(OLD) Research at St. Michael's Hospital

Black History Month: Black Inventors Museum
2024-02-26 10:30 - 17:30 (America/Toronto) | Montcalm Centre, 3276 St Clair Ave E,, Scarborough, Ontario, M1L 1W1
Visit the Montcalm Centre from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to learn more about the amazing inventors of Black-African descent.
For any questions please email ARESA@unityhealth.to

Black History Month: Educational Materials and Swag Bags
2024-02-23 10:30 - 17:30 | Providence Hospital 4th Floor, 3276 St Clair Ave E,, Scarborough, Ontario, M1L 1W1
All are encouraged to visit during their break or after/before their shift at the 4th floor near the elevators in the Houses of Providence for some education and swag bags about Black History Month (while supplies last).

Black History Month: Free Film screening of The Space Race – The untold story of Black Astronauts
2024-02-21 16:00 - 18:00 | AC223, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario, M1C1A4
The Canadian Black Scientists Network, in partnership with the University of Toronto Scarborough is pleased to present National Geographic’s documentary The Space Race
THE SPACE RACE uncovers the little-known stories of the first Black pilots, engineers and scientists who became astronauts.
THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (The Redeem Team) and Lisa Cortés (Little Richard: I Am Everything) profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what “the right stuff” looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a hidden history to discover. View the trailer here.
All are welcome to this IN PERSON screening!

KRC Seminar Series: “Capillary remodeling in adipose tissue: Roles of Forkhead Box01”, Dr. Tara Haas, PhD Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University
2024-02-16 13:00 - 14:00 | LKS Auditorium (2nd floor), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria St.

Black History Month: Hybrid Drumming and Healing Workshop with Holistic Vibrancy
2024-02-16 10:30 - 11:10 | Montcalm Conference Centre, C301 and C302, 3276 St Clair Ave E,, Scarborough, Ontario, M1L 1W1
In recognition and celebration of Black History Month, Providence will be hosting a number of events during Black History Month for patients, residents, and staff. Please see the attached posters and below for details. For any questions, please email ARESA@unityhealth.to
Morning Session 10:30 to 11:10 a.m. at Montcalm Conference Centre, C301 and C302
Afternoon Session 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Great Room in the Houses of Providence

KRC Seminar Series:“Blood vessels in pulmonary fibrosis: More than an innocent bystander” Dr. Martin Kolb, MD PhD Director, Division of Respirology Jack Gauldie Boehringer Ingelheim Chair in Interstitial Lung Disease Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health
2024-02-02 13:00 - 14:00 | LKS Auditorium (2nd floor), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria St.

KRC Seminar Series: “Targeting the Damaged Transcriptome as an Emergent Vulnerability in Ovarian Cancer” Dr. Robert Rottapel, MD, Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Clinical Rheumatologist, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto Professor of Medicine, Immunology and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
2024-01-12 13:00 - 14:00 | LKS Auditorium (2nd floor), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria St.

Research Awards Ceremony
2023-12-05 13:10 - 14:00 | Hybrid
Location: Keenan RC Allan Waters Auditorium & zoom
Zoom Details:
https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/65407436109?pwd=[REDACTED]
Dial: +1 647 558 0588 Canada or +1 647 374 4685 Canada
Meeting ID: 654 0743 6109
Passcode: [REDACTED]

SRSA Women in STEM Panel
2023-11-30 15:00 - 16:30 | Virtual
As a part of research month, we are hosting a Women in STEM panel with women clinicians and scientists from Unity Health Toronto to discuss the unique issues women face in STEM.

Registration: https://bit.ly/SRSAWomenInSTEM2023

When the literature betrays the patient: Exploring systematic reviews through the lens of “race correction”
2023-11-29 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual
Registration: https://when-the-literature-betrays-the-patient.eventbrite.ca

Ending the Practice of “Race Correction” in Health Care speaker series as part of the Li Ka Shing, Clinical and Population Research Rounds, 2023

Presented by Dr. Patricia O’Campo, Executive Director of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at Unity Health Toronto, in partnership with the Canada-US Coalition to End Race Correction in Health Care and Knowledge Translation at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions.

About this talk: This talk will explore the question of – What does the reality of race correction mean for the integrity of systematic reviews that:

Concern or include data based on a diagnostic tool that is race corrected;
Do not explicitly take race correction into account.

