Tag: Conference

Conference of Atlantic Medical Students (CoAMS)

Posted on by pathwp

Atlantic PATH is pleased to be represented at the Conference of Atlantic Medical Students (CoAMS) on April 27th at Dalhousie University. This conference seeks to facilitate student networking to build a strong community environment among Atlantic medical students that will promote knowledge sharing and future collaboration. To accomplish this, a series of medical talks and workshops are offered to students by a variety of health care professionals and related professions. Megan Smith, B.Eng., is a Dalhousie University medical student and will present a poster highlighting her Research In Medicine (RIM) work, “Examining the Effects of Isolation on SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Levels During the Early Pandemic: A Retrospective Analysis of Self-Reported Survey and Serology Data.”  Atlantic PATH’s Research Director, Dr. Ellen Sweeney is pleased to be a judge at CoAMS for the medical students’ oral presentations. Thank you to the CoAMS organizing committee for the invitation.

Dr. Jennifer Brooks at #CCRC2023

Posted on by pathwp

Dr. Jennifer Brooks is the Executive Director of CanPath and an Assistant Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. Brooks’ research interests include breast cancer epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, imaging biomarkers of breast cancer risk and response to treatment; and survivorship.  Dr. Brooks will be attending the conference alongside two of her students, Shana Kim and Rebecca Christensen.  Shana Kim is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and a Research Coordinator at Women’s College Hospital. She will present her research on the association between pre-diagnostic routine lipid measurements and mortality among breast cancer survivors in the lightning session on Survivorship on Sunday, November 12th at 1:30pm.  Dr. Rebecca Christensen is a CIHR Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Toronto. She will be presenting alongside Shana Kim in the lightning session on Survivorship on Sunday, November 12th at 1:30pm. Her research focuses on adherence to breast cancer screening guidelines and risk of breast cancer-specific death.   

Langille and PAC (Keats/Grandy) Labs at #CCRC2023

Posted on by pathwp

The Langille and PAC (Keats/Grandy) labs will be well represented at the Canadian Conference for Cancer Research. Dr. Morgan Langille is the Canada Research Chair in Human Microbiomics and an associate professor in the Departments of Pharmacology, and Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University. He leads the Langille Lab which strives to better understand the role of the microbiome in various diseases by developing and testing novel bioinformatic methods. Dr. Robyn Wright is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Langille Lab who is interested in microbial ecology/microbial community dynamics in natural and synthetic systems and how these respond to change, as well as mitigating anthropogenic impacts on the environment. Dr. Wright will be presenting in a concurrent session on linking tumour, blood and oral microbiomes with cancer outcomes on Monday, November 13th at 4:40pm. The session on the Gut Microbiome for Precision Oncology will be chaired by Dr. Bertrand Routy (CHUM/CRCHUM) and Patient Partner, Darren Frew.  Dr. Vanessa DeClercq will also be in attendance at the conference. Dr. DeClercq is a Research Associate in the Langille Lab and holds an Adjunct appointment in Department of Community Health & Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. Dr. DeClercq is an Associated Researcher and former Research Scientist with Atlantic PATH. Her research interests include the role that lifestyle behaviour, such as diet and activity, play in chronic disease prevention and management.  ***** The Physical Activity for Persons Living with or Affected by Cancer (PAC Lab) will be well represented at the upcoming Canadian Cancer Research Conference. The PAC Lab is directed by Atlantic PATH’s colleagues, Dr. Melanie Keats and Dr. Scott Grandy.  Dr. Melanie Keats is a Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance, Division of Kinesiology, Dalhousie University. She holds a research appointment with the Division of Medical Oncology with Nova Scotia Health, Co-Chairs the Physical Activity and Cancer Care Standards Working Group with the Nova Scotia Cancer Care Program, and is a Senior Research Scientist with the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Keats’ research takes an interdisciplinary approach to better understanding the role of exercise in improving the quality of life of cancer survivors.        Dr. Scott Grandy is an Associate Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance, Division of Kinesiology, Dalhousie University. He holds a research appointment with the Division of Medical Oncology with Nova Scotia Health and is a Senior Research Scientist with the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Grandy’s research interests include kinesiology, and cardiovascular disease and exercise, disease prevention, and aging.     Tom Christensen, MSc is the Research Coordinator and Senior Clinical Physiologist in the PAC Lab. Tom will present a poster on missed opportunities in supporting informal cancer caregiver (and patient) health. Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST.  Tom will also present this work in the lightning session in a panel on Cancer Survivorship on Sunday, November 12th at 1:30pm AST.      Jodi Langley, Msc is a doctoral candidate in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University. Jodi will present a poster on the associations among referral source, enrollment, and adherence to an exercise oncology program for individuals in rural and remote communities in the EXCEL study. Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST.    Steph Kendall, MSc, completed her Master’s research with supervisor, Dr. Grandy. A poster  will be presented focused on altered lipid-based metabolites as early markers of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity and the cardioprotective benefits of physical activity in breast cancer patients. Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST.    Dr. Stefan Heinze is a postdoctoral fellow with the PAC Lab and the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Cancer Care Program working towards integrating exercise and physical activity programming as a standard of care. In addition, he has helped to introduce the measurement of frailty into the PAC Lab’s research. He is interested in how we can use frailty assessments to help decide upon the best care pathways for each person living with a cancer diagnosis.  Dr. Heinze will present a poster on activating cancer communities through an exercise strategy for survivors (ACCESS), an implementation-effectiveness study of a 12-week multimodal exercise program for people living with cancer. Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST.    *Photo Credit: Dalhousie University

