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TEAM NEWS

SPIN Study on Outdoor Temperature and Raynaud’s Phenomenon Published in Lancet Rheumatology

2024/09/04

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SPIN studied Raynaud’s phenomenon severity ratings from 2243 SPIN Cohort participants (20,233 ratings) and mapped the association of ambient temperature and symptom severity. The study was over 65 times larger than the largest previous study on the topic and provided new insights on how temperature may influence the experience of living with Raynaud’s phenomenon. For more information on this study, click here.

Congratulations to the COVID-19 LSR team on receiving a new CIHR funding!

2024/08/06

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We are excited to share that the COVID-19 LSR team was awarded a 2-year funding ($233,000) by CIHR for “Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Informing Future Public Health Crises, and Building Global Evidence Base for Mental Health Research: A Systematic Review of COVID-19 related Mental Health.” This grant will allow our team to integrate new evidence into our comparison prior to and during COVID-19, evaluate mental health symptom trajectories across the pandemic, and conduct a meta-research review of COVID-19 mental health research to identify strengths and weaknesses in planning for ongoing mental health surveillance and future disaster preparedness. 

Congratulations to Marc on his publication in Scientific Reports!

2024/07/29

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A meta-analysis of primary studies employing the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) led by Marc Parsons and supported by DEPRESSD team members was published in Scientific Reports. Many studies use the GDS-15 to estimate depression prevalence. The team compared prevalence based on the GDS-15 to a gold-standard diagnostic test of depression. We found that the most used GDS-15 cutoff overestimated depression prevalence substantially and that the cutoff that most closely matched true prevalence provided estimates which were too heterogeneous to be useful in practice. For more information on this study, click here.

Position Available: Research Coordinator in Patient-engaged Research

2024/07/18

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Dr. Brett Thombs (www.thombsresearchteam.ca/) of McGill University and the Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN; www.spinsclero.com), is looking

for a candidate to fill a full-time Research Coordinator position within our team at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. To apply: Applicants should send (1) a cover letter explaining their interest in the position, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript, and (4) an English writing sample and, if possible, an additional writing sample in French, to Marie-Eve Carrier at carrier.marie.eve@gmail.com. Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. Read more about this position here.

Congratulations to SPIN on receiving the CIHR Inclusive Research Prize for Patient Engagement!

2024/07/16

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SPIN has been awarded the CIHR Inclusive Research Prize for Patient Engagement! This award will support our ongoing efforts to advance patient engagement in health research.

Congratulations to Marie-Eve on her new position as Co-Director of SPIN!!

2024/07/15

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Marie-Eve was recently named by the SPIN’s Steering Committee as a Co-Director of SPIN. For over 10 years, Marie-Eve has coordinated numerous SPIN projects and represented the SPIN team in the scleroderma community. Her new role will support her outreach with community partners and involve her in leadership decisions. 

Congratulations to Tiffany on her publication in BMC Rheumatology!

2024/07/11

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Tiffany is currently leading a study to develop a tool, jointly with researchers, health care providers, and patients, to map sources of pain in SSc, determine patterns of pain from different sources, and understand pain management experiences. The team will then administer the final version of the tool to participants in the SPIN Cohort. To access the protocol for this study, click here

Congratulations to Tiffany on her publications in RMD Open and Rheumatology!

2024/07/11

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Tiffany led 2 cross-sectional SPIN Cohort studies which identified sociodemographic and disease-related factors associated with satisfaction with social roles and activities and physical function in SSc. Multiple factors were associated to both outcomes. The team found that physical function was impaired for many individuals with SSc, but this did not appear to translate to lower satisfaction with social roles and activities. For more information, click here (social functioning), and here (physical functioning). 

Congratulations to Marieke on her publication in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research!

2024/07/11

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A cross-sectional SPIN Cohort study led by Marieke Neyer was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research. The study aimed to evaluate the association between resilience and patient-reported somatic (fatigue, pain, sleep) and mental health (anxiety, depression) outcomes in people with systemic sclerosis. The team found that, in general, people with lower resilience reported worse mental health and somatic symptoms, and greater disease severity, except for one group of people who reported high resilience and positive mental health, despite high disease severity, fatigue, pain and sleep disturbance. For more information on this study, click here.

Congratulations to Elsa on her publication in The Lancet Rheumatology!

2024/07/07

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A SPIN-COVID-19 Cohort study led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar, which was recently published in The Lancet Rheumatology, found that 80% of participants used telehealth at least some of the time during the pandemic and that, post-pandemic, over 50% have continued to use at least some telehealth for their scleroderma care. An exception was in France, where only 35% received telehealth care in the pandemic and 20% post-pandemic. Check out the full article here.

Congratulations to Claire and the SPIN team on their publication in The Lancet Rheumatology!
 

2024/07/04

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A meta-research review led by Claire Adams and with current and former SPIN team members  Elsa-Lynn Nassar, Julia Nordlund, Cassidy Dal Santo, Danielle Rice, and Vanessa Cook, was recently published in The Lancet Rheumatology. The review aimed to evaluate the proportion of studies published in high-impact rheumatology journals that (i) reported whether they engaged people with lived experience and (ii) actually engaged people with lived experience. The team found 9% of studies included in the review reported engaging people with lived experience, and 20% engaged people with lived experience but did not report this in their articles. It is estimated that, overall, 29% to 44% of included studies might have engaged people with lived experience, indicating engagement of people with lived experience in rheumatology research is low. For more information on this study please click here.

Congratulations to Nadia on their publication in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology!

2024/07/04

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An individual-patient data meta-analysis led by Nadia González Domínguez was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. The study aimed to estimate the minimal detectable difference of the 15-item geriatric depression scale (GDS-15). The team found that this estimate was around 3.81 points for the highest confidence level used, and was influenced by the proportion of people with major depression in a given study. Read more here.

Congratulations to Afra on her publication in Arthritis Care & Research!

2024/07/02

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A cross-sectional SPIN Cohort study led by Afra Alkan was recently accepted for publication in Arthritis Care & Research. The study aimed to assess minimal detectable changes (MDCs) of the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index, Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-29 Profile version 2.0 domains, and Patient Health Questionnaire-8 in Systemic Sclerosis, as well as compare MDC estimates by age, sex, and SSc subtype. The team found that MDC95 estimates were not materially different across subgroups. For more information on this study, click here.

Congratulations to Sophie on receiving a Canadian Graduate Scholarship Master's Award!

2024/06/21

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We are excited to share that Sophie Hu has been awarded a Master’s scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This award will help support her training with our team as she pursues her Master’s program in Epidemiology. Congratulations Sophie! 

Welcome Angelina and Chloe to the team! by Harvard University!

2024/06/17

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Angelina Dimopoulos and Chloë Ethier van Blokland recently joined the SPIN team as volunteers. Angelina is a third-year psychology student at McGill University. She is committed to pursuing graduate studies and making a positive impact in the field of psychology. Chloë completed her B.Sc. degree with a major in Psychology and minor in Gender, Sexuality, Feminism and Social Justice Studies at McGill this spring. She hopes to focus on issues related to women's health and social justice in her career. Read more about Angelina and Chloë

Congratulations to Amina on being accepted by Harvard University!

