Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants

Notice of Upcoming Funding Opportunity: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants Webinar: Winter 2025 Launch: Fall 2024 / Winter 2025 Registration Deadline: Winter 2025 Application Deadline: Summer 2025 Funding Start Date: Fall 2025 *Atlantic PATH and CanPath – Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health are always happy to support access to data and biological samples, including funding applications and writing letters of support* The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention. This funding opportunity is led by the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (CIHR-ICR) in collaboration with the CIHR Institutes of: Aging (CIHR-IA), Gender and Health (CIHR-IGH), Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (CIHR-INMD), Population and Public Health (CIHR-IPPH), and in partnership with the BioCanRx, Cancer Research Society (CRS), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) – Adopting Sustainable Partnerships for Innovative Research Ecosystem (ASPIRE), and other external partners. The Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention aims to unite interdisciplinary research teams to advance the biological and mechanistic understanding of cancer etiology, genesis, and risk, linked with host, lifestyle, environmental, social, and other factors, to identify new targets and approaches for cancer prevention, risk reduction, and early detection. Collaborations between traditional cancer prevention researchers (e.g., population and public health researchers, epidemiologists, social scientists) and those from other disciplines (e.g., biologists, immunologists, geneticists, drug developers) or who are new to the field are strongly encouraged. Collectively, these research teams will develop and disseminate evidence-based solutions to enable improvements in cancer prevention, risk reduction, and early detection at the individual and/or population-level. At the time of this announcement, the total amount available for this funding opportunity is up to $32,000,000 CAD to fund up to approximately sixteen (16) grants. This amount may increase if additional funding partners participate. Additional details: https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54112.html

Upcoming Webinar: Environmental Exposure Datasets with CanPath and CANUE

Enhancing health research with new environmental exposure datasets from CANUE and CanPath November 18, 2024, 1-2pmEST/2-3pmAST Register: https://canpath.ca/2024/10/enhancing-health-research-with-new-environmental-exposure-datasets-from-canue-and-canpath/ CanPath is expanding its collaboration with the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) by adding 17 new environmental exposure datasets to its existing data resources. CANUE provides standardized, area-level data on air and noise pollution, green spaces, climate change, and socioeconomic factors, linked to health cohort studies using participant residential postal codes. This webinar will introduce researchers to these new datasets, which include comprehensive measures of green spaces and vegetation (e.g., NDVI, Landsat, MODIS), air quality (PM2.5, smoke exposure), accessibility and transportation, and socioeconomic conditions. These data will be integrated with CanPath’s national harmonized dataset, providing researchers with a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of environmental exposures and health outcomes. The session will highlight practical examples of how these datasets can be utilized in studies focused on chronic diseases, cancer, and environmental health, offering researchers powerful tools to examine the spatial dimensions of health determinants. Additionally, we are pleased to share the upcoming release of Understanding Cancer Prevention through Geospatial Science: Putting Cancer in its Place, edited by one of our presenters, Dr. Trevor Dummer. The book discusses how geospatial science can support cancer prevention, featuring CanPath and CANUE in one of its chapters. Who should attend? Health and environmental researchers Epidemiologists Data scientists Public health professionals This webinar is an essential opportunity for researchers looking to expand their toolkit for investigating the impact of environmental exposures on health, utilizing rich, nationally harmonized cohort data. About the presenters Dr. Trevor Dummer Dr. Trevor Dummer, a health geographer with a PhD in Environmental Epidemiology from Newcastle University, has made significant contributions to cancer research and prevention. He joined CanPath in 2008 as the Research Director and later Co-Principal Investigator of Atlantic PATH. He was the Co-Scientific Director of the BC Generations Project (2015-2021). He has been the National Scientific Co-Director of CanPath since 2018. Holding the Canadian Cancer Society Chair in Cancer Primary Prevention, Dr. Dummer also serves as a Professor at the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (UBC). His research delves into the impact of environmental, community, and neighbourhood factors on health, specifically focusing on cancer prevention through community knowledge translation and studying the links between cancer and environmental exposures like radon and arsenic, as well as obesity and the built environment. Sheraz Cheema Sheraz Cheema has been CanPath’s Data Manager and part of the CanPath Access Office since January 2023. He supports data requests from national and international researchers, manages CanPath research data, generates datasets for approved projects, develops and maintains components of data auditing programs for quality assurance purposes, and provides consultative advice on data requirements. Prior to CanPath, Sheraz worked as a Research Analyst at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAHM). He holds degrees in neuroscience and health informatics. Dany Doiron Dany Doiron has been the Managing Director of CANUE since March 2022. Prior to this, he acted as Data Linkage Lead and Special Projects Manager (June 2016 – March 2022). Under his leadership, CANUE data have been integrated with all of Canada’s large cohorts and many provincial administrative health data organizations, providing one-stop research approvals. Dany is also a Research Associate at the Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada, and acts as the Chief Operating Officer of the Canadian Cohort of Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD), a large population-based cohort dedicated to better understanding Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Dany holds a PhD in Epidemiology and focuses his research on the respiratory health impacts of ambient air pollution exposure. Joey Syer Joey Syer has been the CANUE Data Director since November 2022. He oversees the development of CANUE datasets and projects dedicated to their improvement in epidemiological research. Joey is also a part-time course instructor at the University of Victoria in Population Health and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection. Prior to CANUE, he spent 10 years (2012-2022) as a geomatics specialist at Hemmera, an Ausenco Company. Joey holds degrees in GIS and Epidemiology. He has a strong interest in environmental epidemiology, using GIS, remote sensing, and machine learning to improve environmental exposure data quality, and a wide range of health outcomes.

