Brain research takes flight from lab
Virtual institute unites scientists, industry to create products
Standing in front of a television, Megan Sherwin draws colourful doodles on the screen, simply by waving her left arm through the air.
While the smiling 11-year-old looks like she’s having fun, this isn’t just a video game. It’s motor and brain therapy to help strengthen an arm weakened by cerebral palsy.
Megan demonstrated the application on Monday when the Ontario Brain Institute launched its first three research projects, including one to integrate rehabilitation and video game technology so people with cerebral palsy can do this therapy at home.
The institute, created by the province in 2009 as an independent, not-for-profit corporation, brings together Ontario’s top brain researchers and business experts to turn discoveries into products and services. A virtual enterprise, the institute leverages work done at universities and hospitals across the province by uniting researchers with industry leaders.
“Collaboration puts us at a competitive edge with the best in the world,” said Joseph Rotman, chairman of the institute and a founder.
The three projects announced Monday will involve more than 80 researchers who will work with the pharmaceutical industry, imaging companies, medical device manufacturers and other enterprises to create products and services to be used in clinical care.
A second project is aimed at creating innovative therapies to diagnose and treat intractable epilepsy.
And the third project is expected to lead to better treatment for neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorders and intellectual disabilities.
It’s not unusual for scientists studying such disparate neurodevelopmental disorders to be unfamiliar with each other’s work, said Dr. Donald Stuss, president and scientific director of the institute.
“It is wonderful to see how researchers, clinicians, companies and patients from different institutions and disciplines across the entire province have pooled their strengths to develop innovative approaches to brain disorders that have significant impact not just on patients but their families,” he said.
The institute gets $5 million in annual funding from the province plus additional money from industry and philanthropy. The three projects will cost $7.5 million and results are expected by next March.
The economic impact of brain disorders and diseases in Ontario is $39 billion annually in health-care costs, lost productivity and other social costs, said Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid.
For Megan, who has come to a rehabilitation hospital for treatment up to four times a week during her young life, the opportunity to do therapy at home will save time. “I’m building function in my weaker arm,” she said. “but it doesn’t feel like therapy.”