Research Groups at Horizon

At its core, CESC aims to conduct research that translates into improved care and outcomes for those suffering from varied spinal conditions. This research group conducts research that leads to a better understanding surrounding treatment of complex spinal conditions and the mechanisms and effects of chronic pain on this population. The team is also interested in research that investigates how psychological and social factors influence outcomes, narcotic use for pain management, and how to optimize treatment in the peri-operative period. With the highest-volume spine surgery centre in Atlantic Canada, the Centre also is home to the largest single-site prospective spine surgery outcomes database in Canada. To learn more about the CESC, visit their website or follow them on Twitter.

Since 2010, Cardiovascular Research NB’s mission has been to lead, coordinate, and develop clinical research with the goal of improving the quality of cardiovascular care in New Brunswick. Home to several rich databases, CVRNB actively uses the data to run innovative studies that inform policy-making and practice. The research efforts of CVRNB have led to quality improvement initiatives, publications, & presentations, and have been essential to developing health policy strategies and clinical practice guidelines. To learn more about Cardiovascular Research New Brunswick, visit their website and follow the team on Twitter.

Research at RECAP takes place in the community where marginalized populations at-risk for or positive for hepatitis C live. The goals for RECAP’s research are to improve clinical care and improve education on key topics for this population, including harm reduction strategies, social determinants of health, patient and family health improvement, and preventative medicine. RECAP provides hepatitis C positive patients from New Brunswick the opportunity to enroll in the Hepatitis C Positive and At Risk Database. The HEAR database aims to better understand individuals living with or at risk for hepatitis C from a demographic, medical and social perspective. To learn more about RECAP, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

Research in Geriatrics is promoted and supported through several ways by Horizon Health Network to meet the needs of New Brunswick’s aging population. Identifying innovating ways through pursuit of excellence in healthcare research will provide evidenced-informed best practices to meet those needs and improve quality of life for our New Brunswick seniors. Central to this pursuit of excellence is bringing together Horizon Health employees in collaboration with other health researchers at universities and regional health authorities for relevant research projects at the inception of research studies continuing through the research process to dissemination of research findings. For more information, visit their website.

The Hematology Research Centre, located at the Saint John Regional Hospital, conducts clinical trials of new drug treatments with the goal of improving patient outcomes. Partnered with groups such as the Myeloma Canada Research Network, the centre assists in research initiatives that examine leukemia, iron deficiencies, stem cell transplants, and so much more. Certain trials through the centre provide patients access to new and innovative treatments. To learn more about the Hematology Research Centre, please contact the team.

The Hospital to Home Pharmacy Research Project (H2H) is based at Horizon’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital (DECRH) and aims to evaluate the impact of a pharmacy-led transition of care (TOC) program on patient care and relationships between hospital and community pharmacy teams. The TOC program provides a variety of evidence-based interventions for patients before, during, and after discharge from the hospital, as well as communication to community pharmacies. Medication-related measures include patients’ knowledge, confidence and adherence.

Forty-nine community pharmacists from 17 community pharmacies are participating within Fredericton and the surrounding area. The recruitment goal is to enroll 150 older adult patients admitted under family practice at the DECRH. The H2H team is made up of experienced pharmacists, researchers, and patient advisors.

This project has been funded by the Government of New Brunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada through the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project (HSPP). HSPP aims at improving the lives of seniors in New Brunswick; visit Healthy Seniors Pilot Project to learn more about this initiative.

Our investigators in Laboratory Medicine conduct their own research, as well as participate in national studies, that evaluate new methods and improvements to diagnostic testing and analysis.

In Saint John at the Saint John Regional Hospital, investigators continue to build research capacity and infrastructure, creating new databases for future research in forensic anatomical pathology and toxicology, as well as tissue banks. The Saint John Regional Hospital Tumour Bank (SJRHTB) launched in August of 2017, and stores both tumour and normal tissue from patients with a variety of cancers, along with accompanying clinical information, for use in future research studies. A placenta pathology database is also being developed and will help us to examine possible predictors of later childhood outcomes.

At the Moncton Hospital, Laboratory Medicine researchers are exploring ways to improve glucose and cholesterol monitoring and measurement; patient outcomes relating to control of blood sugar and lipids; and estimating the prevalence of infectious diseases. We are also working in pre-clinical research, developing and testing new technologies to promote faster wound healing.

