. The fund itself will used to back companies at the seed-stage, considered by many in the industry the valley of death, to help these companies advance technologies and products for unmet medical needs. Genesys Capital is one of the largest Canadian-based venture capital firms exclusively focused on the life sciences industry. Of note, Knight Therapeutics Inc., a specialized biopharmaceutical company based in Montreal, QC is also committing $1 million to Canadian-based life sciences venture capital fund Genesys Ventures III LP. For Knight the investment is the eighth life sciences equity fund investment Knight has made to date, having committed over $125 million. In terms of the Genesys Ventures III fund, Genesys Capital says it has closed $90 million of its $125 million target for the fund, while Managing director Damian Lamb adds that the firm expects to reach its goal for Genesys Ventures III early next year. Should the fund reach this target, it would be the largest Genesys has raised in its 16-year history. Story 4 Zymeworks is back in the news this week as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its lead product ZW25 as a treatment for certain HER2-expressing cancers. ZW25 is a novel bi-specific antibody, developed using the company’s Azymetric™ platform, to target two different epitopes (bi-paratopic targeting) of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteinThe protein is known to be over-expressed on the surface of many tumour types, including certain breast, gastric, lung, and ovarian cancers. ZW25 will be evaluated in the clinic for safety as well as efficacy in patients with tumours with low to moderate levels of HER2 expression. The company anticipates it will begin a Phase 1 clinical trial for ZW25 in late August of this year. Additionally, last week  the FDA granted Orphan Drug Designation to ZW25 and a second product, ZW33 for the treatment of ovarian cancer. ZW33 is a drug-conjugated version of ZW25 that is currently in development in preparation for an IND filing in early 2017. Orphan designation qualifies Zymeworks for a number of development incentives, including tax credits for clinical testing and marketing exclusivity for a period of seven years if ZW25 and/or ZW33 is approved for this indication. Story 5 The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), Thermo Fisher Scientific and Queen’s University are collaborating on a research study to help bring more targeted diagnosis and treatment to breast cancer patients in the future. The study, led by Dr. John Bartlett, director of OICR’s Transformative Pathology Program, and Dr. Harriet Feilotter, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen’s University, aims to identify mutations and copy number changes found in breast cancer samples and establish whether these abnormalities correlate with on-market drugs, available clinical trials or published studies. OICR-affiliated researchers and collaborators at Queen’s University and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will process the same breast cancer samples to establish whether the results are reproducible at different sites. This study will also characterize more than 400 additional retrospective breast cancer samples supporting ongoing clinical research efforts of Dr. Bartlett’s team at OICR, which strives to improve the clinical management of the disease. Collaborators Drs. Martin Yaffe and Arun Seth at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will provide laboratory space and additional technical support for the study. Dr. Yaffe is also co-leader of OICR’s Smarter Imaging and Imaging Translation Programs. The study will use Thermo Fisher’s Oncomine Comprehensive Assay, a targeted, next-generation sequencing (NGS) research tool that analyzes 143 genes relevant to cancer and which is the NGS assay used for the NCI-MATCH study in the United States. The data generated can be further studied with the Oncomine Knowledgebase Reporter, which is a curated set of published evidence that matches driver genetic variants with relevant information, such as on-market drugs, available clinical trials, or published studies. The findings of the OICR study will be used to assess the technology and could inform subsequent clinical trials. Drs. Feilotter and