Research News

	Routine preoperative medical consultations don’t improve surgery outcomes March 27, 2023 - A large observational study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that most patients do not medically benefit from consultation with a medical specialist before their surgery.
	Using big data to help the smallest babies January 27, 2023 - New research led by Drs. Steven Hawken and Kumanan Wilson shows that a mathematical model that reads the “metabolic fingerprint” of newborn blood samples could help.
	New online calculator predicts risk of developing kidney disease January 18, 2023 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have developed and validated an online calculator that can estimate a person’s risk of developing chronic kidney disease. The method used to develop the tool was published in the Clinical Journal of the American Soc
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	New scientist profile: Dr. Gauruv Bose aims to use AI and big data to predict the course of MS January 18, 2023 - Neurologist Dr. Gauruv Bose wants a crystal ball to see the future of his patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
	How big data helps the big picture: Meet Dr. Alan Forster December 7, 2022 - Twenty years ago, Dr. Alan Forster was working at Harvard when he decided to join the team at The Ottawa Hospital. While other hospitals were focused on chasing the latest technology, our hospital was focused on whether that same cutting-edge technol
	Predicting Parkinson’s: mathematical model could help with earlier diagnosis and treatment September 23, 2022 - An innovative mathematical model developed by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital could one day help with the prevention and early treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
	Hospitalizations for unintentional cannabis poisonings among Canadian children surged after legalization, particularly in jurisdictions where the sale of cannabis edibles was allowed August 24, 2022 - Canada has seen a 6.3 fold increase in hospitalizations for unintentional cannabis poisoning among children under the age of 10 since the legalization of recreational cannabis, according to a research letter published in the New England Journal of Me
	Ottawa-led team develops AI-enabled model to diagnose birth defect in fetal ultrasound images July 14, 2022 - Artificial intelligence is poised to play a truly transformative role in global health care. The convergence of medicine and AI might eventually prove to be more impactful than the unraveling of the genome.
	Quality and safety of hospital care improves when physicians and patients speak the same language July 11, 2022 - Speaking the same language as their physician can make for healthier patients, new research using ICES data confirms.
	Study fills knowledge gaps about surgery outcomes for Inuit in Canada May 3, 2022 - A team of Canadian researchers, including Inuit and other Indigenous researchers, have published the first study of Inuit surgical outcomes today in CMAJ Open.
	The Ottawa Hospital Joins Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Expansion of the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), Landmark Study toward Better Treatments and Prevention of Disease March 3, 2022 - The Ottawa Hospital aims to enroll people recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s who are not yet taking medication and individuals over age 60 with certain risk factors in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI),
	Cannabis-related emergency department visits increased significantly in Ontario after expansion of the cannabis retail market February 16, 2022 - A study published today in the journal Addiction examined cannabis-related emergency department visits in Ontario before and after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada in October 2018.
	Harnessing tumour diversity could improve cancer treatment January 27, 2022 - The molecular landscape of every tumour is diverse and unique, even within the same type of cancer, according to a study published in Science Advances.
	Physician mental health care visits increased 27 percent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic January 21, 2022 - Annual rates of outpatient visits for mental health and substance use among Ontario physicians increased by 27 percent during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. There were 1,038 visits per 1,
	Some inhaled corticosteroids for asthma, COPD safer and more effective for older adults September 29, 2021 - Study reveals important new information for physicians who prescribe inhaled corticosteroids to older patients, a common daily treatment for asthma and COPD
	A conversation with Dr. Jess Fiedorowicz August 18, 2021 - Dr. Jess Fiedorowicz is shining a light on mental health through his work and research at The Ottawa Hospital. Originally from the U.S., Dr. Fiedorowicz has been at our hospital since 2020 as the Head and Chief of the Department of Mental Health.