2024/05/31

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We are excited to share that Amina Tasleem, our research assistant for the DEPRESSD project, has been admitted to Harvard University’s MPH program in Health Management. Amina joined the team in 2020 as an undergraduate honors thesis student at McGill University and is currently working on the DEPRESSD and COVID-19 LSR project. She will join the program in the Fall of 2024. Congratulations, Amina! 

Congratulations to Ying (Sheryl) on being accepted by Johns Hopkins University! on being accepted by Harvard University!

2024/05/31

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We are happy to share that Ying (Sheryl) Sun, who has been a Research Project Coordinator of our DEPRESSD and the COVID-19 LSR for the past 6 years, has been admitted to Johns Hopkins’ PhD program in Epidemiology for Fall 2024, in the Clinical Trials and Evidence Synthesis track. Congratulations, Sheryl!

Congratulations to Yin on her new position as Research Professor at the School of Public Health of Shanghai Jiao Tong University!

2024/05/31

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Dr. Yin Wu, Research Associate with the DEPRESSD, has been part of the team since 2018. She recently started a new position as a Research Professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), School of Public Health. SJTU is one of the top few universities in China, and their School of Public Health is also highly respected. Although Yin will no longer be part of the day-to-day work of the team, she will remain a member of the DEPRESSD Steering Committee, continue to play a key role in the DEPRESSD Project and collaborate as an independent professor. Congrats Yin!

Congratulations to Diana on being accepted by McGill University!

2024/05/31

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We’re happy to share that Diana Jiang has been admitted to McGill’s MA program in Educational Psychology (Human Development). Diana joined the DEPRESSD team as a research assistant in November 2020 and has worked on several COVID-19 LSR projects. She’ll start her program in September 2024. Congratulations Diana!

Congratulations to Monica for receiving a CIHR scholarship!

2024/04/03

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We are excited to share that Monica D’Onofrio (SPIN research assistant) has been awarded a Master’s scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This award will help support her training with our team as she will begin her Master’s program in Epidemiology in the Fall of 2024. Congratulations Monica!

Congratulations to Tiffany on being accepted by Concordia University!

2024/03/12

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We are excited to share that Tiffany Dal Santo has been admitted to Concordia’s MA program in Psychology (Research and Clinical Training Option). Tiffany joined the DEPRESSD team in 2020 as undergraduate honours thesis student and is currently working with the SPIN team as a master’s student in psychiatry. She will begin the program in September 2024. Congratulations, Tiffany!

Congratulations to Yutong on being accepted by McGill University!

2024/03/12

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We are happy to share that Yutong Wang, who is a key member of our COVID-19 LSR project, has recently been admitted to McGill's PhD program in Epidemiology. Starting from September 2024, Yutong will continue to be a part of the team for the next several years, working with the DEPRESSD Team on individual participant data meta-analyses and also with the SPIN Team on primary data work. Congratulations, Yutong!

SPIN Awarded Team Development Grant on Itch from Skin Canada!

2024/03/12

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SPIN was awarded $25,000 from Skin Canada to form a team of people with scleroderma and researchers from Canada, the United States, and France to form a team to develop research on itch in scleroderma. Itch is a critical but understudied problem in scleroderma. Thanks to Tiffany Dal Santo for her work in putting together the successful grant proposal!

Dr. Thombs quoted in Washington Post story on depression and menopause.

2024/03/06

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Dr. Thombs was quoted in a Washington Post article on menopause and depression. Similar to our team’s work, the article scrutinizes evidence and concludes that the menopause depression link is not likely much greater than for other health conditions that people experience. Read the full article here.

Congratulations to Brett on receiving the CPA-CAPE Alex Leighton Award! 

2024/03/06

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Congratulations to Brett who received the Alex Leighton Award from the Canadian Association of Psychiatric Epidemiology (CAPE) and the Canadian Psychiatry Association (CPA) for his work in mental health epidemiology: https://www.cpa-apc.org/awards/annual-collaborative-awards/. He will be presented with the award at November’s CPA/CAPE meeting.

Congratulations to Monica on being accepted into the MSc in Epidemiology at McGill!

2024/02/12

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Monica has been admitted to McGill’s MSc program in Epidemiology and will continue to work with the SPIN team. Monica will start her program in September 2024. Congratulations, Monica!

Congratulations to Elsa on Receiving the FRQS-UNITÉ travel award!

2024/01/19

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Elsa received a travel award from FRQS-UNITÉ to present her work at the Scleroderma World Congress in Prague. Congratulations Elsa!

Welcome Meira to the team!

2024/01/09

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Meira Golberg joined the SPIN and DEPRESSD teams as a full-time Biostatistician in January 2024. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Biology at McGill University and Master of Mathematics in Biostatistics at the University of Waterloo. Meira has worked on a wide range of projects focused on measuring predictors of cognition, physical and mental well-being, mental health and unmet healthcare needs. She will be supporting the SPIN and DEPRESSD teams in their methodologic aims and associated data analyses. Read more about Meira here.

Welcome Jenny to the team!

2023/10/17

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Dr. Jieting (Jenny) Zhang joined the DEPRESSD team as a visiting professor in October. She is an associate professor in School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, China. Her research interests include the influence of childhood adversity on mental health and  mindfulness-based interventions. Read more about Jenny here.

Congratulations to Yin and the DEPRESSD team on their publication in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology!

2023/09/12

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Dr. Yin Wu and the team reviewed data contribution to the four depression screening tool accuracy individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs). We found that 65% of 456 eligible studies contributed data overall; data contribution was associated with multiple characteristics of primary studies. Over 80% of 161 non-contributions were because authors were unreachable or data were unavailable. This was the largest study to investigate data contribution to IPDMAs that has examined characteristics of eligible studies and the first in the field of diagnostic test accuracy, which may support future research to promote data contribution to IPDMAs. Read more about the publication here: link.

Congratulations to Claire for receiving the 2023 CIHR Banting Fellowship and Postdoctoral Fellowship!

2023/08/29

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We are excited to share that Claire Adams (SPIN postdoctoral fellow) has been awarded a prestigious Banting Fellowship for her project “Patient Engagement in Health Research: Enhancing Knowledge and Practice”. In addition, she was recently awarded a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship. Claire will work to improve patient engagement in SPIN and in applied health research more broadly. The fellowships were awarded based on her research excellence and leadership, the quality of the proposed project, and research environment. Congratulations Claire!

Editorial on Depression and Anxiety Screening in BMJ!

2023/07/17

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Drs Thombs and Rice, along with colleagues Dr. Sarah Markham and Dr. Roy Ziegelstein, were commissioned by the BMJ to discuss new screening recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. See the editorial here: LINK.

LSR team’s symposium presented at the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Convention 2023!

2023/06/26

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Team members Dr. Yin Wu (moderator), Letong Li, Kexin Li and Diana Jiang (co-presenters) recently presented their symposium titled “Mental Health Intervention Effects in the General Population and Among Youth and Older Adults to Inform Management Strategies During and Post-COVID-19: Evidence from an Ongoing Living Systematic Review” at the 2023 CPA convention in Toronto. Kexin also presented her poster on loneliness among older adults during COVID-19. Congratulations to the team!

