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.
Individuals wanting to learn more about how practical research can inform real changes in complex and evolving health systems would be well advised to attend this year’s Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation (C2E2) Annual Lecture. Guest speaker Dr. Robert Reid is presenting a talk, “Moving Towards the Learning Health Care System: Integrating Research into Practice and Policy”, which will be about the Learning Healthcare System – a strategy posited to rapidly improve quality of care, health outcomes, and reduce costs.
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and Island Health Authority researcher Dr. E. Paul Zehr is taking knowledge translation to a whole new level, using pop culture superheroes to make life sciences understandable and exciting for young minds.
Even though British Columbia emergency departments want to get pain medications to patients in need as soon as possible, barriers in doing so have resulted in some patients not getting them quick enough, according to a Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) study currently underway.
