Dr. Jack Bend, BSc, MSc, Ph.D.,
Children’s Health Research Institute
Scientist, Children’s Optimal Therapeutics Program
Lawson Health Research Institute
Scientist, Children’s Health Research Institute
University of Western Ontario
Professor, Pathology Department Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Professor, Departments of Paediatrics; and Physiology & Pharmacology
Other Appointments
Director, CIHR Program in Drug and Environmental Safety, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario
Member, Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Western Ontario
Contact Information
Tel: (519) 850-2456
Fax: (519) 661-3370
E-mail: jack.bend@schulich.uwo.ca
Brief Biography
Dr. Jack Bend received his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree and his Masters in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Manitoba. He then moved to Australia, where he completed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry - Drug Metabolism at Sydney University. In 1973, Dr. Bend completed his postdoctoral training from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Institute of Health at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, USA. In 1975, he became the Head of Marine Pharmacology and Biomedicine at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, USA. Dr. Bend became Chief of Laboratory of Pharmacology and Head of Molecular and Comparative Pharmacology Section at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Institute of Health in 1980.
In 1986, he returned to Canada taking a position as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Professor with the Faculty of Medicine. In 2005, Dr. Bend was appointed as a Professor with the Pathology Department at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario. He was the Associate Dean of Research at Schulich from 1999-2006. Dr. Bend is the author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles describing original research findings in the areas of molecular and environmental toxicology. These include government reports from multi-disciplinary community-based collaborative ecosystem health projects.
Research Interests
• Mechanisms of toxicity of endogenous and exogenous chemicals
• Oxidative stress and its attenuation by antioxidants of synthetic and natural (e.g. herbal) origin
• Ecosystem and global health, including relationships between exposure to environmental contaminants and incidence of human disease
Research Activities
Dr. Bend's laboratory is directed towards an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which endogenous and exogenous (xenobiotic) chemicals cause toxicity, and the mechanisms by which pre-existing pathological conditions such as oxidative stress/infection, dramatically enhance this toxicity. An integrated experimental approach is used so that mechanistic observations elucidated with purified enzymes, subcellular fractions or cell culture are pursued in vivo, an approach facilitated by genomics and proteomics techniques.
Current investigations are correlating genomic (gene microarray) and proteomic (protein thiol-glutathione mixed disulphides; protein sulphinic and sulphonic acids) endpoints of bilirubin toxicity with intracellular redox status determined by confocal microscopy with novel, mutated green fluorescence proteins; evaluating the use of covalent drug adducts at Cys34 of albumin as a way to determine individual differences in metabolism of sulphamethoxazole to electrophilic metabolites, a required step for initiation of adverse drug reactions to this commonly used antibacterial (collaborative project with Dr. Michael Rieder) and determining the bioavailability of environmental contaminants in members of the WIFN community for correlation with adverse health outcomes and genomic and proteomic biomarkers of exposure to environmental pollutants. Dr. Bend's work has been published in journals such as Molecular Pharmacology, Chemical Research in Toxicology, the Journal of Biochemical and Molecular Toxicology, and American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. He has presented his work at national and international conferences and has been an invited speaker at both the national and international level.
Awards and Recognition
Distinguished University Professorship Award - Awarded by University of Western Ontario
Dean’s Award of Excellence, Research and Administration - Awarded by Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario
Director’s Award - Awarded by US National Institutes of Health
MRC representative to the Eco-Research Council of Canada
Member, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) review panel, Toxic Substances Research
Initiative
Member, MAC Review Committee of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
Former President, Society of Toxicology of Canada
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