Listen to the full podcast segment on ”Mon Carnet” by Bruno Guglielminetti
Émilie Delvoye, Director of Communications at Prompt, welcomes Fahima Nekka, full professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Pharmacy and regular member of the Centre de recherche mathématique.
Fahima led a collaborative project with two partner companies, Syneos Health and Pfizer, to develop clinical decision support tools.
Discover captivating excerpts from the podcast.
Can you give us an overview of this research project and the situation to which it applies?
In this project, we are working with our partners to develop innovative tools to help healthcare professionals make more informed clinical decisions. In practical terms, this means simulating treatments virtually. We test different protocols – such as drug dosages or combinations – in a digital environment, enabling us to evaluate their efficacy without applying them directly to patients. The project has two main focuses.
🔹 The first axis concerns ADHD (attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity), an area where treatments are often complex and need to be tailored to each individual. Our tools provide a better understanding of how to adjust medication to each patient’s specific profile.
🔹 The second focus is on oncology, i.e. cancer-related treatments. Here too, protocols are often personalized and side effects can be significant. Thanks to the mathematical models we are developing, clinicians can simulate different therapeutic approaches and thus identify the strategy best suited to each case.
So what is the need behind this research project?
So this research project responds to very concrete needs, which have been raised directly by clinicians or industrial researchers. For example, we work with Dr Philippe Robé, a psychiatrist, who needed to personalize the dosage of treatments for the children he treats. He turned to us to develop a tool capable of taking into account both the characteristics of the drugs and the lifestyle habits of his patients.
This tool is obviously used to better adapt treatments, but it has also been designed as a teaching aid for parents. The idea is to enable them to follow their treatment better on a daily basis, to understand what’s going on and to be more involved. A really central aspect of the project, especially in the context of our collaboration with industrial partners and technology platforms, is transferability. We want the tools we develop, the methods we put in place, to be used directly by professionals in the field. This was super important in securing funding for the project – we didn’t just want to do theoretical research, but propose concrete, applicable solutions.
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What are the advantages of working with industrial partners?
Yes, that’s right. In particular, I work with two key partners: Syneos Health and Pfizer, who have been involved in my work for several years now. These collaborations have really enriched our approach to research. On the academic side, objectives are often focused on student training, scientific publication or theoretical development. But when we work with industrial partners, we are confronted with much more concrete problems, directly linked to practical applications. And that’s where it gets particularly interesting. Working with clinicians like Dr Philippe Robé, who is very involved in the project and in mentoring students, or with companies like Syneos, has enabled me to tackle issues that are very much rooted in the reality of the field, particularly in the therapeutic and medical fields. It really enabled us to develop a more complete, multidisciplinary approach.
A good example is our current project in immuno-oncology. This collaboration is absolutely essential. If I’d had to carry out this project on my own, frankly, it would have been much more complicated, if not impossible. Access to data, a detailed understanding of clinical and industrial needs, and complementary expertise have enabled us to better frame our research questions and go much further in our analyses. In short, this synergy represents real added value. And I’d like to highlight the involvement of Dr Didier Zugage, who played a major role in driving the immuno-oncology project forward. This is truly a fine example of what can be achieved through well thought-out collaboration between academia and industry.
Are there any challenges to this collaboration?
Yes, there are always challenges, of course. I’d say the first is really the search for funding – whether public or private. Setting up this project was particularly complex, precisely because it involved several partners. And once funding has been obtained, rigorous follow-up is required throughout the project: writing reports, justifying the use of funds… In short, it takes a lot of energy, planning and real hard work, both upstream and throughout the project.
Another major challenge is student recruitment. In this type of multidisciplinary project, I’m looking for profiles that are truly hybrid – people who have, at the very least, knowledge of pharmacology, physiology, mathematics, scientific programming… These are very varied skills, and this kind of profile is quite rare. So it takes time, patience, and often personalized support to integrate students into the project.
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