A local medical researcher is one of 11 recipients of a grant from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.
Dr. Rob Olson is a member of the Northern Medical Program.
He will be using the funding to expand his research into patient experiences with radiation treatments for cancers in bone.
“We don’t just do a small, one clinic – we’re trying to do all of BC and now, because I was so successful, this research grant is trying to get it to go across all of Canada. It allows us to compare differences between different treatments without running a big costly randomized trial.”
Dr. Olson uses electronic devices to collect patient feedback, allowing him to collect data from rural areas which would normally be unable to participate in studies.
“We use this electronic system that I’ve developed and piloted in BC where patients are given either an iPad or an internet collection of their symptoms or their side effects. If they’ve had radiation to a certain body part we asked specific questions about that.”
He says most of the money will be spent bringing student trainees to northern bc to work on the research.
“We’ll use it for PhD students, Masters students and also radiation oncology fellows who will work on that research program.”
Dr. Olson will receive up to $270,000 in funding over three years as of part of the inaugural Health-Professional-Investor Program.
Key partners include UNBC, UBC, and the BC Cancer Agency.