Naturally, aspects of a person’s environment are interconnected. Where you’ve been; what you’ve eaten; what chemicals, microbes and pollution you’ve been exposed to— the sum of the environmental exposures encountered over a lifetime all contribute to our individual “exposome.”

Now, a new pan-Canadian research consortium aims to link exposome data with health information from AllerGen’s CHILD Study and other Canadian cohort and health databases.

The goal? To understand how living in cities affects our health – and how we can better design our cities with health in mind.

The CANadian Urban Environmental (CANUE) Health Research Consortium is a five-year, $4.1 million project funded in 2016 by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) as part of their Environments and Health Signature Initiative.

Led by AllerGen Research Leader Dr. Jeffrey Brook (Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Senior Scientist, Environment and Climate Change Canada), CANUE unites over 150 environmental health experts in academia, government, and the not-for-profit and private sectors from coast to coast.

“CANUE is looking at six environmental factors that affect health: air pollution, noise pollution, proximity to green space such as nature or parks, exposure to extreme weather, transportation options, and neighborhood factors,” says Dr. Brook. “We aim to compile data on these six attributes and map them for every neighbourhood in Canada.”

These data will be sent to the CHILD Study and other health databases, where they will be linked with anonymized health information to study how these multiple environmental factors are linked to a wide range of health outcomes.

According to Dr. Brook, partnering with CHILD “will enable effective, evidence-based strategies for planning healthy cities and towns, today and in the future.”

CANUE will also link AllerGen’s Gene and Environment (GxE) project data to CANUE’s urban form and environmental data, allowing for insights of value to policy and decision-makers.

Alongside Dr. Brook, seven AllerGen investigators participate in CANUE’s core research team, including Co-Principal Investigators Drs Michael Brauer and Padmaja Subbarao, and Co-Investigators Drs Meghan Azad, Chris Carlsten, Greg Evans, Wendy Lou and Tim Takaro.

Dr. Philippe Bégin received the 2016-2017 FRQS-AllerGen Clinical Research Scholars - Junior 1 Career Award.

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  Dr. Philippe Bégin

The award, which recognizes outstanding young clinical investigators who wish to pursue research on allergic and related immune diseases, will further Dr. Bégin’s work on desensitization and the re-establishment of oral tolerance in patients with severe food allergies.

The FRQS-AllerGen award supports young clinical investigators in the province of Quebec pursuing allergic and related immune disease research.

In 2013, Dr. Bégin was the recipient of AllerGen’s Emerging Clinician-Scientist Fellowship and spent two years at the Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research conducting clinical and translational research on oral immunotherapy (OIT).

Dr. Bégin is an allergist-immunologist and adjunct clinical professor at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal and CHU Sainte-Justine.

Drs Aida Eslami and Christopher Rider were among 28 post-doctoral researchers granted 2016 MSFHR Trainee Awards.

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  Dr. Aida Eslami

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  Dr. Christopher Rider

The BC-based awards will support these AllerGen trainees for up to three years as they establish their careers while training alongside AllerGen investigators at The University of British Columbia (UBC).

Dr. Eslami’s award, co-funded in partnership with AllerGen, will help to advance her research on the underlying genetic mechanisms associated with asthma.

Dr. Eslami is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of AllerGen investigator Dr. Denise Daley at the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation.

AllerGen’s Success Stories is written for Canadian families and healthcare providers, providing them with up-to-date information on cutting-edge research into asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis—exploring what causes these illnesses, how better to manage, treat and prevent them, and steps towards finding cures. Success Stories also features the accomplishments of AllerGen’s Highly Qualified Personnel.

Since 2010, AllerGen has published and distributed 10 issues of Success Stories to over 1,200 Network participants, partners and knowledge users. Success Stories is available in both English and French.

"Every scientist should be able to explain what they are doing, why, and how to non-specialists. It is important not just for public communication, but it will make you much better at communicating to scientists."

A new online database is helping AllerGen researchers and trainees share their findings beyond the pages of peer-reviewed journals.

ResearchSKETCHES provide short, readable summaries of Network research, emphasizing why the research should matter to readers of all backgrounds.

Written by AllerGen trainees who contributed to the project results, each SKETCH answers four questions:

• What is the research about?
• What did the researchers do?
• What did they find?
• How can the research be used?

