Research Funded

CPFF’s investment in clinical research fellowships aims to advance research and develop more respiratory specialists to improve care, as well as expand access to care, for people living with pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

Each of the fellows are respirologists and are required to spend at least 75 percent of their time conducting research. The rest of their time is spent caring for patients, as well as teaching and participating in other clinic activities.

Congratulations to this year’s CPFF Robert Davidson Fellows.

DR. alec campbell

For the second year of his two-year fellowship, Dr. Campbell will continue working with Dr. Chris Ryerson and Scott Tebbutt, PhD, at the University of British Columbia, and providing care to ILD patients at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, in addition to conducting his research. He will continue work on his research project examining the molecular interactions within individual cells, a technique known as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq), to see if there are genetic markers in the blood that could help diagnose ILD earlier, more reliably, and more safely than is currently possible. Click here to read about Dr. Campbell’s work during the first year of his fellowship.

DR. kirsten nesset

Dr. Nesset will undertake her fellowship at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health (FIRH) at McMaster University under the supervision of Drs. Martin Kolb, Nathan Hambly, Gerard Cox, and Ciaran Scallan. In addition to caring for FIRH patients, she will begin her studies in the two-year, part-time, online Master’s program in Health Professions Education through the Maastricht-Canada program at Western University. The bulk of her time (75 percent) will be spent as the lead investigator of a project exploring how frailty might impact patient engagement and satisfaction in remote monitoring programs.

DR. ALEC CAMPBELL

Working with Dr. Chris Ryerson and Scott Tebbutt, PhD, at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Campbell will care for ILD patients at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, in addition to conducting his research.

He will be examining the molecular interactions within individual cells, a technique known as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq), to see if there are

Working with Dr. Chris Ryerson and Scott Tebbutt, PhD, at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Campbell will care for ILD patients at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, in addition to conducting his research.

He will be examining the molecular interactions within individual cells, a technique known as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq), to see if there are markers in the blood that could help diagnose ILD earlier, more reliably, and more safely than is currently possible.

DR. AMANDA GRANT-ORSER

Under the supervision of Dr. Charlene Fell and Dr. Kerri Johannson, Dr. Grant-Orser is returning for the second year of her fellowship, treating patients at the University of Calgary’s ILD Clinic located at South Health Campus. She has several endeavours underway. These include the following:

Under the supervision of Dr. Charlene Fell and Dr. Kerri Johannson, Dr. Grant-Orser is returning for the second year of her fellowship, treating patients at the University of Calgary’s ILD Clinic located at South Health Campus. She has several endeavours underway. These include the following:

Perceptions of Genetic Testing: A Mixed-Methods Study of Patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis and their First-degree Relatives, which investigates ILD patients’ and their first-degree relatives’ thoughts about genetic testing for ILD. This study will be published soon in the Annals of ATS. We’ll inform you of the results when it is published.

She is also currently recruiting patients for a study comparing ILD patients’ own assessment of their clinical status to their physician’s assessment.

As part of a national collaborative project examining the Canadian Registry for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CARE-PF) database, Dr. Grant-Orser’s research will focus on the role of bronchoscopy in diagnosing fibrotic ILD.

Finally, she will also be working on the Alberta-ILD Study Status, describing the epidemiology of ILD in Alberta; defining the incidence and prevalence of disease, where patients live and receive care, what diagnostic and longitudinal testing they undergo specific to ILD care, and ILD-specific treatments prescribed.

DR. BOHYUNG MIN

Working with Drs. Charlene Fell and Kerri Johannson, Dr. Min will care for patients at the University of Calgary (U of C) ILD clinic. She will also pursue an MSc in clinical epidemiology at U of C.

DR. LEIGH MINUK

Drs. Shane Shapera and Jolene Fisher at University Health Network (UHN), Toronto, will guide and mentor Dr. Leigh Minuk as she undertakes clinical work at Toronto General Hospital’s ILD clinic and her ILD research.

