The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is providing more than $1.3 million in grants to researchers at Lakehead University.
Dr. Alla Reznik
Dr. Alla Reznik is a Physics Professor at Lakehead University and a scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute who is receiving $738,226 to explore a new way to diagnose prostate cancer in men.
"The goal of this research is to improve prostate cancer diagnosis by accurately establishing where in the broad spectrum of this disease a particular tumor lies and to identify its true aggressiveness," said Dr. Reznik, who is the Canada Research Chair in the Physics of Radiation Medical Imaging.
She and her team will achieve this goal over five years by developing a next-generation imaging system based on a combination of prostate-targeted Positron Emission Tomography and transrectal ultrasound imaging.
"Our research will advance the field of prostate cancer detection beyond the current standard of care and will result in an improvement of prostate cancer survival - yielding significant clinical benefits," Dr. Reznik said.
Her co-applicants include researchers from the London Regional Cancer Program, and the University of Western Ontario. Radialis Medical is the partner organization.
Two PhD students and one Master of Science student will assist with this research.
Dr. Anna Kone
Dr. Anna Kone, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, is receiving more than $293,000 to assess and understand the impacts of the pandemic on people from Black and Indigenous communities who have chronic diseases.
She and her team will perform this important research over two years.
"In the midst of the pandemic, there were reductions in service offerings to respond to the crisis," Dr. Kone said.
"Inevitably, this impacted the care of those already having difficulty navigating the system for their ongoing health needs, including patients with cancer, diabetes, dementia, etc.," she said.
Dr. Kone will provide recommendations for policy responses and care approaches, informed by anti-oppressive and intersectional ways, overall and for future emergencies.
She and her team will use a mixed-method approach including a survey and interviews. The study will look at Northwestern Ontario, including rural areas and Indigenous communities, plus Black communities in the Greater Toronto Area.
Dr. Lana Ray, from Lakehead's Department of Indigenous Learning, and Dr. Elaine Wiersma from Lakehead's Department of Health Sciences, are assisting in this study along with researchers from the University of Toronto.
Multiple Indigenous and Black community-based organizations are also involved and partners in the study, including Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe'iyewigamig Health Access Centre (WNHAC), the Women's Health in Women's Hands Community Health Centre, Entité 3, and Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority.
Two first-year Master of Health Sciences students are participating in the research and a recent Master of Public Health graduate is the research coordinator.
Dr. Christopher Mushquash
Dr. Christopher Mushquash, a Psychology Professor at Lakehead University, and his team are receiving a $250,000 grant to develop content-specific and culturally relevant practices that will transform youth mental health services in Indigenous contexts.
Dr. Mushquash is a clinical psychologist. He is a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction, a professor at NOSM University, Vice-President of Research at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), and Chief Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (TBRHRI).
The team will conduct this research over one year on behalf of Access Open Minds, the first pan-Canadian youth mental health network.
Six Indigenous community partners are included in the research: Elsipogtog First Nation (NB), Eskasoni First Nation (NS), Sturgeon Lake First Nation (Sask.), Puvirnituq (Nunavik, Que.), the Cree Nation of Mistissini (Que.), and Ulukhaktok (Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NWT).
Access Open Minds has informed the development of and has since collaborated with provincial integrated youth service networks, such as Aire Ouverte, Foundry, Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario/YWHO).
AOM is a network of youth mental health service providers, researchers, families and youth who have been working over the past seven years to test and evaluate a transformed method of providing youth mental health care.
"Our team will develop wise practices and recommendations for the implementation of context specific and culturally relevant youth services in Indigenous contexts, informed by an understanding of the experiences and perspectives of Indigenous community sites and stakeholders," Dr. Mushquash said.
"We will be guided by a community participatory approach grounded in Indigenous knowledge and approaches as guided by the AOM Indigenous Council. We will employ multiple methods to meet the research objectives including a case study approach to generate a narrative case study for each of the six Indigenous sites," he added.
Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead's Vice-President, Research and Innovation congratulated each researcher who received a grant and thanked the CIHR for funding these important projects.
"Lakehead University continues to be a leader in health science research in Northwestern Ontario. As these projects demonstrate, we have amazing diversity and extremely applied research in many important areas in health sciences."
In 2021/22, Lakehead University received nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.
