Dr. John Docherty

Anyone who thinks that great discoveries of science happen overnight, on time, or as expected, should talk to Winnipeg biochemist Dr. John Docherty, Ph.D. Docherty, a science superstar in his own right, is a founder of Novadaq Technologies of Winnipeg and Toronto. He has combined research with a successful business start-up, a rare feat in the world of medical biotechnology.

Novadaq's product, developed by Docherty and a doctoral student, Rick Mangat, is a highly sophisticated photographic tool which enables heart surgeons to examine their bypass surgery work while the patient is still on the operating table.
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Mangat and Docherty were using a device invented by an American scientist, Bob Flower, to study veins in the eye relating to eye disease.
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Docherty says, "The light went on during our research into vascular disease and we thought we could modify the technology to be used as a quality assessment tool in heart bypass surgery.
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"He told us it would be of great use and so we went ahead with the project," says Docherty.
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Docherty and Mangat are an example of what can be.
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"It's a long process," says Docherty.
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We're always looking for more," says Docherty.

Novadaq made an announcement a year ago that it expected to sell 50 of its units within a year. So far the count is twelve.

Docherty says, "One of the pitfalls for small science based companies is they have an over optimistic view of the marketability of a product. It takes a lot of faith and a lot of money. Obviously our product is quite viable but you still have to sell it and we do have other products that we're working on."

Novadaq is two years old, but the research and creation of the product is the result of bright minds at work. Docherty was employed as a research scientist with The National Research Council, until he moved into his own company.

"The NRC was very much involved in helping because I was a salaried scientist when I did a lot of work on this project, " says Docherty.

Another thought leader involved in important research into chromium and depression is John Docherty, M.D.

Headed by noted scientist, John Docherty, M.D., CNS is respected the world over, and has partnered with government agencies, academic institutions and leading manufacturers in the development of new treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (including depression), including: Abbott, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Parke-Davis and Pfizer.

According to John Docherty, former IBD research officer and now Director of Research for Novadaq, the SPYTM Imaging System is the first non-invasive method of reliably checking the quality of bypass grafts during coronary bypass surgery.

"In this surgery, another blood vessel or artery is used to form a graft to bypass a blockage in a blood vessel.To be successful, there must be a flow of blood through the graft," explains Docherty.
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Dr. Docherty credits the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) with helping them through the critical early stages.

The National Research Council, Canada's foremost research and development agency, established IRAP several decades ago.The program works closely with small and medium-sized enterprises, helping them grow their businesses, increase their competitiveness, and enhance their impact in the marketplace.

"When we first spun off from IBD all we had was a crude prototype which proved the concept," he recalls.
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John Docherty, Director of Research, Novadaq Technologies Inc.

As a former NRC-IBD Research Officer and now Director of Research at Novadaq Technologies, Dr. John Docherty explains the groundbreaking technique is the result of two fundamental NRC-IBD characteristics: the strong commitment to linking research to everyday life and having the freedom to test an idea without immediate guarantees of positive results.
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For Docherty, the social and business opportunities are clear, "There are an estimated 18,000 bypass surgeries performed annually in Canada alone, costing up to $30,000 per procedure. Worldwide, there are slightly less than one million cases per year. We believe there's great potential to have a positive impact on patient care and to gain market share," says Docherty.
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Starved, the branch vessels die, and the condition is curtailed with the potential for improvement," says Docherty.

He estimates there are 300,000 cases of macular degeneration of the kind specifically treatable by this technique, diagnosed annually, excluding the U.S. market, to say nothing of the myriad of patients already dealing with this medical problem.

As a Research Officer at the NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics (NRC-IBD), Dr. John Docherty, along with his graduate student, Rick Mangat, developed the SPY Imaging system's core technology.
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Dr Docherty left the NRC in November 2000 to pursue a prototype of the SPY technology.They obtained their first regulatory approvals in Canada and Europe in 2001.Dr. Docherty continues to play an advisory role for Novadaq, while his former graduate student, Dr. Mangat, is now VP of Operations.

As a former IBD Research Officer and now Director of Research at Novadaq Technologies, Dr. John Docherty explains the groundbreaking technique is the result of two fundamental IBD characteristics: the strong commitment to linking research to everyday life and having the freedom to test an idea without immediate guarantees of positive results.
...
For Docherty, the social and business opportunities are clear, "There are an estimated 18,000 bypass surgeries performed annually in Canada alone, costing up to $30,000 per procedure.Worldwide, there are slightly less than one million cases per year.We believe there's great potential to have a positive impact on patient care and to gain market share," says Docherty.
...
Starved, the branch vessels die, and the condition is curtailed with the potential for improvement," says Docherty.

He estimates there are 300,000 cases of macular degeneration of the kind specifically treatable by this technique, diagnosed annually, excluding the U.S. market, to say nothing of the myriad of patients already dealing with this medical problem.

John Docherty will speak about his technique at the conference, called Frontiers in Cardiovascular Health.Docherty, who developed the approach as a National Research Council researcher at Winnipeg's Institute for Biodiagnostics, called it a "quantum leap away from what is currently available in the operating room.""With this, you can do an injection in a line already there and the device takes only two minutes to set up.And if a surgeon is having trouble finding a vessel, then they can pump in the dye and find it."Docherty said the technology should be able to cut down the number of bypasses performed because in Canada alone about five per cent of the 18,000 operations each year are repeat surgeries.In the U.S., bypass surgery costs about $40,000.

Docherty and others are so confident about the commercial possibilities of the technique that he left his job at the National Research Council to start a new company called NovaDAQ to market the technology.
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Docherty said that by the end of the year at least 18 hospitals will be Using the technology, with more to come next year.
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Docherty said the eureka moment came for him when, after a few years of using the technology to look at the effect of drugs in animals, a doctor asked that it be used on a pig's heart.The resulting images made the researchers decide to look further into its possible application for cardiac surgery.About one million bypasses are done annually around the world.

Docherty pointed to a change of focus at the National Research Council over the last few years toward emphasizing the commercial benefits of research by its scientists."It's one of the beauties of the NRC.

John Docherty will speak about his technique at the conference, called Frontiers in Cardiovascular Health. Docherty, who developed the approach as a National Research Council researcher at Winnipeg's Institute for Biodiagnostics, called it a "quantum leap away from what is currently available in the operating room. "With this, you can do an injection in a line already there and the device takes only two minutes to set up. And if a surgeon is having trouble finding a vessel, then they can pump in the dye and find it.'' Docherty said the technology should be able to cut down the number of bypasses performed because in Canada alone about five per cent of the 18,000 operations each year are repeat surgeries. In the U.S., bypass surgery costs about $40,000.

Docherty and others are so confident about the commercial possibilities of the technique that he left his job at the National Research Council to start a new company called NovaDAQ to market the technology.
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Docherty said that by the end of the year at least 18 hospitals will be Using the technology, with more to come next year. Rubens said the technique is helpful for surgeons. "Sometimes, surprisingly enough, you can't see the artery. This way, it will light up and we'll be able to find it when it's hidden by fat or muscle.''

Docherty said the eureka moment came for him when, after a few years of using the technology to look at the effect of drugs in animals, a doctor asked that it be used on a pig's heart. The resulting images made the researchers decide to look further into its possible application for cardiac surgery. About one million bypasses are done annually around the world.

Docherty pointed to a change of focus at the National Research Council over the last few years toward emphasizing the commercial benefits of research by its scientists. "It's one of the beauties of the NRC.