We-Spark with Amy

Today we had the amazing opportunity to have Dr. Hamm as our guest speaker! Dr. Hamm wears multiple hats as a doctor, researcher, professor, and many more. She has been the the local principal investigator for over 50 clinical trials and spoke to us about research, clinical trials and its importance. There are studies showing that there are in fact better outcomes in hospitals that are involved in research, emphasizing the importance of bridging the gap between lab work and clinical practice. Below I’ve highlighted interesting key points that I found important during the lecture to share with you.

Unfortunately, this will be my last post on this account, as all good things come to an end. Thanks to everyone who have followed my journey in this course, I hope you all learned as much as I did.

Thank you Dr. Lubanska and Dr. Soliman for your amazing guest lectures! Today we learned all about the importance of collaboration between research and clinical practice to help move science forward.
Dr. Lubanska talked all about her career pathway, her current research involving brain tissue initiating cells in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), and lastly emphasized the advantages of multidisciplinary collaboration.
Dr. Soliman also talked about his career path, the process of publishing research papers, and lastly the barriers that clinicians face in multidisciplinary collaboration, and how these are solved.

November is pancreatic cancer awareness month! Please read for more information about symptoms, statistics, risk factors, and treatment options! For more information, visit: https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/pancreatic

Today in our CUREs class, we had two amazing guest speaker lectures featuring Jeff Casey and Karen Metcalfe. They shared their stories on surviving cancer from a patient’s and a caregiver’s perspectives. These were definitely the most powerful and emotional guest lectures up to date, thank you both for sharing and using your stories to inspire others and for continuing to advocate, elevate and fundraise for cancer research. The most resonating quote by Jeff that stuck with me was: “I would not be alive without research”. This sets a reminder of the importance of cancer research, and that without research, hope is just a word.

There is an upcoming event I’d like to share with you called Play for a Cure that fundraises for cancer research alongside NHL alumni! For more information, please read the slide below and visit www.playforacure.ca

Thank you Dr. Trant and Dr. Emadi, two researchers and professors at the University of Windsor who taught us all about the importance of multidisciplinary work, especially in cancer research.

Dr. Emadi taught us all about biomedical engineering research (more info below), specifically about the science of very small biomedical devices (as small as 2um!) used for diagnosis and therapeutics. Her lab is currently working on electronic nose systems and the development of early diagnostic tools for medical imaging!

Dr. Trant focused on cancer research from an organic chemistry perspective (shown below). He focused on cancer treatment through immuno-oncology – this means upregulating the body’s immune system to fight cancers. One scope of his research is focused on developing cancer vaccines. He emphasized the importance of chemistry and the difference a single atom in a molecule used for treatment can tremendously change its efficacy.

Thank you Dr. Ken Schneider for your amazing guest lecture! Today we learned all about clinical radiation oncology, the challenges of research in clinical oncology, the importance of the patient-physician relationship, and some side effects that come with radiation. Dr. Schneider’s lecture was very insightful with so many key takeaways; I’d like to share with you the 6R’s of radiobiology. These determinants influence the overall biologic effectiveness of radiation (shown below).

Thank you Krista for your amazing guest lecture! Today, we learned all about clinical cancer research methods, principles & regulations, and its phases (shown below). Drug approval is a long and intricate process, it takes about 10-15 years to go from bench to human testing, and only about 20% of these drugs that enter phase I testing ever make it to the market. This emphasizes the importance of clinical trials: to ensure that drugs and treatments entering the market are safe and effective. It is also essential that these trials are conducted safely and must follow the Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) framework, which has guidelines on three main groups: research ethics board, the investigator (physician running study), and the sponsor.

November is lung cancer awareness month! This week I wanted to share a few statistics, known risk factors, and diagnosis options for you to be mindful of.
Thanks to the progression of research, the rate of lung cancer prevalence in men has been continuously decreasing since 1984, as for women, it has decreased since 2013. This demonstrates the importance of awareness and research, however, we are not done yet. Lung cancer continues to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada, so we must continue to increase awareness and support research!

Thank you to Gemma, Karen, and Dr. Fifield for your insightful lectures! Today, we learned all about the importance of fundraising and awareness for cancer research, and a few strategies on how to effectively raise funds.
I'd also like to introduce the UWindsor Research Information Outreach Team (RIOT), which focuses on communicating cancer research to the public- a great opportunity for students that are dedicated to disseminating cancer knowledge! For more information, please visit:

Today in our class, we had the incredible opportunity to participate in Jaimie Kechego’s and Sarah Mushtaq’s guest lectures. Jaimie taught us all about mental wellness, some common cultural interventions, and how clinical professionals can use the framework of a flower (provided above) to build a reciprocal relationship with the Indigenous community to provide better quality of care.
Sarah gave us some insight on some important statistics, as well as some current strategies that the Cancer Care of Ontario is prioritizing to improve cancer services for Indigenous patients and families (provided above).

Thank you for your very insightful lectures today. It was an honor to have you both, and I hope that we can continue working to improve and indigenize our healthcare system.

While the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for months and years to come, so too will the needs of people with cancer and their caregivers change as the impacts of the pandemic evolve. This week, I wanted to share with you the impact of this pandemic on cancer care, and the recommendations proposed by the Canadian Cancer Society to the government.