The route you stumble upon
By Ivan Todosijczuk, Research Profile Project

Talib Rajwani, recent winner of an Alberta Science and Technology Leader of Tomorrow Award, didn’t really set out to do research when he started university. “I sort of stumbled upon research. I decided I wanted to do something that intrigued me rather than actually deciding when I left high school that I wanted to do research,” says Talib. “When I first arrived at the U of A I finished 2 years in Physiology and from there was admitted into Medicine. After doing 2 years in the MD program I really decided I wanted to pursue a career in research and balance that career in research with clinical medicine. What changed my mind about research was my experience in the lab over the course of the first two summers in medical school. As I spent more time in the lab, I discovered I really enjoyed the environment. One of the fundamental characteristics all researchers share is an innate sense of curiosity that can never be satisfied and I found the whole pursuit of knowledge to be very exciting and very fulfilling. From there I decided to do a PhD and now I’m in the last year of the PhD wrapping things up before I return to the MD program to finish my last two years.”

What really piqued Talib’s curiosity and excitement was the chance to do research into scoliosis, a lateral curvature of the spine. “It’s a very common condition affecting almost 3% of adolescent children,” says Talib. “One of the most surprising aspects of scoliosis is that after nearly 100 years of research, we’re still struggling to determine some of the basics. At the same time, at the fundamental level, we don’t know whether scoliosis has one cause or multiple causes. More and more research suggests that scoliosis has multiple causes. That fact has obvious repercussions for experiments, which haven’t always been considered. If scoliosis has multiple causes, then you can’t simply go out there and select a random pool of patients and by looking at those patients examine any one particular cause. The idea that scoliosis has multiple causes has fundamental repercussions for the way studies are designed and for the way results are interpreted.” With such a variety of causes, the U of A is focusing on a specific form of the condition. “The most common type of scoliosis is adolescent, occurring anywhere between the ages of 11 and 17,” says Talib. “This type accounts for 80% of all cases, yet among that pool we don’t know what causes 80% of their cases, so that 80% is termed idiopathic. Therefore the research we do is concerned with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.” What is known is that the condition may be caused by familial traits, is primarily found in females, and is related to growth and growth spurts. “It’s fair to say with scoliosis there are still some very simple and basic questions that remain to be answered.”

As someone involved in the combined MD/PhD program at the U of A, working on scoliosis research provided Talib with the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary project. “We have people from the Departments of Orthopedic Surgery, Radiology, Anatomy and Rehabilitation Medicine. It's very much a multidisciplinary project and I think one of the attractive things about this from a student’s perspective is it gives you the opportunity to delve into numerous topics, and to acquire expertise in a number of different areas, while at the same time benefiting from numerous mentors.” Talib says he’s been fortunate in his short research career to have worked with such people as Drs. Ravi Bhargava, Tapio Videman, Keith Bagnall, Rob Lambert, and Marc Moreau.

“In addition, one of the most attractive things about scoliosis is that there is a lot that is unknown and from a research perspective that means there’s a lot of really good research yet to be done in this area,” says Talib. “I think researchers are always attracted to topics where there’s lots left to be uncovered. In this particular case it is not only that there is lots left to be uncovered, but the potential benefits of uncovering new knowledge are incredible.”

Currently, scoliosis is treated surgically. There is hope, however, that with research, the approach to dealing with scoliosis will be less invasive or curative and more preventative. “The holy grail of scoliosis research,” says Talib “is to develop a treatment procedure that actually treats patients. That treatment procedure would likely be based on animals studies combined with biomechanical modeling and human clinical studies.” This would hopefully achieve a situation in which a person could be diagnosed with scoliosis long before the condition manifests itself and requires surgery.

Talib has some advice for anyone entering university, whether for the first time or returning: "Consider all possibilities that are available, not only for learning but also for research. Research gives you the ability to take one step past classroom learning and to contribute to the learning process by uncovering new knowledge. It’s a very exciting way to go. The other thing I would stress is there are so many other avenues available to students. There are opportunities to go out there and seek the road less traveled. It may not be the route that they first pick, but rather the route they stumble upon that will be the most fulfilling.”

Research Makes Sense For Students … Students Make Sense In Research