Arthritis Newsletters October 2019

NEW APPOINTMENTS

Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute

Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan, previously an Affiliate Scientist, has been appointed Scientist at Krembil Research Institute. She will serve as a Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) expert spearheading the cell therapy initiatives within the Regenerative Medicine Pillar of the Osteoarthritis Research Program. Dr. Viswanathan will continue her focus developing next generation MSC technology for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

New Inaugural Clinical Nurse Specialist

Karen Bennett, the Patient Care Coordinator in MSNICU and the interim Clinical Manager on 6A Fell, has accepted the temporary inaugural Clinical Nurse Specialist role within Surgery/Arthritis at the Toronto Western Hospital. Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western University, and a Master of Nursing from the University of Phoenix Arizona.

Senior Vice President for the Arthritis Program

Susan Jewell recently joined the Arthritis Program Executive Team. Susan serves as Senior Vice President for the Toronto Rehab programs, the Arthritis program at Toronto Western and Site Lead for Toronto Rehab. Prior to joining UHN, Susan worked at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) where she held a variety of clinical and progressively senior leadership roles, including Vice President, Clinical Services. Susan holds a Registered Nurse designation from Sheridan College, a Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from York University and a Master’s degree in Health Science Administration from the University of Toronto.

Director of Finance

Tim Jenkins has joined the Arthritis Program Executive Team as the newly appointed Director of Finance for Toronto Western Hospital and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Prior to joining UHN, Tim was at Markham Stouffville Hospital, where he worked for the last five years, most recently as Director of Financial Planning & Business Analytics. Tim is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) and holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Toronto.

AWARDS, GRANTS AND RECOGNITIONS

CIHR Operating Grants and Research Awards

Dr. Andy K.O. Wong, Assistant Scientist within the Osteoporosis Program, and Dr. Angela M. Cheung, Director of the Osteoporosis Program, received a CIHR operating grant for their work on "Poor muscle-bone quality and its downstream impact on knee osteoarthritis disease development in postmenopausal women” as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator, respectively. Dr. Wong was also recently awarded the JDMI Researcher of the Month Award and the Early Career Award by the Canadian Society for Epidemiology & Biostatistics. Dr. Cheung also received a second CIHR operating grant as a Co-Investigator on "Finding the Optimal Resistance Training Intensity For Your Bones: A randomized controlled trial." Moreover, she was recently awarded the 2019 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Most Outstanding Clinical Abstract award.

CIHR and Krembil Grants

Dr. Anthony Perruccio, Scientist at Krembil Research Institute, and Dr. Elizabeth Badley, Senior Scientist at Krembil Research Institute, received a CIHR catalyst grant for their work on "Profiling heart disease risk factors in osteoarthritis: multi-joint symptoms and sex". Dr. Perruccio also received funding from the Krembil Foundation for his work on "Sex and the association between local inflammation and pain in osteoarthritis".

CIHR Operating Grant

Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan, Scientist at Krembil Research Institute, recently received a CIHR operating grant for her work on "Understanding and enhancing anti-inflammatory stromal cell functions to treat osteoarthritis".

Rheumatologist of the Year

Dr. Arthur Bookman, rheumatologist at TWH and Coordinator of the multidisciplinary Sjogren’s Clinic, was the recipient of the 2019 Ontario Rheumatology Association Rheumatologist of the Year Award.

Osteoporosis Canada Back Bone and Lindy Fraser Awards

Dr. Rowena Ridout, an endocrinologist clinician teacher who is part of the osteoporosis clinic, was recently awarded the 2019 Osteoporosis Canada Back Bone Award for significant contribution as a volunteer, and the 2019 Osteoporosis Canada Lindy Fraser Award in recognition of her contribution to education in osteoporosis.

The Arthritis Society Postdoctoral Fellowship

Dr. Razieh Rabani recently received a postdoctoral fellowship from The Arthritis Society. Dr. Rabani completed her PhD at McGill University, Department of experimental medicine and joined the Viswanathan Lab in 2018.

