Enquiry – one of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s core values – drives us in our Mission of Discovery as we pursue research that shifts paradigms to advance science.
On Clinical Trials Awareness Day, we’re recognizing these endeavours that would not be possible without sound clinical trials and the dedicated professionals who spend their careers in the pursuit of knowledge. Equally so, we are indebted to all those who have selflessly participated in clinical research to advance science.
This dedication from our researchers and participants drives us to continue to lead discoveries, challenge the status quo, and translate learnings from bench to bedside.
Clinical researchers at St. Joe’s have made numerous advances over the years. Some recent examples include:
- Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), who often face ICU-acquired weakness on discharge, are seeing improved outcomes and less time spent in ICU and in the hospital thanks to the CYCLE clinical trial and associated research. This early in-bed cycling intervention is giving ICU patients a potential head start on the road to recovery.
- Community members living with schizophrenia, who are faring better thanks to the development of the SET for Health approach to self-management support. After numerous research studies and a clinical trial on the effectiveness of this intervention, the SET for Health team has been training professionals from outside organizations to deliver this novel and effective approach to managing schizophrenia in the community. It has shown to lower hospital readmissions by nearly 90 per cent.
- Decades of clinical trials with asthma patients have helped scientists to better treat a rare disease called EGPA (eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, also known as Churg-Strauss Syndrome). Researchers showed the biologic benralizumab offers an advantage to patients, including the ability for some to abstain from corticosteroids.
Dr. Michelle Kho leads the international CYCLE clinical research program based at St. Joe's.
How does St. Joe’s support clinical research?
The Research Institute supports clinical research through a number of services, events, and systems designed to help our study teams conduct world-class studies.
Some of our research services include:
- The Research Methodology Centre (RMC) at St. Joe’s, led by Dr. Lawrence Mbuagbaw, which provides a variety of services ranging from the beginning to the end of a study’s duration. The team at the RMC can assist in study design and implementation, including strategies for recruitment and data collection, data management and analysis, and much more.
- The Imaging Research Centre (IRC), which provides our researchers with access to state-of-the-art imaging technology, including a research-dedicated 3T MRI scanner and a PET/CT scanner.
- Biobanking at St. Joe’s, which includes the Ontario Tumour Bank as well as the new Hamilton Regional Biospecimen Services (HRBS) program. The latter will create a single, organized system for collecting, storing, and sharing biological samples, recruiting donors, getting consent, gathering clinical data, and analyzing samples at St. Joe’s, Hamilton Health Sciences, and McMaster University.
- Pharmacy Research Services at St. Joe’s, which is a resource for clinicians involved in clinical trials and studies involving medications. Their services include technical protocol review; guidance in study operationalization; and procurement, storage, dispensation, and accountability of study medications.
Dr. Parameswaran Nair and Dr. Sarah Svenningsen perform clinical research on severe asthma with the help of the IRC's research MRI.
The Research Institute’s events team offers numerous opportunities for clinical researchers to be involved in our research community, and to learn and grow professionally.
Our Coordinators CONNECT! event series invites all study coordinators and research assistants to monthly discussions and seminars that cover a variety of topics related to research at St. Joe’s. Coordinators CONNECT! – often referred to as CoCo – is a great place for sharing knowledge with other research professionals.
Another recurring event series, which features our IT team, is the REDCap Users Group Office Hours. Anyone wishing to learn more about REDCap, or who may need help with a REDCap project, can attend these office hours for 1-on-1 guidance.
Services and events are not all that support clinical research at our Hospital. Access Research is a system that allows researchers to request basic patient contact information in order to reach out to patients who may be eligible for participation in a research study. This is made possible thanks to our electronic medical record system – Dovetale.
Access Research empowers patients with the knowledge of research participation opportunities in ground-breaking studies at St. Joe’s. The program increases equitable access to research and offers patients a way to support local research that can have a global impact.
These are just some examples of the services, events, and systems at St. Joe’s that enable our study teams to conduct and lead paradigm-shifting clinical trials.
Why May 20?
On May 20, 1747, aboard the HMS Salisbury, ship surgeon James Lind initiated a clinical trial in search of a treatment for scurvy. Clinical Trials Awareness Day is celebrated annually on May 20 as an homage to this early clinical trial, which was the first to include a control group. Read more about James Lind and the HMS Salisbury on Wikipedia.