Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading killer of women worldwide. But most research, and the clinical evidence for treatment, is based on studies of men. That’s a problem, since it turns out that women have very different treatment responses and disease progression of CVD than men.
Top researchers in blood disease have a new home within Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI). “We know we have excellent, high-quality research but it is wonderful to get this validation and recognition,” says Hematology Research Program (HRP) director Dr. Agnes Lee. HRP has received official program designation at VCHRI.
Gone is the stigma around trying to find love online and surprisingly, older adults are diving into the online dating pool at a significantly fast pace1. A recently published study in the Canadian Journal on Aging, co-authored by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Dr. Ben Mortenson, found a unique opportunity in the expanding online dating world of older adults to gain their insights about what successful aging looks like.
Doctors strive to be as objective as possible in their approach to patient care. But, like all of us, doctors have unconscious biases about other people. Unconscious bias is an ancient survival skill humans developed in order to quickly determine if a stranger is a potential threat.
It’s no secret that music can be a powerful emotional connector for people. From lullabies for babies, to dance songs on the radio, music moves people in ways that few other art forms can. For people in psychological distress, music can be a soothing and comforting form of therapy. That’s why Richmond Hospital’s Psychiatric Inpatient Unit makes music therapy available to its patients. Angie Ji, an accredited music therapist at Richmond Hospital, says the unique advantage of music therapy is that it is intrinsically beautiful.
The development process behind a new app to help sedentary people get moving shows how unique partnerships between researchers, consumers, and patient groups can lead to innovative health research. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) scientists Dr. Linda Li and Dr.
Register now for the VCHRI Heat on February 21, 2017 11:00am - 1:00pm at Paetzold Multipurpose Room, Jim Pattison Pavilion North, Vancouver General Hospital
Like millions of people around the world, Dr. E. Paul Zehr is a big fan of Batman. In fact, Dr. Zehr, who works in human discovery science at ICORD (International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries), uses Batman as a way to teach people about science and medicine. He’s also written a book about the caped crusader—Becoming Batman: The Possiblity of a Superhero.
“Batman is the only superhero who is a human being. So people really relate to him,” says Dr. Zehr. “Batman’s popularity is a great tool to spotlight real world issues.”
Around Christmastime in the year 2000, three clinician researchers got together in Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)’s cafeteria to discuss a common frustration: too many women were dying from ovarian cancer. Despite global research efforts, back then the five-year survival rate for women with the disease was less than 50 per cent. Fuelled by a desire to improve those outcomes, the three doctors sketched an outline—on the back of a napkin—for a concentrated, multi-disciplinary ovarian cancer research effort.