Congratulations to Sabrina on her publication in the Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders!

2023/06/21

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A cross-sectional study led by team member Sabrina Provencher was recently published in the Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders. The study aimed to determine if informational and support needs of recently diagnosed individuals with systemic sclerosis differ from people diagnosed for longer periods of time. The team found that people with systemic sclerosis have a wide range of information and support needs, regardless of their disease duration, but people with recent diagnoses have greater needs. For more information about the study, please click here!

Congratulations to Elsa on winning the Me2 Majumdar Award for Best Poster!

2023/06/19

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Elsa-Lynn Nassar recently won the Me2 Majumdar Award for Best Poster at the Knowledge Translation Summer Institute 2023, jointly organized by KT Canada and the University of Ottawa's School of Epidemiology and Public Health! Her poster presented an overview of SPIN's living systematic review of knowledge translation tools for disseminating research results to patients.

Welcome Gabriel to the team!

2023/06/15

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Gabriel joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs research intern in June 2023. She majors in global health at the University of Hong Kong, where she has worked with various research teams. Gabriel’s research interests include psychiatric epidemiology and Mendelian randomization. Read more about Gabriel here.

Welcome Daniel to the team!

2023/06/08

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Daniel Henao-Díaz joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs intern in June 2023. He has worked as a physician after receiving his medical degree from the University of Caldas (Colombia) in 2017. Currently, Daniel is studying mathematics and physics education at the Catholic University of Manizales (Colombia). Learn more about Daniel here.

SPIN featured in The Montrealer

2023/06/05

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Dr. Thombs and the SPIN team were featured in an article published in The Montrealer. The article discussed SPIN team’s research, highlighting the SPIN-HAND program that helped to improve the hand function for Scleroderma patients. Read more here.

Congratulations to Tiffany on her publication in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology!

2023/06/05

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A cross-sectional meta-research study led by Tiffany Dal Santo was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. The study aimed to assess how well methods and results of meta-research studies on reporting guideline adherence were themselves reported. The team found that only a small proportion of included studies provided a fully replicable explanation of how they coded the adherence ratings and completely reported individual study results. For more information on this study, click here!

Sabrina Provencher accepted into the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program at Université de Montréal! 

2023/05/18

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Team member Sabrina Provencher was admitted to the Université de Montréal’s Doctor of Medicine program beginning in the fall of 2023. Sabrina completed her second undergraduate honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Brett Thombs looking at factors associated with anxiety in people with systemic sclerosis. Her Master’s of Psychiatry thesis focuses on the reduction of a scale that measures self-efficacy in support group leaders.  Congrats Sabrina! 

Congratulations to Maria Gagarine on being accepted to University of Toronto!

2023/05/16

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We are excited to share that Maria Gagarine has been admitted to the University of Toronto's Doctor of Medicine program beginning in the fall of 2023. Maria joined SPIN in 2020 during her Master's degree in Public Health at McGill, leading the oral health research project. She hopes to continue working in the scleroderma field as a tribute to her mom who had scleroderma. Congratulations, Maria!

Welcome Brienne to the team!

2023/05/15

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Brienne Tougas joined the DEPRESSD team as a research assistant in May 2023. She is currently studying psychology at McGill, where she gained research experience in education and mental health. Brienne wants to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology and conduct research on how traumatic life events can impact mental health and well-being, particularly in youth. Read more about Brienne here.

Welcome Monica to the team!

2023/05/04

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Monica D’Onofrio joined the DEPRESSD team in April as a summer Research Assistant. She completed her BSc in Physiology at McGill in December, where she worked in cancer research. She’s interested in mental health and aims to pursue a degree in clinical psychology. Read more about Monica here.

Congratulations to Brooke on her new position as Director of Epidemiology at Epividian!

2023/05/04

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Brooke Levis, Research Associate with the DEPRESSD and SPIN teams, has been part of the Thombs Research Team since 2009. She recently started a new position as the Director of Epidemiology at Epividian, a healthcare analytics and software company that does pharmacoepidemiological research to improve the lives of people with HIV. Although she will no longer be part of the day-to-day work of the team, she will remain a member of the DEPRESSD Steering Committee. Congrats Brooke!

Congratulations to Marieke on her publication in Arthritis Care and Research!

2023/05/03

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A cross-sectional study led by team member Marieke Neyer was recently published in Arthritis Care and Research. The study aimed to examine the validity, reliability, and differential item functioning of the English and French versions of the 10-Item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) in people with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). The team found that the CD-RISC-10 is a valid and reliable measure of resilience in SSc, with comparable scores across both language versions. Importantly, this study is the first to validate a resilience scale in SSc, and its findings demonstrate that the CD-RISC-10 can be used to evaluate resilience in people with SSc, including in international studies involving English- and French-speaking participants. For more information about the study, please click here!

Congratulations to Tiffany, Sabrina, Elsa, and Marc for receiving Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) scholarships!

2023/05/01

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We’re excited to share that four team members have been awarded scholarships from Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé. Tiffany Dal Santo and Sabrina Provencher received Master’s Training Scholarships, while Elsa -Lynn Nassar and Marc Parsons received Doctoral Training Scholarships. They were all highly ranked on their respective panels. The funds will allow them to continue working on their projects with our team.

Welcome Afra to the team!

2023/04/14

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Dr. Afra Alkan has joined the DEPRESSD team as a postdoctoral fellow in April. She completed her PhD in Biostatistics at Ankara University in 2022 in Ankara, Türkiye. Her research interests include evaluation of diagnostic accuracy measures, multivariate analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and R programming. Learn more about Afra here.

SPIN team's living systematic review published in Scientific Reports!

2023/03/31

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The first report of the SPIN team’s living systematic review of the (1) prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in scleroderma and (2) factors associated with mood and anxiety symptoms, led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar, was recently published in Scientific Reports! The team found that the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders appears to be high in scleroderma, but estimates vary widely. None of the reviewed studies on factors associated with mood and anxiety symptoms included large enough samples to draw strong conclusions. The team will continue to update results as they become available, and ongoing dissemination of results will be facilitated via posting to the project website. To read the full article, click here

SPIN team's letter on patient presentation published in Lancet Rheumatology!

2023/03/22

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A correspondence on patient-researcher co-presentation of research results, led by team member Vanessa Cook, and co-authored by patient partner Amy Gietzen, team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar, SPIN collaborator Dr. Amanda Wurz, and Dr. Brett Thombs, has recently been published in The Lancet Rheumatology, the world's top rheumatology journal. The piece comments on SPIN's piloted method of co-presenting at The 2021 National Scleroderma Conference and highlights how collaborating with patients may improve the dissemination of research results to patients living with scleroderma and ensure that research is meaningful to those it affects.  Click here to read the full correspondence.

Congratulations to Elsa on being accepted by McGill University!

2023/03/21

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We are excited to share that team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar has been admitted to McGill’s PhD program in Clinical Psychology and will continue with the team for the next several years! Elsa will begin the program in September 2023, and her research will focus on improving knowledge translation and patient engagement in health (including mental health) research. Congratulations, Elsa!

