Research Office - Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Findings suggest that certain medications for Type 2 diabetes reduce risk of dementia

Heath e-News — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:55:18 +0000

A large ��Թ� study has found that two classes of medications commonly prescribed for Type 2 diabetes, both incretin-based, are associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

Drawing on clinical data from more than 450,000 patients, the research adds to growing evidence that incretin-based therapies have protective benefits for the brain.

The study examined GLP-1 receptor agonists, which include such medications as Ozempic, as well as DPP-4 inhibitors.

The Jerry Pelletier Initiative: building a pipeline for rare cancers left behind

Health e-News — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:54:27 +0000

In cancer research, progress is often marked by new breakthroughs. New drugs, new biomarkers, new understanding of tumour behaviours. But when diagnosed with rare cancers, patients often do not have these breakthroughs to turn to for hope. Rare cancers involve tumours often defined by scarcity rather than severity, leaving patients with doctors who often cannot provide treatments, clinical trials, or even explanations for their illness.

��Թ� researchers identify a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk

Health e-News — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:53:46 +0000

An interdisciplinary team including researchers at ��Թ� has found a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk samples from Canada and South Africa. The chemicals include traces of pesticides, antimicrobials and additives used in plastics and personal-care products. The findings were published across five papers.

Lithium study yields insights in the fight against HIV

Health e-News — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:52:50 +0000

Lithium, a widely used treatment for bipolar disorder and other mood disorders, has shown early promise in suppressing HIV, ��Թ� researchers report.

A new study published in iScience found lithium can prevent infected cells from reactivating, and that it does so through an unexpected biological mechanism.

The findings point toward future treatments designed to mimic lithium’s beneficial effects while avoiding its broader impacts on the body.

Weston Family Foundation awards two ��Թ� researchers combatting neurodegenerative diseases of aging

Health e-News — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:51:32 +0000

Etienne de Villers-Sidani and Philippe Huot have been awarded funding from the Weston Family Foundation’s Rapid Response program for their innovative research advancing diagnostic tools and interventions for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They are among seven researchers nationwide to receive funding in this year’s competition, announced this w

Do supervised consumption sites bring increased crime? Study suggests that’s a myth

Health e-News — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:39:38 +0000

Overdose prevention sites and supervised consumption sites in Toronto are not associated with long-term increases in local crime, ��Թ� researchers have found.

Over 10 years, crime reports remained stable or declined in neighbourhoods where sites opened, the researchers said. Their findings land amid debates across Canada about how harm reduction services intersect with public health and safety.

New light-triggered microneedle patch could make IVF hormone delivery painless and automated

Health e-News — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:38:34 +0000

A ��Թ� research team has developed a painless, automated way to deliver in vitro fertilization (IVF) hormones using a light-activated microneedle patch, an innovation that could ease one of the most stressful parts of fertility treatment and open new possibilities for other diseases that require frequent, time-sensitive injections.

IVF patients must inject themselves with hormones daily at specific times in the weeks leading up to egg retrieval, a process that can be physically and emotionally taxing.

Low-dose peanut therapy may help protect more children with peanut allergies

Health e-News — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:37:32 +0000

Children with peanut allergies may not need large doses of peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) to build protection to the allergen, finds a new study led by the Montreal Children’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

New evidence challenges understanding of Parkinson’s disease

Health e-News — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:36:35 +0000

A ��Թ�-led study is challenging a popular theory about how dopamine drives movement, a discovery that could shift how scientists think about Parkinson’s disease treatments.

Published in Nature Neuroscience, the research found dopamine does not set the speed or force of each movement, as had been thought. Instead, it appears to act as the underlying support system that makes movement possible.

International ERDERA funding awarded for novel autism treatment research

Health e-News — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:35:28 +0000

An international research team led by Gabriella Gobbi, MD, PhD, a Senior Scientist at The Institute, has been awarded highly competitive funding through the European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) Joint Transnational Call (JTC) 2025 for a preclinical project focused on a novel therapy for autism spectrum disorder associated with Fragile X syndrome and Phelan-McDermid syndrome.