Brian M. Ross, Ph.D.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Advanced Technology and Academic Centre
955 Oliver Road
Thunder Bay, ON
P7B 5E1
Phone:  (807) 766-7394
Fax:  (807) 766-7370
Email:  brian.ross@normed.ca

Current Position

NOSM - Professor of Pharmacology

Adjunct Professor in Chemistry, Lakehead University

Adjunct Professor in Biology, Lakehead University

Adjunct Professor, Masters of Public Health Program, Lakehead University 

Education and Training

1988
BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK.

1992
PhD in Molecular Pharmacology and Biochemistry from Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK.

1992-1993
Post doctoral fellow, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1993-2001
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2001-2002
Managing Director, Pan Diagnostics Ltd., Inverness, UK.

2001-2004
Research Director, Highland Psychiatric Research Foundation, University of the Highlands and Islands, Drumnadrochit, UK.

Research Investigations

My lab is interested in the biology of lipids, the biomediators the produce and their participation in the process of oxidative stress. I am also investigating the production of volatile lipid metabolites in disease as well as other applications involving volatile compounds. I carry out both lab-based and clinic based studies. The lab has recently acquired an analytical selected ion flow tube mass spectrometer to aid in the analysis of volatile compounds.

Diet and behaviour. Diet has been implicated as playing a role in both depression and childhood attentional deficits. My lab aims to examine how dietary supplementation can alter mood and behaviour, and why some people appear to be more prone to dietary insufficiencies than others. We are currently testing this hypothesis in children with reduced attention.

Prostaglandin signaling in anxiety disorders. Prostaglandins are lipid derived messenger molecules which play an important role in neurosignalling and are thought to be involved in the mechanism of several neuropharmacological agents including SSRIs. Using niacin-induced prostanglandin synthesis as a model system I have shown dysfunction of the synthetic pathway in both mood and anxiety disorders. We are currently investigating the clinical utility of this measure in different patient groups.

Breath analysis for medical diagnosis. The lab is developing non-invasive health screening tests using volatile compounds present in human breath. We have recently aquired an Instrument Science analytical Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometer (SIFT-MS) and a Markes Unity Automated Thermal Desorber for this purpose. Currently we have the only SIFT-MS of this type an academic setting in North America. The research work is based on my study of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation using breath markers. This technology will be used to determine whether breath analysis can be used to aid the early detection of cancers, in particular lung cancer, various other disorders, and how volatile chemical measurements can assist with reducing environmental pollution and work place health and safety.

Applications of volatile chemical analysis in microbiology. SIFT-MS can determine volatile compound levels down to single digit PPB in real time. Various organisms and chemical compounds produce unique mass spectrum ‘signatures’. Using the technique we can determine bacterial growth via ‘head space’ analysis. The project will determine whether pathogenic organisms produce signatures which can aid in their detection.
Bioprospecting. Plants and plant derived materials produce a variety of volatile compounds which can be detected using SIFT-MS. We are developing the means to rapidly screen plant materials for valuable compounds by analyzing their gas signatures.

Selected Publications

Ross BM, Dadgostar N, McKeown L.  The analysis of oral air using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry in persons with and without a history of oral malodour.  Int J Dent Hyg.  Paper in press.

Ross BM.  Sub-parts per billion detection of trace volatile chemicals in human breath using Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry.  BMC Res Notes.  Paper in press.

Puri BK, Treasaden IH, Cocchi M, Tsaluchidu S, Tonello L, Ross BM.  (2008)

A comparison of oxidative stress in smokers and non-smokers: an in vivo human quantitative study of n-3 lipid peroxidation.  BMC Psychiatry. 8 Suppl 1:S4.

Puri BK, Counsell SJ, Ross BM, Hamilton G, Bustos MG, Treasaden IH. (2008) Evidence from in vivo 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy phosphodiesters that exhaled ethane is a biomarker of cerebral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxidation in humans.  BMC Psychiatry. 2008 8 Suppl 1:S2.

Puri BK, Ross BM, Treasaden IH.  (2008) Increased levels of ethane, a non-invasive, quantitative, direct marker of n-3 lipid peroxidation, in the breath of patients with schizophrenia.  Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 32:858-62.

Ross BM, Vermeulen N. (2007) The combined use of thermal desorption and selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry for the quantification of xylene and toluene in air.

Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 21:3608-12.

Ross BM, Seguin J, Sieswerda LE.  (2007) Omega-3 fatty acids as treatments for mental illness: which disorder and which fatty acid?  Lipids Health Dis. 6:21.

Obajimi O, Black KD, Glen I, Ross BM. (2007) Antioxidant modulation of oxidant-stimulated uptake and release of arachidonic acid in eicosapentaenoic acid-supplemented human lymphoma U937 cells. Prostaglandins Leukototrienes and Essential Fatty Acids. 76:65-71.

Young J, McKinney SB, Ross BM, Wahle KW, Boyle SP. (2007) Biomarkers of oxidative stress in schizophrenic and control subjects. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 76:73-85.

Ross BM. (2007) Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency in major depressive disorder is caused by the interaction between diet and a genetically determined abnormality in phospholipid metabolism. Medical Hypotheses. 68:515-24.

Obajimi, O., Black K., Glen, I., and Ross B.M.. (2005) Differential effects of the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid upon arachidonic uptake and release in U937 cells, Pharmacology Research, 52: 183-191.

Ross, B.M., Ward, P. and Glen I. (2004) Delayed vasodilatory response to methylnicotinate in patients with unipolar depressive disorder. Journal of Affective disorders, 82:285-290.

Glen, A.I.M. and Ross, B.M. (2004) Eicosanoids in the central nervous system, The Eicosanoids, (ed. Curtis-Prior, P), Wiley, London. pp 210-220.

Ross, B.M., McKenzie, I., Glen, I., Bennett, C.P. (2003) Increased levels of ethane, a non-invasive marker of n-3 fatty acid oxidation, in breath of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nutritional Neuroscience, 6: 277-281.

Ross, B.M. (2003) Phospholipase A2 associated processes in the human brain and their role in neuropathology and psychopathology. Phospholipid Spectrum Disorders in Psychiatry and Neurology - 2nd Edition (ed. Peet M., Glen I. and Horrobin, D.F., Marius Press, Carnforth UK, pp 163 – 182.

Katzman, M., Turenne, S., Coonerty-Femiano, A., Hughes, B., Vermani, M., Struzik, L., and Ross, B.M. (2003) Methylnicotinate-induced vasodilation in social phobia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 28: 1846-1851.

Ross, B.M., Brooks, R.J., Lee, M., Kalasinsky, K.S., Vorce S.P., Seeman, M., Fletcher, P.J. and Turenne, S.D. Cyclooxygenase inhibitor modulation of dopamine-related behaviours (2002). European Journal of Pharmacology, 450:141-151.

Ross, B.M., Mamalias, N., Moszczynska, A., Rajput, A.B., and Kish, S.J. (2001) Elevated activity of phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes in substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Neuroscience 102:899-904.

Hudson, C., Gotowiec, A., Seeman, M., Warsh, J. and Ross, B.M. (1999) Clinical subtyping reveals significant differences in calcium-dependent phospholipase A2 activity in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 46, 401-405.