Opinion piece published in BMJ!

2023/03/09

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Dr. Sarah Markham, a patient partner on our team, recently published an opinion piece in BMJ in response to our team’s latest publication titled “Comparison of mental health symptoms before and during the covid-19 pandemic: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of 134 cohorts.” The article emphasized the importance of high-quality research in the field of mental health. Read the full article here

Congratulations to the Sheryl and the COVID-19 LSR team on their publication in BMJ!

2023/03/08

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A living systematic review on COVID-19 mental health changes, led by Sheryl and co-authored by other LSR members, has been published in the BMJ. This review evaluated longitudinal studies that compared mental health outcomes prior to the pandemic and during COVID-19. The team analyzed data from 134 cohorts of people from 31 countries. They found that there are no or minimal changes in mental health among the general population and 11 subgroups (e.g., age groups, sex or gender, pre-existing medical or mental health conditions). One exception is among women for whom there were consistent negative small changes across outcome domains. The results suggest that mental health in COVID-19 is more nuanced than previously assumed and that this is largely a story of resilience. To read the paper in BMJ [LINK] and view the infographic [LINK], click on the provided links

Congratulations to Yin Wu and the DEPRESSD team on their publication in Psychological Assessment!

2023/01/31

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Dr. Wu and the team compared the accuracy of the 7-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) with the 14-item full scale (HADS-T) to screen for depression. In this study, 20,700 participants (2,285 major depression cases) from 98 studies were included. We found that sensitivity and specificity of the HADS-T were not superior to the HADS-D for detecting major depression. Thus, using the full 14-item HADS-T for depression screening would require additional time and patient burden without improving accuracy. Read more about the publication here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36689386/.

Congratulations to the SPIN team on receiving a CIHR grant!

2023/01/25

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The SPIN team has been awarded a 1-year $20,000 Planning and Dissemination Grant-Institute Community Support for its project titled “Towards Understanding Pain Sources, Patterns, and Barriers to Effective Management in Systemic Sclerosis: A Patient-Researcher Partnership Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis.” Thanks to team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar for her leadership on the proposal. This project will involve SPIN researchers and patient partners to jointly develop a tool to assess sources of pain in systemic sclerosis (SSc), pain management services, and barriers to improving pain management. Congrats to the SPIN team!

Congratulations to the SPIN team on receiving Arthritis Society of Canada Innovation Grant!

2022/11/28

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The SPIN Team was awarded a $100,000 Arthritis Society of Canada Innovation Grant for its project titled “A Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network patient-researcher partnership to understand pain sources, patterns, and barriers to effective management in systemic sclerosis”. Thanks to team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar for her work on the proposal. The project will involve a patient-researcher partnership to jointly develop a pain assessment tool for scleroderma and administer the final version of the tool to the SPIN cohort. This will provide improved techniques for pain assessment in scleroderma and improved understanding of the multi-faceted nature of scleroderma pain, which is critical for improving management. Congrats to the SPIN Team!

SPIN-SSLED Trial Results Published in Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases

2022/10/31

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The SPIN Scleroderma Support group Leader Education (SPIN-SSLED) Program Trial results were published in Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. In the trial, 148 existing or candidate peer support group leaders were randomised to the 13-week videoconference-based program or to waitlist, and primary outcome data were provided by 146 (99%) participants. Satisfaction with the program was extremely high (30.3 out of possible 32 points), and participants attended an average of 11.4 out of 13 sessions. The program improved support group leader self-efficacy substantially, as well as leader volunteer satisfaction. The SPIN-SSLED Program continues to be offered by SPIN in collaboration with our patient organization partners. Link

Welcome new team members!

2022/09/20

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Gabrielle and Bianca joined Thombs research team in September 2020. Gabrielle will finish her MSc thesis at McGill soon and start with the DEPRESSD team as a full-time biostatistician. She will be working with Dr. Benedetti on statistical challenges in IPDMA and doing applied statistical work. Bianca is an undergraduate student in psychology at McGill. She will be doing a full-year thesis project related to trajectories of pain in scleroderma with the SPIN Team and involved with the team on general SPIN activities. Read more about Gabrielle and Bianca.

Our DEPRESSD and COVID-19 LSR projects are hiring! APPLY NOW!

2022/09/15

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We have several open positions for the DEPRESSD and COVID-19 LSR projects. Please see PDF for more details.

 

  • Full-time Analytical Research Coordinator [PDF]

  • Full-time Biostatistics PhD student [PDF]

  • Full-time Epidemiology PhD student [PDF]

  • Full-time Postdoctoral Fellow [PDF]

  • Part-time Research Assistant [PDF]

 

The positions will remain open until filled.

Congratulations to Kexin on being accepted by John Hopkin University!

2022/09/12

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Kexin, our research assistant in the DEPRESSD team, recently received an offer from the Master of Public Health program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health. She will be starting her semester in January 2023. Congratulations, Kexin!

Congratulations to Elsa on her publication in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research!

2022/09/07

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A meta-research review led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar and co-authored by other team members, including Brooke Levis, Marieke Neyer, and Danielle Rice, was recently published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. The team assessed the completeness and transparency of reporting of recently published depression screening accuracy studies. A total of 106 studies were included and assessed for consistency with the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) statement requirements. Overall, the team found that recently published depression screening accuracy studies are not optimally reported, with individual studies adequately reporting an average of approximately a third of the items in the STARD checklist. Of the 34 STARD items or sub-items, there were 8 items adequately reported, 7 partially reported, 11 inadequately reported, and 4 not applicable in ≥ 50% of included studies; the remaining 4 items had mixed reporting. The team concluded that there is a need for attention to more fulsome reporting of methodological conduct of these studies, mostly related to test methods, test results, and analysis aspects. In order to improve the quality of reporting in depression screening accuracy studies, the research community, journal editors, reviewers, and funders should endorse and implement adherence to STARD. To learn more about the study, click here!

Congratulations to the DEPRESSD team on receiving a new CIHR funding!

2022/07/14

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We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD team was awarded a 5-year funding (1.4 million) by CIHR for “The DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project: A Novel International Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis Collaboration to Advance Research on Depression Screening Tool Accuracy, Develop Statistical Methodology, and Conduct Meta-Research.” This grant will allow our team to update datasets for depression screening tools and conduct related studies in three categories: clinical, development and evaluation of Statistical Methods for IPDMA (Individual participant data meta-analysis) , and meta-research.

Welcome Shaddam to the team!

2022/07/13

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Shaddam joined the SPIN team as a full-time biostatistician on July 11th. He has been working part-time since June 5th. He is currently working on several SPIN projects and helping the team with statistical analysis. Shaddam completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in Applied Statistics at the Institute of Statistical Research and Training (ISRT), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and obtained a second master's in Statistics from the University of Calgary. He taught several courses and supervised graduate students at ISRT. Read more about Shaddam’s research here.

Congratulations to Tiffany and the COVID-19 LSR team on their publication in Scientific Reports!