Scott Vellend Award

Dr. Heather McDonald-Blumer, Associate Director of the Osteoporosis Program, was awarded the UHN/SHS Dept of Medicine 2019 Scott Vellend award. Dr. McDonald-Blumer has been on staff at Mt Sinai Hospital/UHN since 2004 as a member of the rheumatology division. Her clinical practice focuses on inflammatory arthritis and osteoporosis.

New PhD Graduate

Dr. Helal Endisha successfully defended her PhD in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in the University of Toronto. Her thesis title was "MicroRNA-34a-5p Promotes Joint Destruction During Obesity and Osteoarthritis". She is now joining Dr. Heather Baltzer's research group as a postdoctoral fellow.

Krembil 2019 Spring Postdoctoral & Clinical Fellowship Competition

Dr. Michael Tang was one of three applicants to be awarded the Krembil 2019 Spring Postdoctoral & Clinical Fellowship. Dr. Tang is a postdoctoral fellow at Dr. Robert Inman's laboratory. He won the fellowship award for his work titled "Investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of CD8+ T cell Dysregulation in Ankylosing Spondylitis".

Krembil Summer Student Research Day 2019

During the recent Krembil Summer Student Research Day 2019, two out of the three winners were from the Arthritis Program. Anas Samman, summer student that was supervised by Dr. Vinod Chandran, won the Undergraduate Category and Kimberly Yuen, medical student that was supervised by Dr. Zahi Touma, won the Medical Category.

RESEARCH DAYS

Preceptorship on Spondyloarthritis

A Preceptorship on Spondyloarthritis (SpA) has recently been conducted by UHN's Spondylitis and Psoriatic Arthritis Programs spearheaded by Drs. Robert D. Inman and Dafna D. Gladman as Chairs, respectively, along with Drs. Nigil Haroon and Vinod Chandran as Co-Chairs. This event was held on October 3-5, 2019 and was attended by nearly 60 participants coming from Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Columbia, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Qatar, Malaysia, Chile, Brazil and Canada. The program provided an update on the comprehensive management of the articular and extra-articular aspects of spondyloarthritis and included interactive group case discussions, allowing participants to seek expert advice on difficult cases in ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis.

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS

Acromioclavicular Joint Injuries: Evidence-based Treatment

Frank RM, Cotter EJ, Leroux TS, Romeo AA. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. September 2019. Click here for publication.

Advancing early identification of axial spondyloarthritis: An interobserver comparison of extended role practitioners and rheumatologists

Passalent L, Hawke C, Lawson D, Omar A, Alnaqbi K, Wallis D, Steinhart H, Silverberg M, Wolman S, Derzko-Dzulynsky L, Haroon N, Inman RD. The Journal of Rheumatology. May 2019. Click here for publication.

An Update on Arthritis in Canada - National and Provincial Data Regarding the Past, Present and Future

Badley EM, Goulart C, Millstone D, Perruccio AV. The Journal of Rheumatology. June 2019. Click here for publication.

Biceps Tenodesis is a Viable Option for Management of Proximal Biceps Injuries in Patients Less Than 25 Years of Age

Griffin J, Cvetanovich G, Kim J, Leroux T, Riboh J, Bach B, Cole B, Verma N, Romeo A. Arthroscopy. April 2019. Click here for publication.

Bone Marrow Stimulation Decreases Re-Tear Rates Following Primary Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Ajrawat P, Dwyer T, Almasri M, Veillette C, Romeo A, Leroux T, Theodoropoulos J, Nauth A, Henry P, Chahal J. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. April 2019. Click here for publication.

Cemented Humeral Stem versus Press-fit Humeral Stem in Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Uy M, Wang J, Horner N, Bedi A, Leroux T, Alolabi B, Khan M.The Bone and Joint Journal. September 2019. Click here for publication.

Derivation and External Validation of a Scoring System for Predicting Fracture Risk After Ischemic Stroke in a Canadian Cohort

Smith EE, Fang J, Alibhai SM, Cram P, Cheung AM, Casaubon LK, Kapoor E, Austin PC, Kapral MK. JAMA Neurology. May 2019. Click here for publication.

Elective Shoulder Surgery Among the Opioid Naïve: Rates and Risk Factors for Long-term Postoperative Narcotic Use

Leroux T, Saltzman B, Sumner S, Frank R, Veillette C, Verma N, Romeo A. American Journal of Sports Medicine. April 2019. Click here for publication.

