This week on Health Matters, Tarah Schwartz highlights the RI-MUHC, recently selected as one of the top 3 research hospitals in Canada. Dr. Ramy Saleh describes sarcoma, the rare but life-threatening cancer that often affects young adults. Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury takes you behind the scenes to share what happens in the operating room during a life-changing organ transplant operation. And, Annabel Wing-Yan Fan explains the significance of winning the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care.
Cette semaine à Questions de santé, Tarah Schwartz braque les projecteurs l’IR-CUSM, qui figure encore une fois parmi le top 3 des meilleurs hôpitaux de recherche au Canada. Le Dr Ramy Saleh décrit le sarcome, un cancer rare, mais potentiellement mortel qui touche souvent de jeunes adultes. Le Dr Prosanto Chaudhury nous fait découvrir ce qui se passe dans la salle d’opération pendant une greffe d’organes qui change des vies. Et Annabel Wing-Yan Fan explique à quel point le fait d’avoir gagné un Prix Fiera Capital pour la diversité, l’équité et l’inclusion dans les soins de santé est important pour elle.
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This week on Health Matters, Tarah Schwartz highlights the RI-MUHC, recently selected as one of the top 3 research hospitals in Canada. Dr. Ramy Saleh describes sarcoma, the rare but life-threatening cancer that often affects young adults. Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury takes you behind the scenes to share what happens in the operating room during a life-changing organ transplant operation. And, Annabel Wing-Yan Fan explains the significance of winning the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care.
Cette semaine à Questions de santé, Tarah Schwartz braque les projecteurs l’IR-CUSM, qui figure encore une fois parmi le top 3 des meilleurs hôpitaux de recherche au Canada. Le Dr Ramy Saleh décrit le sarcome, un cancer rare, mais potentiellement mortel qui touche souvent de jeunes adultes. Le Dr Prosanto Chaudhury nous fait découvrir ce qui se passe dans la salle d’opération pendant une greffe d’organes qui change des vies. Et Annabel Wing-Yan Fan explique à quel point le fait d’avoir gagné un Prix Fiera Capital pour la diversité, l’équité et l’inclusion dans les soins de santé est important pour elle.
Follow us on social media | Suivez-nous sur les médias sociaux
Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube
Hello there. Thank you for joining us. I'm Tarah Schwartz and this is Health Matters on CJAD 800. Before I dive into today's show, I just want to extend a personal thank you to Kelly Albert, who has been sitting in this chair and hosting the show for many, many weeks now. It is much appreciated. She is a wonderful host, and we were thrilled to have her in the chair. So thank you so much, Kelly. On today's show, April is organ transplant Awareness Month, it's time to bring attention to the lives that are saved every day, thanks to signing the back of your Medicare card. But there are still some misconceptions about consenting to donation of your organs, and some roadblocks that can prevent your wishes from being fulfilled. Later in the show, we speak with a transplant surgeon about why deciding to donate your organs is more than just a signature. To begin today, Quebec is so fortunate to have the MUHC which is one of the top hospitals in the country. And the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center has recently been voted one of the top three research hospitals in Canada. It is an incredible recognition for the researchers and staff who work diligently to push the boundaries of innovative health and medical research. Dr. Rhian Touyz is the Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the RI-MUHC and she joins us today. Thank you so much for being here. Dr. Touyz.
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Thank you very much, Tarah and it's a pleasure.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Touyz, I remember our very first interview when you first accepted the position as Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer, I'm feeling it's about a year and a half ago now. So what has the experience been like for you so far? What is this last year and a half been like?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Yes indeed, Tarah. It has been about one and a half years, and the time has certainly gone by very, very quickly. The experience has been one of great excitement, of joy, and certainly enormous pride. As I've gotten to know the institution over the past one and a half years, it's really become incredibly clear to me just what an extraordinary community of hardworking, creative, talented people who are so committed and dedicated to performing transformative biomedical research, really to improve the quality of life for all. So it's been a fabulous experience for me, and one that, as I said, allows me to have huge honor and feel very privileged to do so. Indeed, an exciting and busy time, Tarah.
