Research Underway Using OHS Data

Diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes are the primary causes of death in Canadian adults and treating these and other illnesses costs the Canadian health care system billions of dollars annually. The researchers using Ontario Health Study data are investigating factors that increase the risk of developing various diseases, as well as what can be done to reduce the chance of developing them. These risk factors may include where people live and work, what they eat, how much they exercise, whether they smoke and other factors that have not yet been identified.

CanPath Webinar: Real-world insights on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and infection risk factors from CanPath’s SUPPORT-Canada study

Jun 28, 2023

Photo: Dr. Victoria Kirsh, OHS Scientific Associate. Photo Credit: Greg Sigurdson

At a hybrid event presented live and via webinar on May 30, 2023, OHS Scientific Associate Dr. Victoria Kirsh provided an update on CanPath’s national COVID-19 Antibody Study.

Using real-world data from the SUrveying Prospective Population cOhorts for COVID-19 pRevalence and ouTcomes in Canada (SUPPORT-Canada) study which included questionnaire and blood spot sample contributions from nearly 10,000 OHS participants, Dr. Kirsh examined the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and the relative protection afforded by them compared to prior infection. Over 2 million lines of code were analyzed for the study leading to several surprising findings. Read a summary of Antibody Study Questionnaires here.

A full recording of the event is available below. To read more about this event, or to download and view the presentation slides available in both English and French, visit the CanPath website.

PHD student using OHS data to look for early signs of cancer

Mar 3, 2023

Nicholas Cheng is using data to compare over 400 OHS participants who’ve experienced a cancer diagnosis, with matched cancer-free participants, to look for biomarkers in the blood that could be used to detect breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers several years before a traditional diagnosis.

Hear what motivates this PHD student, as he reflects on his work in the lab of Philip Awadalla. You’ll see why he’s one of the ‘next generation’ of scientists at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

https://oicr.on.ca/the-next-generation-nick-cheng-looking-for-early-signs-of-cancer-in-blood/

New funding available for research using OHS data

Aug 8, 2022

A new funding opportunity from the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (CIHR-ICR) is available and provides up to $500,000 to use provincial data from the OHS, or to use pan-Canadian data from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath). Up to $100,000 over one year will be awarded for a single grant.

The goal of this priority funding announcement is to use data from either CanPath, which includes the OHS, or CANUE (the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium). The grant must use data from OHS/CanPath or CANUE as a principal data source for the research.

Proposals should be relevant to CIHR-ICR's mandate, related to reducing the burden of cancer through prevention strategies, screening, diagnosis, effective treatments, psycho-social support systems, and palliation.

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