Data Services in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

Our team was glad to attend the Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit (MSSU) webinar today to hear about the data services available in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Atlantic PATH data is linked to administrative data with the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) and Health Data Nova Scotia (HDNS). Please feel free to reach out to any of our teams for more information!

Administrative Health Data Services in the Maritimes Webinar

Join the Maritime SPOR Support Unit to learn about accessing data administrative health data with Health Data Nova Scotia and the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training, including linked data sources from Atlantic PATH and the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging! Thursday, Oct 17th, 12-1pm AST Registration: https://t.co/r8r6KevJht

Estimating Additive Interaction in Two-Stage Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis

Authors: Maartje Basten, Lonneke A van Tuijl, Kuan-Yu Pan, Adriaan W Hoogendoorn, Femke Lamers, Adelita V Ranchor, Joost Dekker, Philipp Frank, Henrike Galenkamp, Mirjam J Knol, Nolwenn Noisel, Yves Payette, Erik R Sund, Aeilko H Zwinderman, Lützen Portengen, Mirjam I Geerlings Journal: American Journal of Epidemiology Abstract: Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis provides important opportunities to study interaction and effect modification for which individual studies often lack power. While previous meta-analyses have commonly focused on multiplicative interaction, additive interaction holds greater relevance for public health and may in certain contexts better reflect biological interaction. Methodological literature on interaction in IPD meta-analysis does not cover additive interaction for models including binary or time-to-event outcomes. We aimed to describe how the Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) and other measures of additive interaction or effect modification can be validly estimated within two-stage IPD meta-analysis. First, we explain why direct pooling of study-level RERI estimates may lead to invalid results. Next, we propose a three-step procedure to estimate additive interaction: 1) estimate effects of both exposures and their product term on the outcome within each individual study; 2) pool study-specific estimates using multivariate meta-analysis; 3) estimate an overall RERI and 95% confidence interval based on the pooled effect estimates. We illustrate this procedure by investigating interaction between depression and smoking and risk of smoking-related cancers using data from the PSYchosocial factors and Cancer (PSY-CA) consortium. We discuss implications of this procedure, including the application in meta-analysis based on published data. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae325

Lung Cancer Webinar (October 10th)

Webinar: Lung Cancer Screening Initiatives by G7 Cancer Dr. Jennifer Brooks, Executive Director of CanPath, is actively involved in research focused on cancer prevention and early detection. In addition to her role at CanPath, Dr. Brooks contributes to the G7 Cancer working group, which addresses cancer prevention and early detection on an international scale. Interested in the latest developments in lung cancer screening? Register here for their upcoming webinar on lung cancer screening protocols across the G7 countries: https://lnkd.in/diUYQ-gh ?️ October 10, 2024 ? 8:00 am EST/9:00 am AST  

Webinar: Genomic and environmental influences on Canadian health phenotypes and chronic disease outcomes

Webinar: Genomic and environmental influences on Canadian health phenotypes and chronic disease outcomes When? July 18, 2024, 2pmEST/3pmAST Register: https://bit.ly/3XU9Jws In this talk, Drs. Philip Awadalla and Marie-Julie Favé describe the intricate interplay between genetic and environmental factors and their influence on chronic diseases and phenotypes, utilizing data from CanPath, Canada’s largest population health cohort. By integrating genomic, environmental, and lifestyle data, Drs. Awadalla and Favé uncover how gene-environment interactions shape health outcomes. These findings provide insights into disease mechanisms and potential interventions, highlighting the importance of large and deep population cohort data. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics that contribute to chronic disease development and the critical role of comprehensive population health studies in identifying at-risk populations and individuals, supporting both personalized and public health strategies.  