Bartlett have also engaged six laboratories in Ontario, including at Hamilton Health Sciences, London Health Sciences Centre, Ottawa General Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sudbury Health Science North and University Health Network to look at the robustness and reproducibility of the assay across different cancer samples. This collaboration could extend the findings of this study beyond breast cancer to other common cancers. Story 6 Vancouver’s Innovative Targeting Solutions has teamed up with yet another major life science company, this time striking a research collaboration deal with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen), through Johnson & Johnson Innovation.  The deal will allow Janssen to utilize Innovative Targeting Solutions' proprietary HuTARG™ research platform to discover antibody candidates useful for modulating immune responses in autoimmunity or cancer. The HuTARG™ protein engineering platform is able to engineer both T-cell receptors and fully human antibodies that bind major histocompatibility complex (MHC)/peptide complexes displaying fragments of intracellular proteins of interest.  Essentially, it allows researchers to generate and engineer fully human antibodies. The technology underlying the platform is based upon the natural process of V(D)J recombination, employed by the human immune system to produce a diverse repertoire of antibodies. Details of the collaboration including the specific targets, number of targets, and specific therapeutic indications have not yet been disclosed nor have financial details. In June, ITS announced a research collaboration with Merck, to utilize the HuTARG™ research platform to help identify and develop biologic therapeutic candidates directed towards targets that have historically been a challenge for biologic therapies, and just two weeks ago, ITS also partnered with another Vancouver-based company known for its own string of deals with pharma, Zymeworks. Other disclosed ITS collaborators include Novartis and Amgen. Story 7 A few months ago, Biotechnology Focus spoke with Phil Vanek (of GE Healthcare) and Michael May (of CCRM) about BridGE@CCRM, the centre they co-created at the MaRS West Towere to help accelerate the creation of cellular therapeutic tools. Now GE is taking another step in its mission to bring the right infrastructure to the global cell therapy industry, with another unique partnership here in Canada, signing an exclusive licensing agreement with Vancouver-based STEMCELL Technologies Inc., to develop and commercialize cGMP grade versions of STEMCELL’s T-Cell reagents for the isolation, activation, and culture of T-cells in clinical applications. Both parties say these reagents are critical tools in the development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies intended for administration to patients. The following proprietary reagents from STEMCELL Technologies will be qualified as cGMP-grade materials and licensed by GE Healthcare:  ImmunoCult™ Human CD3/CD28 T-Cell Activator, ImmunoCult™ Human CD3/CD28/CD2 T-Cell Activator, EasySep™ Release Human CD3 Positive Selection Kit and the ImmunoCult™–XF T-Cell Expansion Medium. According to Allen Eaves, president and CEO of STEMCELL Technologies Inc. this partnership with GE will give STI customers the confidence of a path to the clinic with a suite of critical cGMP grade T-cell reagents as well as help the industry evolve and make these promising therapies, such as CAR-T cells and TCR-engineered T cells, a clinical reality. The agreement closely follows GE’s acquisition of Biosafe Group SA, as well as many other investments in the space to make available a turnkey, scalable, flexible manufacturing solution that will enable access to these critical therapies. With that we’ve come to the end of this week’s program. We hope you enjoyed it. A big thanks to our production manager Laskey Hart and the rest of the Biotechnology Focus team. You can find past episodes online at www.biotechnologyfocus.ca and we’re always looking for your feedback, story ideas and suggestions so we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out to us on twitter: @BiotechFocus  or by email biotechnology_focus@promotive.net. For all of us here at Biotechnology Focus, thank you for listening.

