Improving the speed and accuracy of drug detection is the focus for a team of health professionals at the Saint John Regional Hospital.
They are one of three teams competing in this year’s Lions’ Den competition hosted by the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation.
The Dragons’ Den-inspired competition will see five “Lions” — the men and women in business who served as investors and judges — determine which team will receive the top prize of $500,000.
Dr. Jennifer Shea, division head of clinic chemistry at the hospital, said they are hoping to purchase a tandem mass spectrometer.
“This piece of equipment that we’re asking for is something that we’ve been wanting for quite some time and we haven’t been successful thus far in obtaining the funds for it,” Shea said in an interview.
Her team also includes Dr. Duncan Webster, an infectious disease physician and the medical director for the level 3 laboratory, and Emily Bodechon, the clinical chemistry and central receiving manager in the Laboratory Medicine Program.
Shea said the device would allow their lab to test more drugs and drug classes, leading to improved patient care.
“We’re really limited in scope right now with what we can test for drugs with our current equipment, which is based on amino acid. We’re only able to check about eight different drug classes,” she said.
Those limitations mean many samples currently have to be sent out-of-province, creating a one-to-two-week wait time for results.
A tandem mass spectrometer would allow the lab to check more than 900 different drugs and drug classes, enabling clinicians to incorporate results more quickly into their clinical decision-making.
“Mostly it’s done for people who are suffering from substance use disorder, so it’s done to monitor different medications that they’re given to help with their addiction,” said Shea. “The results from that are used to counsel the patients, to perhaps adjust doses of those medications.”
The lab also plans to use the spectrometer as part of the work they do for the coroner’s office in death investigations, she said.
“If we can provide that service in-house, we’re going to provide results back to the coroner more quickly and provide closure to those families when they’re grieving,” said Shea.
“It really would be a game-changer for us in the lab when it comes to drug testing.”
On top of the $500,000 top prize, the winner will also take home a $100,000 research grant from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.
The runner-up team that audiences vote as most deserving will take home $75,000 for their project.
The Lions’ Den will premiere online on Sept. 10. You can find more details about this pitch, and the other two in the competition, on The Give’s website.
This is the final story in a three-part series highlighting the teams in this year’s competition. You can learn more about the other two teams below.
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