Quarterly Highlights: July to September 2020

In the Media

Canada’s recovery hinges on its digital acceleration – An opinion piece in the Hamilton Spectator notes Andrew MacArthur’s (Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences) use of next-generation technology in a race against time to fight the pandemic.

What you need to know if you’re considering a home birth during the pandemic – This West Coast Mommy noted a study by Eileen Hutton (McMaster Midwifery Research Centre) that showed the risks of adverse or negative outcomes arising from having a baby at home are the same or lower than delivering in the hospital.

Natalia McInnis recommended tips on controlling A1C levels in Best Health. Read the article here. 

Mark Tarnopolsky (Pediatrics/Medicine) spoke to the Windsor Star about a new technology called next generation sequencing of DNA that allowed them to make a diagnosis of congenital myasthenic syndrome, a neuromuscular disorder that looks similar to muscular dystrophy.

Tracing the spread of COVID-19: Andrew MacArthur (Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences) spoke to the media about his genetic research to track down the source of the COVID-19 infection through sequencing its genetic code. Media coverage included CTV National News, CTV News Toronto, Global News, CHCH TV. As well, a Canadian Press story was picked 200 times including in the Globe & Mail, National Post, CBC, CTV, Global News, Toronto Sun, CP24 and AM640. He also spoke to Healthcare Innovation and was featured in The Hamilton Spectator.

Celebrations & Successes

Congratulations to Diana Sherifali who has received the Faculty of Health Sciences post-doctoral fellowship supervision award. Click here for more. 

Suhrid Banskota, a Post-Doc Fellow in Dr. Khan’s lab received a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship Award for the next two years. 

CIHR Spring Project Grant Success

Congratulations to the following MODR Members and their teams!  

• Brian Timmons (PI) and team for “The Concussion, Exercise, and Brain Networks (ConExNet) study”
• Brian Timmons is co-investigator on a Family Medicine-led project (Co-PIs Matt Kwan & John Cairney) for their project: “CATCHing up: A continuation of the Coordination and Activity Tracking in CHildren cohort study”

Publications

Sandy Raha and colleagues published “Reactive oxygen species from mitochondria impacts trophoblast fusion and the production of endocrine hormones by suncytiotrophoblasts” in PLoS One.

Aristithes Doumouras recently published “Association Between Bariatric Surgery and All-Cause Mortality: A Population-Based Matched Cohort Study in a Universal Health Care System”

Waliul Khan and trainee Eric Yunhan Kwon recently published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology (CMGH). This paper also received the 2019 Trainee Article of the Year Award.

Tom Hawke, Mark Tarnopalsky and colleagues recently published “Muscle and serum myostatin expression in type 1 diabetes”

Jon Schertzer recently published two articles: “Adipose tissue inflammation is directly linked to obesity-induced insulin resistance, while gut dysbiosis and mitochondrial dysfunction are not required” and “Gut microbiota impairs insulin clearance in obese mice”