Tarah Schwartz:Now Dr. Touyz, how do you explain to people when we're talking about innovative medical research? How do you explain to people what is actually being done at the Research Institute? How do you explain that work in a way that people will understand it?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:That's really an important question to ask because we focus very much on trying to understand the causes of disease. We are a hospital-based research institute. So our prime interest is to research what is underlying disease. And we have amazing researchers, both basic scientists and clinicians, who are working hand-in-hand to unravel mechanisms to understand better how to prevent disease, and also to allow for the discovery of new diagnostics, and new therapeutics.
Tarah Schwartz:Now, the fact that the Research Institute is integrated with the hospital with the MUHC, I can only imagine that that's a huge benefit.
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Not only is it a huge benefit, but it's a huge privilege. Because in order to really understand patients, to really understand what clinicians have to deal with, in terms of trying to manage patients with disease. Having the scientists close by really allows the doctor, the clinician and the scientist to ask provocative questions that can allow for the research that will be fundamental in terms of having impact and answering the unknown questions. So indeed, having the patients, having the scientists, and having the students all working close by really does allow for the transformative research that at the end of the day will have impact at the level of the patient.
Tarah Schwartz:We're speaking with Dr. Rhian Touyz, who is the Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Dr. Touyz, I'm curious about what is most exciting, most inspiring to you in terms of your position. You talk about it with great passion, what is the greatest point of inspiration?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:When I hear of a small discovery or a big discovery; no matter what that discovery is something new, something adding to knowledge, something that is going to push the boundaries of those unmet needs, or those questions that they haven't been able to answer previously. That's what excites me. And to be in an environment where we have got young students who have been taught by the brightest scientists, and the clinicians who work at the bedside of the patients, working in that type of a community is honestly, so exciting, Tarah. Having that intellectual capacity, both within the hospital and in the Research Institute is really what brings a smile to my face every day.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Touyz, it feels like in every single field, everywhere around the world, things are moving so much faster these days. Is that the case in medical research as well? Are things advancing faster than they have in the last 10-15 years?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:This has been an extraordinarily exciting time in biomedical sciences, in health research; you are correct. There has been so much innovation, whether this is related to technologies, to nanomedicine, to methodologies. We know today, for example, that artificial intelligence, machine learning is having a huge impact in the way we may diagnose patients' diseases. Also, in terms of therapeutics, the technologies that we use today are so different to what we used 10 years ago. But this is at the level of both the clinical side, but also, of course, within the research laboratories. So indeed, a very exciting time, when there's been huge advancements in these areas that have really propelled discovery to a whole new level.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Touyz, I know during COVID, and post-COVID, we talked a lot about how the collaboration between doctors, scientists, researchers, research institutes changed because there needed to be that global collaboration in order to deal with this pandemic that nobody had dealt with before. Does that kind of collaboration still exist, and has it grown in terms of collaborating with research institutes and researchers around the world, outside of Quebec, Canada?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Indeed, I think we've realized more than ever, and certainly this was highlighted with the COVID pandemic that we've just gone through. We cannot do science alone; we need to work collaboratively. The more brilliance we have around the table, the more brainstorming, the more expertise, the skills that we bring to the table, that is what is going to allow for the advancement of science, for the discovery of new knowledge. And importantly, at the end of the day, this is what will allow us to really help our patients both in the prevention of disease, and also for better quality of life. And more than ever, we saw that through COVID, where countries were working together, researchers working together with their clinician and counterparts, and industries, pharma, governments, we were all working together. And through those incredible collaborations, we were allowed to get through the incredibly challenging times of the pandemic. So yes, that ethos continues. And certainly, we need to continue to support that collaborative effort.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Rhian Touyz is the Executive Director of the Research Institute of the MUHC, which was just voted one of the top three research hospitals in Canada. What was it like to receive that recognition, Dr. Touyz?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Oh, it was wonderful. As I said, I'm extremely proud to be leading this amazing Research Institute of over 3000 trainees, researchers, clinicians, and admin staff. And we will continue to work hard so that our finest and our contributions remain the best with our aspirations of really being at the top in our field. So indeed, enormous pride and much joy.
