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.

The World Health Organization recently announced that depression has the greatest health burden worldwide compared to any other disease. This comes as no surprise to Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist Dr. Raymond Lam, who says mental illness—primarily depression—is getting attention not only because of its health burden but also because of its huge economic impact.  “Depression affects 300 million people worldwide. When people are depressed they can’t function well and they can’t work well. Yet, most people who are clinically depressed are still at work.”

Q: If marijuana is legalized does that mean it’s safe to drive after using it?
A: No, just because it’s legal doesn’t mean you can drive after using. It is illegal to drive if you are impaired by any drug. That includes cannabis and also other prescription medications that can cause impairment. Even if someone is using marijuana for medical reasons, they may be considered legally impaired, just as they would be if they took prescription drugs like opiates or sleeping pills or even some over-the-counter antihistamines. 

If you’re healthy and mobile, it’s easy to take for granted the simple, everyday act of sitting up in bed. However, for an immobile person bound to a hospital bed, being sat upright via a bed adjustment can result in pressure and pain. 

Compassion clubs and marijuana dispensaries in B.C., in particularly in Vancouver and Victoria, have been at the forefront of the movement to legalize and regulate cannabis in Canada. With such organizations having operated in Vancouver longer than in any other Canadian city, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) clinician scientist Dr. Amrish Joshi wanted to study the relationship between cannabis dispensaries and the patients seeking out cannabis for their health conditions.

In the fight against bladder cancer, a new and unexpected hero is emerging: malaria. Recently published findings from a study led by Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) researcher Dr. Mads Daugaard show the efficacy of using a specific malaria protein to transport a toxin to bladder cancer cells in mice, reducing or deleting bladder cancer tumours entirely.