The mission of the Technology Enabled Knowledge Translation Investigative Centre—or TEKTIC—is to understand, explore, and innovate on how information and communications technologies (ICT) can be used effectively to accelerate the translation of health research evidence into routine practice and health system implementation. The Centre’s research currently focuses on chronic disease management through ICT.
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The MSFHR Research Unit in Parkinson’s disease and monoaminergic function in the Central Nervous System brings together clinical and basic neuroscientists, epidemiologists, imaging scientists and chemists, all focused on a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease, its complications, and related disorders such as depression and addictive behaviours.
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The Centre for Human Islet Transplant and Beta-Cell Regeneration (CHITBR) supports scientists and clinicians from nine different disciplines—from bench to bedside—to conduct research addressing the main limitations of beta-cell transplant.
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In BC, more than 74,000 adults have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 10,000 patients require hospitalization each year for related illnesses, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Lung inflammation is the defining symptom of COPD, and may also be responsible for its progression and complications, including lung cancer and vascular disease. Currently, there are few effective therapies available to treat COPD. This unit’s research will bring together basic scientists, clinicians and epidemiologists to focus on identifying and understanding the complex inflammatory cascades of COPD. The team’s ultimate goal is to find new strategies and therapies to improve health outcomes of patients with COPD.
To contribute to public health system renewal, the BC Ministry of Health has developed a Framework for Core Functions in Public Health. The Core Functions identify the key public heath services that health authorities will provide and that will strengthen the link between public health, primary health care and chronic disease management in BC. This award supports the creation of a multidisciplinary team to establish research priorities for public health in BC as they relate to the framework, and to develop a research program on the implementation and outcomes of the core functions.
This award funds the creation of a research team focused on understanding fatigue associated with neurologic and neuromuscular disorders. The goal is to develop an interdisciplinary approach to research, exploring the prevalence of fatigue among individuals with disabilities, how and to what extent the condition influences function and quality of life, what are the costs to society and the health system and, ultimately, how to improve treatment.
This award supports the development of a team of clinicians and researchers addressing gaps of understanding about the causes of developmental disorders including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Conduct Disorder. These gaps include the electrophysiological processes underlying problems in social development, such as self-regulation, that affect children diagnosed with these disorders.
This award funds the creation of a transdisciplinary team studying health issues of complex patient groups with multiple illnesses, and varied ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. The goal is to examine the health status and trajectory of these patients by integrating research about the social determinants that affect their health, such as education, housing status, and income level.
This award funds the creation of a research team focused on studying the genetic, immune and environmental factors that lead to allergic diseases and asthma. The team’s goals will be to identify factors and pathways that influence development of allergies; assess the environmental agents relevant to asthma and allergies; support the development of allergic diseases personnel; partner with national and international researchers to secure sustainable research support; and advance knowledge of allergic diseases.
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Individuals with a major mental disorder are at heightened risk of committing acts of violence, being victimized by others, and harming themselves. These adverse outcomes – and the factors that contribute or mitigate them – are known to be interconnected. However, there hasn’t been a coordinated research platform that addresses all three outcomes together and identifies how different risk and protective factors affect each of these outcomes individually, and in combination, over time.
This team will link together researchers across BC and around the world to identify the most important dynamic risk and protective factors for violence, and determine the best techniques to measure and analyze their change over time. Because many individuals with a major mental disorder also have problems related to substance use, the team will also assess the relationship between mental health, substance use and violence.