NOSM University researchers help Canada prepare for future health emergencies

Posted on July 15, 2024

Side-by-side images of Dr. Brianne Wood, left, and Dr. Barb Zelek, right. Dr. Wood has wavy shoulder-length brown hair and wears an olive-coloured sleeveless shirt. She stands in front of a white brick wall. Dr. Zelek has straight shoulder-length brown hair, bangs, and wears a blue top. She stands in a snowy forest. Photos côte-à-côte de Brianne Wood, Ph.D. à gauche, et de la Dre Barb Zelek, à droite. Mme Wood a des cheveux bruns ondulés tombant sur les épaules et porte un chemisier olive sans manches. Elle se tient devant un mur de briques blanc. La Dre Zelek a des cheveux bruns raides tombant sur les épaules et une frange, et porte un chandail bleu. Elle se tient devant une forêt enneigée.

Drs. Barb Zelek and Brianne Wood at the NOSM University Research Toward Health Hub (NORTHH)—part of the Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity—are supporting a new national initiative, the PREPARED project. It is led by Dr. Andrew Pinto at Upstream Lab, Unity Health Toronto, with support from researchers and research and industry partners in six provinces. The project has received $18.9 million from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund to protect Canada against future pandemics.

Pandemics such as SARS, COVID-19, H1N1, and the mpox outbreak have shown that Canada needs to improve its preparedness for future health emergencies.

The PREPARED project will use efficient methods to collect, monitor, and analyze data from patients in primary care and emergency departments presenting with acute respiratory symptoms. By partnering to routinely collect voluntary samples from patients with respiratory symptoms alongside automated electronic medical record analysis, PREPARED can warn agencies of illness patterns with pandemic potential.

Patients will also see the difference that this project makes. PREPARED will link patients to active clinical trials, which can accelerate the development of treatments, vaccines, and diagnostic tests.

The variety of stakeholders involved means that the initiative can improve health system efficiency and accelerate the development of new diagnostics and treatments. This national project includes 29 partner institutions, 11 industry partners specializing in the development of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests, and 16 primary care practice-based research networks collectively serving more than 2.5 million patients.

“It’s important that Northern Ontario is represented in this major national project, and I’m so pleased that NORTHH is a research partner,” said Dr. Barb Zelek, Physician Lead, NORTHH. “This project will give health-care solutions back to communities—a goal that’s very dear to NOSM University’s heart and is at the core of our social accountability mandate.”

The Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity is home to a growing number of research networks, including NORTHH, which are focused on building capacity and providing tools for change. The Centre is the first of its kind in Canada. It is a model for multidisciplinary, community-led, and community-prioritised health and public health multidisciplinary research. The Centre is advancing social accountability research globally and locally by working and collaborating with diverse stakeholders in the broad areas of health professional education, health system transformation, health human resources, social and population health, and social determinants of health.