UNews - Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Fostering resilience in mothers and babies following the Fort McMurray wildfire

caroline.zentner — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 15:45:27 +0000

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist, is one of a group of Canadian researchers led by Dr. David Olson at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta who seek to reduce the negative effects of stress on pregnant women, newborns and their mothers following the Fort McMurray wildfire.

The research study, which was recently awarded $500,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, could lead to new strategies for helping people who are facing disasters in the future.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a U of L neuroscientist, is part of a team of researchers who want to provide relief to people affected by disasters.

“The overall purpose for the study is to ascertain whether we could apply to a large number of women a simple but effective intervention to reduce their stress and thereby improve the outcomes of their pregnancies and the health of their babies,” says Olson. “If this intervention is effective, it can be applied to people everywhere in any country who are victims of natural disasters.”

Previous studies have shown that pregnant women affected by a natural disaster tend to deliver early. The children of pregnant women experiencing a disaster are at higher risk for becoming overweight or obese, developing early onset type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

“To overcome this trauma is very difficult and will take a long time,” says Metz. “That’s why we think that, if we offer an intervention that is easy to do, it’s something that we can provide and give back to the community of Fort McMurray.”

Launched by Olson last fall, women participating in the study—177 so far—are asked to do daily online expressive writing for 15 to 20 minutes for four days. Expressive writing is a well-established technique that allows for emotional disclosure and has been shown to reduce biochemical markers of physical and immune functioning. Olson says preliminary results suggest the women in the study are very stressed.

Metz’s lab will be determining the allostatic load (AL), which is the wear and tear that accumulates in the body when exposed to repeated or chronic stress, by analyzing tissue samples such as blood, urine, hair or breast milk. Researchers can then identify which biomarkers of disease are linked to the experience of stress. Comparing the AL score before and after treatment will help the researchers determine if the expressive writing treatment has been effective.

“We want to learn how we can provide fast relief next time something like this happens, it could be a flood, a wildfire, or a tornado,” says Metz.

As part of the study, children’s neurodevelopmental outcomes, weight and metabolic health will be monitored for at least two years. An additional portion of the study will ensure that the processes and outcomes of research are shared with the community and stakeholder groups. Metz says the study results will help inform decision making among health professions, emergency disaster managers and policy makers.

CIHR grant allows researchers to dig deeper into the effects of prenatal stress

caroline.zentner — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 16:21:43 +0000

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist, and her team of researchers have received more than $1.1 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct further research into prenatal stress and examine the role of fathers’ stress in preterm birth and newborn development.

Research evidence suggests prenatal stress is linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, and that the negative consequences from prenatal stress can be passed from one generation to another.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, at left, works with a student in the lab at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience. The CIHR funding will allow the research team to further study the effects of prenatal stress.

“This research funding will help us get closer to answers about the effects of prenatal stress and identify treatments that can improve and even reverse preterm birth risk,” says Metz. “About 15 million preterm babies are born every year and they can face increased health risks throughout their lives. This is a significant issue around the world.”

Metz, along with Dr. Igor Kovalchuk, a U of L biology professor, and Dr. David Olson, an obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and physiology professor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, will take a neuroscience approach and use three separate rat models of prenatal stress. They’ll study the effects of generational stress on offspring when only fathers are stressed, when only mothers are stressed, and when both mothers and fathers are stressed.

“We will identify mechanisms involved in how the brain translates stress to alter pregnancy health and identify markers of prenatal stress that translate to future human studies of risk assessment,” says Metz.

The researchers will also study the mitigating effects of enriched environments and drug treatments. Previous research has shown that enriched environments have reduced stress responses. The researchers hypothesize that the use of enriched environments will reverse stress markers, normalize pregnancy outcomes and lessen the negative behavioural and developmental outcomes.

“Our goal is to develop new treatments that promote healthy futures for our children and next generations,” says Metz.

Maclean’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Rankings mark ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as one of Canada’s best

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:33:00 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has solidified its reputation as a university of choice for students and one of the strongest research universities in its class, with a third place national ranking in the Primarily Undergraduate category of the annual Maclean’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Rankings.

President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon is pleased with the U of L's third place national ranking in the Primarily Undergraduate category of the annual Maclean’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Rankings.

It is the fourth consecutive year that the U of L has been ranked third overall in the Primarily Undergraduate classification, a category that includes 19 universities from across the country. In 2015, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ maintained or bettered its category ranking in nine of 12 indicators from the previous year, reflecting the U of L’s concerted focus on increasing its research portfolio while maintaining a strong undergraduate educational experience.