What is “race correction”? Health care providers often use tests to assess a patient’s health. In many cases, health care providers calculate test results differently for Black patients than they do for everyone else. Overall, “race correction” means that Black people are diagnosed late, or never diagnosed at all, for serious conditions from heart, kidney and lung diseases to cognitive impairment. It also means that Black people are systematically excluded from timely access to life-saving treatments like organ transplants and other surgeries. “Race correction” has no scientific basis because “race” is not biological. It is a social construct that is applied differently in different times and in different places. In fact, scientists have shown us that people have more in common genetically across “racial”

Speaker bios:
LLana James
Queen’s University
Dept of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine
Co-chair of the Canada-US Coalition to End Race Correction in HealthCare

LLana James’ (she/her) research illuminates how technology can undermine or bolster human rights in the context of clinical care, rehabilitation science and public health. Her interdisciplinary and applied approach is designed to critically appraise current applications of technology while developing and implementing interventions that seed new, ethical futures. To accomplish this, LLana brings together academic and community scholars across disciplines and sectors to work at the intersections of medicine/clinical care, public health, data, AI, law, and race-ethnicity across multiple axes, e.g., gender, class, able-bodiedness. As a result of her ground-breaking work, she is the inaugural AI, Medicine and Data Justice Post-Doctoral Fellow at Queen’s University.

Amy Katz
Amy Katz (she/her) is a Senior Knowledge Translation Specialist at MAP, Unity Health Toronto and a PhD student in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. Her current focus is on Knowledge Translation interventions with the potential to reduce institutional harms, including narrative harms.

Patricia O’Campo, PhD
Executive Director, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute
Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, Population Health Interventions
Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. O’Campo (she/her) is Canada Research Chair in Population Health Intervention Research and Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. O’Campo is an internationally renowned public health scholar who has an active research program that focuses on understanding the health impacts of complex urban social problems experienced by low-income populations. Through her scholarship over the past 25 years, dedicated partnerships with affected communities, and academic leadership for over fifteen years, she has generated strong evidence around interventions to improve the lives of those living with multiple health, social and economic challenges. She has been widely recognized for her contributions to population well-being through the receipt of early, mid- and late-career awards given by national and international organizations such as the US Centers for Disease Control, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, US Institute of Medicine and the Royal Society of Canada.

Nav Persaud, MD, MSc
Canada Research Chair in Health Justice
Associate Professor, Dept of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Physician, Dept of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital
Scientist, MAP, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

Dr. Nav Persaud (he/him) is the Canada Research Chair in Health Justice, Staff Physician in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital in Unity Health Toronto, and Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on health equity or fairness, especially as it related to medicine access (cleanmeds.ca). He also compares national essential medicines lists in collaboration with the World Health Organization (essentialmeds.org).

Note: Sign language interpreters (ASL) will be signing during the event.

For any questions please contact LKSKIResearch@unityhealth.to

Below please find important background materials:

Boston University School of Public Health (2022). Replacing the Term ‘Race’ in Risk Predictions for Heart Attacks among Black Patients. https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2022/replacing-the-term-race-in-risk-predictions-for-heart-attacks-among-black-patients/
Braun, L. (2014). Breathing Race into the Machine: The Surprising Career of the Spirometer from Plantation to Genetics. University of Minnesota Press. https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/breathing-race-into-the-machine.
Canada-US Coalition to End Race Correction in Health Care. Race correction in health care: a primer. (2022). www.endracecorrection.com.
Cerdeña, J.P., Plaisime, M.V., Tsai, J. (2020). From Race-Based to Race-Conscious Medicine: How Anti-Racist Uprisings Call Us to Act. The Lancet, 396(10257), P1125-1128. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32076-6.
Deyrup, A., & Graves, J. L., Jr (2022). Racial Biology and Medical Misconceptions. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(6), 501–503. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2116224.
Global News (2023). Whistleblowers allege University of Toronto data project collected 600K patient records without consent. https://globalnews.ca/video/9431153/whistleblowers-allege-university-of-toronto-data-project-collected-600k-patient-records-without-consent
Graves, J.L. (2015). Great Is Their Sin: Biological Determinism in the Age of Genomics. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 661(1), 24-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716215586558.
Graves, J.L. (2015). Why the Nonexistence of Biological Races Does Not Mean the Nonexistence of Racism. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(11), 1474-1495. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215588810.
Grubbs, V. (2020). Precision in GFR Reporting: Let’s Stop Playing the Race Card. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 15(8), 1201–1202. https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.00690120.
Moffett, A.T., Eneanya, N.D., Halpern, S.D., & Weissman, G.E. (2021, Abstract). The Impact of Race Correction on the Interpretation of Pulmonary Function Testing Among Black Patients. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 203:A1030. https://doi.org/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2021.203.1_MeetingAbstracts.A1030.
Opara, I.N., Riddle-Jones, L. & Allen, N. (2022). Modern Day Drapetomania: Calling Out Scientific Racism. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37, 225–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-07163-z.
Roberts, D.E. (2021). Abolish race correction. Lancet, 397(10268), 17–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32716-1.
Parekh, R. S., Perl, J., Auguste, B., & Sood, M. M. (2022). Elimination of race in estimates of kidney function to provide unbiased clinical management in Canada. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l’Association medicale canadienne, 194(11), E421–E423. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/194/11/E421.
Schillace, Brandy. (2021). Predicting Death Could Change the Value of a Life. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/predicting-death-value-life/.
Sjoding, M. W., Dickson, R. P., Iwashyna, T. J., Gay, S. E., & Valley, T. S. (2020). Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(25), 2477–2478. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2029240.
Tsai, J. W., Cerdeña, J. P., Goedel, W. C., Asch, W. S., Grubbs, V., Mendu, M. L., & Kaufman, J. S. (2021). Evaluating the Impact and Rationale of Race-Specific Estimations of Kidney Function: Estimations from U.S. NHANES, 2015-2018. EClinicalMedicine, 42, 101197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101197.
Tsai, J.W. (2021). Jordan Crowley would be in line for a kidney—if he were deemed white enough. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2021/06/kidney-transplant-dialysis-race-adjustment.html.
Vasan, R.S., Heuvel, E. (2022).Differences in estimates for 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease in Black versus White individuals with identical risk factor profiles using pooled cohort equations: an in silico cohort study. The Lancet. 4(1), E55-E-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(21)00236-3
Vyas, D. A., Eisenstein, L. G., & Jones, D. S. (2020). Hidden in Plain Sight – Reconsidering the Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms. New England Journal of Medicine. 383(9), 874–882. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMms2004740.

KEENAN INTERNATIONAL LECTURE: Presented by Dr. Lorraine Ware, M.D. “Through the Prism: Identifying Treatable Phenotypes in ARDS and Sepsis”
2023-11-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
Please join us for our 2023 Keenan International Lecture presented by Dr. Lorraine Ware. Her lecture is titled Through the Prism: Identifying Treatable Phenotypes in ARDS and Sepsis”. Dr. Ware is the Ralph and Lulu Owen Professor of Medicine and Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Her research applies a comprehensive bench-to-bedside approach to investigate the pathogenesis of ARDS and sepsis-related organ dysfunction with the goal of developing new therapies. Major research contributions have focused on mechanisms of injury to the lung epithelium in ARDS including studies of alveolar epithelial fluid transport and fibrin deposition in the injured alveolus. Dr. Ware’s group also studies the role of oxidized cell-free hemoglobin in the pathogenesis of ARDS and acute kidney injury in sepsis and critical illness.
Talk: Through the Prism: Identifying Treatable Phenotypes in ARDS and Sepsis
When: Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Where: Zoom (Details below)
Meeting ID: 632 8952 4129
Password: [REDACTED]

Transform your research practice: Centering patient and community partners on your research teams using EDI principles
2023-11-24 12:00 - 13:30 | LKS 216 & zoom
The Patient and Community Engagement in Research Committee (PCERC) is hosting an event to bring to life the Transform level of the PCERC Resource Guide, focusing on transforming our understanding and practices of PCE guided by EDI principles/values to make a more meaningful impact.

Please join us for this hybrid event where lunch will be provided to in-person attendees!

Location: In-person (LKS 216) and via zoom (details below)
Target Audience: Researchers, staff and trainees with experience with and advanced knowledge of patient/community engagement (and everyone is welcome)
Goal: Transform our understanding and practices of PCE guided by EDI principles/values to make a more meaningful impact
Learning Objective: Identify one EDI strategy that your team will commit to in its PCE practices

Details:

Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees (Please email LKSKIResearch@unityhealth.to to indicate that you will be joining in person)
Session #1 of a 3-Part PCERC Transform Training Series. Attendees who participate in at least 2/3 sessions, will receive a certificate
Create an open and safe space to learn from each other

Format:

Q&A with Mike Creek, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Working for Change
Panel discussion with Clara Juando-Prats, Janet Parsons and Ayan Yusuf
Small group breakout rooms to discuss how to transform PCE practices on your research team using a custom EDI worksheet as a guide

Required Preparation:

