Patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) may develop motor complications caused by Levodopa, the current drug used for treatment. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an alternative surgical treatment where electrodes are implanted in a specific brain region to deliver current to surrounding brain tissue which helps to alleviate motor symptoms of PD. Presently, there is […]

Bend Beauty is a Halifax based company involved in the research, development, and marketing of oral natural health products for use in skin-care and anti-aging. Bend?s core product, Anti-Aging Formula, is a mixture of the active ingredients fish oil, borage oil, lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin D3. An eight-week human clinical study demonstrated this product increases […]

During human clinical trials, a large percentage of candidate drugs fail because they are unsafe or ineffective. Even when preclinical cell and animal studies seem positive, problems occur because drugs tested with these models are often not predictive of what happens in humans. Many drugs, including non-cardiovascular drugs, target ion channels of the heart (membrane […]

In this grant, the consortium will develop new methods to characterize nanoparticles prepared with a proprietary polymer. This study will enable the fabrication and characterization of better performing nano-sized particles encapsulating therapeutic molecules, commonly called nanomedicines. This study will allow to monitor how the polymers self-assemble into nanoobjects under different conditions, and to study how […]

Evaluating the medicinal use of cannabinoids represents an area of massive untapped potential, especially considering its upcoming legalization in Canada. Currently, a significant proportion of medical cannabis research is based on self-reported use and outcomes, rather than carefully-designed research studies. Here, we aim to better understand the impact of cannabis administration in adults with obesity […]

With rapid and cost-effective genome sequencing becoming the norm, many causal mutations for inherited genetic diseases are being rapidly determined. The discovery of new genes for inherited diseases is enabling rapid genetic and chemical genetic platforms to be used to discover drug targets and drugs/drug-like molecules as potential treatment options for patients with inherited diseases. […]

G protein coupled receptors (GCPRs) are proteins found at the surface of cells are responsible for activating numerous intracellular signaling pathways and thus are involved in regulating about every physiological response. Activation of GPCRs occurs by compounds as varied as photons, lipids, ions, small hormonal or neurotransmitter compounds or larger peptidic and protein molecules. As […]

Triozan™ is a safe, biodegradable and biocompatible hydrophilic and highly quaternized biopolymer with advantageous physicochemical properties that enables an efficient encapsulation and protection of drug molecules against degradation while simultaneously maintaining therapeutic integrity. We propose to encapsulate three drug candidates into nanogels formed from Triozan to enhance their therapeutic application and overcome multiple barriers such […]

The molecular mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of metastatic cancer are beginning to be elucidated with the identification of key regulators. Increasing evidence points to tumor cell epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) as an important contributing process to metastatic evolution. The identification of factors that are stimulated during EMT might provide the means to develop […]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (the deadliest form of brain cancer) is associated with poor survival rates (approximately 12-15 months from the time of diagnosis). This is due to the fact that most cases of GBM are resistant to current standards of care. As a result, novel effective treatment options are highly desirable. It has recently been […]

Despite the power of gene therapy, its successful application to medicine has been diminished due to: (i) high toxicities and potentially fatal adverse effects; (ii) poor transgene expression in target cells; and (iii) extensive vector degradation. While viral vectors greatly improve efficiency, they sometimes lead to cancers due to chromosomal integration and may suffer from […]

Seniors take many medications during their lifetime. As seniors age, some of these medications may become unnecessary or even harmful. The process of stopping a medication that has the potential to cause more harm than benefit is called deprescribing. Physicians are more in the habit of prescribing than deprescribing, even though patients like the idea […]