While an estimated 30 per cent of British Columbians living with HIV are also infected with Hepatitis C, which is becoming a leading cause of death among HIV-positive people, the issue of co-infection has received relatively little attention. Paula Braitstein hopes to change that by focusing her research on how to most effectively treat people who are co-infected with the diseases. By analysing data from the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study and Drug Treatment Program of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, she hopes to answer outstanding questions, such as whether patients fare better when treated for Hepatitis C before beginning HIV treatment. Braitstein believes that finding these answers will have a profound and timely impact on treatment of co-infected individuals. This project builds on a significant body of HIV work that Braitstein has already accumulated. Her goal is to make a substantial contribution to the health of Canadians through a research career in epidemiology.
Year: 2001
Impact of a Targeted Intervention on Parental Administration of Post-operative Analgesia
In her Masters research, Rebecca Pillai Riddell identified significant factors that predict parental attitudes toward administering pain medication to children after surgery. Now she’s taking this work one step further by recruiting parents of children undergoing day care surgery at B.C.’s Children’s Hospital for a project assessing the effectiveness of a targeted intervention designed to dispel common parental myths and misconceptions about proper pain management. Given that parents play a key role in post-operative pain management, Rebecca is testing the effectiveness of this intervention on parents identified as more likely to under-medicate, and parents identified as less likely to under-medicate. She hopes the study will help bridge the gap between laboratory research and the everyday experience of children with post-operative pain.
Estimation Of Cochlear Thresholds Using Multiple Auditory Steady-State Responses In Infant and Adult Subjects
Susan Small’s research examines an advanced method to test hearing in infants, young children and others who cannot be assessed through traditional testing techniques. The method focuses on Auditory Steady State Responses (ASSRs), objective measures of response to sound stimuli in the areas of the brain involved in hearing. Past research on ASSRs, which test multiple frequencies in both ears simultaneously, has shown their reliability in measuring air-conducted sounds. Small is assessing the method’s reliability in estimating bone-conducted sounds. Reliable measurements of bone-conduction thresholds help determine whether surgery, hearing aids or other rehabilitation strategies are most appropriate for an individual. Small, whose experience includes nine years of clinical practice in audiology, intends to devote her research career to gaining a better understanding of the human auditory system. Ultimately, she hopes this research will lead to more effective early intervention for patients with hearing impairment.
Becoming a Nurse: The Micro and Macro Construction of First Nations Nursing Students' Experience in a Western Canadian School of Nursing
Canada’s First Nations communities are experiencing their worst nursing shortage in 30 years. First Nations health care professionals are the most effective nursing personnel in their own communities, yet efforts to recruit and retain them in nursing schools have been largely unsuccessful. The little research done on this issue indicates there are barriers to be bridged, including a feeling among First Nations nurses that they must compromise their traditional beliefs and culture to succeed in nursing education. In her doctoral research, Donna Martin is developing a clearer picture of these barriers. Her research involves interviews with students, faculty, health care professionals, First Nations elders and others, along with classroom observation and analysis of course materials, textbooks and university policies. Martin hopes the research will ultimately help nursing schools develop more effective recruitment and retention strategies for First Nations nurses.
The clinical and economic outcomes of patients with lumbar disc herniation and sciatica
Lower back and leg pain from a herniated disk and sciatica (pain on the sciatic nerves) is one of the most common causes of chronic disability and workplace absenteeism. Treatment approaches are inconsistent as there is still much to learn about this condition. Dr. Jeffrey Quon hopes to address this knowledge gap by comparing the long-term outcomes for patients treated through surgery and non-surgical therapies at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre. Quon’s research aims to identify the physical, psychosocial and clinical factors that contribute to early or delayed recovery. Another goal is to identify patients at risk for chronic disability and help physicians make informed decisions about which cases will respond best to surgical or non-surgical treatments. Quon, whose diverse background includes chiropractic training and research in complementary medicine, hopes this work will culminate in cost-effective therapies that prevent long-term disability.
