Firefighters work in hazardous environments that may put them at risk of developing diseases such as cardiovascular disease. While job-related exposure to hazardous conditions is believed to increase firefighters’ risk of heart attack, there is little data available regarding their levels of exposure to hazardous work conditions and the risk associated with health outcomes. Canadian policy-makers are seeking new evidence to help them develop compensation programs and policies with regards to the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with work-related exposures among firefighters. Tracy Kirkham’s research is directed at identifying the types of hazardous exposures that may be related to an increased risk of heart attack among firefighters. Her study includes firefighters who had a heart attack while working at one of seven BC fire departments between 1984 and 2000. She is also monitoring and analyzing firefighters’ exposure to air pollutants and noise as well as using other indicators of exposure, such as signs of physiological stress, and numbers and types of fires fought. The results of this study may provide policy-makers with information to help inform decisions regarding compensation for work-related heart disease among firefighters. In addition, the results may be applied to other occupational groups with similar exposures to hazardous substances.
Research Location: University of British Columbia - Point Grey
Neuroprotective mechanism of connexin43
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in North America affecting about 16,000 Canadians each year. This disease causes a sudden loss of blood to an area of the brain typically due to blocked or ruptured blood vessels. Michael Kozoriz is studying how to reduce brain damage caused by stroke. The brain has two classes of cells – nerve cells (neurons) and glial cells. Neurons conduct electrical impulses, while glia surround, support and protect neurons. Glia are the most abundant cells in the central nervous system and are connected by a junction made of a protein called connexin43. Because these cells are physically attached they have the ability to share various molecules and nutrients. Studies have shown that stroke damage is less severe in the presence of connexin43, and damage is greater if the protein is absent. Michael is examining how connexin43 protects cells from death. He suspects the junctions remain open during a stroke, allowing neighbouring cells to share nutrients, much like neighbours helping a friend in need. His findings could explain how to protect the brain during stroke, and ultimately, lead to better treatments for this disease.
Involvement of myosin V in glutamate receptor trafficking in neurons
The molecules that are essential for normal brain functions are transported throughout neurons, travelling from the site of their formation to the specific location where they are activated. Defects in the transport and exchange of these molecules may affect brain activity and lead to neurological impairments such as epilepsy and mental retardation. Marie-France Lise is studying Myosin V, a family of proteins that may be important regulators of how molecules travel across neurons and reach their destinations. By characterizing how the Myosin V family regulates transport, she hopes to create a better understanding of how these processes contribute to essential brain development, learning and memory formation.
Bayesian propensity score analysis for pharmacoepidemiologic research
Data on prescription claims, health services provided, and hospital discharges are routinely collected in the Canadian health care system for the management of health services. This information is valuable for observational research assessing the effectiveness and safety of drug therapies, allowing more rapid and cost-effective investigations. In addition to yielding large sample sizes with long periods of follow up, they also better reflect the spectrum of medical practice in large populations compared to randomized clinical trials. However, because study participants are not randomly assigned to treatment and control groups through this methodology, findings may be biased if there is inadequate control of the variables. There is a need for new statistical tools to analyze healthcare administrative data. Lawrence McCandless is developing and investigating a new statistical method called a Bayesian propensity score analysis. Through computer simulations, mathematical techniques and models for drug prescribing patterns, the Bayesian analysis will improve the validity of observational investigations of the effectiveness and safety of drugs using large health care administrative databases.
Perfectionism and Social Rejection in the Development of Eating Disorder Symptoms
The causes of eating disorders are complex, yet a number of factors have emerged that may put individuals at increased risk for developing these disorders. These include social factors, such as social exclusion and personality traits, such as perfectionism. With support from a 2003 MSFHR Trainee Award, Brandy McGee studied how perfectionism combines with cultural influences, such as physical ideals suggested in advertisements, to cause eating disorders. Brandy is now exploring how multidimensional perfectionism interacts with experiences of social exclusion to produce eating disturbances. She is testing the hypothesis that social rejection will lead to an upswing in eating disturbances (such as binge eating, thoughts about food, negative mood, etc.) in individuals with high levels of social dimensions of perfectionism, but not in women with low levels of perfectionism. The outcomes of this study will help us better understand how social factors shape health status and enable us to better predict who is at risk for eating problems, and to intervene earlier to promote health.