2022/07/06

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We are happy to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper on sex and gender differences in mental health symptom changes from pre-pandemic to early-pandemic is now published in Scientific Reports. This paper, led by Tiffany, identified 12 studies that reported dichotomized sex or gender data both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessed outcomes included anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, general mental health, and stress. The paper concludes that mental health outcomes did not differ or were worse by small amounts among females/women compared to males/men during early COVID-19. Mental health changes should continue to be monitored longitudinally in COVID-19 taking into consideration sex and gender, as well as other population subgroups. Read more about the publication here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-14746-1.

Brett made a guest appearance on The MUHC Foundation's Health Matters Podcast!

2022/07/03

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Dr. Thombs appeared on the July 3rd edition of Montreal CJAD 800’s Health Matters for World Scleroderma Day and discussed work that the SPIN Team is doing, including in COVID-19. Listen to the full episode here.

Congratulations to Brett and Claire on their publication in The Lancet Rheumatology!

2022/07/03

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We are pleased to share that Brett Thombs and Claire Adams editorial: Addressing fatigue in inflammatory rheumatic diseases, was recently published in The Lancet Rheumatology. The editorial describes two trials on non-pharmacological interventions that could help improve fatigue management options in people with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. It highlights that more research is needed to learn how to deliver these interventions in real world practice, particularly in low resourced settings and where there are multiple problems to address. It also discusses ways to further test the interventions to deliver them efficiently and notes the importance of patient autonomy in decision making about their health care. Read more about the editorial here.

Congratulations to Elsa on receiving a graduate scholarship!

2022/06/30

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 Congrats to team member and master’s student Elsa-Lynn Nassar who was recently awarded a competitive Cedar and Maple Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry!

Congratulations to the SPIN team on receiving new CIHR funding!

2022/06/29

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The SPIN Team was awarded a $20,000 CIHR Planning and Dissemination Grant and ranked very high for its proposal titled “Engaging Patients to Develop a Systemic Program of Patient Engagement in Musculoskeletal and Rare Disease Research: Putting Patients First”. The proposal was led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar, Dr. Brett Thombs, patient partner Maureen Sauvé, and Dr. Linda Kwakkenbos. This grant will support SPIN’s patient engagement work, which will involve engaging SPIN’s patient partners, scleroderma patient organization leaders, researchers, and clinicians to jointly develop an evidence-based framework for a patient engagement program. Congrats to the SPIN Team!

Welcome Lu to the team!

2022/06/13

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Lu Qiu recently join the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs research intern. She studies biomedical engineering at South China University of Technology. She aspires to pursue future studies in the field of biostatistics. Read more about Lu here.

Welcome Sophie to the team!

2022/06/13

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Sophie Hu will begin as a research assistant with the SPIN Team on June 27th. She will be working on a variety of tasks across projects in English and French. Sophie graduated from McGill in spring 2022 with her BSc in Psychology. Under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Flake, Sophie completed her honour’s thesis on the development and quantitative assessment of a measure of student motivation and engagement in the pandemic. Read more about Sophie here.

Welcome new team member!

2022/05/31

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Lara Amiri recently joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs intern. She studies psychology at the Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany. Lara aspires to study clinical psychology and clinical data science in the future. Read more about Lara here.

Welcome Vanessa to the team!

2022/05/13

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Vanessa Cook recently joined the SPIN team as a research associate. She works as a patient advocate and communications coordinator for individuals living with scleroderma. Vanessa completed her bachelor’s degree in April 2022 at Western University. She aspires to continue patient-centered work in the areas of autoimmunity and diet by pursuing a Naturopathic Doctorate (N.D.). Visit Vanessa’s page for more information.

Welcome Nadia to the team!

2022/05/13

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Nadia Gonzalez Dominguez joined DEPRESSD team as an intern in April 2022. They received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Superior Studies (ITESM) in 2018 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Nadia is currently studying a Master of Science in Public Health at McGill University. They worked in the field of neuroscience and data analysis, and medical device manufacturing industry. Nadia’s interests include epidemiological studies of mental health, social epidemiology, and public health policy. Visit Nadia's page for more information.

Welcome new team member!

2022/05/02

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Claire Adams, as Postdoctoral Fellow, joined The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) project in March 2022. Claire earned her PhD in Health and Clinical Psychology in 2022. She is also a registered psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Claire’s main areas of expertise include mental health promotion, prevention, and early intervention, health behaviour change, healthy ageing, and patient-centered care. She’ll lead the SPIN Patient Engagement Project under the supervision of Prof. Brett Thombs, which aims to develop a systematic and effective model of patient engagement in SPIN. Visit Claire’s page for more information. 

Congratulations to Elsa on receiving the McGill Post-Graduate Student Society Travel Award!

2022/04/13

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Team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar was recently awarded the McGill Post-Graduate Student Society Travel Award to attend the Canadian Psychological Association's annual conference being held this June in Calgary. Elsa will be presenting results from her master's thesis work on the methodological quality and reporting transparency of depression screening accuracy studies through three posters and an oral presentation. Congratulations, Elsa!

Congratulations to Amina and COVID LSR team on their publication in General Hospital Psychiatry!

2022/04/12

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We are excited to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper, led by Amina, on effects of mental health interventions among people hospitalized with COVID-19 , is now published in General hospital Psychiatry. This paper identified 47 randomized controlled trials from 3 countries, of which 21 tested the effects of psychological interventions, 5 physical and breathing exercises, and 21 a combination of interventions. It concludes that due to poor quality reporting there is insufficient evidence to make clinical recommendations based on included trials. Read more about the paper here.

Congratulations to the DEPRESSD Team on receiving new funding from CRCC and SSHRC!

2022/04/05

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We are thrilled to share that our DEPRESSD team was awarded a 1-year grant ($237,861) of New Frontiers in Research Fund. 2021 Innovative Approaches to Research in the Pandemic Context by Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for our project “Comparison of depression research diagnoses and symptom scores obtained via conventional in-person and alternative methodologies”. This funding will allow the team to robustly evaluate how data collection methods, especially alternative methods increasingly used in COVID-19 may influence sensitive mental health assessments. Thanks to Yin for leading this!

Elsa's meta-research review is now published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research!

2022/04/01

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Another review, led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar and co-authored by team members Dr. Brooke Levis, Marieke Neyer, and Danielle Rice, is published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. The team examined 106 primary studies on the accuracy of depression screening tools. The team found that only 11% described a viable sample size calculation and 34% provided reasonably accurate confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, the number of included individuals in most studies was too small to generate reasonably precise accuracy estimates; of 103 studies where 95% CIs were provided or could be calculated, only 7% had sensitivity CI widths of ≤10%, whereas 58 (56%) had widths of ≥21%. The team recommends that future studies of the diagnostic accuracy of depression screening tools should conduct precision-based a priori sample size calculations to either attain desired precision levels or to understand limitations prior to initiating a study. To read the full article, click here here!

