Funded Research
Investing in Local Respiratory Research
One in five Nova Scotians and Islanders has lung disease. Lung Cancer claims more lives than breast, ovarian and prostate combined. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is the number one reason for hospitalization in Canada. And at least 13% of our children live with asthma. Those figures are disturbing enough, never mind the terrible toll chronic lung disease also imposes on families, businesses, and the economy (about $12 billion at last count). Something needs to change. We urgently need to better understand these devastating diseases, improve detection, discover new treatments, encourage protection, and, most importantly, save lives. That's why we're committed to investing in respiratory research, right here at home.
Dr. Sanja Stanojevic & Dr. Stephanie Connidis
Sanja's research involves better understanding how how breathing tests are done, and whether they can be done effectively in the community, resulting in correct diagnoses. This work can lead to better outcomes and reduced healthcare costs.
Dr. Scott Kehler & Dr. Paul Hernandez
Scott's research involves frailty management to address the complexities of aging. Scott believes that knowing patient frailty levels could have a significant impact in the delivery of prevention and rehabilitation programming, and that understanding frailty could guide healthcare decision-making to tailor or provide more intensive therapy so that those who are in the worst health can benefit.
Dr. Valerie Chappe
Dr. Valerie Chappe's research interests include the genetic disease cystic fibrosis, the role of the neuropeptide VIP in respiratory health and diseases, ion channels and drug screening and epidemiology. Her collaborative and interdisciplinary team contributes to the molecular and cellular understanding of the respiratory system and tests promising strategies to treat respiratory diseases.
Dr. Denys Khaperskyy
Dr. Denys A Khaperskyy is affiliated to Department of Microbiology and Immunology,and is currently providing services as Professor. Dr. Denys A Khaperskyy has authored and co-authored multiple peer-reviewed scientific papers and presented works at many national and International conferences.
Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal
Dr Franz-Odendaal joined the Mount in 2006 and is a Full Professor in the Department of Biology. Dr Franz-Odendaal currently holds the NSERC Atlantic Chair for
Women in Science and Engineering .
Dr. Daniel Rainham
Daniel is an Associate Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance in the Faculty of Health at Dal and holds several cross appointments in Community Health and Epidemiology, the College of Sustainability, and is the former Director of the Environmental Science program.
Dr. John Frampton
Dr. Frampton's laboratory develops new technologies and approaches for microscale tissue engineering with an emphasis on neural tissues. The laboratory is also actively involved in the development of microtechnologies for user-friendly, cost-effective in vitro assays and analysis systems for cells and biomolecules.
Dr. Juan Zhou
Dr. Jong Sung Kim
The long-term goal of Dr. Kim’s research is to improve human health by undertaking, translating and teaching innovative human and environmental health sciences research in toxicology and exposure science. His lab has actively worked on a broad spectrum of topics including, but not limited to, nanotoxicology, exposomics, metabolomics, mechanistic toxicology and biomarkers.
Dr. Zhenyu Cheng
Dr. Geoffrey Maksym & Dr. Paul Hernandez
Dr. Maksym conducts research on airway smooth muscle function and why the airways of asthmatics narrow too easily and too much. He also develops biomedical instrumentation to measure both airway constriction in humans and also to measure cell structure-function under the microscope.
Dr. Daria Manos
Professor Zhou’s research interests include investigating the role of endocannabinoid system in immune regulation in inflammation disorders (e.g., experimental sepsis, interstitial cystitis, central nerve system injury-induced immunosuppression), development of new pharmacological approaches for inflammation, and immunomodulation in transplantation tolerance.
The main theme of Dr. Cheng’s lab is to utilize systems biology approaches to study the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. He is interested in understanding how complex signaling pathways control the flow of cellular information as an integrated system.
Dr. Manos is the Associate Head - Education for the QEII Health Sciences Centre. She is the initiator and primary author of LURADS, a Lung Reporting and Data System, with Dr. Joy Borgoankar as Co-Author. LURADS is an evidence-based expert opinion guideline for reporting of CT screens for lung cancer.