By providing editorial support and training in lay writing, the ResearchSKETCHES program builds knowledge mobilization capacity among AllerGen’s Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) and helps young researchers to make their findings accessible, relevant and easy to understand to a broad lay audience.

“Being an AllerGen SKETCH writer helped me to tell the story of my research in an interesting way,” says Wojciech Dawicki, a research associate in Dr. John Gordon’s laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan. “Now, I think about my reader—what he or she needs to know—which helps me to expand the audience for my research by making the information accessible to everyone.”

What happens to our kids’ health as they enter elementary school? What physical (and emotional) challenges emerge during the high-school years? What ‘nature versus nurture’ factors should we study among school-age kids to help promote health and wellbeing later in life?

In casual 'open space' discussions with with representatives of Canadian child and youth health organizations, CHILD Study researcher Dr. Meghan Azad laid out these provocative questions and then sat back to listen.

The discussions took place on April 6, 2017, as part of the CHILD Study’s knowledge mobilization outreach at the 2017 Sandbox Summit. The event was the 6^th annual conference hosted by The Sandbox Project, a national youth charity and an AllerGen Legacy Partner.

“Engaging in conversations with grassroots child and youth health advocates helps us to understand the research priorities of hard-to-reach and vulnerable communities, and to translate the knowledge gained from CHILD research back to these communities,” says Dr. Azad, an assistant professor in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.

“Screentime, physical activity, and social interactions with peers seem to be big areas of interest, as are neuro-development, school performance and mental health,” she said.

“Stakeholders would like to see more research about how these factors impact kids’ health, so we can all work together to build healthy homes and communities.”

Dr. Azad also chairs a new multidisciplinary CHILD Study Stakeholder Advisory Group Committee. Made up of roughly a dozen members of the public, Study parents, not-for-profit organizations, government representatives, medical and knowledge mobilization experts, the pan-Canadian committee provides advice regarding strategies for translating CHILD Study discoveries into products and tools that benefit parents and communities.

The 3,500 or so families currently participating in CHILD are also lending a hand to inform broader questions of child health and development, according to Dr. Diana Lefebvre, the Study’s research manager. “The participating families are eager to know what will happen to the CHILD cohort as they reach puberty.” Will the kids who have asthma now at age five outgrow it later? Will new cases pop up? Will any of the kids start showing signs of obesity and cardiovascular disease?

“Many adult diseases start in childhood, and CHILD gives us an opportunity to find out why and how,” says Dr. Lefebvre. “This is an incredible Canadian resource that can predict and possibly prevent chronic disease and we need to hear from all Canadians to help move this research forward.”

A research finding does not automatically have a social impact.

Research only has impact when it is used to inform new practices, products, policies, processes and services that ultimately touch the lives of Canadians.

On June 27, 2016, the NCE Secretariat held its 2^nd Annual NCE Knowledge Mobilization Symposium in Toronto, ON, to help its Networks and Centres ensure that their research and training investments result in social impacts.

“NCE Symposium - The Conditions for Impact” attracted over 50 participants from NCE Networks, NCE Knowledge Mobilization (KM) Networks, and Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR). AllerGen, along with Serene-RISC, PREVNet, and NeuroDevNet, contributed as a member of the NCE Symposium Planning Committee.

The event allowed participants to share strategies for effectively mobilizing knowledge in order to achieve socioeconomic and health gains. Within a world café format, keynote speakers and discussion groups examined two specific topics: “Governance for impact” and “Monitoring and reporting on impact.”

The Post-Symposium report highlights the workshop’s activities, discussions and recommendations.

Sylviane Duval, member of AllerGen’s Network-Supported Intellectual Property (NSIP) Advisory Committee, and Kim Wright, AllerGen’s Director of Communications and Knowledge Mobilization (KMb), were presenters at the 5^th Annual Canadian Knowledge Mobilization Forum (CKMF), held June 28- 29, 2016, in Toronto, ON.

The two-day interdisciplinary conference provided learning opportunities and professional development experiences for practitioners, researchers, students, administrators, thought leaders, and others engaged in the art and science of knowledge mobilization (KMb). It hosted over 230 attendees from across Canada, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Ms. Duval engaged the audience with the concepts of “nudge” and “choice architecture”—ways of subtly influencing people’s decisions—and questioned their applicability to the practice of knowledge translation. Ms. Wright shared insights from AllerGen’s successful KMb experience producing the award-winning whiteboard video about the CHILD Study.