Hamilton Health Sciences is going to stop operating at St. Peter's Hospital and McMaster University Medical Centre under the 20 year plan it's made. The plan also calls for Hamilton patients to go to an expanded Grimsby hospital for day surgery. Marvin Ryder. Business Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University billkellyshow

Hamilton Health Sciences is going to stop operating at St. Peter's Hospital and McMaster University Medical Centre under the 20 year plan it's made.  The plan also calls for Hamilton patients to go to an expanded Grimsby hospital for day surgery. Marvin Ryder. Business Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University. The Ontario Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteau wants to see Toronto end its ban on road hockey and let “kids be kids”. Does Hamilton have a ban like this in effect? Is it about time we let “kids be kids”? Sam Merulla. City Councillor, Ward 4, City of Hamilton. More than 60 McMaster University scientists are publically protesting the way Canadian health research funding is distributed. Dr. Peter Rosenbaum, Canada Research Chair in Childhood disability research, Dissemination and Mentoring, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University.

Our first story takes us to Southwestern Ontario, where the government of Ontario and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada have partnered to launch a new commercialization hub in Sarnia-Lambton As part of the partnership, the Government of Ontario says it will invest $3 million over four years through the Business Growth Initiative to help build the Centre of Excellence for the Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovations at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, Canada’s largest clean-tech incubator. The new centre will focus on bridging critical gaps and addressing commercialization challenges facing the industrial biotechnology and manufacturing sectors, including developing expertise, forging commercial partnerships, and accessing risk-capital to help bring discoveries and technologies from the lab to the marketplace. The good news goes further as its expected that 400 high-value jobs will be created at the new site. The region is known for its Biomanufacturing prowess, turning sustainable feedstock — renewable resources such as agricultural and forestry by-products and wastes — into energy, value-added chemicals and materials for use in a variety of everyday products such as plastics, personal care products, automotive parts and food additives. The use of plant-derived chemicals and bio-manufacturing processes can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional petroleum based production methods. One example of a successful company in this space is BioAmber, a sustainable chemical company in Sarnia that produces plant-derived succinic acid and is able to achieve a 100 per cent reduction in GHGs over conventional methods. Similarly, EcoSynthetix, a Burlington-based renewable chemicals company produces paper coatings while cutting GHG emissions by 63 per cent compared to the norm. The funding for the new centre was previously announced as part of this year’s provincial budget. In regulatory news coming out of Quebec, the Government there, through its Ministry of Health has denied Theratechnologies bid to have EGRIFTA®, an injectable prescription medicine to reduce the excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy, added to a list of reimbursed medications. Company CEO and president Luc Tanguay called the decision by the province, which also happens to be the province where EGRIFTA® was discovered, regretful. “The government is sending a message that supporting research is not a priority,” he said via a release adding that it is quite paradoxical that, after supporting the development of EGRIFTA® through tax credits, the Quebec government will not accept to reimburse it.” The decision, made by the Quebec Minister of Health, Gaétan Barrette, was based on a recommendation by the Institut National d’Excellence en Santé et Services Sociaux(INESSS). Theratechnologies submitted to INESSS a comprehensive dossier which included data that led to public and private reimbursement by a large number of governmental agencies and insurers in Canada and in the United States. INESSS concluded that the decrease of visceral adipose tissue in HIV patients does not constitute a therapeutic advantage. Nevertheless, INESSS did recognize the efficacy EGRIFTA® and the quality of its clinical studies. In response, Theratechnologies did say that despite the decision, they will continue to work with the Ministry and INESSS, and that they will submit to INESSS, within the prescribed timelines, a request for a revision of their decision. In Cancer Research News, the Movember Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and Prostate Cancer Canada are providing $3 million in funding for a new Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can replace the current standard of care to diagnose prostate cancer. The trial, called PRECISE, will be led by Dr. Laurence Klotz of the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, a world leader in the field of prostate cancer research and in the global adoption of active surveillance, a standard practice to monitor patients with low risk prostate cancer. The primary objective of the multi-centre trial is to determine whether MRI imaging can spare some men from undergoing a biopsy and avoid the possible associated side effects. Dr. Klotz discusses the PRECISE TRIAL in the following audio... Data management and analysis for the trial will be conducted by the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group (OCOG) in the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute, a Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University institute. Earlier this month, five contenders of the third AmorChem KNOCK OUT™ competition climbed into the ring at a special Lumira-AmorChem hosted event to duke it out against a panel of Heavyweight Champions, or judges for a chance to win a coveted $500,000 financing from AmorChem. All the contenders displayed remarkable courage and agility in the ring, yet only one could stand victorious. In the end, Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, CRCHUM scientific director at the Institut du cancer de Montréal, for her project focused on the development of