Dr. Minuk will also pursue an MSc in clinical epidemiology at McMaster University.

Her main research study involves the development of a “staging” system to identify fibrosing ILD patients at high risk for disease progression and/or mortality. Such a system will help guide both therapy decisions such as when to begin anti-fibrotic medication and/or lung transplantation assessment, as well as, patient counselling.

DR. KELLY SUN

Under the supervision of Dr. Shane Shapera at the University of Toronto (U of T), Dr. Sun will care for patients at the Toronto General Hospital ILD clinic. She will also pursue a Master of Science degree, with a concentration in

healthcare research and clinical epidemiology at U of T. Her main research proposal will delve into the management of patients with progressive fibrosing ILD (PF-ILD). She will be linking data from the Canadian Registry of Pulmonary Fibrosis (CARE-PF) with data from the Institute of Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES) to validate a health administrative definition of PF-ILD. ICES analyzes data gathered through the routine administration of Ontario’s publicly funded healthcare system. In addition, the study will investigate issues regarding health care utilization, including related hospitalizations and estimated health care costs associated with ILD.

DR. DANIEL MARINESCU

Under the supervision of Dr. Chris Ryerson at UBC, Dr. Marinescu will move into his second-year as a CPFF fellow, and continue performing his 20 percent of clinical duties at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. While pursuing

his Master’s in Health Science at UBC, he will be involved in several research studies. His primary project is creating about 1,300 detailed clinical, radiological and histopathological findings across various ILD subtypes in the CARE-PF database. Eventually this rich data will be analyzed for associations with identified genetic risk factors for fibrotic ILD. The work will serve to better understand the biologic basis for ILD, helping to improve diagnosis and inform effective disease management. For more information about Dr. Marinescu’s research to date, please read the article in the June 2021 issue of Hope Breathes Here.

DR. COLIN ADAMS

Dr. Colin Adams will fulfill his fellowship clinical work at the ILD clinic at Toronto General Hospital. His primary project will be a Canadian Registry for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CARE-PF) study to develop a new prognostic score for

all fibrotic ILD in conjunction with Dr. Jolene Fisher and Dr. Chris Ryerson at UBC. He will also contribute to the Multidisciplinary Interstitial Lung Disease Discussion with Experts Remotely (MILDDER) project, which provides an excellent opportunity for community outreach and facilitate quicker access to care for those living outside the Toronto area.

You can read about the results of Dr. Adams projects in the May 2021 issue of our newsletter.

DR. AMANDA GRANT-ORSER

Dr. Amanda Grant-Orser will treat patients at the University of Calgary’s ILD Clinic located at South Health Campus as part of her fellowship. She will also pursue a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology. Her primary research project

DR. SARAH MACISSAC

Dr. Sarah MacIsaac will be dedicating 25 percent of her fellowship time providing care to patients at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health (FIRH), McMaster University, in Hamilton. Her research time will include the

completion of a Master’s degree in Public Health, as well as several research projects. Her key research project will be to evaluate the impact of anti-fibrotic treatment on the risk of acute exacerbation following definitive surgical resection or targeted radiation therapy for the management of lung cancer. She’ll also be conducting a quality improvement project to explore measures to expedite access to IPF specialists as well as reduce the interval between the decision to treat and patient receipt of anti-fibrotic therapy.

DR. DANIEL MARINESCU

Dr. Daniel Marinescu will perform the clinical duties of his fellowship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. While pursuing his Master’s in Health Science at UBC, he will be involved in several research studies. His primary project

DR. CIARAN SCALLAN

Dr. Ciaran Scallan at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health in Hamilton, Ontario, was awarded $20,000 to to study the feasibility of using a sputum (phlegm) guided approach to treat chronic cough in PF patients

DR. LEE FIDLER

Dr. Lee Fidler of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto was awarded $20,000 to investigate the incidence and prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) in Ontario. You can read more about this research in the June 2022 issue of our newsletter.