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 Senior Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, U of Ottawa
Staff physician, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Ottawa Hospital
Biographical sketch:
Dr. Shawn Aaron is an Associate Professor at The University of Ottawa and a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Aaron received his M.D.C.M. from McGill University, then trained in internal medicine, respiratory medicine, and then critical care medicine at The University of Toronto. He joined the Department of Medicine in Ottawa in 1996 and obtained his MSc degree in epidemiology from the University of Ottawa in 1999.
Dr. Aaron is a respirologist with special research and clinical interests in COPD and cystic fibrosis. Dr. Aaron's research has been focused on investigating acute pulmonary exacerbations of these diseases, with a specific interest in the critical assessment of interventions designed to prevent exacerbations and improve the diagnosis and treatment of exacerbations of COPD. His other major research interest involves the microbiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of CF exacerbations.
Dr. Aaron holds a CIHR New Investigator Award, and a Premier's Research Excellence Award. Dr. Aaron currently also holds three active CIHR operating and clinical trial grants, as well as operating grants from The Canadian CF Foundation, The Australian CF Research Trust, The Ontario Thoracic Society and PSI.
Dr. Aaron has published widely in the areas of cystic fibrosis and COPD. In 2005 his team completed a large CIHR-funded, multi-center Canadian and Australian study assessing combination antibiotic susceptibility testing for guiding therapy for cystic fibrosis. Results of this study were published in The Lancet in August 2005. Related research exploring the microbiology of cystic fibrosis, and cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbations, has been published in the past 3 years in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Thorax, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, and the European Respiratory Journal.
Dr. Aaron's other active interest is in COPD. He has first authored publications examining steroid therapy for exacerbations of COPD in the New England Journal of Medicine (Aaron et al, NEJM 2003). Other studies related to COPD exacerbations have been published in the AmJRCCM and Chest. Dr. Aaron is also PI of a CIHR-funded, twenty-seven site Canadian clinical trial assessing optimal therapy for COPD. This study randomized 449 Canadian COPD patients and was recently completed.
Dr. Aaron is an expert on clinical trial design. In addition to his clinical research in COPD and CF, he has co-authored papers related to methodologic issues in clinical trials, use of decision aids for patients with lung disease, prevalence of obstructive lung disease in the community setting, and assessment of optimal use of lung function testing in the community and in a tertiary care setting.
Research Interests:
Interventions to Improve Care for Patients with Chronic Lung Disease
Clinical Trials
Cohort Studies
Therapy for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Cystic Fibrosis
Microbiology of Cystic Fibrosis
Major Research Activities:
Multicenter RCT assessing optimal bronchodilator therapy for patients with COPD.
Studies examining inflammatory markers in COPD exacerbations.
Multicenter cohort study examining the relationship between asthma and obesity.
Prospective cohort study of patients with CF infected with an epidemic strain of P. aeruginosa.
Multicenter RCT assessing decision aids for CF patients considering lung transplantation.
Studies of the pathogenesis and treatment and prevention of CF exacerbations.
Recent Awards/Prizes:
2006 Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Detweiler Travelling Fellowship Award.
2004 Premier's Research Excellence Award.
2003 CIHR Rx&D- Health Research Foundation Special Research Allowance for CIHR New Investigators
2003 University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine Young Professor Award.
2003 Ottawa Life Sciences Council Promising Scientist Award
2003 CIHR New Investigator Award- $50,000 per year x 5 years
Current Funding:
2006-2007 $59,511* (Aus) Australian CF Research Trust
Development of a decision aid for adult cystic fibrosis patients considering bilateral lung transplantation.
2005-2009 $270,000* CIHR
Detection of an epidemic strain of P aeruginosa in adult Canadian CF clinics- epidemiology and clinical implications.
2005-2007 $446,000 CIHR
Asthma in Obese Subjects- diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
2005-2007 US$197,670 Roche Pharma Inc.
Multi analyte profiling in the characterization of the inflammatory profile in blood and induced sputum in patients with exacerbations of COPD.
2005-2007 US$208,000 Roche Pharma Inc.
Pilot study to investigate the utility of multi analyte profiling in the characterization of the inflammatory profile in blood and induced sputum in patients with stable COPD.
2005-2006 $50,000* Ontario Thoracic Society
Optimal therapy of COPD to prevent exacerbations and improve quality of life.
2005-2006 $75,000# CIHR New Frontiers Development Fund (Principal Investigator- Dr. Mark Fitzgerald).
