Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a highly contagious sexually transmitted infection that can cause cancer. HPV affects 80 per cent of sexually active people who have not been vaccinated. Considering how common HPV is, public understanding is lacking. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist and gynecologic oncologist Dr. Marette Lee explains that misperceptions and stigmas still surround HPV. “There is a big hole in awareness and a lot of misinformation out there. We need to normalize HPV and talk about it openly so we can prevent serious illnesses for both men and women.”
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 contributions by VCHRI research trainees to research excellence, service as role models, and other contributions to the VCH research community.
The 2018 top Graduating Student Doctoral award recipients are:
Kidney stones are a common problem in Canada. Ten per cent of the population suffers from the painful condition, caused when high levels of oxalate combine with calcium in the bloodstream and crystallize into stones in the kidney. Oxalates are found in a range of foods from french fries to nuts. Some people easily eliminate oxalates but others can’t.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer for women—but one of the most deadly. In 2017, approximately 2,800 Canadian women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer1, and an estimated 1,800 lost their lives to the disease. While survival rates are slowly increasing, early diagnosis and treatment dramatically improves a woman’s chance of survival.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD)—caused by fetal exposure to alcohol and resulting in changes in cognitive, behavioural and adaptive function—is much more prevalent than previously thought. A major new study out of the US, as well as a subsequent Canadian study, show FASD affects between one and five per cent of children. That means FASD is more common than Down syndrome and as common or more common than autism. Dr. Joanne Weinberg, a neuroscientist who studies FASD, says the new prevalence estimates are highly significant.
Vancouver-based medical researchers are teaming up with computer engineers to change the way patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are monitored. A new joint initiative will use smartphone app technology and sensors in patient’s homes to give clinicians a better picture of disease progression from afar.
It is a diagnosis that parents never want to receive—the devastating news that their child has cancer. Hope is often directed to the medical system for breakthrough treatments to remove or stop the spread of the disease.
Dr. Torsten Nielsen, clinician-scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, has dedicated his practice to cancer research and care, including childhood and young adult sarcomas. An uncommon form of cancer that affects mostly the young, sarcomas are malignant tumours found in bones and soft tissues, often in the limbs or abdomen.
