Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are rare, slow growing, and diagnosis is often delayed with advanced metastases at presentation. In select patient populations, radioisotope therapy with Lutetium-177 (Lu-DOTA-TATE) has been shown to be a safe and effective palliative therapy, and has been widely used by research groups in Europe. A brand of Lu-DOTA-TATE (Lutathera(R)) is approved for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic NETs in Europe, the U.S., and more recently in Canada. While Lutathera(R) is approved in Canada, it is not publicly funded in Alberta. Lu-DOTA-TATE has been used at the Cross Cancer Institute to treat more than 300 patients with NETs since August, 2010. Our Lu-DOTA-TATE treatment was initially given under Health Canada's Special Access Programme (SAP), with each individual treatment requiring separate approval. In 2014, Health Canada requested we conduct a clinical trial with Lu-DOTA-TATE instead. The purpose of this study is to: 1) assess the efficacy of Lu-DOTA-TATE treatment in patients with somatostatin receptor positive tumours; 2) assess the safety of Lu-DOTA-TATE; 3) assess the effect of Lu-DOTA-TATE on Quality of Life and survival.

This study evaluates the therapeutic tolerability of the use of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) with propranolol in participants with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). The investigators are planning to perform an initial proof -of- concept randomized, placebo- controlled trial evaluating propranolol in participants with PTSD and AUD starting CPT for 12 weeks with three post-treatment follow ups at week-16, week-20, and week-24. Participants with current diagnosis of PTSD and AUD seeking treatment will be randomized to either a propranolol group (n=24) or placebo group (n=24) after enrollment. All participants will receive CPT for 12 weeks after randomization. Primary outcomes will be measured in both groups at the end of the study (week 12).

In Canada, the prevalence of cancer is growing and contributes significantly to health costs. The prevention and treatment of cancer is a major concern of our health system. Many men with prostate cancer develop psychological distress. The emotional consequences of a cancer diagnosis and its treatments can prevent patients from communicating effectively with their healthcare team. It is recognized that the quality of communication between cancer patients and their caregivers plays an important role in the management of their disease. However, few tools are being developed to help clinicians and patients better communicate and decrease patients' psychological distress. Let's Discuss Health (www.discutonssante.ca) is a French-language website that offers several tools to support collaboration between caregivers and cancer patients. The objectives of this research project are to assess the experience of using the Let's Discuss Health website and the impact of its use on the quality of communication between radiation oncologists and patients, the level of distress of patients with prostate cancer, recall of the information discussed as well as adherence to the trajectory in radiation oncology. The project will take place in three radiation oncology centers in Quebec. Two groups of prostate cancer patients will be recruited. Patients in the first group will be assessed on the basis of regular consultations and those in the second group will be encouraged to prepare for their medical visits using the Let's Discuss Health website. Patients and their caregivers will answer short questionnaires before and after four targeted consultations (initial visit, mid-treatment visit, end-of-treatment visit and 3-month post-treatment visit). Focus groups will also be organized to explore the impact of the website. This project offers the potential to transform clinical practices in radiation oncology to reduce the burden of cancer and improve the quality of care offered to patients with cancer.

Our objective in this study is to identify an optimal set of quantitative ultrasound parameters that can be used, non-invasively, to characterize breast masses with high accuracy, as determined histopathologically. Breast cancer is the most frequent form of non-epithelial cancer diagnosed in women, with approximately 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually worldwide. Accurate diagnosis and characterization of disease play an important role in therapy planning for breast cancer treatment. Currently, the gold standard method of tumour diagnosis is pathological examination of core biopsy specimens. However, the invasive core biopsies can cause post-surgical complications. Besides, some lesions require repeat biopsy due to sampling errors during the initial biopsy. Also X-ray mammography and ultrasound B-mode images, which are used by radiologists for breast examination, lack reliable information about micro-structural properties of tissues. There is an urgent need of a non-invasive imaging modality that can provide rapid and quantitative information for breast tumour characterization, in real time and at the patient bed. The main goal, as described above, is to select the best quantitative ultrasound parameters that can facilitate breast cancer characterization, non-invasively.