Tarah Schwartz:And, philanthropy. Dr. Touyz, final question for you. How significant is that in terms of the research that's conducted at the Research Institute?
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Research is expensive, and we do need funding in order to allow us to do the science that we do. Without the support that we get through our granting agencies, and especially without the generosity, the commitment, the support, and of course, the interest that we get through philanthropy, we would not be able to do what we do. And certainly we would not be able to go that extra mile to ensure that we remain and continue to be at the front line in research. So indeed, philanthropic support is very, very important. And this is something that we certainly as researchers do not take for granted. It is with huge appreciation that we know that there is philanthropy that is supporting our science.
Tarah Schwartz:Congratulations once again on this award, Dr. Touyz, and thank you so much for joining us on the show.
Dr. Rhian Touyz:Thank you so much, Tarah.
Tarah Schwartz:Next up on Health Matters, finding new treatments for young adults with a rare but life-threatening cancer. I'm Tarah Schwartz, welcome back to Health Matters on CJAD 800. Sarcoma is a rare but life-threatening cancer that endangers the lives of young adults between the ages of 18 and 40. Many patients are diagnosed with sarcoma in Quebec, they're treated at the MUHC. A team of doctors is hoping to create a Centre of Excellence in Sarcoma Care at the hospital to unite specialists and give patients access to more treatments. Dr. Ramy Saleh is a medical oncologist at the MUHC, and the Medical Director of oncology clinical trials at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Thank you so much for joining us, Dr. Saleh.
Dr. Ramy Saleh:Thank you for having me.
Tarah Schwartz:So why don't we start at the beginning? Can you explain to us what exactly is sarcoma?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:Of course, sarcoma is, as you mentioned, a very rare type of cancer. It is less than 1% of all cancers in adult and around 50% of those in children. It mostly involves the muscle or the bone or the fat. And it is not that common or prevalent in Quebec.
Tarah Schwartz:And so when you say that it mostly involves the muscle, the bone or the fat, is it that the cancer starts there? Because I think we understand cancers. Like we understand breast cancer, we understand lung cancer, colon cancer, sarcoma is a bit harder to understand. How can you explain it so that we can understand it a little bit?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:It is an excellent question. So it can arise from any bone in the body or any muscle in the body, which makes it a more complex cancer in nature. So you're right, breast cancer always starts in the breast. So it's a very known area where we can look out and watch out for. The hard part, for example, in osteosarcoma, which is a type of sarcoma, it can happen in any bone in the person's body, and then from there, it can spread around. So instead of having one kind of sarcoma, there's actually 100 subtypes of sarcoma, which makes it extremely challenging for us.
Tarah Schwartz:Absolutely. I know that some cancers are genetic, is this one of them?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:You're right, some are actually genetic. It's not that common. It does arise from there. As you mentioned, in the most vulnerable population, the one between 16 and 40, I would say probably 5-10% are genetic, the other ones are just the buddy predisposed to have cancer.
Tarah Schwartz:And do you know at this point, why it targets that age group?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:We don't really know. But we do know that it either comes early on; so between the ages of 16 to 40. Or it comes very late, around the 60s or 70s. Usually in that population it's patients who already had cancer in the past, or had some kind of cancer treatment, for example, like radiation. We expect that they can have a sarcoma after radiation. So there's two populations that are at risk for sarcoma. The reason as to why it happens, we still don't know, given that it is very rare. So it's very hard to do research on that.
Tarah Schwartz:And is there a population you mentioned- one population, people have had radiation from previous cancer treatments. Is there another vulnerable population? Like why targeting children like it seems to it seems to be very broad.
