Passionate and dedicated, Lawson researchers change the face of patient care. With your support of the Spirit of St. Joseph’s Fund
Wandering through the narrow hallways of Lawson Health Research Institute with its thick, grey steel doors, biohazard signs, and walls covered with scientific posters feels like the opening scene from a science fiction movie. That is until you enter the labs. Within minutes of meeting the scientists, you are struck by their passion, commitment, and dedication to new discovery that is having a direct impact on the care of patients at St. Joseph’s.
Louis Ferreira, Robert Stodilka, and Jeffrey Carson are just three of the 1,200 staff at Lawson. Their work is revolutionary and unique worldwide. Even better, it is transforming health care today!
It is because of you, that their work in the areas of biomedical engineering, hybrid imaging and optical imaging is possible. This past year, the foundation granted $150,000 to support these three remarkable scientists. Your donations supporting the Spirit of St. Joseph’s Fund whether through general donations or event ticket purchases, or gifts supporting priority needs in research made this grant possible.
As a research scientist and engineer at the Bioengineering Lab for the Hand and Upper Limb Centre (HULC), Louis Ferreira wears many hats. He designs projects, provides technical assurances, tests protocols, co-supervises eight students, one post-doctoral fellow and one technician and manages the day to day aspects of the lab.
While Louis always knew he was going to be an engineer, he didn’t imagine ending up collaborating in the design of new elbows, wrist joints and other body parts. But that’s exactly what he is doing.
One project that his team is focused on is the design of a radial head implant. The radius is a bone in the forearm and the radial head is the part that connects with the elbow. Severe trauma or arthritis are just two factors leading to the replacement of the radial head.
To create the best artificial radial head, the team scans cadaver arms using computed tomography (CT) converts those scans into 3D geometrical designs and then uses simulators these new implants affect the way the arm moves. And while this project is still underway, another is already changing lives. In just 18 months, Louis and his team designed, created and implanted an artificial coronoid. That’s a remarkable feat for a research project.
Louis believes that there is something very different about Lawson Health Research Institute. “Being located in the hospital environment is very unique,” he says. The bench to beside approach is absolutely what is happening at Lawson and St. Joseph’s.
Robert Stodilka agrees. “This is a special place. The closeness of the hospital clinics to the institute makes things possible that really aren’t possible anywhere else.”
Robert’s research focuses on hybrid imaging – which involves bringing two or three different types of imaging platforms together. Currently he is one of several Lawson scientists working on setting up a hybrid positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) machine – one of only three in the world. The goal is to multiply and improve imaging results. The machine will be used in research for imaging related to cancer and diseases of the heart and brain. The machine was purchased along with other imaging platforms with a $27 million grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
And as Robert and his team continue to work through the enormous technical installation, set up and initial work with the PET/MRI, Jeffrey Carson can be found just down the hall working in a completely different area of imaging.
Jeffrey’s research is on imaging with light and it is focusing on breast cancer. One of the challenges of using light for detecting cancer is the fact that it can’t penetrate the body very deeply. By combining light and sound together, (photo-acoustic), Jeffrey and his team have discovered a new way to probe cancers deeper in the body, without using damaging x-rays. “There is a trend to make new technologies less harmful to the body,” he explains. The dedicated researcher expects to begin clinical trials using a device that will perform photo-acoustic imaging for breast cancer by the end of the year.
As each of these young scientists work in changing the face of health care – they are all extremely grateful for the opportunity they have to improve the human condition, to work alongside students and colleagues with a similar commitment and passion and to be recipients of generous donor support. And it is clear that they are having an impact on care.
“I don’t think of it as work,” says Jeffrey. “The day ends too soon for me; Friday is just the beginning of another work week.”
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