“The Maclean’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ rankings help confirm that we continue to make significant progress as a university in the areas of research, teaching and student services,” says ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon. “Our impact as a university is being noticed, not only by leaders and stakeholders across the country, as reflected by the reputational portion of these rankings, but by the increasing number of leading faculty and bright minds that make the U of L their university of choice.”

The U of L realized its greatest category gain in investments it makes to student services, surging three spots to rank second overall in the category. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ also moved up two spots in funding available for student scholarships and bursaries, and jumped one spot in the reputational rankings, moving to third overall.

“The student experience is always at the forefront of our philosophy,” adds Mahon. “We are committed to providing a personal and supportive campus atmosphere that enables our students to achieve their academic goals.”

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ continues to set the standard for primarily undergraduate institutions in terms of medical and science grants received, a compilation of the average size and number of peer-adjudicated research grants from both the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The U of L has led this category for the past two years.

“These rankings reflect the great talent, ability and dedication of our faculty and staff,” says Mahon. “The contributions we make to communities across Alberta, Canada and beyond through research and teaching are significant. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community, and those who support us, can be very proud of what the U of L has been able to accomplish in less than 50 years.”

The complete Maclean’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Rankings report was sent to digital subscribers on Wednesday, Oct. 28, with the print version released today.

Kovalchuk, Kolb team up for CIHR project

trevor.kenney — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:37:16 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are teaming up to better understand unintended side effects associated with radiation treatment of cancer cells and the difference between female and male patients.

Dr. Bryan Kolb, a neuroscience researcher at the U of L's Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) and Dr. Olga Kovalchuk, a biological sciences researcher who specializes in researching the affects of radiation on cancer cells and nearby cells, are collectively putting their lab teams on the project, which is being funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Drs. Bryan Kolb, left, and Olga Kovalchuk,

Over the next five years, the research team will receive more than $930,000.

The studies, which may lead to the development of male or female-specific treatments that improve the quality of life for all cancer patients, is attempting to solve problems yet to be fully explored - why does radiation delivered in one part of your body to help eliminate cancer cells affect your memory, balance and other behaviours normally managed by your brain - and are those effects different in men and women?

"There's a phenomenon we've heard about called 'radio brain,' where people who receive radiation therapy treatment talk about having memory loss or other side effects, including balance issues, concentration issues and other deficits," says Kolb.

"Chemotherapy side effects are more well known, and occur in about 50 per cent of the population receiving chemotherapy treatments. However, virtually nothing is known about radiation effects, and even less is known about the gender differences."

Cancer patients have been receiving radiation therapy for more than a century but this is the first time that a gender-specific approach has been taken to see how radiation therapies affect the male and female brain.

Kolb adds that it is commonly thought that shielding the area which is not supposed to be affected by radiation was enough to prevent it from affecting non-cancerous areas.

"Because we have heard about the reported changes to the brain and behaviour following radiation therapy, we know that something is changing to affect the brain, even with steps taken to prevent radiation 'spillover', but we don't know exactly how it becomes affected."

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk has been studying the effects of radiation on plants, animals and people for decades, and has developed a number of recommendations based on her work in Ukraine near Chernobyl, the largest nuclear disaster in history.

"We know that in radiation-induced cancers, there are proven differences between how men and women are affected," says Kovalchuk. "With Dr. Kolb's expertise in how the brain responds to various illnesses and treatments, and how gender specific behaviour is determined by the brain, I'm excited about what we might uncover working together on this unique project."

Kolb and Kovalchuk have also enlisted two Alberta Health Services medical physicists working at the Jack Ady Cancer Centre (JACC) at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge – Dr. Charles Kirkby and Dr. Esmaeel Ghasroddashti.

Kirkby and Ghasroddashti are responsible for making sure the radiation doses are proportionately measured and that the results are comparable to a human dosage of cancer treatment.

"Their co-operation has been central to our ability to make this project work," says Kovalchuk. "We would not be able to do this without them, and to have them in the community and as research partners is a huge benefit."

Kovalchuk also acknowledges the novel nature of the work, but stresses that it will be very relevant in the future.

"This will be the first large-scale animal model study, with a gender specific focus," she says. "While this project involves rats, we are always thinking about how our research can be moved forward to help people. The data we get here could be used in future studies. This is just the beginning of this process, and because so little is known about it, we have to start somewhere."

Kovalchuk is also the recent recipient of a new CIHR Chair award in Gender, Work and Health. Her research project is dedicated to examining whether men and women are affected differently in nuclear work environments, which includes the nuclear power industry, healthcare and research departments.

CIHR is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system.

UNews - Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Fostering resilience in mothers and babies following the Fort McMurray wildfire

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CIHR grant allows researchers to dig deeper into the effects of prenatal stress

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