FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight on
Dr. Paula Rochon By: Colin Faulkner
At the Institute of Medical Science (University of Toronto; U of T), Dr. Paula Rochon is associated with a multitude of physician-scientists, many of whom have careers that navigate medicine, research, and the social sphere. As a leading Canadian health services researcher in geriatric medicine, her work focuses on the unique issues surrounding elderly populations; in particular, women. Considering her leadership in women’s health and geriatric medicine, Dr. Rochon shares her perspective with the IMS Magazine on her career, clinical research, and involvement with Women’s Xchange.
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r. Rochon began her career at McMaster University, where she completed an undergraduate degree in psychology. She aspired to become a doctor, and ultimately fulfilled this dream by attaining her MD at McMaster in 1983. Subsequently, she completed her residency in internal medicine at the U of T as one of the few women in her group. During her chief year, Dr. Rochon began to identify the concept of aging as a research focus she wished to explore. She pursued a Master’s of Public Health at Harvard University, with a novel interest in geriatrics. The inspiration for this academic interest was, in fact, personal: her own grandparents demonstrated incredible longevity, as they lived to be 104 years old. In July 2015, Dr. Rochon was appointed as the inaugural Retired Teachers of Ontario Chair in Geriatric Medicine at UofT. In Toronto, Dr. Rochon began collaborative research at Baycrest Health Sciences as the Director of Research. At Baycrest, 32 | IMS MAGAZINE WINTER 2018 DIABETES
Dr. Rochon investigated two areas related to optimal drug prescription in elderly adult populations: she aimed to determine the effect of pharmacologic management of chronic disease in older adults, and to elucidate the pattern of adverse drug events that informs the quality of drug therapy used by long-term care residents. In unison with her research, Dr. Rochon adopted a leadership role by becoming the interim Director of Research. She is currently the Vice-President of Research at Women’s College Hospital (WCH). At WCH, Dr. Rochon has led several projects examining the need for sex-specific research, the optimization of drug therapy, and the issues surrounding use of antipsychotics in older adults. Dr. Rochon was recently designated as the co-principal investigator of a CIHR project grant titled, “A multi-method approach to exploring prescribing cascades”. A ‘prescribing cascade’ is when the side effects of a prescribed drug result in the misdiagnosis of a new disease, in which case a
new prescription may follow, only further complicating the patient’s health profile. As Dr. Rochon’s prior research is well-encompassed within the focus of this grant, the project invites collaborating scientists who have noticed prescribing cascades in their own medical field. Women’s Xchange is another innovative and blossoming project led by Dr. Rochon. The project stems from a provincial mandate of creating a hub for knowledge translation and exchange in women’s health research. With the criteria of the project left open to Dr. Rochon and her team, they diverted away from the traditional academic sphere and towards a “community-based model that would be more lively and engaging.” With this goal in mind and given the local members of the WCH community, Women’s Xchange developed three main areas of support for women’s health research. The first area is the $15K Challenge Program, which serves as an avenue to