Mary Bewick and Michael Conlon
Epidemiology, Outcomes & Evaluation Research is a newly established program that conducts research in cancer control. Primarily project based, the studies are often collaborative in nature, involving researchers from other programs and disciplines both within the hospital, and the larger health research community.
Principal researchers include Michael Conlon, PhD (Director), and Mary Bewick, MSc (Research Associate).
Examples of ongoing epidemiology research include descriptive and analytic studies related to cancer incidence and mortality in Northeastern Ontario residents, and population-based molecular epidemiology studies of genes (SNPs) and environmental risk factors for cancer.
Outcome research studies include identification of prognostic and predictive factors associated with treatment for breast and other cancers. Current studies focus on analysis of the inter-individual variations in genes (SNPs) and proteins involved in DNA repair, drug metabolism and detoxification and their associations with efficacy, toxicity and clinical outcomes following treatment.
Evaluation research studies include assessing the impact of a hospital-based tobacco cessation program, and evaluating the effectiveness of tools, resources, and the use of an established framework in implementing advanced practice nursing (APN) roles in oncology nursing.