Congratulations to Dr. Yin Wu for receiving the McGill MedStar Award

2022/03/14

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We are excited to share that Dr. Yin Wu (DEPRESSD’s postdoctoral research fellow) has earned the McGill Medstar Award for Trainees for her publication in BMJ entitled: Accuracy of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression Subscale (HADS-D) to screen for major depression: systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis, in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. The winning papers were selected to demonstrate excellence at all levels and to represent all disciplines of our training programs in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Congratulations to Olivia and the COVID-19 LSR team on their publication in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry!

2022/03/14

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We are happy to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper on the effects of COVID-19 mental health interventions among children, adolescents, and adultsis now published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. This paper, led by Olivia Bonardi, included randomised-controlled trials of interventions to address COVID-19 mental health challenges among people not hospitalised or quarantined due to COVID-19 infection. It identified 9 eligible trials, including 3 well-conducted, well-reported trials that tested interventions designed specifically for COVID-19 mental health challenges, plus 6 other trials with high risk of bias and reporting concerns, all of which tested standard interventions (e.g., individual or group therapy, expressive writing, mindfulness recordings) minimally adapted or not specifically adapted for COVID-19. The paper concluded that interventions that adapt evidence-based strategies for feasible delivery may be effective to address mental health in COVID-19. More well-conducted trials, including for children and adolescents, are needed. Read more about the publication here.

Congratulations to Diana et al. on their publication in the Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology!

2022/03/04

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We are excited to share that Diana et al.’s Letter to Editors: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with systemic sclerosis: a psychometric and factor analysis in a monocentric cohort, is now published in the Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology. The letter describes that mental health symptom questionnaires like the HADS are not intended nor calibrated to estimate prevalence; in most cases, they tend to overestimate the true prevalence of psychiatric disorders, often dramatically. It also discusses the evidence that would be needed to recommend mental health screening, which is labour intensive and can lead to unnecessary harms, like all screening programs. Read the letter here.

Meta-research study led by Elsa-Lynn Nassar is accepted for publication in General Hospital Psychiatry!

2022/02/28

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A meta-research study led by Elsa-Lynn Nassar (MSc Trainee) and co-authored by other team members, including Dr. Brooke Levis (Research Associate) and Danielle Rice (PhD Candidate), was recently accepted for publication in General Hospital Psychiatry. The aims of the study were to assess (1) the proportion of recently published studies of depression screening accuracy that appropriately excluded individuals with a confirmed depression diagnosis or who were already undergoing treatment and (2) whether this has improved since the last review of studies published in 2013-2015. A total of 106 primary studies were identified and assessed. Eighteen of 106 (17%) studies appropriately excluded already diagnosed or treated individuals, representing an 11% improvement since the last review. The proportion of depression screening accuracy studies that appropriately exclude individuals already known to have depression remains low. This may significantly bias research findings intended to inform clinical practice, where known depression cases are not screened. To learn more about the study, click here!

Congratulations to the COVID-19 Living Systematic Review (LSR) Team on receiving new CIHR funding!

2022/02/14

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We are excited to share that our LSR team was awarded a two-year grant ($368,998) by CIHR’s Addressing the Wider Health Impacts of COVID-19 program for conducting our project “Loneliness Among Older Adults in COVID-19: A Living Systematic Review of Changes in Loneliness from Pre-COVID-19, Association with Mental Health Outcomes, and Effects of Interventions.” This funding will allow the team to continue to update its synthesis of evidence on mental health in COVID-19 and to specifically evaluate changes in loneliness and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce or prevent loneliness in older adults during COVID-19.

New SPIN publication in The Lancet Rheumatology: Study on COVID-19 vaccination experiences and perceptions in people living with scleroderma.

2022/01/26

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From April 9th to May 15th 2021, the SPIN COVID-19 Vaccine Survey was administered and completed by 936 participants of SPIN’s COVID-19 cohort. At that time, 75% of participants had already received at least one dose, while 10% were described as hesitant to get the vaccine. Hesitant responders also rated potential concerns about the vaccine as higher than non-hesitant participants. Altogether, there was substantially lower vaccine hesitancy than in the general population; the vaccine did not cause major changes in medication; and no severe reactions were reported. In fact, reactions to the vaccine were very similar to those reported in the general population. Congratulations to our colleagues at Cornell University, Drs Jessica Gordon, Kim Showalter and Robert Spiera who led the study. The article can be accessed here.

Welcome new team members!

2022/01/18

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Enqi Wang and Hassan Khan, as research volunteers, joined the DEPRESSD team in January 2022. Enqi is an undergraduate psychology student with a minor in neuroscience at McGill. She is passionate about pursuing future studies in the field of clinical psychology. Hassan graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree in Psychology. He hopes to pursue a career as scientist-practitioner in the near future. His research interests broadly include mental health, meta-research, and health services research. Visit Enqi's and Hassan’s pages to learn more about them. 

SPIN Study on Mental Health Symptoms in Scleroderma during COVID-19 Published in Lancet Rheumatology

2021/12/08

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The SPIN Team followed over 400 participants from the ongoing SPIN Cohort who also provided data, initially every two weeks then every four weeks, during COVID-19. They found that anxiety symptoms increased substantially during the April 2020, but then began to subside and were back to pre-COVID-19 levels by early summer 2020, where they have stayed since then. Depression symptoms did not increase compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. Congratulations to Dr. Richard Henry, who led the study, and the rest of the SPIN Team. Read more here

SPIN publishes protocol for the self-management (SPIN-SELF) Program

2021/11/30

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Julia Nordlund, Dr. Richard Henry and the SPIN Team published their protocol in Trials for testing the SPIN-SELF Program. The SPIN-SELF Program has been revised to include facilitator-led videoconference group sessions in addition to online material. The SPIN Team will test the group-based intervention delivery format, then evaluate the effect of the SPIN-SELF Program on disease management self-efficacy, and other mental and physical health outcomes. This study will be a randomized controlled feasibility trial with progression to a full-scale trial. At the end of the feasibility portion, stoppage criteria will be used to determine if the trial procedures or SPIN-SELF Program need important modifications, thereby requiring a re-set for the full-scale trial. Otherwise, the full-scale RCT will proceed. Congratulations to Julia, Richard, Dr. Thombs and the rest of the team! Read more here.

SPIN Study on Pain in Scleroderma Published in Lancet Rheumatology

2021/11/25

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SPIN’s study of pain in 2157 SPIN Cohort participants from 46 centres in 7 countries was published in Lancet Rheumatology. The study found that 35% of people with scleroderma live with moderate to severe pain and that greater pain intensity was associated with many different scleroderma disease manifestations. The SPIN Team concluded that health care providers should work with patients to address pain, including identifying and addressing disease manifestations associated with pain. The article can be found here.

Dr. Thombs Featured in McGill Bicentennial Digital Time Capsule

2021/11/02

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See Dr. Thombs discuss the transformations he thinks we will see in how we do research over the next 25 years: https://200.mcgill.ca/digital-time-capsule/.

Welcome new team member!

2021/10/19

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Laury Montemurro, as a research assistant, joined The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) project on October 4th. Laury finished her undergraduate studies in Psychology at McGill University in April 2021. She aims to pursue her studies in psychology by applying to the PhD program in Clinical Psychology. Click here to learn more about Laury.