Atlantic PATH (Cui & Sweeney) at #CCRC2023

Posted on by pathwp

Atlantic PATH will be well represented at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference. Yunsong Cui, MSc, is the Data Analyst at Atlantic PATH, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University. He performs statistical analyses of health outcomes using data from Atlantic PATH, patient registries and administrative health databases. His primary research interests include physical activity, lifestyle, diet, and environmental factors related to cancer and comorbidities. His work at Atlantic PATH involves projects on cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, environmental exposures, and polypharmacy.  Yunsong will be presenting a poster on depression, anxiety and the risk of cancer from the Psychosocial Factors and Cancer Incidence (PSY-CA) consortium, which includes data from 18 longitudinal cohorts in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Canada, including Atlantic PATH, CARTaGENE (Quebec) and the Ontario Health Study (N=617,355).  Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST.  Yunsong will also present on the PSY-CA study in the lightning session in a panel on Cancer Risk and Primary Prevention on Tuesday, November 14 at 10:40am AST.  Dr. Ellen Sweeney is the Research Director at Atlantic PATH, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University; Associate Member, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute; Affiliate Scientist, Nova Scotia Health; Scholar, Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University; and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University. Dr. Sweeney’s background is in environmental health and breast cancer. She is the primary contact for data access and leads the environmental and occupational health research streams at Atlantic PATH.   Dr. Sweeney will present a poster on exploring environmental exposure to arsenic and cancer risk in Atlantic PATH using toxicological and machine learning methods, as well as one on the mental health status of prostate cancer survivors in the Atlantic PATH cohort. Posters will be up for the duration of the conference and during viewing sessions on Sunday, November 12th from 12-1:30pm AST and Monday, November 13th from 1:10-2:40pm AST. Dr. Sweeney will also present the mental health and prostate cancer study in the lightning session in a panel on Cancer Survivorship on Sunday, November 12th at 1:30pm.    

Dr. Philip Awadalla represents CanPath at #CCRC2023

Posted on by pathwp

CanPath Scientific Director, Dr. Philip Awadalla, will represent CanPath at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference. Dr. Awadalla is also the Director of Computational Biology and Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Professor of Population and Medical Genomics at the University of Toronto, and Executive Director of the Ontario Health Study. His research interests include the development of genomics approaches, model-based tools, and population-based approaches to study mutation rates, genome biology, and cancer.   Along with Patient Partner and Atlantic PATH participant, Pauline McIntyre, Dr. Awadalla will chair a panel on CanPath: Canada’s Largest Population Laboratory for Cancer Research on Monday, November 13th at 11:40 AST. Presenters include    Dr. Dylan O’Sullivan (Alberta Health Services, University of Calgary) speaking about risk factors for early-onset colorectal cancer;  Dr. Samina Abidi (Dalhousie University) speaking about a digital health and artificial-based public health platform for cancer risk prediction;  Dr. Sara Nejatinamini (Alberta Tomorrow Project, Alberta Health Services) speaking about changes in breast and cervical cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic; and   Dr. Vikki Ho (University of Montreal, CARTaGENE) speaking about harnessing data to build a cancer prevention research program.  Dr. Awadalla will also represent CanPath on a panel chaired by Dr. Sherri Christian on Networked Cancer Research in Canada on Tuesday, November 14th at 9:00am AST.   

Canadian Cancer Research Conference Community Event

Posted on by pathwp

CanPath and Atlantic PATH are excited to participate in the upcoming Community Event, “Cancer: Prevention, Treatment & You” at the Canadian Cancer Research Conference. Our team members are looking forward to meeting you!   Megan Fleming, Communications and Knowledge Translation Officer, CanPath  Jason Hicks, Executive Director, Atlantic PATH   Ellen Sweeney, Research Director, Atlantic PATH  This free event is open to the public:  Explore an exhibit hall with resources for people of all ages  Speak one-on-one with patient advocates  Learn about risk reduction  Get up-to-date information on screening and treatment, as well as helpful advice on life after a cancer diagnosis   Panel: Moderated by Eilish Bonang, Anchor of Global Morning News in Halifax, you will hear about interesting research from:  Dr. Nathalie Saint-Jacques, MSc, PhD, Senior Epidemiologist, Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program  Dr Michael N. Ha, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Radiation Oncologist, Nova Scotia Health  Mr. Tom Christensen, MSc, Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CSEP-CEP), Physical Activity and Cancer (PAC) Lab   Details:   Saturday, November 11th   1:30-4:30pm AST  Halifax Convention Centre: Argyle Suite  1650 Argyle Street, Halifax 

