Expanding research and innovation at The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus
Mar 5, 2024
The Ottawa Hospital’s world-class care is supported and driven by research and innovation.
With more than 2,000 researchers, 700 active clinical trials and 60 laboratories, TOH is one of the top research hospitals in Canada, receiving more than $120 million in annual research funding. Research and innovation play a significant role in our plans to reshape the future of health care.
Teams at TOH make new discoveries every day, many with real-world results. Work at TOH has made headlines recently with Dr. Bernard Thébaud’s world-first cell therapy for premature babies, Dr. Natasha Kekre’s pioneering CAR T-cell therapy to treat cancer patients – the first of its kind made in Canada – and Dr. Gonzalo Alvarez’s recently launched research study exploring wastewater monitoring as a tool to detect and prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in Nunavut.
“Research provides our patients with new and potentially life-saving treatment options and gives us the tools to continuously improve care,” says Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President, Research at The Ottawa Hospital. “Research is also a major driver of economic growth in our city and beyond.”
Here are just a few ways that TOH can expand discovery and innovation at the new campus.
Patient access and integrated research
TOH has plans to integrate research spaces into clinical areas as much as possible at the new campus. This design approach will create more opportunities for researchers and clinicians to collaborate and will increase patient access to clinical trials and groundbreaking new therapies that can lead to life-changing outcomes.
Having research spaces built into clinical areas will enhance the research culture at TOH and embed a minimum standard of research in all processes, strengthening our health-care practices and improving our ability to attract and retain innovative staff.
Neuroscience
Currently, TOH’s neuroscience program operates out of two campuses; most clinical care takes place at the Civic Campus while most basic research is conducted at the General Campus. The new campus provides an opportunity for clinical and research teams to work together in state-of-the-art facilities to provide the most advanced care possible and develop new life-saving therapies.
With world-class scientists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and trainees, TOH can build one of the strongest neurological programs in Canada, with groundbreaking research programs in areas such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disease, depression and Parkinson’s.
Positioning Ottawa as a leader in research and innovation
There is an unprecedented surge in demand for new therapies that use biological materials like cells, genes and viruses, and to manufacture them for clinical trials. Researchers at TOH are responding to this need and leading the way in biotherapeutics.
The opportunity to expand biomanufacturing to the new campus will allow teams to work in state-of-the art laboratories to produce innovative treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease and other conditions.
It is rare for academic researchers to have access to biomanufacturing in a hospital or university setting, making TOH a leading destination for biomedical research and clinical trials.
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