	New online calculator can help predict death and need for end-of-life care for frail older adults July 5, 2021 - A new risk calculator can help predict how long an older adult will live, and support end-of-life planning. The method used to develop the tool is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
	Can a calculator predict your risk of dementia? June 25, 2021 - Canadian researchers at The Ottawa Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the Bruyère Research Institute and ICES have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals 55 and over to better understand the health of their brain and
	COVID-19 and rheumatoid arthritis: using big data to understand risks and improve treatments December 10, 2020 - Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that primarily affects the joints. Dr. Sibel Aydin is harnessing big data from ICES and the Ontario Best Practice Research Initiative to determine if people with rheumatoid arthritis are more or less li
	Spinal or epidural anesthesia associated with increased survival compared to general anesthesia for leg artery bypass surgery November 25, 2020 - A new study published in The BMJ shows that people who had surgery to improve blood flow in their legs under spinal or epidural anesthesia were less likely to die than those who were given general anesthesia. General anesthesia involves using drugs t
	HELP MD – A novel data-driven approach to study physician wellness September 21, 2020 - Physician-researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the Bruyère Research Institute are leading a novel data-driven research initiative to better understand and improve physician health and wellness.
	Rock star researcher uses big data to answer big questions September 18, 2020 - Growing up, David Cook knew he was going to be a rock star. Little did he know it would be as a researcher answering big questions with big data.
	Cannabis use in pregnancy linked to a greater risk of autism August 10, 2020 - In the largest study of its kind, researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, BORN Ontario and the University of Ottawa found that children whose mothers reported using cannabis during pregnancy were at greater risk of autism.
	Using big data to find promising drugs for COVID-19 June 26, 2020 - Dr. Derek MacFadden and his colleagues plan to identify promising drugs to treat COVID-19 by analyzing past data from 3,000 Ontario patients treated for other kinds of coronavirus infections.
	Stopping COVID-19 with behavioral science and artificial intelligence June 8, 2020 - Dr. Justin Presseau and colleagues plan to use state-of-the-art behavioural science and artificial intelligence to develop an app that can help people reduce how much they touch their eyes, nose and mouth.
	COVID-19 research moving at ‘lightning speed’, thanks to generous community support May 8, 2020 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are working around the clock to advance more than 50 potentially life-saving research projects to support the world-wide effort to find better ways to treat and prevent COVID-19. Now, nine of these projects have bee
	New tool helps predict risk of death, admission to long-term care for people with dementia April 20, 2020 - A new tool that predicts risk of death and admission to a long-term care facility for patients with dementia may help conversations between health care providers, patients and their families, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Associ
	New COVID-19 projections show how physical distancing can make a huge difference in Ottawa April 8, 2020 - Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa, in partnership with Ottawa Public Health, have created a new interactive Ottawa COVID-19 website, that predicts various scenarios around the number of hospitalizations and deaths in O
	Assisted reproductive technology and heart problems: it’s (mostly) about the twins February 24, 2020 - Babies born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) like in vitro fertilization have a small but significantly increased risk of being born with heart problems (2.2 percent for ART babies compared to 1.2 percent for non-ART babies). Now, a new
	Medical Assistance in Dying is not driven by socioeconomic vulnerability or poor access to palliative care February 12, 2020 - A new study of people who received medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Ontario found that about three quarters were followed by palliative care at the time of their request for MAiD, and recipients were younger, wealthier, more likely to be married
	Could artificial intelligence help manage preterm birth? Prestigious fellowship to help Dr. Steven Hawken find out January 15, 2020 - Dr. Steven Hawken has been awarded a Health Research Foundation Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Research, one of only two in the country. The $100,000 award will allow Dr. Hawken to use advanced AI and predictive modeling to help id
	Could artificial intelligence help manage preterm birth? Prestigious fellowship to help Dr. Steven Hawken find out December 11, 2019 - Dr. Steven Hawken has been awarded a Health Research Foundation Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Research, one of only two in the country.