Dr. Thombs on Sclero Sun Podcast

2021/10/14

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Dr. Thombs was interviewed for the Scleroderma Foundation Southern California Chapter podcast about SPIN and its patient programs. The podcast will be available October 15 10:00 pm EST.

BMJ Article on Depression Screening Covered in Mad in America

2021/10/14

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A review of evidence on depression screening for health care providers by Dr. Thombs, Danielle Rice and colleagues, which was published earlier in BMJ (https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1661.long) was covered by Peter Simons from Mad in America. Read the full article here.

Congratulations to Dr. Zelalem Negeri and the DEPRESSD Team on their publication in The BMJ!

2021/10/05

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We are happy to share that the DEPRESSD Team's updated IPDMA on the accuracy of the PHQ-9 screening tool has been published in the BMJ. The project, led by Dr. Zelalem Negeri, combined individual participant data from 100 studies (>44,000 participants) to evaluate the screening accuracy of the PHQ-9. The combined sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 were maximized at a cut-off of >=10. Specificity was similar across reference standards, but sensitivity in studies with semi-structured interviews was higher than with fully structured reference standards and with the MINI. Moreover, specificity was higher for men and older participants. The full article can be accessed here. Researchers and clinicians can use our results to determine outcomes, such as the total number of positive screens and false-positive screens, at different PHQ-9 cut-offs for different clinical settings as described in our knowledge translation tool here.

Position Available: Full-time Data Manager and Analyst

2021/09/22

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Dr. Brett Thombs (www.thombsresearchteam.ca/) and Dr. Andrea Benedetti (https://www.mcgill.ca/epibiostat-occh/andrea-benedetti) of McGill University and the Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN; www.spinsclero.com) are seeking a full-time Data Manager and Analyst to contribute to observational studies and novel trials of patient-centred interventions in a rare disease context (PDF for more details).

  • Start date: Start date is flexible, and applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

  • To apply: applicants should send (1) a cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript, (4)a writing sample, and (5) contact information for three references to Ms. Marie-Eve  Carrier (carrier.marie.eve@gmail.com).

COVID-MINDS Interview with Dr. Thombs

2021/08/31

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See Q & A with Dr. Brett Thombs and COVID-MINDS on mental health research in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Thombs discusses our living systematic review and what we have learned conducting this work: [LINK]

Congratulations to Nora Østbø and the SPIN Team on SPIN-DINE publication! 

2021/08/31

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We are happy to share that the SPIN Team's study on nutrition information resources was published in Arthritis Care and Research - Open Rheumatology. Study investigators conducted nominal group technique sessions with people with scleroderma to examine the use of nutrition and diet information resources, and perceptions of these resources. This study is the first step of the SPIN - Diet and Nutrition Information (DINE) project led by Nora Østbø, which aims to identify and address existing information gaps in the area of nutrition and scleroderma, with the long-term goal of providing tools for people with SSc to find and access evidence-based information and guidance on nutrition and diet. Read more here: [LINK]

New CIHR funding for the SPIN team!

2021/08/26

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We are excited to announce that our project “Mental Health in People at Risk from COVID-19 Due to a Pre-Existing Medical Condition: Longitudinal Study of Risk Factors, Outcomes, and the Role of Vaccination” has been awarded a one-year CIHR grant. SPIN launched the SPIN-COVID-19 Cohort in April of 2020 to better understand mental health concerns of individuals with a pre-existing medical condition during the pandemic. This grant will allow our research team to continue this important work! 

Position Available: Full-time Research Assistant

2021/08/26

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SPIN is currently seeking applicants for a Full-time Research Assistant position in patient-engaged health research. (More details about this position).

Eligibility: Applicants should be fluent in English (spoken and written) and French (spoken; written French an asset); have a degree in psychology, health sciences, social sciences, or related field with strong academic record; and be able to commit for at least one and ideally two years.

Start Date: September 2021.

To apply: Applicants should send (1) a cover letter explaining their interest in the position and how this would support their career goals, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript, and (4) an English writing sample and (if possible) an additional writing sample in French, to Marie- Eve Carrier at carrier.marie.eve@gmail.com). Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. French language capacity will be assessed during interview.​

Congratulations to the COVID-19 Living Systematic Review (LSR) Team on receiving new CIHR funding!

2021/08/19

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We are excited to share that our LSR team was awarded a one-year grant ($220,052) by CIHR’s Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Funding Opportunity for conducting our project “Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ongoing Living Systematic Review of Mental Health Burden and Intervention Effectiveness to Inform Management Strategies During and Post-COVID-19.” This will allow the team to continue to update its synthesis of evidence on mental health in COVID-19.

Congratulations to the DEPRESSD team on receiving a new CIHR grant! 

2021/07/23

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We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD team was awarded a 3-year grant ($279,224) by CIHR to develop and test statistical methods for individual participant data meta-analysis in diagnostic test accuracy. A special thank you to Dr. Yin Wu, Dr. Zelalem Negeri, Sheryl Sun and Dr. Brooke Levis, who worked closely with Dr. Andrea Benedetti on the CIHR funding competition!

Congratulations to Dr. Brett Thombs who has been awarded the Scleroderma Foundation’s 2021 “Messenger of Hope” award! 

2021/07/21

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We are excited to share that Dr. Brett Thombs has just been awarded the Scleroderma Foundation’s 2021 “Messenger of Hope” award. This award was presented to Brett in recognition of his tremendous work with the scleroderma community through the SPIN programs that have elevated disease awareness, strengthened self-care among individuals living with the disease. Brett received this award on Saturday evening, July 17 in a virtual awards ceremony as part of the 2021 National Scleroderma Conference. Click HERE to watch the ceremony. 

DEPRESSD Team published a new IPDMA protocol - Equivalence of the Accuracy of 9 and 10 item Versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for Screening to Detect Major Depression among Pregnant and Postpartum Women on OSF

2021/06/16

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Dr. Xia Qiu, a visiting PhD Student, and the DEPRESSD team published their protocol on OSF. The objectives of the study are (1) to evaluate the equivalence of continuous EPDS-9 and full EPDS scores for assessing depressive symptom severity; and (2) to assess the equivalence of the accuracy of the EPDS-9 and full EPDS across relevant cut-offs for screening to detect major depression. Read more here.

Welcome new team member!

2021/06/09

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Suiqiong Fan, as a Research and Synthesis Analytical Coordinator, will be joining the DEPRESSD and COVID-19 Living Systematic Review projects on June 21. Suiqiong completed her BSc in Global Health at Wuhan University in 2019 and recently completed her MSc in Public Health from McGill. At McGill, Suiqiong worked on two projects related to child marriage. We’re fortunate to have her join the team!

Position Available: SPIN Postdoctoral Fellow

2021/06/02

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SPIN is currently seeking applicants for a postdoctoral fellowship position in patient-engaged health research and novel clinical trials. (More details about this position).

Role: The postdoctoral fellow will lead or assist with ongoing SPIN projects and will have the opportunity to develop their own research.

Eligibility: Applicants should have a recent doctoral degree in a health-related field, such as psychology, public health, or epidemiology. The doctoral degree should be obtained by the date of hire.

