{"id":37351,"date":"2018-05-23T20:56:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T00:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=37351"},"modified":"2021-02-17T15:57:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T20:57:50","slug":"patients-a-source-of-strength-for-dr-rebecca-auer-the-new-head-of-cancer-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/uncategorized\/patients-a-source-of-strength-for-dr-rebecca-auer-the-new-head-of-cancer-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Patients a \u201csource of strength\u201d for Dr. Rebecca Auer \u2013 the new head of cancer research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy patients are a great source of strength for me,\u201d said Dr. Rebecca Auer.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Meet Dr. Rebecca Auer. Some days she wears scrubs and removes tumours in the operating room. Other days she wears a lab coat and investigates the secrets of cancer cells. In between all this, she runs clinical trials, trains students and residents, takes part on international committees and raises three young boys with her husband. Now this innovative surgeon-scientist has another job: leading more than 300 cancer researchers at The Ottawa Hospital.<\/p>\n

When asked what inspires her, she said patients always come first.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy patients are a great source of strength for me,\u201d Dr. Auer said. \u201cThey approach tough situations with grace, gratitude and resilience. They make me realize how incredible humans are. They remind me what matters the most every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazing colleagues and a world-class hospital provide inspiration too, she said.<\/p>\n

Of course, inspiration doesn\u2019t go very far without hard work, something that Dr. Auer learned early on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really felt I had any natural ability, but what I do have is tenacity,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I fall down, I get back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

That tenacity has more than paid off. The Ottawa native was named the top medical student at Queen\u2019s University in 2000, the top master\u2019s student in science at the University of Ottawa in 2004, the top resident researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in 2007 and Distinguished Young Professor at the University of Ottawa in 2013.<\/p>\n

Since starting her own research laboratory at The Ottawa Hospital in 2007, Dr. Auer has focused on the interplay between cancer, surgery and the immune system, and has made many important discoveries.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurgery is very effective in removing solid tumours,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, we\u2019re now realizing that, tragically, surgery can also suppress the immune system in a way that makes it easier for any remaining cancer cells to persist and spread to other organs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.

Dr. Rebecca Auer leads more than 300 cancer researchers at The Ottawa Hospital.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Auer\u2019s team has discovered how this happens and they are now testing different strategies to enhance the immune system around the time of cancer surgery. For example, they have found that a common treatment for erectile dysfunction combined with the flu vaccine<\/a> may be able to help the immune system mop up cancer cells left behind after surgery. Dr. Auer is now testing this unconventional approach in a world-first clinical trial.<\/p>\n

In addition to her role at The Ottawa Hospital, Dr. Auer is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and holds a Tier 2 Clinical Research Chair in Perioperative Cancer Therapeutics from the University\u2019s Faculty of Medicine. She is also a key member of BioCanRx, a network of cancer immunotherapy and oncolytic virus researchers based at The Ottawa Hospital. She collaborates widely with laboratory scientists, surgeons, oncologists, nurses and epidemiologists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to take on this new role because I see an opportunity to bring people together, build bridges and accelerate the translation of our research into benefits for patients,\u201d said Dr. Auer. \u201cThe Ottawa Hospital is already leading the world in several areas of cancer research and there is great potential for further growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Auer is an outstanding addition to our leadership team,\u201d said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. \u201cHer tenacity, collaborative spirit and passion for her patients and science will be a huge asset as our researchers continue to redesign the future of cancer care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Auer\u2019s research could change how cancer is treated around the world,\u201d said Dr. Virginia Roth, Chief of Staff at The Ottawa Hospital. \u201cWe are fortunate to have Dr. Auer inspire our young physicians and researchers at a time of such exciting change and discovery in this field.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy patients are a great source of strength for me,\u201d said Dr. Rebecca Auer. Meet Dr. Rebecca Auer. Some days she wears scrubs and removes tumours in the operating room. Other days she wears a lab coat and investigates the secrets of cancer cells. In between all this, she runs clinical trials, trains students and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":37342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}