CTV National News: Experimental diabetes treatments hits major milestone
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A Canadian woman is praising an experimental treatment for diabetes. Avis Favaro with more on her experience.
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CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Lemonade stands to selling toys: A Belle River family fights ‘king' of cancers
Landon Bevan, 6, and members of his family organized a lemonade stand in Belle River on June 21, 2025 to raise funds for their Grandpa's pancreatic cancer treatment. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) In a day of blistering heat, six-year-old Landon Bevan was all smiles as he stood on his driveway handing out lemonade; after all, he knew it was for an important cause. Bevan and his brother Rhyen crafted the idea to host a lemonade stand in an effort to help their grandpa, Roy Knight, pay for medical treatment for pancreatic cancer. 'We had to, like, pull up the tents and put the balloons on the side of the garage,' Landon explained. 'I made a couple of the signs that my mom stuck into the ground.' The aspiring doctor also pitched ideas to create a stand where he tells jokes for money, or even sell his toys if need be. 'He's pretty smart for a six-year-old,' Knight said with a smile. Throughout Saturday afternoon, visitors stopped by the Belle River home to grab a lemonade or a raffle ticket. Funds support Knight's efforts to travel to Florida and receive NanoKnife surgery, a form of treatment not regularly offered in Canada. The stay is estimated to cost about $80,000. While Knight is seeking community help to try and prolong his life, Roy and his daughter Ashley Bevan believe his story shines a spotlight on the need for added pancreatic cancer research and support in healthcare. Treatment In Canada, pancreatic cancer is often treated by chemotherapy, radiation, or the Whipple procedure. Knight began chemotherapy in the days after receiving the diagnosis in February and has been seeing medical experts in London. 'Chemo really takes a toll on somebody, you know, out of the two weeks, I only have four good days in those two weeks,' Knight explained. Since his diagnosis, Knight has stayed with Ashley, a nurse practitioner, to ensure he was receiving the care he needed. 'Having pancreatic cancer is awful,' Ashley said 'Hearing that that's the cancer that it is, knowing that it's the king of all cancers.' Through countless hours of reading, she learned it's 'very muddied waters' when it comes to pancreatic cancer research and treatment. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, in 2024 pancreatic cancer was expected to be the third most deadly form of cancer in the country. 'There really does need to be more research done on pancreatic cancer treatment guidelines,' Ashley said. The family learned of 'NanoKnife,' a treatment which uses pulses of electricity to destroy cancer cells without damaging nearby organs and cells, per Ontario Health. Currently, the procedure is used in Canada for prostate cancer. However, the surgery is not regularly available in Canada for pancreatic cancer, and Bevin said clinical trials require requests from Canadians. 'When I asked, how do we request them to do a research trial? [The research coordinator] said, there needs to be a need and that the public needs to ask for it,' she noted. The family wants to see the treatment reconsidered for clinical trials, and if successful, used as a regular response to pancreatic cancer. 'I think to myself like we're just one family of many who are going through this exact thing,' Ashley said. Diagnosis Ahead of his cancer diagnosis, Knight said he spent many months with abdominal pain. He went to an emergency room on multiple occasions, but the cancer was not detected until they urged medical officials to do a biopsy. 062225 From left, Ashley Bevan, Landon Bevan, and Roy Knight spoke to CTV News about the need for more cancer research and treatments in Canada. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) 'They assured us that it was not cancer. Then we got the call on his birthday that it was,' Ashely said. The family wants to see more procedures and resources available to ensure Canadians have access to screening processes, which could help lead to early detection for some forms of cancer. As for Knight's surgery, they've tentatively set it for July 24th in Florida, pending they raise enough money. 'You know you just want to go on as long as you can, and hopefully this NanoKnife helps to see the kids grow up,' Knight said.
CBC
6 hours ago
- CBC
U.S. science funding uncertainty reshapes grad school choices for Canadians
Social Sharing After graduating with a bachelor degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Kareem Alfarra had hopes of continuing his studies in the United States. The American schools he looked at were better funded and had more opportunities than those in Canada, he said, and he'd already connected with some professors he'd like to work with. Alfarra, 22, applied to nine American universities, hoping for options, but he ended up being waitlisted and rejected for all of them. Most of them told him informally that budget uncertainties in the U.S. were making it difficult for them to accept graduate students, he said. He says one school even told him that in any normal year, he would have been accepted. "I was on top of the wait list … and I would have loved to go," he told CBC. Rather than waiting to hear, Alfarra decided to accept an offer at the University of Toronto, citing the funding uncertainty and political instability of the U.S. "I was very angry with the situation knowing that perhaps a year earlier or a few years later I would've gotten in." While that's just one student's story, universities on both sides of the border say that uncertainty brought on by the Trump administration is reducing options and upending research opportunities for graduate students — including Canadians. 'Closing off career pathways' More than 10,000 Canadians went to graduate school in the U.S. last year, according to data from the Institute for International Education, with 40 per cent pursuing science and health degrees. But there are two key federal sources that U.S. universities rely on to fund their labs and take in graduate students — the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) — that have been frozen or cut by the Trump administration. It's been a back and forth battle, with cases before the courts, and it's unclear where things will land. But the uncertainty is enough for some universities to reduce their admissions, inevitably trickling down to Canadian applicants. WATCH | How Trump's freeze on health research funding might hurt Canadian science: Canadian scientists worry after Trump pauses federal health spending 5 months ago Duration 2:01 In a statement to the CBC, the American Association of Universities described the stakes. "Federal research funding cuts are actively closing off career pathways for all prospective doctoral students from across the world, including those from the United States and Canada," said Emily Miller, vice president for research and institutional policy at the association. "Universities make a significant financial commitment