Global COVID-19 vaccine distribution has been inequitable, with high-income countries afforded widespread access to vaccines and boosters, while among the low-income countries only 2 percent of individuals are vaccinated. Consequently, over 50 percent of the world’s population remains unvaccinated. Fortunately, however, data from vaccinated cohorts can inform the most efficient and effective community-level vaccination strategies for the unvaccinated populations. Currently approved mRNA vaccines were initially tested with dosing intervals of 21-28 days; however, this may lead to suboptimal immunity. Further, data informing the optimal timing and frequency of booster doses is lacking. This project will answer critical questions regarding the optimal vaccination strategies to achieve a robust long-lasting immune response. In this study I will employ data from a prospective national cohort of adult paramedics, providing sociodemographic data and serum blood samples. I will identify the optimal vaccination strategies to achieving a robust immune response at 12, 18 and 24 months, including examining differences between sex, race, and age. These data will inform ongoing global vaccination efforts, to maximize efficiency and long-term protection.
Research Location: University of British Columbia - Vancouver Campus
Impact of a combined exercise and counselling intervention on mental health in people with spinal cord injury who live with chronic pain: A psychobiological approach
People with spinal cord injury (SCI) who live with chronic pain report poorer mental health (e.g. depression and anxiety symptoms) than those without disability. Poor mental health can further limit social participation (including employment) and physical functioning, and increase the use of health care services. Therefore, there is a need for safe, accessible, and affordable strategies to improve pain and mental health in this population. Exercise may be an effective strategy, but it’s not known if people with SCI living with chronic pain also benefit. Forty-two adults with SCI reporting chronic pain will receive a personalized exercise prescription and weekly exercise counselling. An equal group will go on a waitlist. After six months, we will test for differences in mental health between the groups, and if changes in fitness, pain or social factors can explain these differences. We will interview participants to gather their perspectives on the program, and what we can do better to improve mental health. This study will be the first to test if exercising improves mental health, how much exercise is needed, and the processes by which exercise may improve mental health in people living with SCI and chronic pain.
The role of Inflammatory bowel disease in the development of Alzheimer’s disease
People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are six times as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and on average seven years sooner than people without IBD. IBD will affect 1 percent of Canadians in the next 10 years and there is no cure for this illness. IBD causes intestinal microbiome, neural, immune, and endocrine dysregulation, but the exact mechanisms that drive the development of Alzheimer’s and other dementias are unknown.
The goal of my research is to elucidate the mechanisms by which IBD increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia with the long-term goal of developing pharmacological interventions.
The relationship between the cortico-reticulospinal tract and motor function in stroke survivors
Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability in Canada that causes movement impairments on one side of the body. In cases of severe movement impairment, there is often extensive damage to the primary descending motor pathway in the brain originating from the opposite side of the body. When this pathway is damaged, secondary motor pathways are altered which may support recovery in these individuals. Several of these secondary motor pathways originate from the same side of the brain as the impaired limb and are therefore undamaged in cases of stroke. My research aims to comprehensively investigate the role of the secondary motor pathways in motor function with chronic stroke survivors that have severe movement impairments. This research will use a combination of state-of-the-art brain stimulation and brain imaging techniques to gain novel insight into the relationship between the secondary motor pathways and the control of voluntary movement. My research will provide valuable insight into the role of the alternative motor pathways. In turn this information can be used in clinical practice to implement rehabilitation strategies that lead to better recovery and improved quality of life in individuals with severe strokes.
Cryo-EM studies of activators and inhibitors of KCNQ1 and KCNQ1:KCNE1 channel complexes
Type 1 Long QT syndrome (LQT1) and Short QT syndrome (SQT) result in life-threatening irregular heartbeats that can cause sudden death. LQT1 affects around 1 in 2,500 adults, whereas SQT may impact twice as many individuals, with high prevalence of congenital LQT in a First Nations community in Northern BC. Current treatments are inefficient and therefore, new therapeutic strategies are needed. Abnormalities of the protein, KCNQ1, result in these diseases. Normal KCNQ1 function moves charged ions through heart membranes. We generally know how KCNQ1 functions in health and disease; however, the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood. We need to study the 3D structural changes that happen to KCNQ1 in the presence of certain compounds to understand how KCNQ1 functions. I will study the 3D structures of such complexes by using cryo-electron microscopy, a technique to study structural biology, and functional characterization. The new knowledge that will be produced will help better understand how such proteins cause disease and lead to new therapeutics for better human health.