Dr. Ramy Saleh:You're right, it is very broad, because what we're talking about is 300 cases a year. So we don't have that much experience. It's not like breast cancer with tens of thousands of cases a year. We only have a very small population to study or to try to observe and pick up on the science of why we're having sarcoma. It's not related, for example, to food as some people think, with other types of cancers. We think it could be an exposure to radiation in the past. Some it's because of previous malignancy or the previous treatment, but that is also rare. Most of the time when we see those patients in our clinics we don't know the reason why it started.
Tarah Schwartz:We were speaking with Dr. Ramy Saleh and we're talking about sarcoma. Considering that you've now helped us understand how rare this cancer is that there are less than 300 cases... is that less than 300 cases in Quebec or Canada?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:In Canada, it's about 1000 cases of new diagnosis of sarcoma a year. In Quebec, our average is between 250 to 300 cases a year.
Tarah Schwartz:Considering that that it is a relatively small number, are there signs or symptoms? How do you diagnose this cancer?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:Most of the time, patients come in with extreme bone pain or a fracture that's unexplained. In others, it is just a mass that occurs in the belly, where we have a lot of fat and this is the typical presentation when they come. It's not that common to catch them super early on. And this is why sarcoma tends to be more malignant and more aggressive, because some of the times when we detect those cancers, they already started spreading around.
Tarah Schwartz:Yeah, I know that we hear that a lot; that the earlier you catch a cancer, the easier it is to treat. And it sounds like are most of these cases caught in, in late stage because of how tough they are to diagnose?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:The challenge in sarcoma is what kind of treatment that exists. So let's focus on that. If you come in with an early stage sarcoma, the treatment is still very aggressive in nature. And what I mean by that is, sometimes it requires an amputation of a limb. As you can imagine, if you're between the ages of 16 and 40, this is extremely traumatic at the peak of your life. So our treatments in sarcoma are not as easy as in different kinds of cancers. The surgeries can be quite extensive, and sometimes can limit mobility later on. In terms of chemotherapy, most of the time, the treatment is around 40 weeks, in total. So it requires a lot of patience and a lot of visits to the hospital. And that's the complexity of that sarcoma.
Tarah Schwartz:Well, Dr. Saleh, you're working on a project with Dr. Nathaniel Bouganim to form the Sarcoma Research Consortium, Quebec, SARCQ. Tell us how you hope this consortium will help?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:The purpose is we want to help our patients in Quebec more. When you have a sarcoma that is localized, that is treated with chemotherapy and surgery, that is great news. But what happens to the people with advanced sarcoma where the cancer started spreading, or what we call metastasis? In those patients, the treatment options are quite limited. We're talking about three or four options at best. And a lot of times, with those treatment options we have less than a 50% chance that they actually work. Recently, over the last couple of years, there's been a lot of new medications that are offering patients much more options. And with more options, obviously, the longer that you can live, and we can give them more time and better quality of life. Unfortunately, the only way to access those drugs is through clinical trials. And we need to encourage the pharmaceutical companies to come to Quebec so we can do those clinical trials. And we also have to get all the patients to be seen and to ensure that we don't leave anybody behind. It's unfair, if we cannot help a patient just because they don't live on the Island of Montreal. So the project came out by multiple doctors across the province of Quebec, where we already know each other, and we decided to form this consortium, where we will discuss all the patients among each other. And they will be able to have access to any clinical trial that we have in Quebec, and at the same time to encourage all companies who have clinical trials to come and invest in our province, so we can offer those newer medications to our patients.
Tarah Schwartz:I also wonder, Dr. Saleh, when you're diagnosed with a cancer that is so challenging as this one seems to be an it's such a rare cancer, there must be some kind of comfort having an organization that is focusing on it because patients must feel very alone when they're diagnosed with this. Is there going to be some form of patient support that's going to be included in SARCQ as well?