when they offer admission to an aspiring scientist or researcher — a commitment that is critical to student success and one they cannot meet without federal research support." A 'turbulent' landscape For 23 year old Canadian Jaeden Bardati, research funding was a big component in his decision to pursue his PhD in astrophysics at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., two years ago. "Which is kind of ironic now," he said. on research and development in 2022; in the U.S., that figure was nearly 3.6 per cent in the same year. Bardati would ultimately like to be where the top researchers in his field are, which historically had been the U.S., he says, but that may change. Budget uncertainty makes some researchers worried whether they can maintain their labs or pay the students that work in them. Bardati says some of his classmates have been encouraged to graduate early or to fund themselves to be able to stay. "The landscape is very turbulent … the word that's been used around here is turbulent," said Bardati, which makes it difficult for students and researchers to plan for the future. "They're essentially trying to find a new home at the moment. And they're thinking, 'should I go to Europe or should I go to Canada?'" U.S. students applying north Katie Marshall, associate professor in comparative physiology at the University in British Columbia, is already starting to see the effects of this shift. She's received five applications from U.S. students to come work in her lab. "Usually, I wouldn't start seeing these kinds of applications until the fall," she said. "It's definitely unusual." Marshall also noted that the funding cuts in the U.S. are affecting research in Canada, because cross-border collaboration means Canadian researchers have gotten funding from U.S. agencies. "With less money, there's just fewer spots [for graduate students]." "When I look at who I'm going to accept, I'm looking at their research experience, " said Marshall. "If I've got a great American student, it's really hard for me to say no." While Canada can't fill the gap left by the US, it is a good time to invest in Canadian research to create more opportunities, said Marshall, noting that there has been some recent increases already.
CBC
8 hours ago
- CBC
Island runner pushing to qualify for Boston Marathon, despite diabetes diagnosis
Social Sharing After being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last year, Islander Mike Hogan started to really prioritize his health. Part of that includes preparing for the P.E.I. Marathon, with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Having been an avid runner before, Hogan's renewed health journey started in July 2024, when he said he felt the worst he had ever felt in his life. "I had lost a bunch of weight, I was sweating, I was having to get up to use the washroom four, five times at night," he said. "I was constantly thirsty. I really didn't know what was going on at all." He soon discovered what the issue was, after accidentally injuring himself at work. His pinky finger was crushed by a heavy plate at work. "I was like, 'I should have been able to lift that no problem, like what's going on with me?'" he said. That's when he decided to go to the doctor. After a blood test that morning, his doctor called him at home that evening. She told him he needed to go to the hospital because his blood sugar was "sky high." Following more tests and waiting hours at the emergency room, he got his results at 5 a.m. — he had diabetes. "I was totally sleep deprived and completely shocked at finding that out," he said. "Quickly over the next couple of weeks, they determined it was Type 1 diabetes that requires insulin." Switching priorities Hogan, 45, said his diagnosis made him switch his priorities, from being focused on business to health. "I've been a business owner for 10 years and for a long time that has been like almost the complete focus in my life I would say, and I would say I just kind of did a 180 that Friday morning I found out I had diabetes and made a commitment to put my health first." After the diagnosis, Hogan was told he needed to get 150 minutes of exercise a week so he decided to start running a few times a week, something he used to do. He also started taking insulin, which can be challenging as a runner. "What's different about exercising, is that when you exercise, you need carbs for fuelling that exercise, and then your insulin resistance, it's called, goes way down," he said. "It's like your body is holding you back from exerting its full potential, so it's like you're stuck in the wrong gear of your car or something like that." Now, Hogan has to make calculations before exercising. "You want to have carbs for exercise and you want to take a little bit of insulin so that your body can process those carbs while you're exercising, but you don't want to take too much and you don't want to take too little." He said it's even more challenging running long distances. "I'm not only training my body to run the marathon, but I'm also like training my process for doing these calculations and figuring that out." Persevering through the diagnosis In October, a few months after his diagnosis, Hogan registered in the P.E.I. Marathon relay with a few co-workers. He had run the marathon before, marking his best time in 2015, which he came close to this time around. "I was probably four, five minutes off of that time, but it still felt like a win," he said. That's when he decided to up his goal. He would run through the winter and try a half marathon next. Having done a half marathon before, he knew it was possible, he said, but it would be more difficult as a diabetic. He entered into the 2025 Bath Half Marathon, which is hosted in England every March. Unexpected setback But only a few days before the half marathon, he hit an unexpected setback. "I got pickpocketed. My phone got stolen and so I basically lost access to having that real-time blood sugar data," he said. Hogan wears a continuous glucose monitor on this arm that connects to his phone to monitor his blood sugar, which he uses while running. He said losing his phone affected the way he had to approach the half marathon. "During the run, I had to actually physically pause on the side to check my blood sugar and make sure that it was OK," he said. "And it's so funny I had spent so many months training for the run and I had a particular time goal in mind, but I had to abandon that goal, and my new goal was just to try to complete it as best as I could, knowing I was going to have to pause and take some extra time." He completed the half marathon, but didn't reach his goal, which he still aspires to hit. While he was there, he also raised $800 Cad for Breakthrough T1D, an organization that funds diabetes research. Hogan said now, about a year from when he felt the worse he had in his life, he feels like he has never been healthier. "I do feel really proud of that and again of making that switch, like flipping that and making health my priority." Looking forward, Hogan said he's going to do a full marathon on this Island this fall, something he hasn't done since 2018. And this time, he has a big goal: a time of three hours and 10 minutes to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
