Recent media coverage has raised awareness about the importance of human papilloma virus (HPV) testing and vaccination, but less attention has been paid to non-HPV forms of vulvar cancer. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) researchers have found that previous diagnostic approaches and less aggressive treatments resulted in worse, and often deadly, outcomes for women.

Vancouver, BC – Adverse drug events could be avoided by sharing patients’ medication histories and previous harmful medication exposures among various health care facilities. That’s one of the key findings of a study published July 18, 2019 in CMAJ Open. 

Led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Corinne Hohl, the study’s conclusions are a wake-up call to urgently find new approaches to better protect the health and safety of patients. 

A new study of traffic pollution and asthma shows Canada has higher rates of new childhood asthma cases than most of the world. While air pollution is generally worse in other countries like China and India, the study ranks Canada third in the world for rates of new childhood asthma cases caused by vehicle emissions. 

Staying active can be challenging—finding time, staying motivated and getting out when the weather is bad. For someone in a wheelchair, those obstacles are even greater, but reaping the health benefits of exercise is crucial. Studies show half of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) do no physical activity in their leisure time during the day, but at the same time, they have an increased risk of developing diseases that can be mitigated by exercise.

When the human genome was sequenced 20 years ago, there was a great excitement at the possibility of personalized medicine. Once the genetic makeup of a person’s disease was known, hopes were high that researchers could design specifically matched and targeted treatment for many patients. It turns out, dealing with real-world disease is not so straightforward. Now scientists at the Ovarian Cancer Research Centre (OVCARE) are trying to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance personalized medicine.

Each year, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) promotes excellence in health research through the annual VCHRI Investigator Awards. These awards recognize outstanding health investigators and support their research efforts through peer-reviewed salary support awards. The awards provide an opportunity for investigators to reduce their clinical practice commitments and build their research capacity to expand the possibilities of improving health research. They are supported by VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

The 2019 VCHRI Investigator Awards recipients are: 

Few conditions affect more men than prostate cancer. Approximately one in seven Canadian men will develop the disease at some point during his lifetime, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. For around one in 29, a prostate cancer diagnosis will prove fatal. 

Innovations in artificial intelligence and deep learning are pushing technology closer to being able to perform complex clinical skills, such as diagnosing cancers. Neuropathologist and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist, Dr. Stephen Yip, is at the forefront of developments in this area. He explains how deep learning is being used now and its potential impact in the future.  

An in-home exercise program reduced subsequent falls in high-risk seniors by 36 per cent, according the results of a 12-month clinical trial published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.