Dr. Ramy Saleh:Yes, that's actually an excellent question. Sarcoma cannot be treated in any hospital. Sarcoma everywhere in the world is treated in what we call Centres of Excellence. It's where you have an oncologist who has training in sarcoma and orthopedic doctors who know how to treat this disease by very specific surgeries; as well as radiation oncologists. In Quebec, the two largest hospitals are Hopital Maisonneuve Rosemont and the MUHC. So we sat all together and we decided to merge forces so we can merge our experiences together so we can offer the best quality of care for our patients. In SARCQ, the patients will have access to not only the doctors with the most experience in sarcoma in Quebec only, but also we'll try to plug them to clinical trials as fast as possible. We have a coordinator that will be helping us match those patients to trials. As well as to provide- just as we do to all our cancer patients at MUHC- provide them with a nurse as well as psychosocial support, and all the services that we can offer them in order to alleviate the pain that they're going through.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Saleh, I just want to congratulate you on this incredible project. And to say that it feels comforting to know that you rally behind it, because you're clearly very passionate about this cause. So congratulations, and thank you so much for coming on to talk to us about it.
Dr. Ramy Saleh:Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.
Tarah Schwartz:Coming up on the show, deciding to donate your organs is so much more than signing the back of your health card. I'm Tarah Schwartz and this is Health Matters. April is organ transplant Awareness Month. It's heartbreaking for those who lose loved ones, but donating organs saves lives. But there's more to deciding to donate your organs than just signing the back of your health card. Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury is a surgeon and the interim Director of the multi organ transplant program at the MUHC, and an associate investigator at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Thank you so much for joining us.
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:Thank you very much, Tarah for having me on air.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Chaudhury, organ transplant seems to have many facets to it. What drew you to this area of medicine I'm curious?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:Well, that's a tough question. I didn't actually start out in life wanting to be a transplant surgeon. It's something that the experiences that I had working at the Royal Victoria Hospital, before our move on the transplant service really opened my eyes to. It is really one of those remarkable, life changing operations. Particularly when you're doing liver transplants on extremely sick individuals, and then get a chance to see them returning to normal lives. And the same thing for patients who receive kidney transplants. It's really life changing operations. And it's a real opportunity to make an impact on someone.
Tarah Schwartz:Wow, that sounds wonderful. So what is it like to be in the operating room for an organ transplant operation? Tell us a little bit about that setting?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:It's something that I've been doing for 15-20 years almost. And it's still as exciting now as it was when I first started doing it. There's something really miraculous about seeing an organ that you've taken out of an icebox; putting it back into someone and seeing it come back to life. In the case of the kidneys, start making urine. In the case of a liver, picking up and really taking over all those vital functions again. It's a really miraculous moment. It has its moments of stress. Of course, these are not simple operations, but really, really a rewarding experience from the surgical side.
Tarah Schwartz:I think a lot of us see on television, this sort of idea of this box being rushed from an ambulance or a helicopter into a hospital and it goes into the operating room. And like is there some truth to that that mystique that we see in various hospitals shows?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:Well, as is often the case, TV tends to exaggerate things. But there is a certain amount of urgency to it. We're fortunate enough in Quebec to the benefit from an association called ACDO the Association canadien des dons d'organes. And they actually are an organization of volunteers, primarily from the police forces of the province who drive organs around when we're on our way from one hospital to another. And so there is that urgent aspect to it. And we do arrive in hospitals with those red boxes that you see on TV and then bring those red boxes back to the hospitals. The time that we have to put an organ in varies by the type of organ and so some are really urgent heart and liver we will do immediately on arrival. Often the recipients are already in the operating room when we arrived back at the hospital. With kidneys we have a little bit more time.
Tarah Schwartz:Interesting. I think when most people hear about organ transplants, it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that someone has to pass away for someone else to live. I'm sure it's very different from your perspective as a surgeon, how do you see that element of it?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:The two elements for that. One- the members of the transplant team are never in direct contact with the donors and their families. So we don't have that firsthand experience of it. We are however always cognizant of the fact that this is an immense gift that someone or some family is choosing to give at the end of life. And so it is one of those unique moments where you have that bittersweet mix of a death that leads to saving and influencing up to eight other lives. It's a really remarkable moment. And we are always thankful and grateful to the donors and their families who in moments of great crisis, and grief are able to make that ultimate gift.