Start Date: Start date is flexible, and applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

To apply: Applicants should send (1) a cover letter explaining their interest in the fellowship and how working in this position would support their career goals, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript, (4) reprints or preprints of published articles or submitted manuscripts, and (5) contact information for three references to Ms. Marie-Eve Carrier (carrier.marie.eve@gmail.com).

SPIN-CHAT results featured on The Scleroderma News!

2021/05/26

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The Scleroderma News published an article, entitled "Group Sessions Helpful for Mild Anxiety During COVID-19, Trial Finds”. The article featured a clinical psychologist Dr. Jill M. Newby's comments on the effectiveness of the SPIN-CHAT (COVID-19 Home-isolation Activities Together) Program in providing scleroderma participants with psychosocial tools and group activities to maintain mental health and break isolation during the pandemic. Its findings also emphasize “how essential it is to test, rather than assume what interventions work to improve mental health in susceptible groups during pandemic situations,” Newby added. Read the article here.

Dr. Thombs interviewed on Montreal CTV News about work of COVID-19 Living Systematic Review Team

2021/05/24

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On May 22nd, Dr. Thombs was interview on Montreal CTV News, where he discussed changes in mental health from prior to COVID-19 to during the pandemic. Based on findings from the team's ongoing living systematic review of over 50 000 scientific articles, Dr. Thombs pointed out that across population groups, results suggest that, rather than a mental health crisis, at a population level, there has been a high level of resilience during COVID-19. Click here to watch the full interview. 

SPIN-CHAT Trial receives media coverage!

2021/05/20

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A Healio Rheumatology article by Jason Laday, entitled “Mental health intervention for scleroderma patients in COVID-19 lockdown sees mixed results”, featured Dr. Thombs’ comments on the SPIN-CHAT (COVID-19 Home-isolation Activities Together) Trial. Dr. Thombs highlights the importance of the SPIN-CHAT Trial - “A key takeaway from our trial is that this kind of ongoing collaborative group can move quickly and effectively to meet patient needs in real time. In terms of clinical significance, our trial showed that simple, multi-faceted strategies to address mental health, along with good peer support, can be used effectively by our vulnerable rheumatology patients to improve their mental health in COVID-19 and beyond.” Read the article here.

Congratulations to Dipika and the DEPRESSD team on their publication in the IJMPR!

2021/05/12

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We are happy to share that the DEPRESSD Team's study on selective cutoff reporting in depression screening studies was published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research (IJMPR). This study, led by Dipika Neupane, compared selective cutoff reporting in the PHQ-9 and EPDS. The study highlights the importance of reporting accuracy estimates or contingency tables for all relevant cutoffs. Congratulations to Dipika and the rest of the DEPRESSD Team! Read more here.

DEPRESSD Team's meta-analysis on the accuracy of the HADS-D screening tool published in the BMJ

2021/05/10

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We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD Team's IPDMA on the accuracy of the HADS-D screening tool has been published in the BMJ. The project, led by Dr. Yin Wu, combined individual participant data from 101 studies (>22,000 participants) to evaluate the screening accuracy of the HADS-D. Combined sensitivity and specificity of the HADS-D was maximized at a cut-off of >=7. Accuracy was similar across reference standards and subgroups, and when published results from studies that did not contribute data were included. Read the full article: here  Clinicians and researchers who consider screening for depression with the HADS-D can refer to our associated knowledge translation tool which estimates the expected number of positive screens as well as true and false screening outcomes for different screening thresholds.

SPIN-CHAT results featured in Actualités UQAM press release

2021/05/05

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Actualités UQAM, the Université de Québec à Montréal's (UQÀM) news bulletin, published a press release, entitled " Groupes de soutien par visioconférence" (which translates to "Videoconferenced-based support groups"). The article featured professional educator Dr. Ghassan El-Baalbaki's and scleroderma support group facilitator Violet Konrad's comments on the effectiveness of the SPIN-CHAT (COVID-19 Home-isolation Activities Together) Program in providing scleroderma participants with psychosocial tools and group activities to maintain mental health and break isolation during the pandemic. Read the article (available in French only) here.

SPIN publishes protocol for living systematic review on non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions in scleroderma

2021/05/04

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Marie-Nicole Discepola and the SPIN Team published their protocol in BMJ Open. Their living systematic review will compile evidence on  the effectiveness of non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions on mental and physical health outcomes. As a living systematic review, once the initial evidence is assessed, the team will keep updating on an ongoing basis so that people in the scleroderma community can easily access the most current evidence on the project website (forthcoming). Congratulations to Marie-Nicole, Andrea Carboni-Jiménez, Dr. Kwakkenbos, and Dr. Richard Henry, Dr. Thombs and the rest of the team! Read more here.

Elsa-Lynn Nassar receives the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) Master's Award

2021/05/03

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Congratulations to Elsa-Lynn Nassar, who received the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) Master's Award, in addition to a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship for her Master’s training with the Thombs research team (see previous item on 2021/04/01)! Elsa began her MSc program today, and will be working with both the SPIN and DEPRESSD teams.

CONSORT-ROUTINE report, extension of CONSORT reporting guidelines, published in BMJ

2021/04/30

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The CONSORT-ROUTINE, an extension of the CONSORT reporting guideline for innovative trials conducted using cohorts and routinely collected data (electronic health records, registries, administrative databases) was published today in BMJ (here). CONSORT-ROUTINE, which was led by our team, provides guidance to support adequate reporting of these types of trials. Congratulations to Dr. Kwakkenbos, Mahrukh Imran, Danielle Rice, and Dr. Thombs, who led or were part of the CONSORT-ROUTINE project team. An article that describes the methods used to develop CONSORT-ROUTINE was published simultaneously in BMJ Open (here).

A segment by Dr. Thombs on the SPIN-CHAT Trial results featured on CJAD 800 this Sunday!

2021/04/20

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This coming Sunday, April 25th, at 12:50pm EDT, radio station CJAD 800 AM will feature a short segment by Dr. Thombs on the SPIN-CHAT Trial. Tune in to learn more! For additional information on the study, see here.
UPDATE: Click here to listen to April 25th's Health Matters podcast, "The latest research advances in diabetes and wearable technology" (Dr. Thombs's segment starts at 30:53).

SPIN-CHAT Trial Results published in Lancet Rheumatology

2021/04/16

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Results from the SPIN-CHAT (COVID-19 Home-isolation Activities Together) Program have been published in Lancet Rheumatology. The trial evaluated the effects of a videoconference-based program on anxiety symptoms and other mental health outcomes among people with scleroderma. It tested a multi-faceted strategy designed in collaboration with patient advisors. Eligible participants from the SPIN-COVID-19 Cohort were invited to take part in 3 sessions a week for 4 weeks. 172 participants were randomly assigned to intervention (n=86) or waitlist (n=86). SPIN-CHAT did not significantly improve mental health by the end of the 4-week intervention period, but symptoms of anxiety and depression were significantly improved 6 weeks later. Congratulations to the SPIN Team and their international team of researchers, professional educators, support group moderators, and SPIN-COVID-19 Patient Advocates! Read the article