Transforming prisons and improving health outcomes for people who use drugs: An evaluation of BC’s prison-based therapeutic community
People with substance use disorders (SUD) are more likely than those without SUD to be sent to prison and to experience negative outcomes after release. Prisons are not typically ideal environments to treat complex health issues including SUD. Therapeutic communities (TCs) offer an alternative to traditional forms of punishment, providing the environment for belonging and relationship-building, through activities such as group-based therapy, education/work, and community participation. The proposed study will evaluate Guthrie House, BC’s first and only prison-based TC which opened in 2007 at Nanaimo Correctional Centre. The study aims to identify the TC-related mechanisms of change associated with health and criminal justice outcomes, and will involve three main components: a survey with TC clients, interviews with TC and correctional staff, and linked administrative data analyses. This study has the potential to identify promising approaches to supporting people with SUD who experience incarceration. This work will add meaningfully to the policy initiatives in BC focused on reducing overdose and increasing access to SUD care.
Post-transcriptional regulation of hematopoietic stem cell function during normal and malignant hematopoiesis
In 2016, there were approximately 22,510 Canadians living with leukemia and an estimated 2,900 Canadians died from leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most common types of leukemia in adults. About 30 percent of AML patients eventually relapse after treatment and suffer from very poor overall survival at this stage. It is postulated that leukemia stem cells (LSCs), a small population of leukemia cells characterized with regenerative ability, mediate resistance and relapse after therapy. My work sought to uncover the largely unknown role of the processes that control protein generation in maintaining blood stem cells and how it contributes to transformation of leukemia stem cells in cancer. This research program aims to identify new factors, which can serve as targetable molecules and pathways to specifically eliminate leukemia cells while sparing normal cells. The work will provide the scientific foundation for future developments of therapy targeting these pathways as a novel strategy in eradicating leukemia stem cells to improve outcomes in AML patients.
Light and drug delivery coupled with biomaterials to improve motor function after spinal cord injury in animal models
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating condition with no available cure directly affecting ~80,000 Canadians. The major challenges to overcome include: i) the limited spontaneous regeneration of nerve fibers (axons) after the injury; ii) scar tissue formation at the injury site (lesion), which inhibits the growth of axons; and iii) the difficulty in guiding axons to grow across the lesion. The present work proposes a novel solution that combines optical stimulation technology and biomaterials to promote axonal growth, inhibit the formation of scar tissue using targeted drug delivery, and guide growing axons across the lesion. My team has developed fully implantable multifunctional neural probes for the delivery of both light and drugs to the spinal cord injury site as well as biomaterials to guide the growth to axons across the lesion. The MSFHR Scholar Program would support our work to integrate these strategies and create a therapy that helps us understand the combined effects of light stimulation, drug delivery, and axon guidance on motor function recovery after SCI in animal models. The outcomes will support treatment development for SCI based on a better mechanistic understanding of regeneration.
Development of an ex-vivo-in-silico framework to inform medication use decisions for breastfeeding women
Children can inadvertently be exposed to the medications their mothers receive through breastmilk. As such, breastfeeding mothers need to weigh both the risks and benefits of medication use for themselves as well as their children. Unfortunately, the majority of drugs prescribed to breastfeeding women lack sufficient information to understand these risks. Due to this lack of information, women may opt to delay needed drug therapy or discontinue breastfeeding altogether — choices that can negatively impact the health of both mother and child. The proposed research program looks to address this information gap by combining lab-based studies with advanced computer modelling to predict how drug intake by the mother translates to drug exposure in the breastfed child. Lab-based studies will answer the question, “How much drug is present in breastmilk?” Whereas, advanced computing will be used to create virtual children and mothers to answer the question, “How much of the drug administered to the mother will be transferred to the breastfeeding child?” This will work ultimately serve to provide breastfeeding women and their caregivers with vital information to make the decisions regarding safe and effective drug therapy.
Kitchen table justice: Co-developing Indigenous-informed food justice participatory action research strategy to support holistic health and redress health inequities with paroled women in BC
This grant will support research planning with women who have been recently incarcerated and will directly support future research guided by Indigenous approaches to holistic health and health equity through food-based program development. We will build relationships with paroled research users through the making and sharing of food, and the inclusion of research users, stakeholders and Indigenous Elders in all activities. Specifically, we will: (i) conduct a literature synthesis on the potentials of food justice to support holistic health equity for women on parole, and (ii) meet bi-weekly to: (a) collaboratively develop a terms of reference and governance structure that outlines team roles and responsibilities and decision-making processes; (b) engage in co-learning about food-related health and social inequities to develop a shared understanding of the potentials of food to support health; and (c) explore potential solutions and actions to redress overlapping health, prison and food inequities. Additionally, we will: (d) collaboratively plan and develop a grant application to support subsequent research to co-develop a food justice health intervention with and for women leaving prison in BC.
Team members: Angel Willard (Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver); Kelsey Timler (UBC); Lisa Bowden (Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver); Nyki Kish-Field (University of Fraser Valley); Lyana Patrick (Simon Fraser University); Valerie Napoleon (University of Victoria)