End-of-life care is never an easy topic of conversation. For people of South Asian descent, discussions about death and dying can also carry with them cultural norms and family traditions that differ from those of mainstream Western cultures, which the health care system in British Columbia is largely built upon.
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) researcher Dr. Amrish Joshi has thought deeply on the topic, both as someone of South Asian descent and as a community palliative physician with the Richmond Integrated Hospice Palliative Care Program.
Q: What is your role in health research?
A: I am a graduate research assistant in the Kramer Lab at the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), where we study the neurophysiology of pain.
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) is proud to support tomorrow’s research leaders with the Top Graduating Doctoral Student Awards and the Rising Star Awards. These awards recognize outstanding efforts by VCHRI trainees for research excellence, service as role models and other contributions that each has made to benefit the Vancouver Coastal Health research community.
The 2022 Top Graduating Doctoral Student Award recipients are:
Following the legalization of cannabis in Canada, drivers presenting to some British Columbia hospitals with moderate injuries were twice as likely to have over-the-limit tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels in their bloodstreams. This revelation was one of several presented in a recent study led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) clinician-scientist Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher.
Deciding which patients to treat and when were among the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With limited resources and staff available to care for patients, health care decision-makers were faced with an unprecedented situation in which patients and health-care resources needed to be allocated based on ever-evolving rules and guidelines.
Through collaborative efforts and meaningful partnerships, new ideas move from bench to bedside, improving health care practices and patient outcomes. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute is proud to support research through Team Grant mentorships, which facilitate Vancouver Coastal Health staff and clinicians to work with experienced investigators to share knowledge and build connections. These grants enhance health care delivery by supporting cooperative practice-based research projects aimed at addressing current health care challenges.
Harm caused by the use or misuse of prescription medications leads to around two million visits to emergency departments, 700,000 hospital admissions and $1 billion in health care expenditures in Canada each year. Known as adverse drug events (ADEs), they rank between the fourth and sixth leading causes of death in Canada.
While repeat ADEs are preventable, they have resulted in around 1,500 deaths in B.C. alone each year.
This June, Canadians celebrate Men’s Health Month in recognition of the unique health needs and conditions that affect people of the male sex locally and around the world. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Wellam Yu Ko is at the forefront of trailblazing research and insights into how men can steer the clearest path to health and long-term vitality.
