A wave of health-related research is gaining momentum.

Studies exploring critical issues such as breast cancer, noise exposure, infertility and Alzheimer’s pathology are among projects receiving $900,000 in support from the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Research Fund (NLHRF), which is provided by the provincial government.

The fund aims to help build a comprehensive multidisciplinary health research ecosystem in the province, while supporting research teams and health professionals in a variety of health-related disciplines.

An awards ceremony was held on Memorial’s St. John’s campus on April 30 to recognize emerging research supported through the fund, which is administered by the Faculty of Medicine. Graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and principal investigators based in the faculties of Science, Nursing and Medicine, the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services were recognized.

“Conversations about such a fund began decades ago and really took off in the last few years with people helping turn an idea into opportunities,” said Dr. Rod Russell, interim associate vice-president (research).

He previously served as vice-dean (research and graduate studies) in the Faculty of Medicine and was instrumental in setting up the framework for the fund, and worked with staff to develop the application and review process.

“Together, through collaboration, the goal is to empower health researchers and professionals and support projects throughout Newfoundland and Labrador that deliver real benefits,” he said. “This provincial fund will have an enormous impact on research into important issues.”

The fund includes two streams.

Trainee Fellowships are geared towards graduate students, medical residents and post-doctoral fellows at any of Memorial’s faculties, schools or campuses with a health-related research project.

Innovation Grants support any investigator such as a faculty member or health professional affiliated with an academic research institution or provincial health authority in Newfoundland and Labrador with a responsibility to conduct research. This could be in disciplines such as pharmacy, nursing, social work, science, engineering, medicine or any other discipline conducting health research.

Breast cancer research

One of those researchers is Dr. Sherri Christian, professor, Department of Human Biosciences, cross-appointed to the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, as well as the Faculty of Medicine.

She is receiving an NLHRF Innovation Grant valued at $150,000.

Through her research, she wants to give women living with breast cancer a fighting chance for a healthier future.

More than 500 women from Newfoundland and Labrador are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

This province has the highest rates of obesity in Canada. Since obesity is associated with higher mortality from breast cancer, it is not surprising that this province has the highest rates of breast cancer and the lowest rates of survival.

This is, in part, due to increased metastasis — a tumour spreading to another area — and increased primary tumour size in obese patients.

Upwards of 90 per cent of breast cancer patients die from metastatic disease, with obese patients 46 per cent more likely to have distant metastases. That news is even more staggering since there is currently no cure for metastatic disease.

“There is no cure for breast cancer once it has spread too much,” said Dr. Christian. “One common place that it spreads to is the bone. We are trying to determine if a specific protein (LOX) that is released by fat cells in the bone marrow is responsible for cancer spreading to the bone.”

Dr. Christian and her group want to find out if it is possible to inhibit LOX to prevent breast cancer from spreading and save lives.

“This work will increase our understanding of what regulates the spreading of cancer cells. If we can identify the factor, then we can work on blocking that factor and reduce the spread of cancer,” she said.

Below is a list of Memorial’s researchers receiving support through the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Research Fund competition. Check back for future Gazette stories highlighting these researchers and their projects.

Innovation Grant

Faculty of Science

• Ashley Balsom, Department of Psychology, Implementing the Infertility ACTion Program within Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services Fertility Clinic, $100,000
• Sherri Christian, Department of Human Biosciences, cross appointed to Department of Biology, and Faculty of Medicine, Treating metastatic breast cancer with LOX inhibitors, $150,000

Faculty of Nursing

• Chantille Isler and Dr. Joy Maddigan, Supporting the Mental Health and Well-being of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Immigrants and Families: A Community-based Co-design Study, $100,000

Faculty of Medicine

• Anne Drover, Discipline of Pediatrics, Where Are the Gaps? Mapping and Understanding Health and Social Services for Pregnant and Parenting People with Substance-Use Disorder in Newfoundland and Labrador, $100,000
• The late Dr. Michelle Ploughman, Division of BioMedical Sciences, Novel biomarkers to detect and forestall covert age-related decline of the human brain, $100,000. This work will be carried out by Dr. Nick Bray and Dr. Jason McCarthy.
• Jacqueline Vanderluit, Division of BioMedical Sciences, Semaglutide, as a post-stroke anti-inflammatory therapeutic, $100,000
• Benjamin Zendel and Dr. Nicholas Smith, Division of Population Health and Applied Health Sciences, Mitigating noise exposure in the orthopaedic operating room, $100,000

Trainee Fellowships

Faculty of Science

• Molly Downey, Department of Psychology, fellowship (graduate), Newfoundland and Labrador healthcare provider perspectives on involuntary treatment for substance use disorder, $20,000, supervisor: Dr. Nick Harris
• Krista Greeley, Department of Psychology, fellowship (graduate), Assessing the needs and preferences of adapting acceptance and commitment therapy for individuals experiencing cancer-related infertility, $10,000, supervisor: Dr. Ashley Balsom
• Jenna Hanrahan, Department of Chemistry, fellowship (graduate), Magnetic resonance imaging to study gene therapies for Huntington’s disease, $20,000, supervisor: Dr. Lindsay Cahill
• David Storey, Department of Psychology, fellowship (graduate), Scoping review and needs assessment for the establishment of a federally funded Operational Stress Injury (OSI) Clinic or OSI satellite service in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, $20,000, supervisor: Dr. Nick Harris

Faculty of Medicine

• Elissa Orbasli, fellowship (graduate), BioMedical Sciences, Disentangling the relationship between brain function, corticospinal tract (CST) integrity, and physical performance: A cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults, $10,000, supervisor: the late Dr. Michelle Ploughman and Dr. Nick Bray
• Tayebeh Sepahvand, BioMedical Sciences, fellowship, postdoctoral fellow, Neuromodulation of the Locus Coeruleus-Prefrontal Circuit via Optogenetics and Vagus Nerve Stimulation as Therapeutic Strategies for Early Alzheimer’s Pathology, $20,000, supervisor: Dr. Qi Yuan
• Monawar Shahwan, fellowship (graduate), BioMedical Sciences, Role of brain waste clearance mechanism in chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction, $10,000, supervisor: Dr. Michiru Hirasawa

Faculty of Nursing

• Monica McGraw, fellowship (postdoctoral fellow), Examining the Enactment of Primary Care Nurses’ Scope of Practice: A Postdoctoral Contribution to Evidence Synthesis and Case-Based Analysis in the Scope PC-N Study, $20,000, supervisor: Dr. Julia Lukewich
• Amara Sundus, fellowship (graduate), Identifying prioritized structural interventions for person inclusive care for transgender individuals: A Q methodology of transgender individuals, transgender research experts, and health care professionals, $10,000, supervisor: Dr. Ahtisham Younas

School of Human Kinetics and Recreation

• Emma Mitchell, fellowship (graduate), Motor unit identification in females: Are larger and denser grids the answer? $10,000, supervisor: Dr. Gregory Pearcey