Innovation and Advancement In Melanoma Research Through Data Analysis
THE NETWORKS
The success of the Canadian Melanoma Research Network spawned the creation of the Global Melanoma Research Network. Hundreds of health professionals from around the world are involved in the data collection and collaboration for numerious innovative projects.
THE DIRECTOR and Co-Founder
Dr Ernst is a Professor of Medicine a the University of Western Ontario in London Ontario where he has also serves as Medical Oncology Divisional Head since 2007. He graduated from University of Ottawa and completed his postgraduate training in Edmonton Alberta, including the Cross Cancer Institute. He has held faculty positions at the Universities of Calgary, East Carolina and Miami.
His principle clinical interest has been in the management of GU, Head and Neck malignancies and Melanoma. His specific research has focused upon new drug development and bone metastases. He has participated in numerous national and international clinical trials and has authored over 65 peer reviewed publications. He is currently an executive member of the NCIC CTG Melanoma Group and is a founding co-chair for the Canadian Melanoma Conference.
"Melanoma is one of the most rapidly rising cancers," says Dr. Ernst. "It's expected that there will be 5,500 new cases in Canada this year. While genetics plays a significant role in development of melanoma, intermittent and chronic sun exposure is an important risk factor for melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. There are a lot of simple, practical things that people can do to protect themselves and reduce their risk of developing melanoma."
-May 2012
Co-Founder
Dr. Femida Gwadry-Sridhar is a pharmacist, epidemiologist and methodologist with over 15 years of experience in clinical trials and disease registries. Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar holds a number of peer-reviewed grants from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (Canada) and from CIHR to evaluate knowledge translation. In 2006, she was awarded a five-year CIHR New Investigator Award in Knowledge Translation (2006-2011). Through the CIHR funded trial, Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar and her colleagues at The University of Western Ontario, intensivists in the Critical Care Research Network (CCR-Net) and cardiologists in London and Hamilton are using novel business methodologies to determine systems and process differences within institutions that lead to disparities in outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarcts across Ontario ICUs.
Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar has created the first knowledge translation health informatics laboratory in the country. The I-THINK Research lab brings together an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers and basic scientists to apply information and communication technology to science. This lab is linked with other computational facilities nationally and internationally.
Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar is the founder and CEO of Pulse Infoframe Inc. They have developed a platform that allows the integration of clinical, imaging and histopathology data entitled Healthie. Under Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar’s guidance, Pulse Infoframe Inc. has started commercializing these ventures nationally and internationally.
Dr. Ernst speaks to numerous groups several times a year regarding all facets of Melanoma from prevention to new treatments.