Review The Coin Model of Privilege And Critical Allyship: Implications for Health
Be prepared to discuss the article and answer the question, “What two messages stood out the most to you?”
We encourage you to send any questions or thoughts in advance to LKSKIResearch@unityheath.to

Zoom Details:
https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/67782489215?pwd=[REDACTED]
Join by Telephone
Dial: +1 647 558 0588 Canada or +1 647 374 4685 Canada
Meeting ID: 677 8248 9215
Passcode: [REDACTED]

WLH Special International Indigenous Health Research Rounds with Professor Dan McAullay - Researching on Noongar Boodja: Examining Bibi Study and the Maawit Maladjin Clinical Trial
2023-11-22 12:00 - 13:00 | Hybrid
Please join us for a special Well Living House International Indigenous Health Research Rounds with Professor Dan McAullay, visiting from Edith Cowan University in Australia – His lecture, titled “Researching on Noongar Boodja: Examining Bibi Study and the Maawit Maladjin clinical trial “ will be held at the Allan Waters Family Auditorium, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute (209 Victoria Street, Toronto ON, M5B 1T8 – Get Directions) and virtually via zoom: https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/62704746081?pwd=[REDACTED]

KRC Seminar Series: “Redox-inflammation the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in brain health and disease”, Dr. Ana Andreazza, Pharm, PhD Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pharmacology of Mood Disorders Thomas C. Zachos Chair in Mitochondrial Research Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry Scientific Director, Mitochondrial Innovation Initiative
2023-11-17 13:00 - 14:00 | 136 Multipurpose Room, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria St

MAP 25 Year Celebration
2023-11-17 11:00 - 12:30 | LKS 136 & Lobby

Meet the Scientific Pillars Directors
2023-11-16 12:00 - 13:00 | LKS 211

KRC Seminar Series: "The right ventricle’s response to adverse mechanical loading”, Dr. Mark K. Friedberg, Cardiologist, MD, PhD Staff Cardiologist, Labatt Family Heart Centre, Hospital for Sick Children Associate Senior Scientist, SickKids Research Institute Professor in Paediatrics, University of Toronto
2023-11-10 13:00 - 14:00 | LKS Auditorium (2nd floor), Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria St.

Research Month Kick-Off Event
2023-11-07 13:00 - 14:30 | Hybrid, Zoom and LKS 240
The countdown to Research Month has begun, and we’re thrilled to invite you to our informal Research Month Kickoff Celebration! It’s the perfect opportunity to come together, enjoy some delicious snacks, have a chance to win prizes, and get into the Research Month spirit.

Location: LKS 240 / Zoom (link below)

Welcome from Research Leadership (Hybrid)

Time: 1:00pm – 1:20 pm
Link: https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/66368078609?pwd=[REDACTED]

In-Person Social

Time: 1:20 – 2:30 pm
Location: LKS Room 240

Join us for a chance to connect with fellow researchers, share your excitement for the upcoming month, and set the tone for an inspiring and productive Research Month ahead.

We look forward to seeing you there and starting Research Month on a high note!

Health, Equity, and Research Talks (HEaRT): Embedding EDI Principles into Biomedical and Health Research – Who, What, Where, When and Why?
2023-11-01 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual
Join us for the 4th Lecture in the Health, Equity, and Research Talks (HEaRT) Lecture Series!
Health, Equity, and Research Talks (HEaRT): Embedding EDI Principles into Biomedical and Health Research – Who, What, Where, When and Why?
It is well established across a range of disciplines that more diverse research teams produce more impactful and higher-quality outputs. However, how to achieve inclusive excellence in research is not always obvious or easy, at either the individual group leader level or more broadly, within an organization. In the 4th lecture of the HEaRT series, Dr. Imogen R. Coe, Professor of Chemistry and Biology in the Faculty of Science at Toronto Metropolitan University and Affiliate Scientist at Unity Health Toronto, will highlight approaches to help embed EDI principles into practices that determine who is doing the research, as well as how research is being done. The presentation will be followed by questions from the audience, co-moderated by Dr. Andras Kapus, Scientific Director of Organ Injury & Repair, and Denese Frans-Joseph, Research Equity Specialist and Co-Chair of the Research EDI Task Force at Unity Health Toronto. Various tips, tools, strategies and ideas for creating inclusive excellence in research through the embedding of EDI principles at all levels will be provided. Please share with your research network!
Date & Time: November 1, 2023 (12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST)
Registration Link: https://bit.ly/heartleacture4
