Congratulations to Dr. Khaled Abdelrahman who was awarded a Michael Smith Health Research BC Health Professional-Investigator Award to support his research focussed on The contribution of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) to impaired control of brain blood flow in Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a major crisis and a huge burden on healthcare system. It causes a decrease in memory and affects women more than men. The memory decline in Alzheimer’s is linked to poor blood supply to the brain. The causes for poor supply are unknown but it starves brain cells of essential materials leading to improper function. I will study how a molecule present in the cells of the brain called metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) contributes to the poor blood supply to the brain and the development of Alzheimer’s symptoms. My group at UBC is interested in mGluR5 because it attaches to the “toxic molecules” commonly found in Alzheimer’s brain. I will use mice sick with Alzheimer’s and samples from Alzheimer’s patients to study how the attachment of the “toxic molecules” to mGluR5 can lead to the short supply of blood to the brain and memory loss. I will also study if the role of mGluR5 in Alzheimer’s is different between males and females. In addition, I will test if the drugs that act on mGluR5 can help Alzheimer’s patients by correcting blood supply to the brain and improving memory. I also will work with patient and community partners to help interpret and communicate my findings and guide future work
Dr. Khaled Abdelrahman, Michael Smith Health Research BC – Health Professional-Investigator Award
Dr. Anshula Ambasta, Michael Smith Health Research BC – Health Professional-Investigator Award
Congratulations to Dr. Anshula Ambasta who was awarded a Michael Smith Health Research BC Health Professional-Investigator Award to support her research focussed on Re-purposing the ordering of ‘routine’ laboratory tests in hospitalized medical patients (RePORT)
Blood tests can help diagnose diseases and monitor health status. However, overuse of blood testing, particularly in hospitals, leads to patient discomfort, loss of sleep, contributes to blood loss leading to blood transfusions, and wastes health care dollars. We previously developed and tested a multi-part healthcare provider (HCP) engagement strategy to safely reduce overuse of six target laboratory tests that make up 40 percent of costs on laboratory testing in hospitalized medical patients. In collaboration with a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), we have co-designed a patient engagement strategy that includes an infographic, video and website. Our team, made up of clinicians, researchers, patient partners and policy makers, proposes to launch the HCP and patient engagement strategies across 16 hospitals in British Columbia and 14 hospitals in Alberta in a cluster randomized stepped-wedge design. We will evaluate the impact of this strategy on number of laboratory tests done, patient experience, patient safety, costs and HCP experience, using administrative data systems and patient and HCP interviews. We will work with the PFAC to design implementation evaluation, particularly of the patient engagement strategy.
Dr. Wade Thompson, Michael Smith Health Research BC – Health Professional-Investigator Award
Congratulations to Dr. Wade Thompson who was awarded a Michael Smith Health Research BC Health Professional-Investigator Award to support his research focused on Making medications fit for older adults: advancing the science and implementation of deprescribing guidelines.
As people age, they can end up taking many medications. Certain medications might have made sense when they were started. But as people get older, some medications may no longer be needed, or may be unsafe. It makes sense to consider stopping such medications. It can be tough for prescribers and patients to decide when and how to stop a medication. From 2014 to 2017, we developed guidelines and resources to help patients and prescribers make decisions about stopping medications. Our guidelines and resources are used in Canada and across the world. However, guidelines and resources need to be up to date with the most current evidence. There also needs to be ongoing strategies to ensure guidelines are used in the real world. This project, led from UBC Vancouver, will first survey patients and prescribers to assess needs and priorities for guidelines on stopping medications. We will then update our guidelines based on needs and current evidence. Finally, we will design knowledge translation materials together with patients and prescribers (called “co-design”), and spread the word about our updated resources. We strive to help patients/prescribers decide when and how to stop medications and improve well-being of older adults.
Congratulations to Daniel Shirvani and Katherine Feng, BSc Pharmacology students on being awarded UBC’s Wesbrook Scholar Awards for 2022/2023
We would like to congratulate two of our BSc Pharmacology students who have just being awarded UBC’s Wesbrook Scholar Awards (2022-23). “The Premier Undergraduate Scholarships and Wesbrook Scholars are UBC’s most prestigious designations given to senior students with outstanding academic performance, leadership, and involvement in student and community activities. Awards range from 20 Wesbrook Scholar designations each worth $1,000 to renewable scholarships worth $20,000 over two years.”
In addition to being awarded the Wesbrook Scholarhip, Daniel Shirvani was also the recipient of the Carl Bradford Robertson Scholarship valued at $15,000 and
Katherine Feng was the recipient of the HSBC Emerging Leader Scholarships valued at $5,000.
