Pictured: Marina Mourtzakis, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Associate Chair of Applied Research, Partnerships and Outreach
Applied Health Sciences' new state-of-the-art facility provides a forum for researchers, educators and community members to collaborate in tackling the ongoing issue of translating research into practice.
A common frustration for research scholars is not knowing if, when and how their work will make it into the real world, where it can start impacting the lives of real people.
At Waterloo, Marina Mourtzakis has seen it time and time again. “Applied Health Sciences (AHS) researchers are constantly coming up with innovative solutions to applied-health problems — but systems for translating that new knowledge into clinical practice are not well developed.”
She also sees the flip side: clinicians with a fistful of problems, but no way to address them — and no pipeline in to current research that might help.
In academic and clinical communities, this problem is known as “translating research into practice,” and scholars and clinicians have been wrestling with it for decades.
But now, thanks to a generous gift from philanthropists Tom and Toby Jenkins, and an equipment grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund, AHS has the resources to implement a new solution to this thorny issue.
Local community plays key role
A new facility called CCCARE — Centre for Community, Clinical and Applied Research Excellence — has just opened in the Toby Jenkins Applied Health Research Building on north campus.
Housing one of the most comprehensive collections of research and assessment equipment in the country, it will bring scholars from many disciplines together with members of the local community to both “activate” and advance applied-health research.
“For us the community outreach and education piece is key,” explains Marina. “We realized that another piece of the translation issue was the fact that local communities often feel divorced from what’s going on inside the universities and research facilities in their home towns.
“We decided to turn this challenge into part of the solution, by creating a space where community members could attend research-based programs that would help improve their health and well-being, and where they would also be offered the opportunity to participate in ongoing research trials.”
Inspired by studies in Copenhagen
Marina is currently tasked with overseeing community and research programs taking place at CCCARE, and championing these programs within the Department of Kinesiology.
In this work, she draws inspiration from what she found at the University of Copenhagen while pursuing her post-doctoral work: a local community well informed and passionately interested in what was going on at the university. She attributes this feat to her supervisor’s dedication to ongoing communication with and programming for the local population.
“We want to take that idea of sharing research with our local community, and build on it to deepen our understanding, refine our research, and help participants overcome barriers to better health and wellness.”
UW WELL-FIT: Exercise and nutrition for cancer patients
As an example Marina points to the UW WELL-FIT program, part of which has recently moved into CCCARE to better serve both its researchers and its participants.
“WELL-FIT is an exercise program for people who have or are currently undergoing treatment for cancer, and has been active at Waterloo for more than a decade. We developed it because our research showed clearly that exercise improved health outcomes for this population,” she says.
“At the same time, this group of patients and survivors now has the opportunity to participate in further research, which will in turn help generate new knowledge that will be of use to future patients, and so on.”
Marina herself studies metabolic change in breast cancer patients, primarily because some of these changes (increase in fat; decrease in muscle mass) can lead to increased risk of recurring cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. She’s currently working with a group of UW WELL-FIT participants to improve our understanding of the role glucose plays in these changes, and what help patients need to better manage this from the nutritional side.
Teens in Motion: Exercise and nutrition for obese teens
Teens In Motion (TIM), an exercise program for clinically overweight and obese teens, also operates out of CCCARE. Providing a safe and positive environment for a population often deeply uncomfortable in standard gyms and workout facilities, TIM provides teens with the knowledge and skills they need to make healthier lifestyle choices around exercise and nutrition.
“This is a great program for local teens struggling with weight and body-image issues, and who are at risk for serious health implications like diabetes and heart disease,” says Mourtzakis. “It also provides our researchers with great feedback on what sorts of barriers to health and wellness these young people are facing, and what more we can do to help them.”
Much more to come
Smaller, more preliminary studies are already taking place at CCCARE as well. Examples include work by Assistant Professor Laura Middleton on exercise and behavioural strategies to slow or prevent cognitive decline in those with early dementia, and a study of exercise interventions for those with osteoarthritis being developed by new Associate Professor Monica Maly.
“We also have faculty collaborating with Engineering on wearable technologies, others studying how brain health relates to body composition, and still others looking at stroke recovery and rehabilitation,” says Marina.
She goes on to say her team is thrilled with the opportunity to welcome local community members into the research process, and with the potential for cross-pollination they know will arise from CCCARE’s inter-disciplinary mandate. “We only just officially opened this past October, but already we can see the huge potential of the research we can do here, and the speed at which we can refine that work and pass our findings on to those who can benefit most. It’s what every scholar dreams of.”