The CKMF was founded in 2012 and brings together a diverse group of KMb professionals to create better practices, better policies and supports, and more efficient implementation procedures for knowledge mobilization.

The 2016 Report details the conference’s keynote speakers, presenters and participant activities

In January 2016, AllerGen introduced a new CHILD Study video showing how breathing in traffic fumes during the first year of life can increase the risk of allergies later on.

The research, led by Dr. Michael Brauer and Dr. Hind Sbihi of The University of British Columbia (UBC), used data from children in four Canadian cities and found that that babies who were exposed to higher levels of traffic pollution during their first year of life were at greater risk of developing sensitivity to things like milk or peanuts, household mould, and even to cats and dogs.

“With the increasing rates of allergies amongst children in Canada and elsewhere, we were interested in determining if air pollution from traffic might be partially responsible,” said Dr. Brauer, a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC.

Their findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, were widely reported by media outlets, including CBC, The Telegraph (UK), The Toronto Sun, The Vancouver Sun, Global News, and The Times-Colonist.

“Productivity is not impact,” observed knowledge transfer expert Dr. Melanie Barwick in her February 2017 webinar: “If we’re not good at delivering our evidence to those who can use it (our knowledge users), we have a poor return on our research investment.”

Dr. Barwick was one of a slate of prominent specialists featured in AllerGen’s “Knowledge Translation for Research Success” webinar series, focusing on how to mobilize research evidence to benefit society.

The series was delivered to researchers, students, community partners and other NCEs in Fall 2016 and Winter 2017.

AllerGen’s Clinical Investigator Collaborative (CIC) was founded in 2005 to advance the development of new therapies to treat asthma.

With expertise in both allergic asthma (AA) and severe asthma (SA), the CIC conducts Phase II clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of new molecules and compounds for the treatment of asthma in either the upper or lower airways.

The CIC’s globally unique allergen inhalation challenge (AIC) model and proprietary standard operating procedures (SOPs) ensure accurate, rapid and cost-effective clinical trials with uniform results across the CIC’s multiple sites.

The CIC’s clinical trials have also delivered novel data on the pathophysiology of asthma. Publications in high-impact scientific journals have generated significant media exposure from outlets such as CTV News, MarketWatch, Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.

Allergic Asthma (AA-CIC)

The AA-CIC reliably identifies those compounds that merit continued development for the treatment of allergic asthma and those that are likely to fail in Phase III clinical trials, allowing industry partners to prioritize their discovery investments.

From 2005 to 2017, the AA-CIC has completed or undertaken 21 clinical trials with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including AIM, Alexion, Altair, Amgen, Asmacure, AstraZeneca, Axikin, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, IVAX, MedImmune, Novartis, ONO, Schering Plough, Topigen, and Wyeth.

Led by Drs Paul O’Byrne and Gail Gauvreau (McMaster University), the AA-CIC has attracted nearly $24M in global biopharmaceutical investments to Canada and created over 41 jobs for scientists, trainees and research associates.

Severe Asthma (SA-CIC)

Although severe asthma accounts for only 5%-10% of the asthmatic population, this condition represents over 50% of the costs related to asthma care, and seriously impacts the health and wellbeing of as many as 250,000 Canadians.

Led by Dr. Parameswaran Nair (McMaster University), the SA-CIC works with industry partners to evaluate new molecules for the treatment of SA, study the mechanisms of the disease, and develop and evaluate novel biomarkers for this debilitating condition.

Since its inception in 2012, the SA-CIC has completed or undertaken 6 clinical trials with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Teva, and Sanofi, and attracted $1.1M in international investments.

AllerGen investigators-inventors:

Dr. Kelly McNagny, The University of British Columbia;
Drs Judah Denburg and Gail Gauvreau, McMaster University

CyTOF (cytometry by time-of-flight) technology is a new single-cell analysis technique that allows researchers to identify previously undetected cell subsets, deepening their understanding of cell biology and human disease. AllerGen has invested in its investigators' blood biomarker research since 2009 and a CyTOF-specific project since 2014.

