Tag: Atlantic PATH

Dr. Raza Abidi appointed Digital Health Canada Representative to IMIA

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Join us in congratulating our colleague, Dr. Raza Abidi on being appointed Digital Health Canada Representative to the International Medical Informatics Association! Please see details below for the announcement. Dr. Abidi works alongside Dr. Jong Sung Kim and Dr. Ellen Sweeney on a longstanding research stream on environmental exposures and cancer using data and biological samples (toenails!) from Atlantic PATH. ***** Digital Health Canada’s Board of Directors is pleased to appoint Dr. Raza Abidi to the position of Digital Health Canada Representative to IMIA (the International Medical Informatics Association). Digital Health Canada has been the Canadian Representative since IMIA’s inception in 1980 and is a Charter member. Dr. Abidi is a tenured Professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, and holds a cross-appointment as Professor in the Dalhousie Department of Medicine. He is the founding director and lead scientist at the NICHE (kNowledge Intensive Computing in Healthcare Enterprises) research group that conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of digital health, artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare, and digital transformation. Dr. Abidi served on the Digital Health Canada Board of Directors for six years and has a sound understanding of the mission and activities of the association. He is keenly aware of the need to bring the Canadian digital health community and its achievements to the world stage by enabling active participation in IMIA conferences, events, and working groups. Dr. Abidi is an internationally recognized healthcare researcher and leader with multiple international and national awards and recognitions. His primary research focus is Artificial Intelligence (AI) for healthcare and digital health, and he has extensive experience of (a) health data analytics using state-of-the-art AI methods to derive data-driven health intelligence, (b) health knowledge management by applying semantics-driven AI methods to derive knowledge-driven health intelligence by computerizing and operationalizing clinical practice guidelines/workflows, and (c) implementing research outputs as digital health solutions. His collaborative research activities have successfully led to (a) development of innovative point-of-care digital health solutions, (b) digital transformation of clinical workflows as decision support systems, (c) strategic planning and conception of new research themes and projects, (d) acquisition of multiple competitive research grants from various agencies and industry sponsors, (e) health data analysis and visualization, (f) health system evaluation and optimization studies, (g) publication of research articles at top-tier venues and invited talks, and (h) mentoring of junior researchers and talent development. I am confident that I can showcase the full potential of Canada in digital health research, innovation and entrepreneurship, and engage the broader Digital Health Canada community in IMIA activities so that Canada is regarded as a hub of digital health innovation and transformation. – Dr. Raza Abidi, Digital Health Canada Representative to the International Medical Informatics Association About IMIA IMIA provides leadership and expertise to the interdisciplinary health informatics community around the world. IMIA aims to enable the transformation of healthcare using information technology and plays a key role in promoting and furthering the application of digital technologies in healthcare. IMIA brings together leading scientists, researchers, vendors, developers, and consultants in a global context. Every two years, IMIA holds the preeminent international health informatics conference—World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics: MedInfo—where researchers and practitioners from around the world present their latest work in digital health. About this role As the new Digital Health Canada IMIA representative, Dr. Abidi will act as a liaison between Digital Health Canada and IMIA and will represent Canada on the world stage, connecting Digital Health Canada with representatives from corresponding national organizations and focusing on advances in digital health from other countries. Dr. Abidi will exercise voting rights on behalf of Digital Health Canada at the annual IMIA General Assembly, and will serve a two-year term on the IMIA Board as the Vice President North America.

