Obesity is a debilitating disease reaching pandemic proportions in developed countries. Several hormones are involved in regulating feeding and energy, including peptide YY (PYY), an appetite regulatory hormone. PYY is released from the gut in response to a meal, relaying signals to the brain to prevent further eating. Several research studies, including work by Suraj Unniappan, have shown that PYY causes inhibition of feeding when administered at pharmacological doses in experimental models. However, the body very rapidly clears PYY from the system, and continuous delivery of PYY results in desensitization against the peptide. This prevents prolonged and consistent effects of PYY on feeding and weight loss. Suraj’s preliminary results indicate that a fat cell-derived hormone, leptin, enhances and prolongs the appetite regulating effects of PYY. In this research, he is working to develop a combination therapy for obesity using PYY and leptin. Next, he proposes to develop a cell-based therapy for obesity using cells that, when activated by a drug, will synthesize PYY and release it in a meal-responsive manner. If this research is found to be effective in reducing food intake and promoting weight loss, it could be beneficial for treating obesity and its debilitating complications.
Research Location: University of British Columbia - Point Grey
Stimulus-driven control in visual neglect: the role of awareness
A person’s field of vision, or visual field, includes an enormous amount of information. By means of attention and eye movements, people are able to select certain objects and location from any point in the visual field. Selection may be stimulus-driven (the properties of the object attract a person’s attention involuntarily, such as a flashing light) or goal-driven (the observer purposely turns their attention to an object). People with damage to the right parietal or parieto-temporal lobes of the brain—commonly brought on by stroke, vascular, demyelinating or infectious diseases—suffer from visual neglect, limiting their ability to select information from the visual field. They often fail to notice items in the visual field opposite to the damaged area of their brain. Interestingly, research has suggested that visual neglect in these people is a function of goal-driven selection, and that stimulus-driven selection function may remain intact. Wieske van Zoest’s research is investigating the role of stimulus-driven control in patients with visual neglect. While participants—patients and healthy controls alike—may not be aware of stimulus-driven influences in selection, direct measures (such as eye movement recording) allow for investigation of the contribution of stimulus-driven control. The proposed work may have significant practical relevance for patients, allowing them to process information if it is presented in such a way that it draws attention automatically in a stimulus-driven fashion.
Healing Practices of Azorean Immigrants: Implications for Practitioners in North America
Therapists in BC need to develop culturally sensitive mental health services to reflect the changing demographics of BC’s population and better serve immigrant clients. This is especially important because research has shown that immigrants simultaneously use traditional healers from their country of origin and local health care services to alleviate symptoms of illness. More than 30,000 BC residents report Portuguese origins. Birdie Bezanson is studying the beliefs, values and methods of traditional Portuguese healers in BC and the Azores Islands in Portugal, and the implications for local practitioners in multicultural counselling. Clinical practices and healing processes develop within and reflect particular cultures and value systems. Birdie is examining the interface between traditional and clinical methods of dealing with distress to develop a more comprehensive understanding of healing and well-being. This research is directed at informing the development of culturally sensitive treatment alternatives that will enable local practitioners to accommodate the needs of Portuguese clients and other immigrant communities in the province.
Characterizing looking behaviours within social scenes: Implications for a social deficit in autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) encompasses five neurological disorders that change how the brain processes information. Children and adults with ASD have varying levels of difficulty with social interaction and communication, may exhibit repetitive behaviours, and may have unusual attachments to objects or routines. One form of ASD – classic autism – is the most common neurological disorder affecting children, and usually appears in the first three years of a child’s life. Elina Birmingham is studying the deficiencies that limit the ability of people with ASD to interpret social cues and develop and maintain social interactions. She wants to determine whether these deficits reflect a perceptual inability to process people’s faces (the eyes and mouth, for instance), or a failure to understand and interpret the social cues that are part of social interactions. To do this, she is tracking eye movements to determine how people with ASD respond to social scenes of people interacting and non-social scenes with no interaction. The results should help confirm whether people with autism have the greatest difficulty interpreting social interactions, information that can be used to develop diagnostic and rehabilitation techniques.
Obsessive-Compulsive Checkers' Prospective Memory
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). One of the most common manifestations of OCD is checking compulsions, where an individual is obsessed with the idea that they failed to do something, or failed to do it correctly (e.g., locked the door or turned off the stove). The OCD sufferer will feel compelled to repeatedly check that the task was completed in order to be satisfied that it was in fact completed, and/or completed properly. These obsessions and compulsive behaviours can be so pervasive and time-consuming that people with OCD have difficulty functioning at work, performing routine activities and relating to others. Many types of compulsive checking behaviours appear to be linked to prospective memory, defined as the ability to formulate intentions, plans and promises, to retain them, to recollect and carry them out appropriately. Carrie Cuttler’s preliminary research suggests that checking compulsions may develop to compensate for an impaired prospective memory—caused by either a real deficit, or by an individual’s own perception and beliefs about their “bad memory”. Now, she is conducting studies to compare prospective memory between non-checkers and checkers. By exploring the relationship between prospective memory and compulsions, Carrie hopes her research will point to ways to help OCD patients minimize their behaviours and anxieties, and improve their quality of life.