	Dr. Doug Manuel awarded title of Distinguished University Professor September 24, 2019 - The physician and researcher has dedicated his career to improving the health of communities and reducing inequities in health care.
	Thinking about using cannabis during pregnancy? Think again. September 16, 2019 - New research suggests that pregnant women who use cannabis have a greater risk of a preterm birth.
	Cannabis shops concentrate in low-income neighbourhoods August 13, 2019 - Six months after recreational cannabis became legal in Canada, 260 cannabis shops had opened across the country, with twice as many concentrated in low-income neighbourhoods compared to high-income neighbourhoods. The results are published in CMAJ Op
	New scientist profile: Dr. James Downar wants more people to benefit from palliative care August 7, 2019 - Dr. James Downar has many ideas about how to improve end of life care, and in Ottawa he’s found enthusiastic colleagues and an integrated palliative care system well suited to the task.
	Alcohol-related ED visits disproportionately increasing in women and young adults July 22, 2019 - More Ontarians are ending up in emergency departments (ED) due to alcohol use, with the largest increases happening in women, and young adults between the ages of 25 and 29, according to a new study led by researchers at ICES, The Ottawa Hospital, th
	More than 52,000 sexual assault cases treated in Ontario hospitals during 15-year period July 18, 2019 - Approximately 3,500 survivors of sexual assault are treated in Ontario hospitals each year, according to a new study led by researchers at ICES, The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. The researchers used a broad set of codes to help ident
	Cannabis use in pregnancy linked to increased risk of preterm birth June 19, 2019 - Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO, BORN Ontario and the University of Ottawa have conducted one of the largest studies to date on the effect of cannabis use during pregnancy. They found that reported cannabis use during pregnancy was associa
	First step towards a database linking rare diseases with treatment options April 24, 2019 - Dr. Hanns Lochmüller and collaborators have made the first step towards a “treatabolome” – a database that links treatable rare diseases to treatment options.
	Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) and do-not-hospitalize (DNH) orders not enough to prevent potentially avoidable hospital visits: study April 15, 2019 - Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) and do-not-hospitalize (DNH) orders in long-term care homes (nursing homes) across Ontario led to reductions in rates of hospitalizations and hospital deaths, but did not eliminate these potentially inappropriate transfers, a
	Simple blood test could determine preterm birth rate in low resource countries March 19, 2019 - Preterm birth is a leading cause of death among children under the age of five, with low resource countries facing the greatest challenge. But before solutions c­­an be tested­­, researchers first need to be able to accurately mea
	Researchers use leading-edge technology to study teamwork and communication in the operating room February 15, 2019 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa are studying whether improving teamwork and communication among operating room staff can make surgery safer for patients. Studies suggest that over half of surgery complications can be l
	Can a calculator predict your risk of heart attack and stroke? July 23, 2018 - Canadian researchers have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals to predict their risk of cardiovascular disease. Their process was published today in the journal CMAJ, and the calculator is available at projectbiglife.com
	Research project aims to improve end-of-life care in the community May 25, 2018 - Most people prefer to spend their last days of life at home surrounded by family and loved ones. For many, having the support they need starts with a discussion about what to expect. This often doesn’t happen. Part of the challenge is talking abou
	The Ottawa Hospital opens digital health lab at Algonquin College April 18, 2018 - April 18, 2018 (OTTAWA) — Algonquin College and The Ottawa Hospital are expanding their collaboration on health research, innovation and training with the opening of “The Ottawa Hospital at Algonquin College”. The newly renovated space – located wi
	Using big data to help the smallest babies – Canadian researchers use newborn blood tests to identify preterm children in low-resource countries March 23, 2018 - Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the University of Ottawa have received nearly US $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to find out how often babies are born preterm in low-resource co
	Recent immigrants receive different end-of-life care than long-term residents December 13, 2017 - New research co-authored by Drs. Peter Tanuseputro and Doug Manuel found that recent immigrants are more likely to die in the intensive care unit compared to other residents. The researchers studied the records of nearly 1 million Ontarians who died
	Big data breakthrough: award-winning research helps scientists understand cancer gene expression June 14, 2017 - The Cancer Genome Atlas has generated a whopping 2.5 petabytes (2.5x1012 bytes) of data, giving scientists an extremely powerful tool to understand cancer and develop new treatments. One of the biggest challenges now is to figure out more reliable
	$530,000 grant to find Canadians’ most important risk factors for dementia March 30, 2016 - Drs. Doug Manuel and Peter Tanuseputro have been awarded a $530,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to build models that will predict dementia incidence and the future burden of the disease on the Canadian population.

