Exploring LTRI’s Four Pillars of Research

Sinai Health’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, or LTRI, is one of the world’s top biomedical research institutes, powering scientific discovery for almost 35 years. We explore how our cells function in health and illness through four main areas, or pillars, of research. And by doing that, our work leads to new and improved ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat illnesses. We take a closer look at LTRI’s four research pillars and celebrate some of our recent discoveries.

Discovery science - Making connections between remarkable new discoveries and patient care. Scientists across Sinai Health make discoveries that reveal the mysteries of disease and nurture those discoveries to improve human health.

Using the latest technology to sequence the genes active at a single cell level, a new type of cell has been discovered in the intestinal lining, named the “revival stem cell”. Dr. Jeff Wrana, a senior scientist LTRI, and a team of researchers have found the revival stem cell plays a central role in the regenerative process in the intestine. This rare cell is responsible for creating new adult stem cells when the intestinal lining has been damaged and works to restore the lining. The discovery also provides new insights into inflammatory bowel disease and what goes wrong in the intestine, leading to better understanding and ultimately improved treatments of this debilitating disease.

Clinical/Translational research - Research rooted in the study of patients. Our researchers carry out studies that improve treatments and seek cures for some of today’s most intractable diseases.

Research at LTRI is changing how pregnant women at risk of preeclampsia are diagnosed and treated. Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening complication of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and other organ damage. Dr. John Kingdom is researching how a simple blood test that measures levels of a protein that comes from the placenta can alert clinicians if pregnant women are at higher risk of developing preeclampsia and other complications before disease symptoms begin. Making one of the biggest recent leaps in obstetrics care, Mount Sinai Hospital is currently the only site in North America to include this testing into clinical care of pregnant women. Moreover, researchers are also working on other beacons of pregnancy complications.

Population Health research - Much can be learned about the nature of disease by studying lifestyle, environmental and genetic characteristics among large groups of people. Our population health researchers contribute to the development of better disease prevention and treatment strategies.

A blood test or “liquid biopsy” for early cancer detection is moving closer to reality, thanks in part to population health research at LTRI by senior scientist Dr. Rayjean Hung. Her team was able to train a computer program to recognize some chemical changes in the bloodstream for people with early-stage cancers, and even identify what kind of cancer the patient had, from a list of a few different types. Since the earlier cancer is detected, the better the outcome, if confirmed by larger population study, this approach could result in early cancer detection while it is more treatable. The ability to have a blood test, instead of an invasive tissue biopsy, to predict or identify cancer can change how cancer is managed.

Health Systems research - Innovation that influences care delivery beyond our walls. We are constantly looking at the missing links in our health care system to improve the experience for patients and caregivers. Our goal is to re-design and test new models of care to improve people’s experiences and outcomes.

Canadian and international health care systems require solutions on how to address the needs of a relatively small population that take up a large portion of resources. In Ontario, 10 per cent of the population accounts for 79 per cent of total system costs. Dr. Carolyn Steele Gray, a scientist at LTRI, led the development a mobile application and portal called ePRO. The ePRO tool aims to improve primary care delivery and enhance a patient’s ability to self-manage their health. The app includes a goal tracker and health journal, allowing patients and their doctors to work together to create goals, treatment plans and track their symptoms and progress.