Development of a Canadian Respiratory Clinical Trials Network.
2005-2007 $150,562# PSI (Principal Investigator- Dr. William Hodge)
Comparison of antibiotic-only and antibiotic-steroid combination treatment in corneal ulcer patients: A double-blinded, randomized clinical trial.
2005-2007 $92,000* PSI
Development of a decision aid for adult cystic fibrosis patients considering bilateral lung transplantation.
2005-2008 $284,733* Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Detection of an epidemic strain of P aeruginosa in adult Canadian CF clinics- epidemiology and clinical implications.
2005-2006 $8,300* Ontario Thoracic Society
Decision Aid for CF patients considering bilateral lung transplant.
2005-2006 $192,861# CIHR (Principal Investigator - Dr. Brian Rowe)
Multicenter study of anti-inflamatory treatment in asthma relapse: The AIR asthma study.
2004 $150,000* Premier's Research Excellence Awards
Optimizing care for patients with COPD and Cystic Fibrosis.
2004 $15,000* Ontario Thoracic Society
Burkholderia cepacia complex recovered from CF patients during pulmonary exacerbations.
2003-2004 $37,500* CIHR Rx&D- Health Research Foundation
Special Research Allowance for CIHR New Investigators.
2003-2008 $250,000* CIHR New Investigator Award
2003-2006 $ 1,464,139* CIHR
Optimal therapy of COPD to prevent exacerbations and improve quality of
life. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Most Recent Publications (provided by The Ottawa Hospital Library Database)
Aaron SD;, (2009 Mar 1), COPD exacerbations: predicting the future from the recent past, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, Vol.179, Issue 5, 335-336
Keays T;Ferris W;Vandemheen KL;Chan F;Yeung SW;Mah TF;Ramotar K;Saginur R;Aaron SD;, (2009 Mar), A retrospective analysis of biofilm antibiotic susceptibility testing: a better predictor of clinical response in cystic fibrosis exacerbations, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Vol.8, Issue 2, 122-127 -> view abstract
Amin R;Dupuis A;Aaron SD;Ratjen F;, (2009 Jun 30), The Effect of Chronic Infection With Aspergillus fumigatus on Lung Function and Hospitalization in Cystic Fibrosis Patients, Chest, -> view abstract
Vandemheen KL;O'Connor A;Bell SC;Freitag A;Bye P;Jeanneret A;Berthiaume Y;Brown N;Wilcox P;Ryan G;Brager N;Rabin H;Morrison N;Gibson P;Jackson M;Paterson N;Middleton P;Aaron SD;, (2009 Jul 9), Randomized Trial of a Decision Aid for Cystic Fibrosis Patients Considering Lung Transplantation, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, -> view abstract
Dales L;Ferris W;Vandemheen K;Aaron SD;, (2009 Jul 3), Combination antibiotic susceptibility of biofilm-grown Burkholderia cepacia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients with pulmonary exacerbations of cystic fibrosis, Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, -> view abstract
Pan AM;Stiell IG;Clement CM;Acheson J;Aaron SD;, (2009 Apr), Feasibility of a structured 3-minute walk test as a clinical decision tool for patients presenting to the emergency department with acute dyspnoea, Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol.26, Issue 4, 278-282 -> view abstract
Altman E;Wang Z;Aaron SD;Liu X;Vandemheen KL;Ferris W;Giesbrecht T;Li J;, (2009), Epidemiological investigation and glycotyping of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis by mass spectrometry: Association with multiple drug resistance, J Microbiol Methods, Vol.76, Issue 2, 204-208 -> view abstract
Aaron SD;Fergusson DA;, (2008 Sep 23), Exaggeration of treatment benefits using the 'event-based' number needed to treat, CMAJ, Vol.179, Issue 7, 669-671 -> view abstract
Aaron SDM;Vandemheen KL;Boulet LP;McIvor RAM;FitzGerald JM;Hernandez P;Lemiere C;Sharma S.;Field SK;Alvarez GGM;Dales REM;Doucette S;Fergusson D;, (2008 Nov 18), Overdiagnosis of asthma in obese and nonobese adults, CMAJ, Vol.179, Issue 11, 1121-1131 -> view abstract
Suissa S;Ernst P;Vandemheen KL;Aaron SD;, (2008 May), Methodological issues in therapeutic trials of COPD. [Review] [27 refs], European Respiratory Journal, Vol.31, Issue 5, 927-933 -> view abstract
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