Predicting chronic disease enabled by New Brunswick and Nova Scotia data linkage

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Wednesday, June 5, 2024 Predicting chronic disease enabled by New Brunswick and Nova Scotia data linkage Predicting chronic disease has gotten faster and simpler with the linkage of data gathered from a longitudinal study involving over 34,000 participants and administrative health data routinely gathered by New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A collaboration between the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (Atlantic PATH) and New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data & Training (NB-IRDT), and Health Data Nova Scotia (HDNS) is an important opportunity for advancing health research. “I am absolutely thrilled to see these linkages happen,” said Dr. Robin Urquhart, Atlantic PATH Scientific Director. “Atlantic PATH is an incredibly rich resource to understand the health of Atlantic Canadians and all of the different factors, like our biology, behaviours, and environments, that impact our health. This new linkage activity makes our resource more powerful, giving us access to different sources of data to answer complex health questions affecting all Atlantic Canadians.” Atlantic PATH follows the health of participants from all four Atlantic Canadian provinces to help researchers discover why some people develop certain chronic diseases and cancers and others don’t in order to advance prevention and early diagnosis. Atlantic PATH is part of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath), a pan-Canadian, longitudinal cohort studying Canadians’ health, behaviours and environments. “Not only is this historical, record-level data linkage activity, this work is crucial for Atlantic Canada, which has among the country’s highest rates of chronic disease and cancer,” said Dr. Ted McDonald, director of NB-IRDT. “Critically, it will enable researchers to focus on studies related to cancer and chronic disease that cannot be undertaken without linking the separate data sources. The data linkage has other important implications too, such as the potential to inform health policy and improve detection, prevention and treatment.” Based at the University of New Brunswick, NB-IRDT provides researchers with secure access to pseudonymized personal level administrative data and conducts research on policy topics to support evidence informed government decision-making. NB-IRDT is a member of Health Data Research Network Canada, a pan-Canadian network of data centres and research organizations. HDRN Canada facilitates access to multi-regional administrative data to address health challenges that cross boundaries and foster improvements in health and health equity. Within the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University, HDNS facilitates research and innovation in Nova Scotia by providing access to linkable administrative health data and analysis for research purposes in a remote, secure, controlled environment. HDNS is also a member of HDRN Canada. “This is an exciting opportunity for researchers across the Maritimes,” said Dr. Sam Stewart, director of HDNS. “Research cohorts like Atlantic PATH take a tremendous amount of work to collect, so it is paramount that we do everything we can to make that data as effective as possible. Linking Atlantic PATH data to the data resources at HDNS and NB-IRDT will enable researchers to discover key, long-term insights into the health of Canadians, and signal an important step forward in how research data can be leveraged and enhanced within the healthcare system.” “This is an exciting development, as this linkage includes data from participants in two provinces, so it is already multi-regional in nature,” said Dr. Kim McGrail, HDRN Canada Scientific Director. “It also builds on linkage of other regional CanPath cohorts across Canada, creating many new research opportunities that can help us to better understand chronic disease and how to prevent them.” New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the first Atlantic Canadian provinces to link to Atlantic PATH, the result of a long and deliberate collaboration involving HDRN Canada, Atlantic PATH, CanPath, and administrative data holders in the four Atlantic provinces. Since the transfer of Atlantic PATH baseline data holdings to NB-IRDT and HDNS, researchers can now apply to link Atlantic PATH data to provincial administrative data holdings, such as screenings, hospitalizations, medication use, health outcomes and more. View the NB data holdings here View the NS data holdings here. MEDIA CONTACT: Dr. Kate Milberry Strategic Communications Manager HDRN Canada kate.milberry@hdrn.ca 604.306.1512

National Health and Fitness Day

June 1st was National Health and Fitness Day! ? It is important to recognize the importance of maintaining the health of our communities and the vital role of regular physical activity among Canadians. CanPath and our regional cohorts strive to advance research that promotes healthy living and well-being for everyone. Check out these interesting findings based on research conducted with Atlantic PATH cohort data, focusing primarily on the relationship between multimorbidity and physical activity. Together, we can build a healthier, more active, and fit future! ?