Congratulations to Dr. Pascal Bernatchez and team on renewal of their UBC Research Excellence Cluster
Congratulations to Dr. Pascal Bernatchez and team on the successful renewal of their University of British Columbia Research Excellence Cluster – The UBC Advanced Angiotensin Therapeutics Network. Initially funding in 2022/2023 as a new emerging cluster, this unit has now been renewed. Research Excellence Clusters are interdisciplinary networks of researchers addressing societal and cultural problems, and working together to solve challenges that transcend traditional boundaries associated with departments, institutions, and funding agencies
AATHEN – The UBC Advanced Angiotensin Therapeutics Network
Angiotensin receptor blockers are well-established anti-hypertensive medications with a long list of therapeutic effects in non-blood pressure-related diseases. The multi-Centre, tri-Faculty UBC Advanced Angiotensin Therapeutics Network (AATHEN) was created to facilitate collaborations aimed at optimizing the pleiotropic properties of angiotensin receptor blockers and develop non-blood pressure lowering analog compounds.
Cluster Lead: Pascal Bernatchez
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Ansermino and team on renewal of their UBC Research Excellence Cluster
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Ansermino and team on the successful renewal of their University of British Columbia Research Excellence Cluster – Action in Sepsis. Initially funding in 2020/2021 as a new emerging cluster, this unit has now been renewed for an additional 2 year period as an Established Cluster. Research Excellence Clusters are interdisciplinary networks of researchers addressing societal and cultural problems, and working together to solve challenges that transcend traditional boundaries associated with departments, institutions, and funding agencies
Action on Sepsis
Sepsis occurs when an infection results in vital organ damage, and can result in death or disability. Sepsis has huge clinical, social, economic, and political impacts. Thus reducing the impact of sepsis cannot be achieved without cross-cutting, interdisciplinary collaborations. Action on Sepsis fosters diverse and inclusive partnerships across biology, medicine, population and public health, and policy to effectively prevent, diagnose, and manage the deadly condition of sepsis. We aim to create innovative, targeted interventions that will minimize death and disability and improve outcomes for people with sepsis in BC and across the globe.
Cluster Lead: Mark Ansermino
Fatemeh Aminazadeh, PhD student awarded a 1 year Canadian Lung Association / CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health Research Studentship
Congratulations to Fatemeh Aminazadeh (PhD student in Dr. Tillie-Louise Hackett’s laboratory) who was awarded a 1 year Canadian Lung Association / CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health Research Studentship to support her research project entitled “The contribution of sex differences to small airways disease in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)”.
Dr. Gillian Goobie, MD, PhD, FRCPC -Postdoctoral Fellow awarded a 1 year Canadian Lung Association Post-doctoral Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Gillian Goobie (Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Tillie-Louise Hackett’s laboratory) who was awarded a 1 year Canadian Lung Association Post-doctoral Fellowship to support her research project entitled “Air pollution as a modulator of molecular, structural and clinical outcomes in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease ”
A lay summary can be found – https://www.lung.ca/recently-funded-researchers
Dr. Gillian Goobie, MD, PhD, FRCPC -Postdoctoral Fellow awarded a 3 year Michael Smith Health Research BC Health Research Fellowship (2022)
Congratulations to Dr. Gillian Goobie (Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Tillie-Louise Hackett’s laboratory) who was awarded a 3 year Michael Smith Health Research BC Health Fellowship to support her research project entitled “Air pollution as a modulator of molecular, structural and clinical outcomes in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease ” A lay summary can be found – https://healthresearchbc.ca/award_researcher/gillian-goobie/
Dr. Matthew Wiens awarded a 5 year Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Wiens, Assistant Professor who was recently awarded a 5 year Canadian Institutes of Health Project Grant valued at $1,526.175 to support his research project entitled “Smart Discharges in children over 5: Expanding a personalized public health approach to improving discharge care in resource limited settings”
A lay summary:
In resource-limited countries, children who suffer from severe infections remain vulnerable for several months after initial recovery and hospital discharge. During this vulnerable period there is a high risk of recurrent infections, re-admission, and death, and these children may not return to their pre-illness level of functioning and quality of life. Children over five years old may be even more vulnerable during this time compared to younger children. Simple strategies like follow-up visits and healthy practices at home can improve recovery and survival. However, comprehensive strategies that can identify the most vulnerable across all age groups are lacking. To date, our team has developed tools that allow healthcare workers to identify those most at risk of dying after discharge among children under 5 years. Our team has also co-developed, with the Uganda Ministry of Health, a discharge-care program. This ‘Smart Discharges’ program applies a risk-based approach, where the child at highest risk receives the most intense form of discharge and post-discharge care. This care primarily consists of education and follow-up with community health workers. This approach is ideally suited to poor countries where healthcare workers and money are limited. In Uganda, our approach has improved discharge and post-discharge care for children under 5 years. Here, we will begin the process of integrating older children into our care framework by developing the tools that can identify older children who are at the highest risk of dying after discharge. We will also seek to understand how severe illness impacts the quality of life of these school-aged children. Finally, by talking with affected families and health workers, we will learn from their stories and experiences about the challenges and barriers faced in caring for their children.