The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has announced the results of its Spring 2023 project grant competition. Congratulations to all the VCHRI researchers who were awarded project grants. 

The potential of digital and wearable technologies to help treat the often complex health care needs of British Columbia’s aging population inspired Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Calvin Kuo and colleagues at the Centre for Aging SMART and University of British Columbia (UBC) to co-create an innovative project designed to revolutionize health care in the province. 

Welcome to "Behind the Lab Doors," an exclusive Research Insider series that offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the labs of health researchers across VCHRI. These stories will explore research currently in the works, including ongoing and long-term studies that have the potential to directly impact quality of care for patients and clinicians. To feature a study from your VCHRI-affiliated lab, contact us at vchricommunications@vch.ca.

Knowledge translation is the art and science of moving evidence into health care policy and practice. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) is proud to support health care professionals to effectively implement evidence-based practice changes to improve patient care. The Knowledge Translation (KT) Challenge, a program run in collaboration with Providence Health Care and BC Cancer, is grounded in capacity building and facilitates health care providers to work with experienced investigators to share knowledge and build connections.

Robot-assisted care may be just around the corner. Research led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Kendall Ho demonstrated the feasibility of using a general purpose robot with human-like capabilities to conduct a heart-related medical examination.

Research co-led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) researcher Dr. Emma Morton is the first to characterize psilocybin use and impacts among people with bipolar disorder (BD) — a brain condition that causes extreme mood swings and altered behaviour. Published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the findings from Morton’s research offer both a promising and cautionary tale of the potential therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms to treat BD.

Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) is proud to support the future leaders of research with the Top Graduating Doctoral Student Awards and the Rising Star Awards. These awards recognize the outstanding efforts by VCHRI trainees in the realm of research excellence, serving as role models and making significant contributions to the Vancouver Coastal Health research community. 

The 2023 Top Graduating Doctoral Student award recipients are:

Residence in a higher income neighbourhood decreased the risk of death among Canadians living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), according to the findings of a new study led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Helen Tremlett.