What are some VCHRI organizational highlights from 2014?
The consistent breadth and depth of research happening at VCHRI never ceases to amaze me. Our scientists continue to ask the challenging questions that facilitate new and greater understanding of disease and health, ultimately leading to healthier people, healthier communities, and a healthier system of care.
Canadians love their beef. In 2012, Canadians consumed an average of 44.1 lbs of beef per person yearly1. The greatest challenge to mass producing beef in order to meet this demand is Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDc) – a multi-factorial disease that accounts for 75% of the morbidity and more than 50% of the mortality in feedlot cattle and requires broad use of antibiotics.
As Canada's population ages, so too does demand for more quality senior care facilities. Research led by Dr. Margaret McGregor, a Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist with the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, has found that types of ownership and certain organizational features of nursing homes correlate to fewer emergency department (ED) transfers.
Young athletes who experience concussions may need to wait longer than currently recommended before getting ‘back in the game’ because of the unique brain developmental stage of adolescence, according to new study findings from the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH) – a Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute centre. The study, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, shows that current adult-based standards for assessing the effects of concussions and length of time to recovery may be inadequate for adolescents.
Canadian men have put their clippers and razors away this month to don moustaches as they take part in Movember, the hugely popular global campaign that raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer research as well as testicular cancer and men’s mental health. Nearly $34 million was raised in Canada alone last year, which was more than any other participating country including the United States and Australia, where Movember began. Part of those funds went to the Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) – a Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute centre.
A recently developed screening process that detects a mutated form of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is helping ensure that a costly HCV medication is prescribed only to patients who will benefit from it.
Hepatitis C is a chronic blood-borne liver disease that affects an estimated 242,500 individuals in Canada1.
Tailoring treatment will mean cost savings and the potential of eliminating the virus altogether.
Examining the brain when it is healthy is essential in order to understand how and why things go wrong when they do. Interested in the brain in its healthy state, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute investigators from the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health’s (DMCBH) Dr. Brian MacVicar Lab asked novel research questions about communication between the brain’s neurons and microglia, its immune cells.
For the better part of a century, the neurotransmitter dopamine has been understood as a key player in the brain’s reward-related processing. Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Stan Floresco has discovered more precisely that bursts and dips of dopamine activity in the brain guide the level of risk taken when making a choice.
Although one-third of the world has been exposed to the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), and many millions of people carry a dormant version of TB, only a very small percentage of them succumb to the disease. Still, in 2012, that small percentage equaled a staggering 1.3 million deaths1, mostly in developing countries.
A new interactive app is helping Canadian workers with clinical depression better connect with their mental health care providers to track the status of their mental health and mood before, during, and after treatment. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, especially in working-age adults.
In Canada, as many as seven in ten people with clinical depression continue to work, despite struggling with their symptoms.