CanPath Representation at the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Conference

Posted on by pathwp

We’re so glad to have representation from Atlantic PATH, CARTaGENE, Manitoba Tomorrow Project, Ontario Health Study, and CanPath at the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Conference in Halifax this week! CanPath and the regional cohorts are well represented in the following sessions: Monday, June 26, 2023 Workshop 1 – Mentorship for Junior Faculty and Funding Opportunities: How to Break into the Game as a Junior Faculty Member [Dr. Vikki Ho, Scientific Co-Director, CARTaGENE] Workshop 3 – Data Repositories in Canada: Overview and Data Access 101  [Dr. Robin Urquhart, Scientific Director, Atlantic PATH] Tuesday, June 27, 2023 Concurrent Sessions B5: Lifecourse and Chronic Disease Epidemiology – Leveraging population health cohorts to identify cancer biomarkers in blood up to seven years prior to diagnosis          Presenter: Nicholas Chang, PhD candidate, OICR Poster Session   The Impact of Alcohol Consumption and Single Nucleode Polymorphisms on the High Rates of Colorectal Cancer in Atlantic Canada                                                                   Presenter: Carlee Feinstein, Research Assistant, St. FX                                                                                                                                                                                                        Authors: Carlee A Feinstein, Derrick G Lee, Allison Walsh, Tiffany S Bondo           The Manitoba Tomorrow Project: A Canadian Cohort Presented by: Dr. Travis Hrubeniuk, Project Lead, Manitoba Tomorrow Project Authors: Travis Hrubeniuk, Sachin Katyal, Donna Turner Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath): Celebrang Compleng the Provincial Map and Cross-Province Data Linkage Presented by: Dr. John McLaughlin, Executive Director, CanPath Authors: John McLaughlin, Riaz Alvi, Philip Awadalla, Parveen Bhatti, Trevor Dummer, Jason Hicks, Vikki Ho, Grace Shen-Tu, Kimberly Skead, Ellen Sweeney, Donna Turner, Robin Urquhart, Jennifer Vena Examining the impact of inflammatory bowel disease on colorectal cancer risk in Atlantic Canada Presented by: Livia Clarke, Research Assistant, Dalhousie Medical School / St. FX Authors: Livia Clarke, Derrick Lee, Ellen Sweeney The Impact of Abnormal Sleep and Circadian Disruption on Atlantic Canada’s High Rate of Colorectal Cancer Presented by: Alison Walsh, Research Assistant, St. FX Authors: Alison J Walsh, Carlee A Feinstein, Tiffany S Bondoc, Megan K MacGillivray, Derrick G Lee The Ontario Health Study (OHS) Presented by: Sarah Salih, Data Analyst, Ontario Health Study Authors: Victoria Kirsh, Kimberly Skead, Kelly McDonald, Nancy Kreiger, Julian Lile, Karen Menard, John McLaughlin, Sutapa Mukherjee, Lyle Palmer, Vivek Goel, Mark Purdue, Sarah Salih, Philip Awadalla Smoking, aberrant DNA methylaon of the F2RL3 and AHRR genes, and lung cancer risk                                                                                                                                                     Presented by: Vikki Ho, Scientific Co-Director, CARTaGENE                                                                                                                                                                                                         Authors: Alice Nguyen, Anita Koushiki, Laura Pelland-St. Pierre, Michael Pham, Romain Pasquet, Sherryl Tauylor, Delphine Bosson-Rieutort, Vikki Ho The influence of occupaonal risk factors on DNA methylaon in the AHRR and F2RL3 genes Presented by: Laura Pelland-St-Pierre Authors: Michael Pham, Laura Pelland-St-Pierre, Alice Nguyen, Romain Pasquet, Sherryl Taylor, Delphine Bosson-Rieutort, Anita Koushik, Vikki Ho Wednesday, June 28, 2023 Concurrent Session C5: Cancer Epidemiology II – Exploring Environmental Exposure to Arsenic and Cancer Risk in the Atlantic PATH Cohort using Toxicological and Machine Learning Methods Presenter: Dr. Ellen Sweeney, Research Director, Atlantic PATH Please feel free to contact Atlantic PATH, CanPath or any of the regional cohorts to learn more about these projects!

Join us in Halifax — CCRA Call for Abstracts

Posted on by pathwp

The Canadian Cancer Research Conference provides an excellent opportunity to present research to the cancer community. Abstract submissions from the entire spectrum of research topics are welcome. Abstract submission for the 2023 Canadian Cancer Research Conference is now open.  Abstract submission deadline: Friday, June 9, 2023 at 11:59 PM (midnight) EDT Abstract submissions from the entire spectrum of cancer research topics are welcome. The online abstract submission process is bilingual. Abstract submissions will be accepted in both English and French. Abstracts will appear in the language of submission, and posters may be prepared and presented orally in the presenter’s language of choice. Please note all lightning and oral presenters must present in person at the 2023 CCRC in Halifax. Additional details: https://www.ccra-acrc.ca/conference/abstracts/