Tarah Schwartz:Beautifully said, Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury is an organ transplant surgeon, associate investigator at the Research Institute at the MUHC. Are they're still misconceptions about organ donation, do you think?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:Absolutely. There are misconceptions about people thinking that they are not potential donors. Because of their age, because of some of the medical illnesses they may have. And in fact, most of those preconceived ideas about who can and can't be an organ donor aren't always the case. And certainly, there's also the donation of tissues, which is even more broadly applicable, has fewer restrictions in some senses than then than whole organs. So I would say never rule yourself out. Someone may be able to benefit. The other is sometimes the urgency of it. So once an organ donor is identified, it may take several days to completely work them up and allocate the organs to the best possible recipient. So there is urgency, but it is not the extreme urgency that we see on television.
Tarah Schwartz:Okay, Dr. Chaudhury, I wonder how important is it to discuss this decision to donate your organs in advance. Is it as simple as okay, we sign the back of our health card, if something happens to us, our wishes are made clear, or is there something more that's required?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:It's always best to have the discussion about your wishes to be an organ donor, with the people who will be making decisions and speaking for you. When that situation arises, unfortunately, when one becomes an organ donor, one is usually not... one of the dead. So one isn't able to express one's wishes. And so it's really important, in fact, to have the discussions with the people around you so that they know what your wishes are. Signing the card is an indication. But it's really difficult for the people around you to make that decision. They're being asked to make the decision. If they know what your wish is and what your decision is beforehand, and makes the whole process much much easier on them.
Tarah Schwartz:You mentioned in a previous answer that up to eight lives can be saved. Dig into a little deeper with that. When you're donating your organs, what is it that can be given as this beautiful gift you mentioned to other people?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:So we're looking at the potential to give lungs; that may go to one or two recipients. A heart, a liver which may go to one or two recipients, pancreas, two kidneys, small intestine, and tissues as well.
Tarah Schwartz:Wow, it's incredible. As you mentioned, it really does sound like the gift of life. It really is the gift of life, isn't it?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:It really is the gift of life. Absolutely.
Tarah Schwartz:What kind of innovative research in transplants is being done at the MUHC and the RI-MUHC now?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:So we're involved in a broad range of activities in research around transplantation right now. Into the immunology of transplant and how to prevent and treat rejection. In terms of understanding the changes that happen to an organ when it is removed from a living body and stored and then put back in, and how we can lessen the damage that occurs during that period of time. As well as clinical trials of new drugs and immunosuppressants that will hopefully decrease the side effects that patients' experience from their maintenance immunosuppression. So a whole gamut of research currently underway here at the MUHC
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Chaudhury, you mentioned that you've been doing this for the past 15 years. Things move so quickly now; it's something we've talked about on the show a couple of times already. But you must have seen significant changes in the last 15 years.
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:One of the biggest changes that we see is in the donors themselves and the kinds of donors and organs that we're using. The population getting a little bit older and still having excellent outcomes with those organs. Also, the use of preservation technologies; machine perfusion is becoming increasingly important in the way we manage the organs so that they go not necessarily right from a red box into someone but go through a stage where they are reconditioned or put through processes that allow them to be better conserved. I think that's something that's going to grow enormously in the near future.
Tarah Schwartz:I have another question for you. And we only have a minute left and I'm curious about this Dr. Chaudhury, you mentioned that the preservation. Is it getting easier for bodies to be able to accept transplants now? It's something I don't know much about it but I feel like something I've heard is that sometimes people reject their transplants. Is that getting better?
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:So we've made great strides in the treatment of acute rejection. So we rarely have episodes of an organ going in and being rejected immediately. The more problematic issue is one of chronic rejection, which develops over years and maybe quite silent and present only when it's too late to treat. And so we're really actively involved in looking at ways to decrease that kind of rejection and detect it earlier so we can treat it earlier.
Tarah Schwartz:Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury, thank you so much for joining us on Health Matters. I feel I've learned a lot of new and wonderful information today about your area of expertise. So thank you so much.
Dr. Prosanto Chaudhury:Thank you so much, Tarah, for having me on here.