The evaluation of human telemanipulation under spatial misalignment conditions in minimally invasive surgery
Bin Zheng isn’t daunted by challenge. At 16, he entered medical school. By age 27, he was a specialist in pediatric orthopedic surgery at a hospital affiliated with China Medical University. Now he is in Canada focusing his efforts on research to refine and improve the technology used in minimally invasive surgery. Because of more rapid healing and other benefits, this surgical practice is increasingly common. Zheng is working on an issue, which he has experienced first-hand, that occurs when images projected by the tiny cameras inserted into the body to guide the surgeon’s action do not align exactly with the area of the body on which the surgeon is working. His immediate goals are to assess the effects of this misalignment on surgical performance and patient outcome and also look for ways of improving the technology. In the long term, Zheng hopes to use these findings in the development of a systematic approach (scientific methodology) that can be applied to the evaluation of any new health technology.
Moment-to-Moment: Narratives of Mindfully Living-and-Dying
Anne Bruce’s research focused on the potential for mindfulness meditation to promote a better quality of living and dying by reducing stress and anxiety. Mindfulness meditation, which involves nonjudgmental and moment-to-moment awareness of change within a person’s mind and body, has been researched extensively for the last decade. But little research has been done on the experience of people with life-threatening illness and hospice caregivers who practice this form of meditation. At the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, where care is based on mindfulness meditation, Anne conducted extensive fieldwork while working as a volunteer caregiver. Through in-depth unstructured conversations, she gained insights about new ways of understanding death and dying, and their meaning for those holding non-theistic, non-Western perspectives. Anne hopes findings from this research will help enhance understanding of mindfulness meditation as a self-care practice for people with life-threatening illness. Ultimately, she hopes her work will help program planners develop new models of hospice care and support services that address psychological and spiritual needs of people with life-threatening illness and their caregivers.
Menstrual pain and discomfort in adolescence: Socialization influences
Tina Wang’s interests in health psychology and peer influences prompted her to examine a problem that is a major cause of missed school days among adolescent girls – menstrual pain and discomfort. Most adolescents fail to manage their pain effectively. But virtually no research has been done on how adolescent girls influence each other’s attitudes towards pain. Wang’s study will focus on similarities and differences in the attitudes and coping behaviours of adolescent girls related to menstrual pain. Identifying peer influences could lead to the development of school programs that help adolescent girls manage menstrual pain more effectively, resulting in better health and fewer missed school days. Wang’s long-term goal is to contribute to women’s health by developing a better understanding of the social factors that influence health.
Lymphocyte defects in X-linked lymphoproliferative disease
Dr. Ala Aoukaty has spent nine years investigating anti-viral and anti-tumour cells. Aoukaty’s doctoral research focused on understanding the signalling process that occurs after receptors on the surface of cells are engaged. That experience provided him with a strong background to conduct postdoctoral research on X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP), a fatal disorder caused by a genetic mutation and characterized by severe infectious mononucleosis, immune deficiency and malignant lymphomas (tumours). A large Aboriginal family that carries the genetic mutation has been identified. Aoukaty will isolate and study cells from XLP patients and carriers of the disease in the family to study the abnormal immune responses at work. The research will shed light on how the immune system specifically responds to Epstein-Barr virus, which causes infectious mononucleosis, provide insights in general about lymphoproliferative disorders (diseases of immune system tissue), and enable the testing of gene replacement therapies.
Role of Membrane Binding in Regulation of the Activators of Ras
Dr. Joanne Johnson’s research examines events at the molecular level that ultimately lead to cell growth. Among the events is activation of cell surface receptors by ligand molecules, which leads to generation of specialized lipids in the cell membrane. These lipids act as signals to promote membrane binding and activation of proteins. Johnson is assessing the role of Diacylglycerol (DAG), and two newly identified proteins, RasGRP and CalDAG1. Johnson is specifically investigating how DAG and other lipids influence membrane binding and activity of RasGRP and CalDAG1, which function to activate the Ras protein, a critical switch in the control of cell growth. Knowledge of this process may lead to development of specific inhibitor drugs controlling cell growth and defending against tumours.