Researchers

Name	Scientific appointment	Diseases, conditions and populations of interest	Research and clinical approaches
Aviv, Richard MBChB, FRCR (UK), FRCPC, dABR	Clinician Investigator (Neuroscience)	Brain and neuromuscular disease, Brain cancer, Head and neck cancer, Multiple sclerosis, Stroke, Subarachnoid hemorrhage, Traumatic brain injury, Vascular cognitive impairment, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	3D printing, Artificial intelligence and data science, Basic research, Big data, Bioinformatics, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Cluster randomized trials, Disease models, Health economics, Health technology, Imaging, Patient safety, Quality Improvement, Translational research
Hawken, Steven PhD	Senior Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Population health, Global health, Newborn and child health, Pregnancy	Artificial intelligence and data science, Big data, Biomarkers, Health services research, Immunization, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Health research methods
Lemaire, Edward PhD	Affiliate Investigator (Clinical Epidemiology)	Aging, Bone and joint degeneration, Bone and joint injuries, Concussion, Global health, Musculoskeletal conditions, Spinal cord injury, Traumatic brain injury, Traumatic injuries	3D printing, Big data, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Health research methods, Quality Improvement, Rehabilitation, Health technology
Manuel, Douglas MD, MSc, FRCPC	Senior Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Aging, Alzheimer's, Cancer, COVID-19, Dementia, Diabetes, Frailty, Global health, Health equity, Health in disadvantaged peoples, Health in older peoples, Immigrant and refugee health, Infectious disease, Obesity, Parkinson's, Population health, Stroke, Vascular cognitive impairment, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Artificial intelligence and data science, Big data, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Digital and mobile health, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research, Prevention, Public health
McIsaac, Daniel MD, MPH, FRCPC	Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Aging, Frailty, Health in older peoples, Pain, Population health	Anesthesiology, Artificial intelligence and data science, Big data, Biostatistics, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Digital and mobile health, Epidemiology, Health services research, Patient engagement, Peri-operative medicine, Public health, Quality Improvement, Risk assessment, Surgery, Systematic reviews
Perkins, Theodore PhD	Senior Scientist (Regenerative Medicine)	Brain and neuromuscular disease, Cancer, Muscular dystrophy, Musculoskeletal conditions, Neuromuscular disease	Artificial intelligence and data science, Basic research, Big data, Bioinformatics, Biomarkers, Biostatistics, Epigenetics, Gene expression, Genetics, Genomics, Proteomics, Regenerative medicine, Stem cells, Systems biology, Translational research
Tanuseputro, Peter MD, MHSc, CCFP, FRCPC	Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	Aging, Alzheimer's, COVID-19, Dementia, Health in older peoples, Population health	Artificial intelligence and data science, Big data, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Palliative care, Public health, Risk assessment
Van Walraven, Carl MD, FRCPC	Senior Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)		Big data, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research
Wilson, Kumanan MD, MSc, FRCPC	Senior Scientist (Clinical Epidemiology)	COVID-19, Global health, Infectious disease, Newborn and child health, Population health	Artificial intelligence and data science, Big data, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Digital and mobile health, Epidemiology, Health services research, Health technology, Immunization, Public health, Transfusions, Translational research

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Project BigLife