Four reasons to believe in the future of health research

Feature Stories | 03 Apr 2025 | Read time: 4 min

Early cancer detection, tackling mental health stigma, improving access to care, and new hope for immunotherapy treatments—Queen's Health Sciences researchers are changing the odds with new discoveries and bold ideas aimed at creating healthier communities around the world. Here are four QHS research projects that have us feeling hopeful about the future of health research.

Changing the odds for early ovarian cancer detection

Ovarian cancer is a disease that too often thrives in silence. Symptoms are frequently mild or non-specific, while current tests aren’t sensitive enough for reliable early detection. As a result, 75 per cent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in the late or end stages, making it one of the deadliest forms of cancer affecting women.

But what if a simple blood test could change this?

Queen’s University researcher Dr. Chris Mueller and graduate student Sydney Shepherd have developed mDETECT—a blood test that detects ovarian cancer by looking at DNA changes. Already proven effective in identifying late-stage ovarian cancer and certain breast cancer markers, mDETECT is entering a new research phase thanks to funding from Ovarian Cancer Canada. The test will be trialled at Sunnybrook Hospital and offered to women with mild and vague symptoms, to see how to compares with currently available tests.

“This is the critical step – taking what we’ve discovered in the lab and testing if it can help real patients,” says Dr. Mueller. “Early detection is key. If we can find ovarian cancer sooner, treatments work better, and more lives can be saved.”

Breaking the silence around mental health in pregnancy

Pregnancy is often seen as a time of joy—a magical, glow-filled period when we expect women to be at their happiest. But for millions around the world, it is also a time when struggles with mental health can go unspoken. One in three pregnant people experience depression or anxiety. Due to stigma, these challenges can go unnoticed and untreated, putting both parent and baby at risk of further health conditions.

Dr. Shahirose Premji is shedding light on an issue too often left in the shadows. She’s partnered with filmmakers in Kenya, Pakistan, and India, to tell the real stories of three local, pregnant women. Their personal journeys go beyond statistics and peer-reviewed papers. They’re an invitation to join wider conversations about mental health in pregnancy.

Because sometimes, the first step toward care is simply breaking the silence.

Aging blood cells that could help fight cancer

Immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer care, but they only work for a small amount of people. To improve treatment, researchers are studying biomarkers—indicators in the body that help predict how well these therapies will work, ensuring the right treatments reach the right patients faster.

Queen’s graduate student and researcher Marco Buttigieg has discovered a potential new cancer immune biomarker. As we get older, our blood cells can accumulate mutations, a process known as clonal hematopoiesis (CH). This condition increases inflammation in the body and is also associated with worse outcomes for certain cancers. CH is found in 20-30% of patients with solid tumours but isn’t routinely screened for as a biomarker. Marco and his team’s breakthrough could open a new field of clinical research that can help personalize future immunotherapy treatments.

Bringing care to those the system overlooks

Not all health research happens under a microscope. The Cancer and Severe Mental Illness Project (CaSMIP), led by Queen’s researcher Dr. Oyedeji Ayonrinde, is working to ensure people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other severe mental illnesses get the cancer care they need and deserve. Right now, they don’t. CaSMIP research shows that people with severe mental illnesses are less likely to be screened, more likely to face stigma-driven misdiagnoses, and often face higher mortality rates—not because the science isn’t there, but because the system fails to reach them.

That’s where implementation science comes in. Dr. Ayonrinde and his students are working to close the care gaps they study. In March, they launched a colorectal cancer awareness campaign, painting fingernails blue, sharing heart-shaped cookies, collecting toilet paper rolls (to help ‘wipe out’ colorectal cancer) and even lighting up Kingston City Hall in blue.

These efforts aren’t just about spreading the word; they’re making cancer care more equitable, meeting people where they are, breaking down mental health stigma, and ensuring no one is left behind.

Want to know more about these projects?

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Are you a Queen’s researcher part of an unfolding research story or bringing hope to the future of health? We’d love to hear from you. Pitch your story using this form, and your work may be featured in an upcoming column or shared across Queen’s Health Sciences social media channels.

Read time

4 min