May 15, 2002

QUEEN’S-LED RESEARCH TEAM LAUNCHES UNPRECEDENTED INVESTIGATION OF FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME (FAS)
FAS now recognized as national health dilemma in Canada  

KINGSTON (May 14, 2002) – For the first time leading scientists from four Canadian institutions -- coordinated through Queen’s University -- are collaborating to determine the causes and potential treatment strategies for one of Canada’s most disturbing and incapacitating health problems – fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The Honourable Peter Milliken, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands welcomed the announcement of funding for the $1.25 million project by the Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Health, and Dr. Rémi Quirion, Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research‘s (CIHR) Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. 

Defined as “birth defects resulting from a mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy”, FAS was identified as a national research priority by the Government of Canada in the 2001 Speech from the Throne, which pledged to reduce the number of children born, exposed to alcohol, by the end of this decade. 

"The Government of Canada and CIHR are supporting Canada's research community through this announcement which addresses priority areas of research such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome", said Mr. Milliken. "I am delighted that researchers from Queen's are spearheading this effort." 

The multi-institutional and multidisciplinary research group will be led by Dr. James F. Brien of Queen’s University. The five-year, $1.25 million announcement stems from the results of CIHR’s New Emerging Team (NET) grant program. The program is designed to support the creation and development of new competitive research teams, laying the foundation for successful applications for infrastructure team funding in the future. 
 
“FAS is a major, mostly preventable disorder,” said Dr. Quirion. “Through first-class, trans-disciplinary research, scientists will develop new treatment approaches to improve the quality of life of afflicted kids and of their families. Additionally, by increasing awareness of pregnant women through more effective knowledge dissemination, it should be possible to decrease the incidence of FAS in Canadian communities. CIHR is very pleased to support this collaborative team of scientists.”

“Researchers have been working on different aspects of FAS individually for decades, but this is the first time in Canada that a concerted effort is being made to address the problem as a whole,” said Dr. Brien, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Queen’s. “Our multidisciplinary, cross-institutional team brings together experts from a wide array of research areas, each person with different, but complementary, strengths. The focus of research will range from etiology [causation], to frequency of occurrence in the population, to innovative treatment strategies, health services relating to FAS, and cost-effectiveness of treatment strategies for the health care system.”

Dr. Brien’s grant is funded in the thematic research area of “neurodevelopment and early life events”, a priority area of research identified and to be supported by CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, in partnership with CIHR’s Institutes of: Aboriginal Peoples’ Health; Gender and Health; and Human Development, Child and Youth Health.

The project has a three-part focus:

• looking at a proposed mechanism of oxidative stress, which damages key cell molecules in the brain, sometimes irreversibly;· 

• measuring the ‘biomarkers’ [biochemical compounds] that reveal the incidence of people prenatally exposed to alcohol – for example, particular biochemical marker compounds present in the first stool passed by babies; 

• and· investigating innovative treatment strategies for prevention and intervention, such as higher than nutritional doses of vitamins C and E.

The effects of FAS in babies include growth deficiency, facial abnormalities, and injury to the brain. Of these manifestations, it’s the brain injury – perhaps caused by oxidative stress – that persists and is most debilitating as the individual develops. Hyperactivity, difficulty in learning and memory deficits, understanding and reasoning, as well as problems dealing with stress situations, are some of the cognitive impairments associated with FAS.

In an effort to ensure researchers continue to address this problem collaboratively in the future, another key objective of the project is to develop and implement a multidisciplinary research training program for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and residents across three of Canada’s academic health sciences centres.

Members of the NET team with Dr. Brien are: Dr. Alan D. Bocking (Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Physiology) University of Western Ontario; Dr. Stephen G. Matthews (Physiology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology) University of Toronto; Dr. James N. Reynolds (Pharmacology & Toxicology) Queen’s University; and Dr. Gideon Koren (Pediatrics, and Pharmacology), Dr. Joanne Rovet (Pediatrics, and Psychology), and Dr. Wendy J. Ungar (Health Policy, Management & Evaluation), all from both the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children.

CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction supports research to enhance mental health, neurological health, vision, hearing, and cognitive functioning and to reduce the burden of related disorders through prevention strategies, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation. Associated research will advance our understanding of human thought, emotion, behaviour, sensation (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell), perception, learning and memory. 

CIHR is Canada's premier agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system.

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Information:

Dr. James F. Brien, Queen’s Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology, 613.533.6114

Nancy Dorrance, Queen’s News & Media Services, 613.533.2869

Nancy Marrello, Queen’s News & Media Services, 613.533.6000 ext. 74040

Janet Weichel, CIHR, 613 941 4563

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