A Collective Vision of Arthritis Research
Nizar Mohamed
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Nizar Mohamed, Arthritis
Program Director and Head of
the Division of Orthopaedic
Surgery at UHN, and his colleagues
have put together a
vision which is bringing them
together in a cohesive research
and fund-raising effort. The
Orthopaedic surgeons at
Toronto Western Hospital came
to a critical decision in 2010. They decided to lead the
charge in offering arthritis patients more than pain
management and joint replacement. Their vision is to
create a world-leading centre for research and treatment
of arthritis. Arthritis research lags behind other diseases,
yet it affects an immense number of people worldwide
and has a staggering effect of their quality of life and productivity.
The surgeons’ goal is to find a way to diagnose
arthritis early, develop novel treatments that halt the
progress of arthritis, and create personalized treatment
plans to prevent the onset of the disease.
In collaboration with the Toronto General and Western
Hospital Foundation, they launched the Campaign to
Cure Arthritis in 2011. The $35M campaign will fund
the research and needed infrastructure. To show their
commitment to their cause, they decided to put their
own skin in the game and made a ground breaking personal
gift – a collective gift of $1.25M. The Surgeons’
commitment has, in two short years, inspired hundreds
of their grateful patients to join them in their quest to
make joint replacements obsolete. At this time, $31.3M
has been raised towards the $35M goal. “This shows the
power of a collective vision and the power of investing
your own funds in research, a very persuasive factor”.
The surgeons created a strategic business plan that
has now been validated by an international Academic
Advisory Board (AAB). The programme is multidisciplinary
academic/business model hybrid that involves
strong collaborations with key researchers both within
and outside of UHN. Significant funding from private
donors has enabled more rapid implementation of
research studies compared to the time frame anticipated
through traditional resources such as peer reviewed government
and NGO funding.
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A key initiative was the establishment of an Academic
Advisory Board comprising surgeons and researchers
with international stature. The members are Robin Poole,
Professor Emeritus at McGill University, Montreal;
Stefan Lohmander, Senior Professor at the Department
of Orthopedics at Lund University, Sweden and Editorin-
Chief of the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage;
Eng Lee, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and the
Program Leader of the NUS Tissue Engineering Program
(NUSTEP) in Singapore; Frank Berry, Professor of
Cellular Therapy at the National University of Ireland,
Galway and Director of the University’s National Centre
for Biomedical Engineering Science (NCBES); and Jeff
Katz, Professor of Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery at
Harvard Medical School and Professor of Epidemiology
and Environmental Health at HSPH. The AAB meets
annually in person and at their first meeting in 2012,
they reviewed the proposed research programme presented
by the Divisional surgeons. They supported three
major priorities for research: These were 1. to continue
with the development of the informatics platform being
spearheaded by Christian Veillette and focused on
Clinical and Health outcomes. This encompasses many
research studies including the Longitudinal Evaluation
of Arthritis Patients (LEAP); 2) the project spearheaded
by Rajiv Gandhi involving the collection of tissue from
various parts of the joint during total joint replacement
surgery and investigation of the connection between
Osteoarthritis and the Metabolic Syndrome. Rajiv’s
study of fat pad leptins and adipo-leptin and their correlation
with pain and disability has been reported in an
earlier issue of the Spotlight http://www.surgicalspotlight.ca/Article.aspx?ver=Spring-Summer_2012&f=OsteoarthritisMetabolic); 3) the ability of stem cells to
provide symptomatic relief and other innovative applications.
Collaborations in this area include local UHN
research groups as well as with a company in Korea. It
is anticipated that clinical trials will be initiated within
2 years.
The first Arthritis Industry Forum was held in May,
including representatives from pharma, informatics,
imaging, new technology and medical device companies.
The Forum showcased research being conducted within
the Division as well as presentations by the industry
attendees, seeking areas of mutual interest and opportunities
for sustainability.
The Division continues to expand with the recent addition
of two surgeons, one with a specialty in sports medicine
and the other focusing on ankle and lower extremity
surgery. “Since the basic research component of the programme
is critical, we are currently conducting searches
for three scientists. One will work with TECHNA on
innovative imaging techniques. One will be a cartilage
biologist with an interest in metabolic syndrome and its
relation to osteoarthritis, and the third will focus on the
translational research on stem cells in osteoarthritis.
M.M.
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