DMCBH members receive VCHRI 2025 Innovation and Translational Research Awards

Dr. Thalia Field

Project: Perfusion imaging to guide personalized acute therapy in cerebral venous thrombosis

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a type of stroke that most commonly affects young women and can lead to lasting, life-altering symptoms. Even with medical treatment, over one-third of people who experience CVT will be unable to return to work due to cognitive issues, pain, seizures and other complications.

Dr. Thalia Field is studying how computed tomography perfusion — a routine type of brain scan used to evaluate patterns of blood flow during a stroke — may be applied to identify CVT patients at greatest risk of developing the most serious complications following a CVT stroke. Field hopes that this research will help to better guide treatment decisions when CVT patients first present to hospital.

“This work will help to improve outcomes after CVT, and may impact care delivery both locally and internationally,” says Dr. Field. “Our research could support the optimization of limited hospital resources in addition to greater positive outcomes for patients and their loved ones.”

Dr. Joanne Matsubara

Project: Innovative drug delivery by eye drop system for retinal diseases

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a serious eye disease and common cause of vision loss in older adults. The condition is associated with a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which induces the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the eye, leading to cell damage and potentially blindness if left untreated.

The current intervention for AMD involves injecting a special medication directly into the eye to block VEGF. While injections are effective, they come with risks such as bleeding, retinal detachment or infection. They also require frequent clinic visits, placing added burden on patients and the health care system. Dr. Joanne Matsubara’s study aims to develop a non-invasive, anti-VEGF eye drop that would offer an alternative treatment to injections. The eye drops would temporarily and safely lower cell barriers in the eye, allowing the anti-VEGF medication in the eye drops to permeate cell barriers and enter deep into the eye without causing long-term damage.

“There is a clear need for a better way to deliver these medications that would be safer, more convenient and less stressful for patients,” says Dr. Matsubara. “Developing an eye drop would be a significant advancement to alleviate the clinical burden and improve patients’ quality of life.”

Dr. Cheryl Wellington

Project: Using the Alamar NULISA technology to discover diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in pediatric traumatic brain injury

Computed tomography (CT) imaging is the primary method used for diagnosing traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. While effective, this diagnostic tool involves radiation and sedation, which can be stressful for young children, thus highlighting the need for alternative low-cost, non-imaging options to improve diagnosis of mild TBI and prognosis of severe TBI in children.

Dr. Cheryl Wellington’s research seeks to determine whether a blood test could help doctors diagnose and treat kids with TBI. Leveraging Alamar’s NULISA technology — a state-of-the-art proteomic liquid biopsy platform for ultra-high sensitivity and broad biomarker profiling — Wellington will analyse a large dataset and existing blood samples from pediatric patients who experienced TBI to identify patterns that could be used to create the alternative diagnostic tool. The research team will use the Alamar panel to profile 120 biomarkers and determine which biomarkers can improve diagnostic precision for pediatric TBI across the severity spectrum. As the Alamar test only requires a tiny volume of blood, this research could pave the way for a finger prick test to be used in the future for children who have sustained a TBI.

“TBI is the leading cause of acquired disability in children, and early, accurate diagnosis is key to mitigate TBI-associated negative social and cognitive impairments,” says Dr. Wellington. “This study will use first-in-Canada technology that can take a tiny drop of blood to help improve the diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric TBI.”