This May, the Government of Canada released a “Federal Action on Opioids” plan, part of a push to reduce the unnecessary use of prescription painkillers and combat the growing fentanyl and carfentanil crisis. ICORD researcher Dr. John Kramer has been watching these developments closely, as his latest research may provide inroads for new pain reduction interventions.  

Air pollution is the third most important risk factor for global mortality. “It’s a massive problem,” says Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Dr. Chris Carlsten. Dr. Carlsten has just completed a review of the latest research linking air pollution from traffic to allergic respiratory disease. The review found allergic disease is on the rise in many regions of the world, particularly in Asia, where traffic pollution is most severe. And the new reality of climate change is making things worse. 

It’s difficult for hospitals to plan for acute care patients in the Emergency setting.  Patients can need care at all hours, with illness ranging from gallstones to appendicitis. For the first time, acute care surgeons across Canada have shared their experiences of a typical day at work. The surgeons recently took part in a 24-hour inventory initiated by researchers with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI). Dr. Kristin DeGirolamo and her Vancouver colleagues wanted to get a nationwide snapshot of acute care.

Supportive and collaborative research brings benefits to the entire health care system.  Through the Team Grant, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) is proud to support research mentorships that enable knowledge exchange and relationships to be built between VCH staff and clinicians and experienced researchers. These grants support applied research projects that help VCH health care providers improve their practice through collaboration with researchers who mentor them through the entire process. 

The 2017 Team Grant recipients are:

Q: I’m getting older and noticing that I can’t hear as well as I used to. Should I look into whether or not I'm losing my hearing?

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Parkinson’s —the second most common neuro-degenerative disease in the world. Yet researchers are still not sure what causes it. And they still don’t have a cure. It turns out they may have been looking in the wrong place. While Parkinson’s affects the brain—specifically the neurons—new evidence shows that the disease may actually start in the gut. Vancouver Coastal Health Research scientist Dr. Silke Cresswell is one of many scientists now following the trail from the gut to the brain. 

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 2017 top Graduating Student Doctoral Award recipients are:  

Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientists may be close to unravelling a tragic mystery. Sudden death from epileptic seizure (SUDEP) is a poorly understood fatality that accounts for about 50% of deaths in people whose epilepsy is not controlled by medication. Dr. Stuart Cain and his colleagues in the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health have been hard at work developing a unique MRI technique that points to a possible cause of SUDEP.