Tarah Schwartz:Next up on the show, an early career researcher shares how receiving an award will help further an exciting project. I'm Tarah Schwartz, you're listening to Health Matters. There are groups that are underrepresented in health and medical research. Like in many fields, researchers from diverse backgrounds can have difficulties acquiring resources to pursue their work. To address the lack of diversity, the assets management firm Fiera Capital and the MUHC Foundation founded the Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care. Fiera Capital has committed $120,000 per year for the next three years to support researchers who are in their early career stages. Annabel Wing-Yan Fan is one of this year's recipients. She is a PhD student in the Baldwin Vision Lab. Annabel, thank you for joining us.
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Hello, Tarah. Thanks for inviting me today.
Tarah Schwartz:So Annabel, you are a doctoral student in the Baldwin Vision Lab at the Research Institute at MUHC, which we've heard about quite a bit today. Tell us a little bit about what you're studying. What are you doing? What's involved in the Baldwin Vision Lab?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Great, thanks for asking. So the Baldwin Vision Lab takes a look at visual information processing. And specifically, I look at how that changes in aging. And whether it impacts older adults in their daily lives with a bit of a focus on their driving ability.
Tarah Schwartz:So what specifically are you looking at in terms of vision?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Specifically, in terms of vision, we are really looking at how people are able to see faint signals when there are noisy backgrounds. So when I talk about visual noise, you can imagine that like TV static, and when participants come into the lab, we asked them whether or not they could find faint patterns in these noisy backgrounds. And we're really looking at how people are processing these visual signals in terms of space and also over time.
Tarah Schwartz:And so what are you hoping to learn from it? What is the goal of this kind of study?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:One of the interesting things that is more talking on the clinical application side, is that when it comes to age-related changes in cognition, we find that there are a lot of related things. So different areas of cognition change, or decline together was this isn't the case in vision. And that kind of leads to the question of why vision changes differently, in different aspects, and whether or not that translates to how aging impacts people's daily lives. So one aspect of your vision might get better as you get older, one aspect of revision may get worse. So we're really doing this research to find if we can have a general measure of aging that will kind of track how declining aging may impact daily activities.
Tarah Schwartz:I think most of us know that as we get older, you reach that point where you're like, Okay, I've had super vision my whole life and now I need reading glasses. So that's the one that everyone understands in terms of how their eyes change as they get older. What are some other ways that eyes change as we age?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:One of the things that you were talking about there is in terms of visual acuity. So as we get older, maybe faint things are harder to see. But there are also other aspects of our vision that aren't super obvious. Like as we get older, there's parts in your visual field that is in front of you- how much you can see without turning your head. And in this visual field, there are sometimes places where we can't see anymore because as we age, the neurons might change. And that's not obvious to us, because our brain kind of fills it in. In the back of your eye, you have this blind spot where the optical nerves are coming out. And we were technically blind in that area of our visual field, but we can't see that because our brain fills in the information. So similar things may happen as we age in different visual degenerations, and because we don't notice that it can be really dangerous for driving. So that's one of the things that we should be mindful of.
Tarah Schwartz:We're speaking with Annabel Wing-Yan Fan; she is one of this year's recipients of the Fiera Capital Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care and we're talking about her research now. I know Annabel that you're passionate about extended reality technologies, and we've created a web and mobile app for your work. Tell us a little bit about that.
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:For sure. For extended reality is in case people are not familiar with the term; it encompasses virtual reality, which is typically a screen inside of a headset, and augmented reality, which is like a digital overlay over the real world, such as like Pokemon Go. And mixed reality, which really is a mix of these two technologies. So I've worked with many different groups in these sorts of technologies. So for example, I worked with a graduate level software engineers to turn lab experiments into these fun mobile games for children. Before starting my PhD at McGill, I've worked on a research collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Novartis, Ubisoft, a gaming company, and McGill, to develop digital treatments for lazy eye. And in the past, I've also created these prototypes with the Microsoft HoloLens, which is a mixed reality device to kind of assess its use as a research tool in vision.
