Canada turns to veterinary medicine for advances in public health
The University of Guelph is poised to play a greater role in public health thanks to a prestigious research chair worth nearly $1 million.
Prof. Jan Sargeant, director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses and a faculty member in the Department of Population Medicine in the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), received one of 14 applied public health chairs awarded nationwide by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
“Our secret is finally out: veterinarians are public health professionals,” says OVC dean Elizabeth Stone. “The Ontario Veterinary College has been helping to protect human health and well-being for nearly 150 years. Part of OVC’s overall vision is to respond to the changing demands on the profession and help change how society values veterinarians and the work we do, and this type of recognition is key to helping to bring about this mind shift.”
Sargeant agrees, noting that Guelph was the only veterinary college to receive CIHR funding. She says there’s a great need to integrate animal health and public health research and to get people to understand how intricately they are connected.
“Most emerging diseases that pose a threat to human health originate in animal populations, whether it’s avian flu or new strains of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs,’” she says. “Veterinarians are therefore uniquely equipped to investigate and come up with solutions to some of the critical health issues of today.”
As an applied public health chair, she will form teams of people from agriculture, government, and animal and human health to address public health issues that relate to zoonotic diseases.
“We are starting with food-borne diseases caused by bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7 (which is what caused the Walkerton water crisis), Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter and will move on to non-food-borne zoonoses as both our research and the centre evolve,” she says.
The chair complements the University’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses. Created in 2006, the centre promotes research by innovative scientists in a variety of disciplines working to solve problems in public health at the human/animal interface.
U of G has answers for animal and human health
● more research funding from health granting councils than any other Canadian university without a medical school
● 150 years of experience improving animal and human health systems
● new master’s degree in public health ― the only such program in Canada based in a veterinary school
● evaluating the health claims of functional foods and health products
● 30 years of testing Ontario’s milk production for quality.
Robot helps patients recover from a stroke
A robot designed by Guelph engineers to help patients recovering from a stroke has been successfully tested with human patients at Hamilton Health Sciences.
A team of researchers led by Prof. Hussein Abdullah has been developing the technology for seven years. It helps stroke patients with exercises that help restore the function of their upper limbs. The robot proved to be as effective as conventional treatment in an experimental trial involving 15 participants in the rehabilitation program at Hamilton Health Sciences.
“This new medical device will help the health-care system address the rising cost of providing rehabilitation services and make Canada a leader in therapeutic robotics,” says Abdullah.
OMAFRA renews commitment to research and education
The University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) renewed their long-standing relationship in 2008 with a new agreement that increased annual funding by $21.3 million to $76.1 million per year. The OMAFRA commitment ― more than $300 million in the first five years ― provides a major platform on which to further innovative research and education in agrifood, environmental sustainability, and animal and human health.
Contaminated tomatoes be gone
The answer to preventing future Salmonella outbreaks in tomatoes is fighting microbes with microbes, according to new research by food science professor Keith Warriner. He has discovered a method that could effectively eliminate Salmonella contamination by combining an antagonistic bacterium naturally found on tomatoes with viruses that infect the pathogen.
Salmonella on tomatoes is a big food safety issue. Because the bacterium can become internalized in tomatoes, it cannot be inactivated or removed simply by washing the fruit. Warriner’s solution is to treat the tomatoes at the flowering stage.
He and graduate student Jianxiong Ye are developing a spray containing the bacterium/virus combination that farmers can apply to crops. The solution could also be introduced to the water tomatoes are transported in during the post-harvest stage, effectively cutting off all possible routes of contamination, says Warriner.
Get rid of BPA
U of G research has found that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used to make plastics, lingers far longer in the bodies of babies than in adults. The study was published by toxicology professor Len Ritter and Andrea Edginton, a Guelph graduate who is now a professor in the University of Waterloo’s school of pharmacy.
They found that newborns and infants may have up to 11 times as much BPA in their bodies as adults. The chemical has been linked to cancer and reproductive and behavioural problems. This research supports Ottawa’s move to ban the substance in plastic baby bottles.
Animal advocate donates to animal care
The University of Guelph has received its largest-ever single donation from the estate of Mona Campbell, former chair and CEO of Dover Industries and a tireless advocate for animals. Her $7.5-million gift reflects a 20-year relationship with the University. During that time, she supported various programs in the Ontario Veterinary College and the Ontario Agricultural College, including a research centre in animal welfare that was renamed in honour of her late husband, Col. K.L. Campbell. The bequest will provide further support for animal welfare research.
Donors advance OVC health-care redevelopment
The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) vision for a new model in veterinary education is closer to reality thanks to the financial support of industry leaders Royal Canin Canada Company and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.
The Hill’s gift of $5 million over 10 years will help OVC establish a primary health-care centre for companion animals. The facility will be an international centre of excellence for teaching and research, involving students in the centre’s management and operation and providing diagnosis and treatment under the supervision of a core staff of veterinarians and technicians. The primary health care centre is also supported by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, which has invested $9.5 million.
In addition, Royal Canin Canada Company has donated $3 million to establish an endowed chair in canine and feline clinical nutrition and to support independent research and graduate scholarships.
Guelph students promote healthy living
* Sarah Core, a master’s student in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science, found that the more white there is in a cow’s eyes, the more anxious the animal. The trait is important to breeders because anxious animals are harder to handle and tend to have lower weight gain and poorer meat quality.
* Master’s students Lesley Moisey and Stia Kacker worked with Prof. Terry Graham, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, on a study that showed drinking caffeinated coffee before eating your morning cereal can significantly affect your body’s blood-sugar levels.
* Breanne Anderson, a master’s student in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, received a $55,000 fellowship from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Ontario Region, to study the role of diet during puberty in helping to protect against breast cancer.
Canadian children are omega-3 deficient
Guelph researchers say children in North America may not be getting enough omega-3 fatty acids in their diet. Their study is the first to directly measure the dietary intake of fatty acids by young children, says Prof. Bruce Holub, who co-authored the study with graduate students Sarah Madden and Colin Garrioch, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences.
They found that only 22 per cent of the children in the study received the suggested amount of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These nutrients, commonly found in fish, play a key role in child development, particularly in the growth of the brain and other nervous tissues. That’s why infant formula has been supplemented with DHA for several years.
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Prof. Jan Sargeant
Population Medicine
"health contributions expand robotic therapy research and education food safety solution BPA and babies animal welfare primary care for pets healthy living omega-3 deficiencies "
