Passion for the arts leads to career in burn research
Given that creativity and imagination drive leading-edge research, it’s no wonder Graham Rix found his calling working at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) Centre for Burn Research as a technician.
“I was drawn to the idea of impacting people’s lives through research.”
Rix has a master’s degree in human-centred sciences and biomedical engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. However, before earning his master’s degree in Japan and an undergraduate kinesiology degree in Ontario, he was a musician and artist who studied glass blowing at Sheridan College in Oakville.
Fifteen years ago, when Rix was immersed in the art of glass blowing, he found himself drawn to creating pieces based on the human form. “The human body was the inspiration for what I was making,” recalls Rix, who was creating glass body parts like hands and skulls.
Exploring career options
Increasingly interested in the workings of the human body, Rix switched to Humber College to study fitness and health promotion. This course provided a bridge to a kinesiology degree from the University of Guelph-Humber, followed by a move to Japan to teach English and pursue a master’s degree.
Reserach technician Graham Rix
Rix entered the master’s program thinking he would eventually pursue a career in prosthetics, making artificial limbs for people with amputations, because it combined his passion for the human form with hands-on work. But while working on his master’s degree, Rix became fascinated with lab work focused on tissue regeneration. Back in Ontario, after finishing his masters, Rix found his calling as a research assistant in a Toronto hospital lab, at that time led by Dr. Marc Jeschke.
Jeschke is a globally recognized burn surgeon and researcher who moved to HHS two years ago to restore the HHS provincial burn program and establish the HHS Centre for Burn Research. He’s vice president of research for HHS , chief scientific officer and medical director of the Regional Burn Program at HHS Hamilton General Hospital (HGH). The HHS Centre for Burn Research and Jeschke’s lab are within the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute (TaARI), located in the David Braley Research Institute building beside HGH, where burn patients receive care.
The centre’s researchers are an internationally recognized team of experts focused on developing treatments and therapies to improve outcomes in people with severe burn injuries.
Captivated by burn research
“I was drawn to the idea of impacting people’s lives through research,” says Rix, who stayed with Jeschke’s research team when they relocated from Toronto to Hamilton in 2022. “I made the move to Hamilton because I really enjoyed the unique work, and my co-workers.”
The research centre’s lab focuses on three key areas of research related to burn treatment: metabolism, stem cells, and bioprinting, which is the use of 3D printing technology to produce tissue for reconstructive surgery.
“Research that explores and connects these areas really captivates me,” says Rix, whose role includes assisting researchers with experiments and tests and conducting experiments for researchers; troubleshooting experiments and projects; processing samples from the operating room and storing them in the centre’s biobank; maintaining the lab’s cell cultures and cell stocks using samples from the biobank; and training new lab members.
Rix finds research into stem cells, their role in healing burns, and their potential for innovative new treatments to be especially fascinating.
Stem cells have been shown to promote better and faster healing of burn wounds as well as reducing inflammation and scarring, and the HHS Centre for Burn Research is a world leader in research into the use of stem cells in treating severe burns. “I really enjoy the diversity of the work,” says Rix. “I’m constantly learning new things.”
Meanwhile, Rix is also staying connected to his early interests by getting to know Hamilton’s arts and culture scene. “It has been a long process settling into Hamilton and meeting people, but I’m starting to broaden my social circle back into the arts.”
