“It is my distinct privilege to chair discussions of this eminent group of scientists as we work together with UBC leadership to focus the priorities and build capacity towards our shared goal of improving MS patient care and therapies.“
Dr. Harold Atkins is a senior clinician investigator of the Cancer Therapeutics Program with Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, physician with the Transplant and Cell Therapy Program at the Ottawa Hospital, and associate professor of clinical hematology with University of Ottawa. He pioneered the use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for immune system repair in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, and stiff person syndrome.
“The MS Research Network is exemplary of what is possible when strategic investment catalyzes translation of our best ideas into meaningful action. It is the necessary next step in the evolution of our progress towards making novel MS therapies accessible and more effective at halting disease progression and restoring quality of life.“
He is best known for co-leading a ground-breaking clinical trial demonstrating the potential of blood stem cell transplantation, similar to a procedure used to treat leukemia, to suppress autoimmune damage to the nervous system in order to prevent worsening of disabilities in patients with aggressive MS. This procedure involved harvesting and purifying the patient’s own stem cells, using strong chemotherapy to eliminate the patient’s diseased immune system, and then transplanting the purified stem cells back to the donor to help rebuild a protective immune system that no longer targets the patient’s nervous system.
The findings from this study, published in the prestigious Lancet medical journal, were recognized with a Till & McCulloch Award for “exceptional contributions to global stem cell research,” and garnered Dr. Atkins a Canadian Blood Services’ Lifetime Achievement Award. His clinical program continues to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of HSCT, as well as potential barriers to treatment and health complications, and is exploring ways to adapt HSCT for treatment of high-risk populations. He also studied the use of this stem cell transplant procedure to mitigate rejection in patients that underwent liver grafting caused by an autoimmune disease.
Dr. Atkins is a founding investigator of BioCanRx, Canada’s immunotherapy network. He has actively participated in governing bodies, including the Cell Manufacturing Committee and Highly Qualified Personnel Development Committee. His involvement has facilitated significant contributions to innovative research development and delivery in the field of immunotherapies. Dr. Atkins has been instrumental in the development of a made-in-Canada CAR T-cell program, which launched its first trial to manufacture CAR-T therapy in Canada in 2019. The team of collaborators, including Dr. Atkins, involved in the Canadian-Led Immunotherapies in Cancer (CLIC) Program received additional funding in 2023 to expand access to Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy—a powerful technology that “turns patients’ immune cells into super-charged cancer-killers,”1 and has achieved remission in people with leukemia and lymphoma for whom existing therapies have proven ineffective.