While family and friends of people living with arthritis have been identified as key sources of support, little research has been done on the specific role and impact of their support. Research suggests the well-being of patients with arthritis suffers when their spouses don’t understand what support they need. Through interviews and focus groups, Allen Lehman is identifying the types of support that arthritis patients want and need from family and friends. He is also identifying ways to increase positive support and assessing how support improves health and reduces health care costs. Lehman will use the results to develop a health education program for arthritis patients and their family and friends. Ultimately, Lehman hopes this research will provide a model for identifying support needs in people with other chronic illness.
Year: 2001
The Early Identification and Intervention for Children At-risk for Developing Dyslexia
Dyslexia affects a person’s ability to process language in order to learn to read. If undetected and untreated, the neurological disorder can lead to antisocial behaviour, depression, suicide and other consequences. Nonie Lesaux’s initial research on dyslexia revealed the persistent nature of literacy problems in adults, convincing her of the critical need to identify children at-risk of developing the disorder and intervene at an early stage. Now Lesaux is researching the effectiveness of a kindergarten intervention program for at-risk students, with a particular interest in the social and environmental factors that compound this disorder. Because dyslexia often goes undetected among low-income groups and those who speak English as a second language (ESL), Lesaux is specifically focusing on the effectiveness of the intervention program for children from low-income and ESL families. She hopes that a key result of the research will be a kindergarten screening tool to easily and accurately identify dyslexia in children.
The hierarchical structure and function of social support as a quality of life determinant among community dwelling older adults with chronic lung disease
The number of older adults with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis, is steadily growing in BC. Spouses are often the only source of support for people living with these diseases, yet little research has been done on their supportive role or on alternative forms of support. Gail Low hopes to address these gaps by researching support systems that promote well-being and help older adults cope with lung disease. Her research involves asking older adults to identify how and why their support systems work to help provide direction for new lung health services. She is also developing a map of meaningful support systems as a model to guide existing community health programs.
Assessing the Mental Health of Canadians: What are we measuring and How Does it Relate to Health Care Utilization?
Many studies have identified socio-economic status as a major factor affecting health. Christopher Richardson is narrowing the focus to look specifically at the relationship between socio-economic status, mental health and health care usage. This study involves the use of sophisticated statistical technologies to analyze data from National Population Health Surveys on factors affecting health such as education, income and mental health. Richardson hopes this work will lead to a better understanding of mental health and the ability to more precisely measure mental health and its connection to health care usage.
Mapping the socio-cognitive determinants of bullying and victimization: Preventative steps toward reducing childhood aggression
Bullying and victimization plague one in five Canadian children and the incidence and severity of such behaviours is increasing. Even more alarming are the long-term consequences of this behaviour, including delinquency and abusive behaviour in adulthood for bullies, and depression and suicidal behaviour for victims. Most programs designed to prevent bullying and victimization emphasize controlling and monitoring children’s lives, with limited success. Bryan Sokol’s research takes a different approach. Sokol is putting together psychological profiles of children who are routinely aggressive and those who engage in bullying. His study aims to identify the internal, or psychological factors that distinguish non-aggressive children from bullies. Sokol, who has previously researched suicide among First Nations adolescents, hopes his study will ultimately lead to more effective prevention of the health problems resulting from childhood aggression.
The Contribution of Auditory Temporal Processing to Speech Perception in Noise: Speech Comprehension Deficits in the Elderly
A common and frustrating difficulty for the elderly is understanding speech in everyday conversation, especially where the background is noisy. People commonly report that different sound sources are “Jumbled” (e.g. voices, background sounds). We propose that the brain relies on high fidelity transmission of sound codes and compares their timing in order to sort out different sound sources: When auditory neurons are activated in synchrony, their activity is perceived as representing a single sound source. Conversely, asynchronous activation conveys the presence of multiple sources. We hypothesize that age-related changes in auditory neurons introduce timing errors to the sound code, thereby compromising the use of synchrony to separate multiple sounds during perception. We will simulate this age-related hearing disorder by altering the temporal structure of speech to disrupt neural synchrony and speech perception in noise so that younger listeners experience elderly-like difficulties understanding speech in noise. In parallel, we will simulate the disorder in established computer models of auditory neurons to delineate the influence of reduced signal fidelity on sound codes and synchrony binding in the brain. The long-term goal of this research is the development of a novel hearing test battery designed to address speech-in-noise problem. We also hope to contribute to the development of novel hearing aid technology, where the device employs the temporal structure of sound to separate a single voice from the noisy environment. Currently, hearing aid technology entails the indiscriminant amplification of all sounds in the listener’s environment.
Utilization of large-scale genomic yeast modifier screens in the identification of unique genes required for chromosome segregation
Chromosome segregation is a fundamentally important process for human cells. When cells divide, they normally ensure both daughter cells receive one copy of each chromosome. But defects in this process can cause cells to lose chromosomes or receive extra ones. Inaccurate chromosome segregation can lead to diseases such as cancer. Despite the importance of this process, researchers are just beginning to identify and understand the genes and molecular mechanisms involved. Dr. Kristin Baetz is investigating the genes and mechanisms needed to ensure accurate chromosome segregation. Baetz is developing a genomic screen to identify unique genes in a genetic yeast model, whose genome and cell biology are remarkably similar to that of humans. Building knowledge about chromosome instability could lead to new treatments for common forms of cancer.
Analysis of altered gene expression in YAC transgenic mouse models for Huntington disease
Research has confirmed that an inherited mutation in the huntingtin protein causes Huntington disease, a progressive and ultimately fatal neurological disorder that usually starts in mid-life. There is much more to be learned about the onset and course of the disease and there is no effective treatment. Dr. Edmond Chan is addressing those gaps by profiling gene expression in mice with Huntington disease. His research aims to identify altered patterns of gene expression that link with early, mid and late stages of the disease. The profile may identify genes involved in initiating the process that leads to progressive damage and death of brain cells. Chan will formulate and test specific theories that connect gene expression patterns with the molecular development of Huntington disease. Ultimately, genes identified in the research could suggest treatment strategies to improve quality of life for patients with the disorder.
Early events of infection and genome adaptation to parasitism in Microsporidia
Microsporidia are a group of parasites composed of just a single cell, but are found to infect all known animals – including humans – and can be fatal to people with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS or transplant patients. Microsporidia grow and multiply inside their host cells, but they exist outside of their hosts as spores that can infect nearby cells. Dr. Naomi Fast is striving to understand the cellular signals that the parasite uses to infect cells. She is examining and comparing what genes are expressed before and after spores infect their hosts, to identify genes that are specifically activated during infection. Identifying these genes could point to potential targets for drug treatments.
Characterization of the Ctf3/Mcm22/Mcm16 outer kinetochore complex; a link to the yeast spindle pole body
In order for cells to grow properly, chromosomes must accurately separate to opposite poles of the dividing cell. Mistakes in this process can lead to cancer due to instability of the chromosomes. Dr. Vivien Measday is using a yeast model to study chromosome segregation. She has a particular interest in the centromere, the region of the chromosome required for proper segregation, and the kinetochore, which consists of centromere DNA and its associated proteins. Using genetic screens, Measday is identifying and characterizing kinetochore proteins. Studying these proteins will increase understanding of why chromosomal instability occurs in cancer cells and in other disorders such as Down’s syndrome.