Factors associated with opioid use in pre-surgical knee, hip and spine osteoarthritis patients

Power JD, Perruccio AV, Gandhi R, Veillette C, Davey JR, Lewis SJ, Syed K, Mahomed NN, Rampersaud YR. Arthritis Care & Research. August 2019. Click here for publication.

Getting a Grip on Arthritis Online: Responses of rural/remote primary care providers to a web-based continuing medical education programme

Lineker SC, Fleet LJ, Bell MJ, Sweezie R, Curran V, Brock G, Badley EM. Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine. June 2019. Click here for publication.

Glenoid Bone Grafting in Primary Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Paul R, Maldonado-Rodriguez N, Docter S, Khan M, Veillette C, Verma N, Nicholson G, Leroux T. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. August 2019. Click here for publication.

Integrin and transcriptomic profiles identify a distinctive synovial CD8+ T cell subpopulation in spondyloarthritis

Qaiyum Z, Gracey E Yao Y, Inman RD. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. August 2019. Click here for publication.

Patients’ expectations of spine surgery for degenerative conditions: Results from the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network (CSORN)

Canizares M, Gleenie A, Perruccio A, Abraham E, Ahn H, Attabib N, Christie S, Johnson MG, Nataraj A, Nicolls F, Paquet J, Phan P, Rasoulinejad P, Manson N, Hall H, Thomas K, Fisher CG, Rampersaud R. The Spine Journal. October 2019. Click here for publication.

Patterns of depressive symptoms before and after surgery for osteoarthritis: a descriptive study

Power JD, Kudesia P, Madeem A, Perruccio AV, Sundararajan K, Mahomed NN, Rampersaud YR, Gandhi R. ACR Open Rheumatology. May 2019. Click here for publication.

Patterns of opioid use (codeine, morphine or meperidine) in the Canadian population over time: analysis of the Longitudinal National Population Health Survey 1994-2011

Canizares M, Power JD, Rampersaud YR, Badley EM. BMJ Journals Open. July 2019. Click here for publication.

Pharmacological Management of Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline

Eastell R, Rosen CJ, Black DM, Cheung AM, Murad MH, Shoback D. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. May 2019. Click here for publication.

Return to Sport After Arthroscopic Superior Labral Anterior-Posterior Repair: A Systematic Review

Thayaparan A, Yu J, Horner N, Leroux T, Alolabi B, Khan M. Sports Health. October 2019. Click here for publication.

Screening and Treatment for Osteoporosis After Stroke

Kapoor E, Austin PC, Alibhai SMH, Cheung AM, Cram P, Casaubon LK, Fang J, Porter J, Smith EE, Prager M, Kapral MK. Stroke. April 2019. Click here for publication.

The effects of depression, low back pain and comorbidities on pain after total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis are modified by sex

Perruccio AV, Fitzpatrick J, Power JD, Gandhi R, Rampersaud YR, Mahomed NN, Davey JR, Syed K, Veillette C, Badley EM. Arthritis Care & Research. June 2019. Click here for publication.

The Official Positions of the Internation Society of Clinical Densitometry: Detection of Atypical Femur Fractures

Cheung AM, McKenna MJ, van de Laarschot DM, Zillikens MC, Peck V, Srighanthan J, Lewiecki EM. Journal of Clinical Densitometry. July 2019. Click here for publication.

The relationship between Patient Acceptable Symptom State and Disease Activity in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

Fei JZ, Perruccio AV, Ye J, Gladman DD, Chandran V. Rheumatology (Oxford). June 2019. Click here for publication.

Treating Psoriatic Arthritis to target: Defining Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Score (PASDAS) that reflects the state of minimal disease activity (MDA)

Perruccio AV, Got M, Li S, Ye Y, Gladman DD, Chandran V. Journal of Rheumatology. June 2019. Click here for publication.

Utilization and outcomes for spine surgery in the United States and Canada

Cram P, Landon BE, Matelski J, Ling V, Perruccio AV, Paterson JM, Rampersaud YR. Spine. October 2019. Click here for publication.