Two New Clinics Advance Patient Care

From left: Dr. Sumit Agrawal, Tom Allison and Dr. Lorne Parnes unveil the clinic’s name.

Two new clinics were opened at London Health Sciences Centre’s University Hospital in September. Both facilities are examples of donated dollars supporting the pioneering of new discoveries and treatments at London Health Sciences Centre.

The Thomas and Dorothy Allison Clinic is named after Tom Allison and his late wife Dorothy, who donated over $1 million in support of the Otology/Neurotology Program. The clinic is shared by the Clinical Neurological Sciences department - treating medical conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, and the Otology/Neurotology Program - specializing in the treatment of disorders of the ear and skull base.

Patients experiencing complicated hearing problems and/or dizziness are often referred to the Otology/Neurotology Program. This program also runs one of only five Cochlear implant programs in the province, helping patients with severe hearing loss.

Under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Lorne Parnes the program has established an international reputation for high-quality patient care, research and education.

Dr. Sumit Agrawal who joined the program in August is an example of the development of new physicians for the program. Dr. Agrawal completed his residency in otolaryngology at the University of Western Ontario in 2006 and more recently, the prestigious Stanford Neurotology Fellowship in June 2008.

“Mr. Allison's gift will help support both Dr. Agrawal’s clinical work and his research,” says Dr. Parnes.

London Health Sciences Centre and Lawson Health Research Institute also opened a new clinic under the guidance of Dr. Richard Kim, to provide specialized care for patients requiring the use of blood thinners, especially the drug Warfarin.

From left:  Dr. Carol Herbert, Dr. Jim Koropatnick, Dr. David Hollomby, Dr. Richard Kim and Neil Johnson celebrate the opening of the Warfarin clinic.

Dr. Richard Kim and his research team are international leaders in the field of personalized medicine. They moved from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee to establish The Centre for Clinical Investigation and Therapeutics at London Health Sciences Centre. The CCIT was supported in part by donor-dollars and was the beneficiary of last spring's Tastings fundraiser held by London Health Sciences Foundation.  

The newly opened Warfarin clinic is the first of its kind to integrate personalized medicine research into patient care - matching required dosages of the blood thinner Warfarin to an individual’s genetic traits to achieve the best effect and greatest safety. This is important since one universal dosage of Warfarin does not react the same way in each patient.

Variations in two genes involved in blood clotting can cause the medication to be highly effective in some people while, in others, the same dose may cause fatal side effects. The discovery that these two genes were primarily responsible for the different individual reactions was made by Richard Kim and Ute Schwarz at LHRI earlier this year.

In the past, doctors have had to work by trial and error, prescribing one recommended dose and then monitoring the patient to see if it works. Patients referred to the clinic will still be monitored, however being able to personalize medicine before starting drug therapy will improve patient safety.

“This clinic can serve as an example of how research improves patients’ health care,” Dr. Kim says.