In December 2016, Dr. McNagny and colleagues filed an Intellectual Property (IP) disclosure related to the use of CyTOF technology to identify rare blood cells involved in the development of allergic asthma.

The technology will analyze cord blood from the CHILD Study and samples from the Clinical Investigator Collaborative (CIC) with the goals of predicting allergic disease and uncovering a potential target for therapy.

Photo (of Dr. McNagny): The Ubyssey

AllerGen investigator-inventor:

Dr. Dean Befus, University of Alberta

In June 2017, AllerGen Research Leader Dr. Befus and colleagues published the first evidence that the protein known as calcium binding protein spermatid specific 1 (CABS1) is readily detectable in human saliva and that its levels are influenced by acute psychological stress and feelings of negative mood or emotional distress.

With a decade of AllerGen research support behind them, Dr. Befus’ team filed an Intellectual Property (IP) disclosure in 2016, followed by a full patent application in 2017. They aim to develop a non-invasive CABS1-based saliva test to predict, diagnose and ultimately treat stress-related conditions. In 2016-17, the team attracted $50,000 in partner cash and in-kind contributions.

Photo: David Bloom/POSTMEDIA (Edmonton Journal)

AllerGen investigator-inventor:

Dr. Scott Tebbutt, The University of British Columbia

In April 2016, Dr. Tebbutt and colleagues filed an Intellectual Property (IP) disclosure outlining a new blood-based biomarker test that can identify individuals susceptible to developing a “late-phase” asthmatic response.

The late-phase asthmatic response is a delayed response that occurs three to four hours following an initial asthmatic reaction. This response may last for hours or days and is thought to occur mainly in more sensitive asthmatic individuals. The biomarker test, which uses NanoString technology, may be useful both for identifying a new target for an asthma therapeutic and as a method to screen patients who will exhibit a late-phase response for clinical trials.

The disclosure has emerged from research that Dr. Tebbutt has been pursuing with AllerGen support since 2007. In 2016-17, the research team attracted $50,000 in partner contributions (cash and in-kind).

Photo: PROOF Centre

AllerGen investigators-inventors:

Drs Brett Finlay and Stuart Turvey, The University of British Columbia

Using data from AllerGen’s CHILD Study, the Finlay and Turvey labs discovered that four types of gut bacteria may protect children from developing asthma. Their findings, published in 2015 in Science Translational Medicine, open the door to the possibility of diagnosing earlier those children who are most at risk for developing asthma by testing their microbiome, as well as the development of specialized probiotic treatments to manipulate the microbiome early in life.

In 2015, the researchers filed an Intellectual Property (IP) disclosure related to their discovery, and have since licensed the IP to Commense, a US-based microbiome startup owned by PureTech Health. The licensing agreement will advance the development of a microbiome-based therapy directed toward the prevention of asthma and other allergic diseases that present in childhood.

Photo: The Ubyssey

AllerGen investigator-inventor:

Dr. Darryl Adamko, University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Adamko has developed a simple urine test that can detect damaged tissue and reduced lung function caused by asthma and allergies. The test will use a mass spectroscopy scan to check for telltale molecular markers associated with asthma.

AllerGen has invested in this research and technology since 2007, and continues to support Dr. Adamko’s start-up company Respirlyte Inc.

In 2016-17, Dr. Adamko attracted $295,000 in partner contributions (cash and in-kind). He was also awarded $235,000 by the Western Economic Diversification Canada program to further develop and commercialize this non-invasive urine test, which has the potential to change the way Canada’s doctors diagnose asthma.

Photo: Region Reporter (Saskatoon Health)

AllerGen investigators-inventors:

Drs Greg Evans and Jeff Brook, University of Toronto

Drs Evans and Brook are developing AirSENCE (Air SENsor for Chemicals in the Environment), a novel technology for monitoring air quality. The device uses a panel of sensors to gauge the levels of five common air pollutants: nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter. The portable sensor can be mounted outdoors or indoors, and produces air quality data that can be instantly accessed through a smart phone.

