Latest news with #NOSMUniversity
CTV News
2 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
NOSM U student earns Canadian Medical Hall of Fame honour
Manitoulin Island med student Matthew Redmond among 16 Canadians awarded prestigious Canadian Medical Hall of Fame honour. The NOSM University second-year student was recognized for his leadership, research and charity work. He will formally receive the award at a ceremony in Calgary next year.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Northern Ontario researcher tests dietary supplements to reduce cancer risk from radon
Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer, but now a researcher at NOSM University in Sudbury is investigating if supplements could help reduce that risk. Christopher Thome received $200,000 in funding from the Canadian Cancer Society to conduct his research on the radioactive gas that occurs naturally when uranium found in rock decays. Health Canada estimates that 16 per cent of lung cancer deaths are related to radon exposure in the home, where levels are typically higher in basements. Thome is testing a natural supplement high in antioxidants on mice to see if it can successfully reduce lung cancer risk following high radon exposure. "Our hypothesis is that by taking this antioxidant dietary supplement at the same time that you're being exposed to these high levels of radon gas, that we should see a reduction in some of the damage that's done to the lung tissue," he said. When radiation interacts with our tissues it produces molecules called free radicals which can increase the risk of cancer. Thome said there is research that antioxidants can protect cells from the effects of free radicals, but he added that his research is still in the early stages. "We've done some controlled phase one clinical trials, but we don't have the data yet, the widespread human clinical data to release this supplement," he said. Thome said he and his team are currently testing the supplement on mice that are exposed to radon, with a control group that is not taking the supplement. "We'll be tracking things like lung cancer rates," Thome said.
CBC
14-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Ontario NDP unveils northern platform with a focus on health care, housing and highways
Social Sharing Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles unveiled her party's northern Ontario platform in Sudbury on Thursday, with promises to hire more doctors, expand northern highways and build more affordable homes. Stiles said an NDP government would double residency positions at NOSM University and would hire at least 350 doctors in northern Ontario, including 200 family physicians. "Too many people in Ontario don't have a family doctor," she said while speaking to reporters at Science North. "In Hearst, for example, it's three out of four who don't have a doctor. Well, I think northerners deserve better than what they've got from Doug Ford." Before the election was called, Ontario Progressive Conservative Health Minister Sylvia Jones promised $1.8 billion to expand health teams across the province in order to connect two million people with family physicians by 2029. Stiles said an NDP government would set up a "northern command centre" to co-ordinate a northern approach to the retention and recruitment of family doctors. During her event in Sudbury, Stiles also addressed the opioid crisis, referencing a collection of more than 250 crosses on display in the city's downtown that are a memorial for people who have died due to overdoses. "Those crosses are a stark reminder that we are failing those families and those individuals," she said. Stiles attacked the Ford government's decision to close supervised consumption sites across the province and replace them with Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs that don't include harm reduction. "Taking away services and resources without replacing them with something better, and bigger, and more immediate, is absolutely outrageous and more people will die as a result," she said. On highways and transportation, Stiles said her party would widen highways 11, 17 and 69 while building the Cochrane bypass. She said an NDP government would also make sure truck drivers have the proper training to handle northern Ontario road conditions, especially in the winter. "You shouldn't be scared for your life as you travel on northern highways," she said. "It's not rocket science to fix this problem." On housing, Stiles said the NDP's strategy to build 300,000 "deeply affordable" homes across Ontario would include support for a "for-Indigenous, by-Indigenous" housing plan.