Since 2012, the Moncton Orthopaedic Group has undertaken local investigator-initiated research studies and participated in multi-centre clinical trials. Their research focuses primarily on patients receiving total hip and total knee replacements, examining such issues as prevention of blood clots, revision surgery for infection, patient education and readiness for surgery, satisfaction with surgery, and measuring outcomes for different types of procedures. The team also conducts orthopaedic trauma research through its membership in the Canadian Orthopaedic Trauma Society.

Research studies authored by the Moncton Orthopaedic Group have been published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery, The Journal of Arthroplasty, and Musculoskeletal Care. They also contributed to a multi-centre clinic trial that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Their research has been presented at annual meetings of the Atlantic Provinces Orthopaedic Society and at the Canadian Orthopaedic Association national conference. For more information, visit their website.

Recognizing the impact of social determinants of health (e.g., poverty) on the development, treatment and prevention of medical issues in children and families, the New Brunswick Social Pediatrics Research Program aims to build a model of integrated, community-centered social medicine for children in vulnerable situations. This program focuses on the strengths of the child, the family and the community, to improve quality of life and long-term health outcomes for children and their families in the province. The NB Social Pediatrics group has received numerous awards; for example, funding for their work into supporting high-risk families struggling with addiction (the Strengthening Families Program), and for the Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP), which aims to help pregnant women with substance use issues break the cycle of generational poverty in priority neighbourhoods. For more information, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

The NB Trauma Program Research Sub-Committee supports research that will lead to innovation in injury prevention, trauma care and survival, or improved quality of life for trauma patients in NB. The Trauma Research Subcommittee actively supports excellence in trauma research provincially through awarding an annual trauma research grant, providing advice to trauma researchers, and by presenting research findings at major trauma and emergency medicine conferences. To learn more about NB Trauma, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

Horizon Health Network Pharmacy Services participates in local, national, and international clinical studies with the goal of optimizing medication management, drug utilization, and patient outcomes. Clinician-led research is driven by collaborations with pharmacy residents, students, and other health researchers, and in the past, has focused on such topics as: polypharmacy, medication reconciliation, infectious diseases, and patient perception and satisfaction regarding Clinical Pharmacy Services.

Pharmacy Services also supports industry-sponsored clinical trials through inventory management and promotion of safe handling and administration of investigational products. Pharmacists assess patients in clinical trials for their health conditions and drug therapy, provide drug information to patients, and provide drug information to healthcare providers administering the investigational products. The Regional Pharmacy Research Advisory Committee serves in an advisory role in matters related to pharmacy research, and acts as a resource and support for Pharmacy staff at Horizon.

The Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation conducts local, national and international clinical studies involving persons who have neurological and neuromuscular injuries and diseases, on site and in collaboration with the UNB Institute of Biomedical Engineering. The Stan Cassidy Centre has a Research Committee that includes professionals in a variety of disciplines, including Nursing, Physiotherapy, Psychology, and Occupational Therapy. The Research Committee meets every other month to provide support for staff initiated projects, as well as start-up funds and research dissemination. To learn more about Rehabilitation Research at the Stan Cassidy Centre, visit their website.

With over 100 studies being conducted in Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton and Miramichi, cancer research at Horizon includes industry-sponsored clinical trials and investigator-initiated research. Through clinical trials, research can offer people living with cancer the latest in treatment options to explore. Our teams also conduct applied health research studies, partnering with patient advisors to identify meaningful research topics, outcomes and measurements. Receiving national and international recognition for their work, our clinician-researchers take part in numerous advisory panels in Canada and abroad, keeping their ear to the ground to the latest advances.

In collaboration with hospital laboratories, as well as partnering academic labs at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, l’Universite de Moncton, and le Centre de Formation Medicale de Nouveau-Brunswick, our clinician-researchers also are continuously working with patients to collect and store tumour samples in biobanks for current and future research, helping us to study the nature and progression of the disease.

The SJ MS Clinic actively supports research initiatives with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the cause and unpredictable course of the neurodegenerative disorder, while improving the quality of life and treatments for MS patients. Home to the SJ MS Database, the clinic is involved in leading innovative research projects, assisting in clinical trials, and presenting their findings at international conferences. To learn more about research at the Saint John MS Clinic, please contact Shauna Sommerville.

Established in 2010, the Dalhousie University and Horizon Health Network Emergency Medicine Research program was created with the aim to investigate patient oriented outcomes and to achieve improved patient care through research and knowledge translation. Partnered with local, national, and international institutions, the program has collaborated in research areas of medical education, trauma outcomes and injury prevention.To learn more about SJRHEM, visit their website and follow them on Twitter.