Role of galectin-1 in regeneration and repair following nerve injury
Neurons (nerve cells) send information from skin and muscles along projections (axons) for integration in the brain or spinal cord. Injury to neurons and their axons can result in loss of sensory and motor function. Injury to the axons within the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord, can be especially devastating since they cannot regrow. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), axons do have some capacity to regrow, but often fail to reconnect with proper targets in muscle and skin, leading to permanent loss of motor function and chronic pain. Andrew Gaudet is investigating the role of a protein called galectin-1 (Gal1) in regeneration after nerve injury. Increasing the levels of Gal1 in the area around the injured axon promotes axonal regrowth, and neurons that contain high levels of Gal1 can regrow better than those that do not have Gal1. Andrew is using mouse models to study the effects of different levels of Gal1 on the ability of axons to regrow in the central and peripheral nervous systems. By providing new insight into the mechanisms underlying regeneration, this research may lead to better functional recovery following peripheral nerve or spinal cord injury.
Trafficking of neuroligins during the formation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses
The brain is made up of millions of neurons that transmit signals to one another across synapses. An imbalance in the number of excitatory (glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) synapses in the brain is believed to underlie complex neurological disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Kimberly Gerrow was previously funded by MSFHR to investigate the molecular stages of synapse development in the hippocampus. Now, she is working to bring further understanding to the basic principles that dictate the number and strength of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in the brain. Specifically, she is investigating the role of a pre-assembled postsynaptic complex of scaffold proteins, which she hypothesizes dictates the number and strength of contacts formed between young neurons during development. She hopes her work may lead to new potential targets for therapy.
Combatting antibiotic resistance in MRSA: the structural biology of beta-lactam resistance regulation by the protease domain of Staphylococcus aureus protein BlaR1
Antibiotic resistant infections are becoming more widespread, posing serious threats to human health. For example, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are common on the skin of healthy people, but can cause serious infections if they penetrate the skin and enter the body. The antibiotic, methicillin, effectively treats most “staph” infections, but some bacteria have developed a resistance. As a result, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) outbreaks can be life-threatening in hospital wards, especially for patients with compromised immune systems. Even more worrisome is that new strains of MRSA that can infect and harm otherwise healthy people – called ‘community MRSA’ – are on the rise across Canada. Michael Gretes is investigating how MRSA bacteria turn their resistance genes off and on using two proteins. The first protein keeps the resistance turned off. Another protein has a scissor-like part. With no antibiotics around, the scissors are closed. When penicillin or methicillin is administered to try to kill the bacteria, the scissors receive a signal to cut the first protein, turning the antibiotic resistant genes on. Michael is x-raying protein crystals to determine how the scissor functions. This information may lead to new drugs to keep the scissors locked, which could be combined with antibiotics for patients with antibiotic resistant infections.
Preventing Vicarious Traumatization of Mental Health Therapists: Identifying Protective Practices
As part of their work, trauma therapists must listen to detailed descriptions by patients of horrific events such as abuse, violence and disasters. Over time, the psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and psychiatric nurses who treat seriously traumatized individuals are themselves at risk for vicarious traumatization and burnout. Richard Harrison is studying the factors that contribute to the resilience and health of trauma therapists. He will identify the individual characteristics, as well as the organizational practices, that help professionals succeed in their work and remain healthy. He hopes his work will help lessen the “costs of caring” for this group of health professionals, and prevent the loss of therapists who quit the profession because of burnout and vicarious traumatization.
Decision Making Related to Cancer Risk-Reduction Among BRCA1/2 Carriers
Women who learn through genetic testing that they are at high risk for developing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer may choose to undertake several risk-reducing strategies, including surgery, chemoprevention, and increased screening. An emerging body of research is beginning to describe high-risk women’s experiences and satisfaction upon adopting these risk-reducing strategies; however, little is known about how women come to make these decisions. Because of the highly personal nature of this decision, most health care providers attempt to support decision-making about risk-reducing strategies, rather than recommend particular courses of action. In order to support women and to develop and evaluate appropriate interventions, it is essential to understand how women arrive at these decisions. Fuchsia Howard is identifying the personal, psychological and social contextual factors that influence women’s decision-making about breast and ovarian cancer risk-reducing strategies. This research will contribute to an understanding of the impact of genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk on the psychological health and quality of life of women found to be at high-risk. This understanding will inform future development of appropriate interventions within programs offering genetic services.