This observational study will use a new way to test for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the leg. A DVT is a blood clot in the leg and is a medical problem that can cause swelling, pain, and redness. If the blood clot is not treated, it can cause more serious, long-term effects, and occasionally lead to death. The main questions the study aims to answer are: 1. How safe is our new blood clot testing method? 2. How efficient is our new blood clot testing method? The study will be run in the emergency department and urgent care centre in Kingston, Ontario. Patients who are tested for a DVT in the leg can be included in the study. Researchers follow the patient through chart review to make sure the new system is safe and efficient.

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, is a leading cause of disability, affecting the quality of life, pain, and physical functioning of 4.6 million Canadians. About half of OA patients have limited response to primary therapy. The number of OA patients continues to rise, affecting the quality of life of those with OA. There is a dire need to develop future effective treatment options. Cannabis is a potential therapy for those with OA and may provide analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and disease modifying effects. The common barriers to use are a lack of knowledge regarding efficacy, access, and commonly used products, doses and routes of administration. No high-quality clinical trials of cannabis for OA have been conducted, leaving physicians struggling to guide and inform patients regarding symptom relief. Findings from clinical trials of cannabis for other painful conditions have been variable, perhaps due to suboptimal cannabis products and failure to consider important patient characteristics. The goal of the current study is to characterize patient- and cannabis-level factors that are associated with OA pain and address other knowledge gaps.

The START-POAF pilot study is a prospective, open-label two-arm, randomized controlled trial with blinded assessment of outcomes (PROBE). This pilot study will assess Atrial Fibrillation (AF) recurrence and burden in patients with new-onset AF following cardiac surgery.

This is a single-arm phase II prospective trials that is recruiting 100 participants. The study population that is being investigated are patients with localized high-risk or node-positive prostate cancer. Participants will receive external beam radiotherapy as a moderately hypofractionated boost to the prostate with pelvic radiation therapy. Androgen deprivation therapy will be prescribed at the discretion of the treating physician as per standard of care.

Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) is an emerging non-invasive brain stimulation(NIBS) technique that can be used on both superficial and deep brain targets with a high spatial resolution as small as a few cubic millimeters. Neural correlates of TUS have yet been elucidated. To date, no intracranial recordings (i.e., local field potential \[LFP\]) have been captured during or after TUS in patients with movement disorders. In this study, we are aiming to profile basal ganglia LFP activity during and after TUS by using a DBS system that is capable of recording LFP. This can shed light on mechanisms of TUS, as well as allow identification of a neurophysiological biomarker that can be used to tune the TUS sonication parameters for future clinical trials.

COVID-19 has placed unprecedented strains on parents impacted by toxic stressors (depression, addiction, family violence, and poverty) and reluctant to see mental health-service providers in home/clinic due to fears of infection. Due to the pandemic, PI Letourneau ceased/delayed recruitment in ATTACH™, a CIHR-funded randomized controlled trials (RCT) of in-person (home or clinic) program designed to improve children's mental, emotional and behavioral (MEB) health and development via parent-child relationship intervention. Recognizing the heightened need for already vulnerable families to obtain safe parenting support to manage depressive symptoms/other stressors. The team's primary knowledge user (D. McNeil, Scientific Director, Maternal Newborn Child and Youth Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services) advocated for online delivery of the ATTACH™ parent training program. In response, an interdisciplinary team from nursing and software engineering rapidly pivoted to an online delivery format. Critical barriers to using existing commercial technologies emerged, making it essential to develop and implement tailored, user-informed virtual care delivery platforms and tools safe, secure, user-friendly for families already stressed. Innovative user interface design and integrated knowledge transfer approaches will be used to: (a) adapt ATTACH™ for virtual delivery; (b) develop virtual platforms (web-based applications) and tools (mobile apps) for flexible delivery of mental health supports for parents and training for professional facilitators; (c) integrate virtual mental health services into the primary care system promoting program uptake; and (d) design/test streamlined and intuitive virtual systems for nimble spread/scaleup. The project catalyzes and enriches the PIs' research program by crossing disciplines (nursing \& engineering) in cutting edge research that is responsive to trends in both mental health intervention and web-interface design. The aim is to adapt, develop, design and pilot test virtual (web-based) intervention program to improve children's mental, emotional and behavioral (MEB) health and development. This will be done by building on successful CIHR funded in-person (home or clinic) programs and pivoting to user-engaged program development, adaptation and pilot testing for virtual delivery in the face of COVID19.