Following a successful pilot test of the device during the 2015 Pan Am Games, the researchers are now conducting a larger-scale evaluation of AirSENCE in Beijing, China and expanding its use in the Greater Toronto Area. By Fall 2017, AirSENCE devices will be installed along the King Street and Yonge Street corridors in Toronto, and in the neighbouring cities of Guelph and Mississauga on lamp posts and utility poles.

In addition to research support from AllerGen since 2007 and $221,000 in partner contributions secured in 2016-17, the team has financial backing from the Ontario-China Research and Innovation Fund, and is collaborating with AUG Signals, a Canadian company.

Photo: SOCAAR/AirSENCE; technicians mount an AirSENCE device on a King Street (Toronto) streetcar.

AllerGen Research Skills Awards help the Network’s HQP develop strategically important and advanced research skills through individualized training experiences.

Since 2011, 27 Research Skills Awards have enabled HQP to participate in a vast range of training opportunities, including scientific courses, workshops, and specialized research visits.

In 2016-17, three Research Skills Awards recipients credited the program with helping them develop critical technical and analytical skills.

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  Michael Chen (McGill University; supervisor: Dr. James Martin)

  Opportunity: Lower Saxony International Summer Academy for Immunology, at the Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany

  “My participation in the Summer Academy in Immunology at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover allowed me to learn about various topics and techniques in immunology and to build connections with up-and-coming researchers from across the globe.”

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  Stephanie DeLorenzo (SickKids; supervisor: Dr. Padmaja Subbarao)

  Opportunity: Spirometry Workshop at Vancouver, BC and Winnepig, MB CHILD Study sites

  “The AllerGen Research Skills Award allowed me to attend spirometry workshops at CHILD Study sites in Vancouver and Winnipeg. These workshops helped me to refine my communication and demonstration skills to prepare young children for lung function tests. As part of an intraprofessional team, I was able to brainstorm ways to overcome barriers to achieving quality spirometry techniques in the challenging preschool age group.”

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  Katherine Lortie (Université Laval; supervisor: Dr. Marie-Renée Blanchet)

  Opportunity: Laboratory Exchange with Dr. Kelly McNagny at The University of British Columbia

  “The Research Skills Award allowed me to expand my research network and work with experts in the field of immunology. This experience was rewarding both professionally and personally; in addition to learning new research skills, I improved my English and enhanced my self-confidence. I look forward to pursuing a career as a research assistant and I hope to collaborate again with the team of UBC. ”

Six AllerGen trainees took top honours across three categories of the 2016 AllerGen/Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) Poster Competition.

The competition was held, for the fourth consecutive year, in conjunction with the Annual Scientific Meeting of AllerGen’s legacy partner, the CSACI. The CSACI Scientific Meeting and Poster Competition took place from September 29 to October 2, 2016, in Montreal, QC.

AllerGen Travel Awards continue to be highly sought after by Network investigators and HQP. These awards, matched 1:1 with partnered funding, provide trainees with unique opportunities for public speaking, networking, research collaboration, knowledge exchange, and skill acquisition and development.

To date, more than 300 awards have helped AllerGen trainees travel to meetings, conferences and workshops around the world to share their research through oral and poster presentations, and to network with experts in the field.

In 2016-2017 alone, 42 AllerGen Travel Awards helped to send HQP to 16 high-profile events, including the American Thoracic Society International Meeting, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting, the Keystone Symposia, the European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology Conference, and the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

The AllerGen Students and New Professionals Network (ASNPN) is a membership program open to trainees (undergraduate students to postdoctoral fellows), research staff and early-career researchers working in the field of allergic disease in Canada.

The ASNPN is governed by an elected Executive Committee, which meets five times per year by teleconference. The ASNPN President sits as an observer on the AllerGen Board of Directors and is a full voting member of the Advanced Education and Training Opportunities Advisory Committee (AETOAC). The ASNPN Vice-President sits as an observer on AllerGen’s Research Management Committee (RMC).

On February 11, 2017, AllerGen HQP Laura Feldman joined an exclusive audience of more than 100 women and girls to celebrate the 2017 International Day of Women and Girls in Science, held at Facebook Canada’s headquarters in Toronto, ON.

AllerGen supports women in science to develop advanced-stage research expertise. Through its diverse initiatives, AllerGen’s HQP program has attracted and retained a high proportion of female researchers in a gender ratio that exceeds the national average according to data collected by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).