| |
Vancouver Coastal Health
Research Institute
CFI Award Recipients
VGH to be home to new Centre for Hip Health and Accelerated Prostate Research
Vancouver General Hospital will be the site for the world's first Centre for Hip Health, thanks to a multi-million dollar investment by the Canada Foundation for Innovation to the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (a research partnership between Vancouver Coastal Health and UBC) has been recognized for its excellence in research with the awarding of funds to support the development of the centre, along with a significant investment to enhance the Prostate Centre, also at Vancouver General Hospital.
Vancouver General Hospital will be the future site of a unique Centre for Hip Health where researchers will support innovative research programs to decrease the burden of hip fracture and hip osteoarthritis across BC, Canada, and the world. It will be the first international research centre to broadly focus on problems affecting the human hip by integrating researchers in various aspects of bone health, falls prevention, and osteoarthritis. The Centre will embrace a research scope from childhood to old age.
In addition, the Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital, which is already the largest comprehensive research and treatment clinic of its kind in Canada, will receive a multi-million dollar boost to enhance its ability to translate research discoveries from the scientists' labs to patient cures.
Canada Foundation for Innovation awarded $5.2 million for the Centre for Hip Health, and $7.6 million for the Prostate Centre - a milestone for research at Vancouver Coastal Health and our academic partner the University of British Columbia according to Dr. Bernie Bressler, Vice President of Research at Vancouver Coastal Health and Director of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
"This investment from CFI is the biggest and most exciting event that has occurred on the funding side of research at VGH for many years," he said. "CFI requires a rigorous peer review process with only 25% of all the applications submitted funded in this round. These funds will start a process that will change the face of research at Vancouver General Hospital."
The Canada Foundation for Innovation support represents 40% of required project funding. Researchers, with the support from VCHRI and UBC, will apply to the provincial government for a matching 40%. The remaining support will come from private sources and industry. CFI has also established a new fund called the Hospital Research Fund, where VCHRI will apply later this year to double the amount of today's announcement.
CFI President and CEO, Dr. David Strangway, said the investment of funds such as those announced in Ottawa earlier today clearly show that Canada is becoming a place where researchers want to be. "This CFI investment will further develop Canada's global reputation as a place where outstanding research and training is being conducted," he said.
CFI is an independent corporation established by the Government of Canada in 1997, which aims to strengthen the capability of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and other not-for-profit institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development.
VCHRI is a joint venture between UBC and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority that promotes development of new researchers and research activity.
Contact:
| Lisa Carver | Laurie Dawkins |
| Communications Specialist | Senior Issues Mgt. Officer |
| Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute | Vancouver Coastal Health |
| Tel: (604) 875-4111 x 61777 | Tel: 604-708-5234 |
Background:
VGH to be home to new
Centre for Hip Health and
Accelerated Prostate Research
Centre for Hip Health: A Lifespan Approach
Challenge:
There are approximately 25,000 hip fractures in Canada each year and this potentially preventable condition results in death in up to 20% of cases and disability in 50% of those who survive. Economically, musculoskeletal conditions are the second most costly diseases (to cardiovascular problems) in Canada with annual costs of over $16 billion across Canada, and $2.5 billion to B.C. Hip fractures and hip osteoarthritis contribute enormously to this burden. The World Health Organization predicts an epidemic such that the number of hip fractures will rise from 1.7 million in 1990 to 6.3 million by 2050 unless aggressive preventive programs are started. The problem of hip diseases demands research solutions.
Summary:
The Centre for Hip Health: A Lifespan Approach will support innovative research programs to decrease the burden of hip fracture and hip osteoarthritis in Canada and the world. It will be the first international research centre to broadly focus on problems affecting the human hip by integrating experts in various aspects of bone health, falls prevention, and osteoarthritis and by embracing a research scope from childhood to old age. The research will include primary preventative programs for children, early detection of the disease in adults, intervention programs for the at-risk elderly, and improved surgical treatments. The Centre for Hip Health will eventually consist of three integrated research facilities: 1) Risk Assessment Research Facility, which will include a state-of-the art hip imaging laboratory for bone and joint as well as a mobile risk assessment unit that can travel to rural areas around the health authority 2) Novel Intervention Research Facility, which will include a bone health research lab used in major intervention research in both children and seniors and a "unique safe movement environment" to evaluate fall prevention interventions. 3) Population Health Research Facility that will include an Epidemiology and Outcomes lab for evaluating clinical trials.
Vision:
Within 12 months of the CHH opening, it is anticipated that CHH research will represent 18 academic faculty from 15 departments, committing all or substantial research time to hip health. This represents a rare integration of research expertise with key clinician-scientists and provides a model of productive university, hospital, and community partnerships.
Program Leaders:
- Dr. Tom Oxland - Director, Musculoskeletal Research Program, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; Associate Professor, Orthopedics and Mechanical Engineering, UBC; and Canada Research Chair in Spine Biomechanics. Specializes in orthopedic biomechanics, mechanics of orthopedic implants, biomechanics of rehabilitation, and spinal cord injury.
- Dr. Karim Khan - Assistant Professor, Family Practice/Human Kinetics, UBC. Specializes in secondary fall prevention in high-risk populations (e.g. osteoporosis, emergency department fallers).
- Dr. Heather McKay - Associate Professor, Family/Family Practice, UBC. Specializes in the role of physical activity for optimizing bone health during childhood and reducing falls risk factors, and potentially fracture, in older populations.
PC-TRIADD: The Prostate Centre's Translational Research Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and Development
Challenge:
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in North American men, afflicting more than 200,000 and killing more than 40,000 annually. Advances in discovery science promise to accelerate knowledge of cancer biology, but are creating a bottleneck and need for infrastructure to facilitate the translation of this information into new therapies that improve cancer outcomes. Translating research from the investigators' labs to patient care is particularly challenging because it requires coordinated and collaborative teams of cross-disciplinary researchers.
Summary:
The Prostate Centre at VGH has already assembled a trans-disciplinary team into a uniquely comprehensive program that seamlessly spans the research spectrum from discovery to clinical treatment of prostate cancer. They have already brought several new therapies from "bench-to bedside" and will now be able to accelerate discovery and validation of potential gene targets. CFI support of PC-TRIADD will create the world's most comprehensive prostate cancer research facility, enabling accelerated discovery, target validation, and creation of biologic-based therapeutics.
Vision:
The Prostate Centre at VCH will be able to work at a rapid pace to translate lab discoveries to the patient population. PC-TRIADD will feature world class imaging tools, robotic and technical tools that define bioprofiles associated with cancer progression. The goal is to create the world's most comprehensive prostate cancer research facility.
Program Leaders:
- Dr. Martin Gleave - Director, Clinical Research, Prostate Center at Vancouver General Hospital and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; Director of Research, Division of Urology, UBC; Senior Research Scientist, Prostate Research Lab, Vancouver General Hospital and the Department of Cancer Endocrinology, BC Cancer Agency. Specializes in the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms, which mediate progression of prostate cancer to its lethal stage of androgen independence, and the use of this information to develop integrated multi-modality therapies.
- Dr. Colleen Nelson - Assistant Professor, Surgery/Division of Urology, UBC. Senior Scientist, Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital; Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia.
|
