Science Without Borders
Cardiac surgeon and
Canada Research Chair in Atherosclerosis Subodh Verma is bringing scholars and technicians from the King
Saud University in Riyadh to his laboratory at St. Michael's Hospital starting this summer. They are mastering
advanced cell culture, genomic and translational atherosclerosis
techniques. This is part of an ambitious and dynamic new program
of collaborative research - to take leading edge concepts and methods
to Riyadh in the way that Saudi clinicians have brought advanced therapeutic
techniques back from Toronto for many years. The project is part of
the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute's contribution to international health
care education and research. Collaborators in this initiative are St. Michael's
Hospital's internationally renowned respirologist Art Slutsky and epidemiologist
Muhammad Mamdani - who will focus on epidemiological studies and
clinical trials. The prevalence of diabetes in the Saudi population is 50%, making
this a fertile field for initial exploration.
Many excellent surgeons have returned to Riyadh after training in Toronto. This
important new development will create the infrastructure for basic and clinical
science to thrive in Saudi Arabia rather than come as an import from the western
world. This philosophy parallels that of the McLaughlin-Rotman program where
Abdallah Daar and Peter Singer are cultivating biotechnology methods and expertise
in the developing world. (The vaccines and cure for malaria should come from
Africa where the disease is endemic, but the methods and infrastructure must first
be set up there.) As Subodh reminds us: "There are no borders in science."
As the Canada Research Chair in atherosclerosis,
Subodh oversees a group of 15 researchers currently
funded by a CFI grant, two CIHR grants and four
Heart & Stroke Foundation grants. Subodh also directs
the Traineeship in Atherosclerosis that provides mentorship
and resources to promote the transition of
clinician-scientists and basic scientists into independent
investigators.
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Subodh is actively studying endothelial activation
in sepsis, the role of the endothelium as a mediator of
atherosclerosis and DNA repair mechanisms in heart
failure. Enthusiasm for Subodh's findings has consummated
in a strong collaborative partnership with the
Nobel Laureate Dr. Lou Ignarro who will be coming to
Toronto on October 13th, 2009 to speak on the topic
of "Nitric Oxide as the Molecule of Life" as part of the
annual Landmark Lecture series.
The scientific themes that Subodh and his colleagues
are developing are also crossing conventional conceptual
boundaries. They are studying the BRCA-1 gene,
a genome-wide gatekeeper of DNA repair. Though
widely recognized for its importance in breast, ovarian
and pancreatic cancer, the gene has an important role
to play in inflammation and other biological processes.
BRCA-1 mutation carriers have an increased incidence
of non-cancer deaths and cells die a noneoplastic death
in the presence of the BRCA -1 mutation. Inasmuch
as BRCA -1 mutation carriers develop worse heart failure
than non-carriers when treated with doxorubicin,
a role for BRCA-1 in heart failure and atherosclerosis
opens a new research window and forms the basis of
a US Provisional Patent recently filed by Subodh and
Mohammad Al-Omran, a Saudi vascular surgeon trained
in Toronto. With Steven Narod, Canada Research Chair
in breast cancer, Subodh is exploring the hypothesis
that the gene provides a pharmacogenomic clue in heart
failure and a potential cardiovascular therapeutic target.
Outside of his clinical and academic life, Subodh
dotes on the simple pleasures of spending quality time
with his children Raj and Meena who have recently
caught the fishing bug.
M.M.
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