Characterizing the role of sumoylation at the budding yeast kinetochore
Aneuploidy – the result of the uneven separation of two matching sets of chromosomes during cell division – is found in more than 70 per cent of cancers and is now widely accepted as a major predisposing condition to cancer initiation and progression. Benjamen Montpetit is studying the role of the kinetochore, a protein complex that is of fundamental importance to the equal separation of chromosomes during cell division. Using yeast cells as a model, his research into the components responsible for chromosome transmission will result in a better understanding of the events involved in creating aneuploid cells and will provide a mechanistic basis for understanding chromsome instability in human cancers.
Cell fate mapping of putative neural stem cells
Disease states such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke and spinal cord injury each affect the nervous system in what was once thought to be an irreversible manner. However, recent scientific evidence suggests that damaged areas of the nervous system may have their functions restored by transplantation of neural stem cells or by administration of molecules that coax the body’s neural stem cells to self-repair. To put this knowledge into practice, researchers require a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of stem cell development. Barbara Murdoch was previously funded by MSFHR to identify proteins specific to the surface of neural stem cells so she can study their growth requirements. Building on this, she is now using olfactory epithelium cells to determine the role of the protein nestin in the development of neural stem cells. She is studying which cell types express (produce) nestin and determining their pattern of expression. By understanding these mechanisms, she hopes to contribute key knowledge necessary for effective clinical applications requiring stem cell transplantation, expansion and gene or drug therapies.
Involvement of inducible nitric oxide synthase and nitrosative stress in vascular dysfunction in Diabetes
Cardiovascular complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetes – a disease that affects millions of people worldwide. The lack of specific treatments for these complications is due, in part, to the poor understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, e.g., the signalling pathways that might cause malfunction, and pathways that protect normal vascular function. In diabetes, there are changes in the ability of blood vessels to constrict and relax, which in turn can affect blood flow and blood pressure. Prabhakara Nagareddy is studying how blood vessels function in diabetes and the mechanisms directly relevant to the development of vascular disease. He is exploring the vasoconstrictory role of a well-known growth receptor (epidermal growth factor receptor) pathway and the vasodilatory inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) pathway in normal and diabetic arteries. By developing an understanding of how these pathways produce their effects, this research could facilitate the discovery of unique drug targets for future cardiovascular disease treatments, particularly for high blood pressure.
Alterations in hippocampus structure and function during pregnancy and motherhood. The role of corticosterone
Pregnancy and motherhood are life-changing events that often result in cognitive and mood disturbances. Research has shown decreased verbal recall and decreased spatial ability in women during the last trimester of pregnancy. Spatial memory relies in part on the integrity of the hippocampus in the brain, and on the steroid hormone corticosterone, but little is known about the effect of pregnancy and motherhood on these processes and how they relate to memory and learning. Jodi Pawluski is investigating the relationship between corticosterone, hippocampus structure and hippocampus-mediated learning and memory during pregnancy and motherhood. In addition to advancing understanding of how reproductive experience affects neurological, cognitive and hormonal processes in the mother, she hopes her work may contribute to the development of therapies for pregnancy-related diseases such as postpartum depression.
Aboriginal youth suicide and cultural continuity
Aboriginal youth in Canada have the highest suicide rate of any culturally distinct population in the world. In B.C., Aboriginal youth take their own lives twice as often as Aboriginal adults, and at a rate estimated at five to 20 times that of the non-native population. However, what these statistics fail to show is that rates of youth suicide vary dramatically across B.C.’s almost 200 Aboriginal bands. Ninety per cent of Aboriginal youth suicides occur in less than 10 per cent of the bands, and youth suicide is virtually unknown in a quarter of bands. Some Aboriginal communities are committed to their cultural past and invested in a shared future. For example, some Aboriginal bands have cultural facilities and a measure of communal control over health, education, policing and child welfare services. This cultural continuity has an impact on lowering suicide rates. Travis Proulx is investigating whether community efforts to teach Aboriginal youth their native language also predict future wellbeing. If young people who are competent in their native language are less likely to commit suicide or be involved in serious accidents, band councils and governments can use this information to design programs that build Aboriginal youth resilience and help prevent suicide.