Impact Reports

2014/15 REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITY MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL FOUNDATION 4 3 MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL FOUNDATION REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITY 2014/15 As we look to the future, we reflect on some of the most exciting accomplishments at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute this past year – innovations and advances that were made possible through our community of donors. These incredible milestones fuel clinical innovations that help transform and save patients' lives. Thank you for partnering with us. A historic stem cell discovery by Dr. Andras Nagy, the Shawn Kimel Research Scientist, an internationally recognized researcher in our Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, will shape the future of research and treatment around the world. Dr. Nagy led an international team of researchers to uncover, for the first time, the molecular events required for the formation of stem cells from specialized cells, a process called cellular reprogramming. The team also identified a new type of stem cell that is easier, less expensive and faster to grow, which will speed up drug screening efforts, disease modeling and eventually the development of treatments for different illnesses. These findings were published in Nature, a leading scientific journal. Forty new genetic links to rheumatoid arthritis were discovered, opening the door to a personalized approach to treating this autoimmune disorder. The study was co-authored by one of Canada's pre-eminent researchers, Dr. Kathy Siminovitch, Sherman Family Research Chair in Genomic Medicine, Director of the Office of Personalized Genomics and Innovative Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital and a Senior Investigator at the Lunenfeld- Tanenbaum Research Institute. Dr. Siminovitch has also made exciting new discoveries on the genetics of primary biliary cirrhosis, an autoimmune liver disease, and has received a major grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to create a new Centre for Immune Profiling that will advance genetic research in immune-mediated diseases. We helped pregnant women and new mothers access psychiatric support from home. Women experience an intense period of physical and psychological changes during and after pregnancy, making them vulnerable to both new and pre-existing psychiatric disorders that too often go untreated. A newly launched telemedicine program helps provide flexible access to essential care for women across Ontario. A study led by Mount Sinai's Dr. Denice Feig found that the rate of both gestational and pre-gestational diabetes doubled from 1996 to 2010. To address this serious condition, patients at Mount Sinai Hospital with gestational diabetes are seen by a multi-disciplinary team to meet their needs and receive counseling on their postpartum risk of diabetes and strategies for prevention. We're optimizing breast milk nutrition for babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units, growing Mount Sinai's leadership in the field and offering critical support to these fragile patients. Thanks to a new grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Dr. Sharon Unger and colleagues are examining ways to optimize both mother's own and donor breast milk with additional nutrients in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. This follows the 2013 launch of the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank at Mount Sinai Hospital, which collects, pasteurizes and distributes donor milk to infants in Ontario NICUs. Mount Sinai's Dr. Ravi Retnakaran made an important discovery for type 2 diabetes treatment that could eliminate adverse effects of current drug treatments such as weight gain and low blood sugar levels. Published in the prestigious journal The Lancet, the treatment strategy is proving effective and safe in clinical trials worldwide. The LTRI's Dr. Fritz Roth was one of the lead investigators who provided key insights for understanding and treating genetic traits in a report published in the eminent journal Cell. One of the central challenges in human biology is to understand how our genes determine which diseases we get and how severe they might be. To do that, we must understand how proteins, the genes' products, work. Collaborating with colleagues from Harvard Medical School, scientists at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute have produced the largest-ever map of human protein interactions. This publicly available resource will be invaluable to anyone trying to understand complex genetic traits and develop new disease therapies. OUR IMPACT

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