Tarah Schwartz:So these are obviously tools and techniques that are very new, because this is not something that we were doing 10-15 years ago. How is it changing the landscape of doing this kind of research, your research and research of your colleagues as well?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Yeah, I'm really excited about where this kind of area is headed in. Because like you mentioned, these are very new technologies. And I think one of the most beneficial aspects of them is that they're really letting us test the scientific paradigms inside of a more naturalistic setting. People are able to have people do locomotion tasks inside natural virtual environment, we can show people more realistic visual stimuli to see whether or not our lab tests really translate in the real world. And even though it's not like obviously the same as the real world, we are bringing the research a bit closer, which means hopefully better applications and mobilization for scientific research.
Tarah Schwartz:So obviously, this kind of technology, which I also find so fascinating, I see the impact being enormous on medicine and research in general. How does it impact the patient in terms of your work? Like how does it dribbled down to get to having an effect on the patient?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Well, this ties into that work I was talking about with the Microsoft HoloLens. So a reason why we were looking at this mixed reality technology is because when people are doing visual rehabilitation, for example, if you have them come into the lab, and they're just looking at a screen for hours and hours, it's super boring. It's hard to keep people engaged It's hard for them to make time out of their day to do these sorts of really important training to help improve their vision. But when you have mixed reality, perhaps now you can have people doing their day-to-day life. Obviously not doing something like driving or something that needs them to be paying attention 100%. But now you can start maybe doing rehabilitation that's more integrated into their lifestyle without really taking people away from their work.
Tarah Schwartz:Annabel Wing-Yan Fan is a recipient of this year's Fiera Capital Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care. So what does it mean to you to be one of this year's five winners Annabel?
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:I'm very grateful to Fiera Capital and the MUHC Foundation for this award. Personally, it means a lot to me, because I feel recognized for the first time for some of the work I've been doing to really help improve equity, diversity and inclusion in science. And it's also just really exciting to see that there are these awards happening to motivate other BIPOC researchers and make up for some of the barriers and unique challenges that we face in this field.
Tarah Schwartz:Yeah, I want to talk about that Annabel, in terms of the unique challenges you face in the field. What are your thoughts on this award in general, in terms of those challenges, what do you see those challenges being? Help us to understand.
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:So I guess I'll start by listing three of the main challenges that come to mind a lot for me, and then kind of touch on why the word really, I guess, discusses those things. So I guess the first is really lack of representation. Like many other professions, this really prevents minorities from even considering research and academia as a career path. And then also in our area of research, there are really merit based assessments typically. And these are based off the idea that there's this even playing field and really ignores the experiences and barriers that are faced by BIPOC researchers. And then finally, and really close to my heart is that there is a lot of unrecognized and uncompensated work in this area as well. Where people of color are often put in this position of educating and advocating for EDI, and it doesn't really translate to how their performance is assessed by the university or funding agencies. So even though they're passionate, and they want to help people; in some ways, it even stands in the way of them advancing in their careers. And I think that's just really heartbreaking. So it was really exciting to me to see how the Fiera Capital Award was really implemented. Because I feel it addressed this lack of representation by giving opportunities to speak on our research. It also recognizes the unique challenges we face because in the application, they asked us to be able to talk about this and show that we are mindful and excited about promoting EDI practices in our workplaces. So overall, I just feel like I'm very excited for this opportunity and I'm happy that it'll be around to help future researchers as well.
Tarah Schwartz:That is really, really, really well said Annabel. Really, really well said. Thank you so much. Congratulations like I said it stem from that whole "if you can see it, you can be it", right Annabel? Thank you so much for joining us on the show.
Annabel Wing-Yan Fan:Thank you.
Tarah Schwartz:I'm Tarah Schwartz, thank you for tuning in. What would you like to hear about on the show? Write to us at healthmatters@MUHCfoundation.com. You can also follow the MUHC Foundation on social media or sign up for our newsletter at MUHCfoundation.com. I hope you'll join me again next Sunday. Thank you so much for listening to Health Matters and stay healthy.