small molecule inhibitors of the Ran GTPase, was named the champion. The panel of “champion” judges included: Richard Lesniewski, a pharmaceutical industry veteran formerly from Abbott (AbbVie), GlaxoSmithKline and Madison Vaccines; John Gillard, science entrepreneur formerly from Merck Canada, BioChem Pharma and Aegera Therapeutics; John Bell, scientist-entrepreneur from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa; and Lloyd Segal, best known as a serial biotech entrepreneur and investor at Persistence Capital Partners and Trimera Capital. Christopher Hall, a renowned radio and newspaper columnist and comedian, was the master of ceremony. Both Elizabeth Douvile and Ines Holzbaur,, general partners at AmorChem which we’ve highlighted in past podacast shows called the competition a success, achieving its goal of increasing the Quebec and Canadian research communities’ awareness of AmorChem and in reaching out to researchers who may not have been aware of the possibility of commercializing aspects of their work. Among the other competitors were: Dr. John Coles, University of Toronto & Dr. Jason Maynes, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto; Dr. Julie Forman Kay, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto & Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, McGill University; Dr. Réjean Lapointe, Université de Montréal and CRCHUM & Dr. Sophie Lerouge, École de technologie supérieure and CRCHUM; and Dr. Moutih Rafei, Université de Montréal. The Lumira-AmorChem conference also highlighted the respective roles of the two venture capital groups in the financing of the life sciences sector, and included presentations from Lumira Capital portfolio companies and from AmorChem’s first spin-off company, Mperia. Our final stories this week come out of Ottawa where the Government of Canada had two announcements related to supporting Canada’s science community. The first saw Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, launch an independent review of federal funding for fundamental science, to assess the program machinery that is currently in place to support science and scientists in Canada. The scope of the review includes the three granting councils along with certain federally funded organizations such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The review will be led by an independent panel of distinguished research leaders and innovators including Dr. David Naylor, former president of the University of Toronto and chair of the panel. Other panelists include: Dr. Robert Birgeneau, former chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Martha Crago, Vice-President, Research, Dalhousie University, Mike Lazaridis, co-founder, Quantum Valley Investments, Dr. Claudia Malacrida, Associate Vice-President, Research, University of Lethbridge, Dr. Art McDonald, former director of the Sudbury Neutrino Laboratory, Nobel Laureate, Dr. Martha Piper, interim president, University of British Columbia, Dr. Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist, Quebec, Dr. Anne Wilson, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Successful Societies Fellow and professor of psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University The panel will spend the next six months seeking input from the research community and Canadians on how to optimize support for fundamental science in Canada. The panel will also survey international best practices for funding science and examine whether emerging researchers face barriers that prevent them from achieving career goals. In addition to collecting input from the research community, the panel will also invite Canadians to participate in the review through an online consultation. In further Canadian Science Policy news Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, has put forward a new Innovation Agenda . Jointly with Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan, and, Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger, the initiative or Agenda will aim at building an inclusive and innovative Canada focused on six areas for action: including promoting an entrepreneurial and creative society, supporting global science excellence, building world-leading clusters and partnerships, growing companies and accelerating clean growth, competing in a digital world and improving ease of doing business. These six action areas, which form the Innovation Agenda, will be the focus of a summer-longperiod of public engagement that will result in an action plan. Central to this plan will be a call to action to all sectors of society. Minister Bains invited all Canadians to share their ideas on the Agenda, and should watch for the launch of an interactive website that will allow them to offer their suggestions on positioning Canada as a global leader in innovation. In addition, round-table discussions will take place across the country. That wraps up this weeks show, be sure to You can find us online at www.biotechnologyfocus.ca and follow us on twitter @BiotechFocus check out our latest issue on our website!

The Bill Kelly Show LIVE At the Economic Summit IBM is looking at implications on the health sector as technology is developed. What is the future for health care and computers? Guest: Pat Horgan, VP of Manufacturing, Development and Operations at IBM Canada. Guest: Rob MacIssac CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, billkellyshow

In older adults living in long-term care facilities, fractures cause pain, agitation, immobility and transfer to hospital. Based on systematic reviews of the evidence, this guideline provides recommendations to prevent fractures in this vulnerable group. These evidence-based strategies are presented by Dr. Alexandra Papaioannou, Professor of Medicine at McMaster University in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and a Geriatric Medicine Specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences. Full guideline (open access): www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.141331

Murray T. Martin is President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences. Cliff Nordal is President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health Care, London.

Murray T. Martin is President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences. Cliff Nordal is President and CEO, St. Joseph's Health Care, London. Thursday, February 12, 2009 – Vancouver UBC Robson Square