Mental Health Week & Research

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Unmasking mental health means asking deeper questions, and CanPath data is helping researchers find the answers. This Mental Health Week, we’re recognizing how interconnected mental health is with every part of life. Researchers are using Atlantic PATH data to explore: ? Mental health and shift work (Sweeney et al., 2021) ? Depression, anxiety and the risk of cancer incidence (van Tuijl et al., 2023) ? Socioeconomic status, depression and prostate cancer survivorship (Ilie et al., 2021) ? Post-treatment adverse health correlates among prostate cancer survivors (Ilie et al., 2021) ? Anxiety and depression in prostate cancer survivors (Ilie et al., 2020) Researchers are using CanPath data to explore: ? COVID-19 and mental health in 23 international cohorts (In progress) ? Depression, diet, and diabetes (Schmitz & Sen, 2024) ? System costs of effective mental healthcare coverage (Vasiliadis et al., 2024) ? And more, like how our environments and chronic diseases like cancer intersect with mental health When we look beyond the surface, we see the whole person, and more possibilities for care, policy, and prevention. ? Watch the webinar on depression, diet, and diabetes >> https://lnkd.in/eHNm97YM ? Read the latest publications addressing mental health using CanPath data >> https://lnkd.in/ecQkdGQR  

National Volunteer Week and Thank You Thursday

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Happy National Volunteer Week and Thank You Thursday from CanPath and Atlantic PATH! Atlantic PATH participants are critical partners in advancing health research. For more than fifteen years, their voluntary contributions have enabled discoveries shaping the future of disease prevention, diagnosis, and care. Atlantic PATH participants’ commitment reminds us that every data point represents a person, and every discovery represents hope for healthier communities. Thank you to all our participants for making population health research possible. Learn more about participants’ impact, including Atlantic PATH participant, Barbara Campbell! https://canpath.ca/meet-canpath-participants/

New Article – The Association of Sleep Trouble and Physical Inactivity with Breast Cancer Risk in Nova Scotia

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Congratulations to Dr. Cindy Feng on her new article, “The Association of Sleep Trouble and Physical Inactivity with Breast Cancer Risk in Nova Scotia: Evidence from the Atlantic PATH Cohort.” Breast cancer is a major public health concern, and modifiable health behaviors such as sleep quality and physical activity may influence risk. This study examined the associations between self-reported sleep trouble, sleep duration, and physical activity with breast cancer incidence in a prospective longitudinal cohort of 10,305 females from Nova Scotia. This work is part of Dr. Feng’s ongoing research with Atlantic PATH focused on predictive modeling and geographical analysis of cancer incidence in Atlantic Canada.  

New Article – Quality of Non-Surgical and Non-Pharmacological Knee Osteoarthritis Care in the Maritimes

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Congratulations to Aleksandra Budarick, Dr. Cheryl Hubley-Kozey, Dr. Rebecca Moyer and team on their new article, “Quality of Non-Surgical and Non-Pharmacological Knee Osteoarthritis Care in the Maritimes.” Participants with osteoarthritis from Atlantic PATH were invited to participate in an ancillary study about the Current Management and Health Care Quality for Patients with Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis. Over half of individuals with mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis did not receive recommended core treatments in the Maritimes, highlighting a need to improve care for this patient group.

CIHR Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention

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Team Grants — Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention  This 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, Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), Cancer Research Society (CRS), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) – Adopting Sustainable Partnerships for Innovative Research Ecosystem (ASPIRE), and the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI). This funding opportunity aims to unite interdisciplinary research teams to advance the biological and mechanistic understanding of cancer etiology, genesis, and risk to identify new targets and approaches for cancer prevention, risk reduction and early detection. CanPath and Atlantic PATH can provide letters of support for applicants using our data and biological samples. Registration deadline: April 1, 2025 Application deadline: June 19, 2025 Additional details: https://bit.ly/3PtR8SC Upcoming webinars: January 29, 12:30-2:00 PM ET | Register here. February 5, 12:30-2:00 PM ET | Register here  

New Article – Investigating Skin Cancer Risk and Sun Safety Practices Among LGBTQ+ Communities in Canada

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Congratulations to Dr. François Lagacé, Dr. Ivan Litvinov and team on their new article, “Investigating Skin Cancer Risk and Sun Safety Practices Among LGBTQ+ Communities in Canada.” Participants from Atlantic PATH and the Manitoba Tomorrow Project were invited to participate in the SunFit study led by Dr. Litvinov at McGill University. Skin cancer prevention requires effective sun safety practices. Previous studies have shown that LGBTQ+ individuals exhibit lower sunscreen use and higher tanning bed usage compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. This SunFit study is the first to assess skin cancer risk factors, sun-protective behaviors, and skin cancer concerns among LGBTQ+ participants across Canada.

Got Your Toe(nails)! Guinness World Record Revisited

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The Guinness World Records team is once again reflecting on the record held by the Atlantic PATH cohort. In a new article, “Got your toe(nails)! Scientific study holds largest collection of toenail clippings,” Katherine Gross revisits the collection of toenail samples from Atlantic PATH participants. In 2013, Atlantic PATH received a Guinness Book of World Records for 24,999 toenail samples. Recruitment continued until 2015 and the total number of participants who donated toenails was 30,418!! Atlantic PATH represents participants across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, a region with the highest rates of cancer and chronic disease in the country. “Toenails are an important part of our research….What we’re particularly interested in, in this context, is the extent to which environmental exposure affects our risk of disease.” Atlantic PATH has used data and biological samples to develop an established environmental and occupational health research stream. Stay tuned for more toenail research that is currently in progress, and you can find recent publications here: Hood, K., Sweeney, E., Ilie, G., Keltie, E., Kim, J.S. (2023), Toenail Arsenic Species and Metallome Profiles Associated with Breast, Cervical, Prostate, and Skin Cancer Prevalence in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health Cohort. Frontiers in Public Health: Environmental health and Exposome, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148283 Smith, N.K., Keltie, E., Sweeney, E., Weerasinghe, S., MacPherson, K., Kim, J.S. (2022). “Investigating the Association between Arsenic Exposure and Chronic Disease Using Toenail Speciation Biomarkers: A Feasibility Study.” Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113269 Keltie, E.; Cui, Y.; Hood, K.; Sweeney, E.; Ilie, G.; Adisesh, A.; Dummer, T.; Kim, J.S. (2022). “The Association of Prostate Cancer with the Profiles of Arsenic Species and Metallome: An Analysis from the Atlantic PATH Cohort Study.” Frontiers in Public Health, Environmental Health and Exposome.   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.818069 Majouni, S., Kim, J.S., Sweeney, E., Keltie, E., Abidi, S. (2022). Applying Machine Learning to Arsenic Species and Metallomics Profiles of Toenails to Evaluate Associations of Environmental Arsenic with Incident Cancer Cases. Medical Informatics Europe Conference (MIE) Conference Proceedings. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Fleming, D., Crook, S., Evans, C., Nader, M., Atia, M., Hicks, J., Sweeney, E., McFarlane, C., Kim, J.S., Keltie, E., Adisesh, A. (2020). “Assessing arsenic in human toenail clippings using portable X-ray fluorescence.” Applied Radiation and Isotopes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109491 Fleming, D., Crook, S., Evans, C., Nader, M., Atia, M., Hicks, J., Sweeney, E., McFarlane, C., Kim, J.S., Keltie, E., Adisesh, A. (2020). “Portable X-ray Fluorescence of Zinc Applied to Human Toenail Clippings.” Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2020.126603 Dummer, T., Yu, Z.M., Nauta, L., Murimboh, J., Parker, L. (2015). “Geostatistical modelling of arsenic in drinking water wells and related toenail arsenic concentrations across Nova Scotia, Canada.” Science of the Total Environment, 505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.055 Yu, Z.M., Dummer, T., Adams, A., Murimboh, J., Parker, L. (2014). “Relationship between drinking water and toenail arsenic concentration among a cohort of Nova Scotians.” Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.88 Yu, Z.M, Fung, B., Murimboh, J., Parker, L., Dummer, T. (2014). “What is the role of obesity in the aetiology of arsenic-related disease?” Environment International, 66.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2014.01.028  

Data Services in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

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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!