Almost one in five British Columbians will experience mental illness during their lifetime and nearly three per cent of the population suffers from severe and persistent mental illness. Research reveals that mothers with serious mental illness face stigma, isolation, poverty, the challenges of single parenthood, problems accessing affordable and safe housing as well as difficulty finding and keeping employment. The health care system has an important role to play in supporting mothers with serious mental illness. But little is known about the policies and services that are effective in supporting women with serious mental illness. Tasnim Nathoo is exploring the health care experiences of mothers with serious mental illness and the barriers they encounter when trying to access support. Tasnim will use this information to develop recommendations on how BC communities can better structure health services to meet the needs of mothers with mental health issues.
Year: 2002
Mechanisms of reflexive social attention
In her recent research, Jelena Ristic has shown that young children and adults will automatically shift attention to the direction of another person’s gaze. Gaze following behavior emerges shortly after birth, when babies start to follow their parents’ faces and eyes as a cue to interesting events in their surroundings. Consequently, gaze following has been tied to developmental milestones such as language acquisition and social cognitive development. In contrast to healthy children, children affected by social disorders, like autism, show little interest in the human face and often avoid eye contact. Jelena’s current research with healthy children will help identify how developmental milestones are reached and what parts of the brain are responsible for processing of social stimuli. This knowledge may offer a better understanding of human development in general as well as help identify the possible causes of pervasive social disorders such as autism.
Effect of a training program on postural reflexes in individuals with chronic stroke: A randomized controlled study
Stroke is the number one cause of neurological disability in Canada. Following a stroke, people may experience paralysis, or loss of motor function, in the muscles controlling one side of the body. As a result, people with stroke can have difficulty maintaining balance when standing or walking. In fact, the incidence of falls among people who have had a stroke has been reported as high as 73 per cent within a six-month period following the stroke. Daniel Marigold is conducting the first study to assess whether an exercise program can improve the reflexes that control balance in people with chronic stroke. He will measure postural reflexes before and after a 10-week training program to see if they improve. Study participants will stand on a large platform, which suddenly moves under their feet. A harness will prevent people from falling and electrodes will measure muscle activity. If this study shows improvement in postural reflexes with training, an exercise program could be implemented in the community to help people with chronic stroke.
Pharmacogenetics of codeine metabolism to morphine in pediatric dental patients
Pharmacogenetics-the study of how genetic makeup affects an individual’s response to drugs-fascinates Evan Kwong. The field addresses the underlying causes of why drugs may affect people differently, bringing the study of genetics into a practical, clinical setting. In the future, having access to a patient’s genetic profile could help clinicians more quickly and accurately select the right therapy. Evan’s research focuses on the common painkiller codeine, which produces pain relief as it is metabolized into morphine by a liver enzyme. A genetic variation in 25 to 40 per cent of people of Chinese descent appears to be associated with decreased function of this liver enzyme. Evan hopes to determine whether people who carry this genetic variation metabolize codeine less effectively. With that knowledge, clinicians could offer other drugs that will be effective.
Identification and characterization of proteins that interact with the androgen receptor to modulate its activity
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. Advanced prostate cancer is often treated with androgen withdrawal therapy, which blocks the growth-promoting effects of androgens (such as testosterone). Unfortunately, while this treatment is initially effective in reducing prostate growth, the usual outcome is an untreatable, androgen-independent form of cancer, where the prostate gland grows without androgens. Latif Wafa is investigating how this change to androgen-independent growth occurs. He is focusing on the process in which androgen binds to a receptor that is essential to prostate growth and death. The receptor is believed to continue to have a role in prostate growth even when androgens are blocked. Latif is looking for possible genetic alterations to the receptors, as well as potential changes to other proteins that also interact with the receptors. Ultimately, he hopes to identify new molecular targets to block prostate growth in advanced cancer.
The role of the integrin-linked kinase in intestinal inflammation
Affecting roughly one in 1,000 people in western populations, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These conditions cause chronic inflammation of the large and small bowel and ultimately lead to severe tissue damage. Current therapies can relieve and treat symptoms, but neither a cause nor a cure has been established for these disorders. It is believed that integrin-linked kinase, an enzyme that is known to be responsible for a number of different cellular functions, may play a key role in IBD. Kuljit Parhar is investigating the role of integrin-linked kinase in regulating the chronically activated inflammatory response found in IBD. Learning about how the inflammatory response is regulated could lead to more effective treatments for IBD.
Insights into the molecular interaction within the Hepatitis C virus heterodimeric serine protease: A prime target for therapeutic intervention
An estimated quarter million Canadians are infected with the hepatitis C virus, a chronic disease that inflames and damages the liver and, in some people, can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. There is currently no effective therapy to treat hepatitis C, nor any vaccine to prevent its transmission. Morgan Martin is studying the function of the HCV NS3 protease, an enzyme required for the hepatitis C virus to make copies of itself inside a cell. Morgan hopes to better understand how this interaction works, so she can identify potential ways to interfere with its functioning. This approach, known as protease inhibition, has already proven useful in drug treatment for HIV infection and may lead to new, effective interventions for hepatitis C.
The influence of Lipid Transfer Protein I on the binding and transfer of Cyclosporine A between lipoproteins
Mona Kwong’s research focuses on gaining a better understanding of how the body responds to drugs whose molecular structure is similar to that of lipids (fatty, waxy or oily compounds that are major structural components of living cells). Mona is studying cyclosporine, a drug with a lipid-like structure that is used primarily to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients. One of the major potential complications of cyclosporine is that it can behave differently from one patient to the next. For example, a dosage that works for one person may cause toxicity in another. Previous studies have shown a link between patients’ cholesterol levels and their toxicity with the use of cyclosporine. Mona hopes to determine whether lipid transfer protein I and a protein that transports lipids such as cholesterol and is also involved in binding and transporting cyclosporine. A better understanding of this mechanism and the factors that affect it will help provide an explanation for the differences and inconsistencies seen in patients taking cyclosporine. Clinicians could then measure different cholesterol levels in patients, predict the level of cyclosporine that would cause toxicity, and adjust the dosage to prevent adverse side effects
RNA expression profiles of ABC transporters in fetal liver and acute myeloid leukemia side population stem cells
Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into different types of tissue cells in the human body, and are often involved in the onset of cancer, especially leukemia. Like other cells in the body, stem cells activate a diverse family of proteins that pump different substances in and out of cells, called ABC transporters. In normal cells, these proteins pump toxic substances out and useful ones in. But some of these proteins also pump anti-cancer drugs out of cancer cells, causing the treatment to fail. Maria Ho is researching how ABC transporters in stem cells can cause drug resistance in leukemia. Maria is measuring the level of ABC transporters in chemo-refractory and responsive leukemic stem cells to determine which transporters are required for normal functions and which ones are related to cancer. This research will help explain the course of the disease and lead to more effective cancer treatments to target the transporters involved in leukemia.
The neuromuscular and sensorimotor basis of balance recovery
Falls and related injuries cause loss of independence, reduce quality of life, and increase mortality among elderly people. Fall-related injuries cost Canadians $3.6 billion in 1995. Consequently, reducing the incidence and severity of falls is an important health priority. Dawn Mackey is comparing young and elderly study participants to measure the variables that govern our ability to recover balance following unexpected movements. Maintaining a stable upright posture is essential to daily activities such as walking, turning and rising. However, postural stability declines as we age. Dawn will assess whether balance recovery depends on the strength and speed of muscle response, simultaneous contraction of front and back ankle muscles, where someone’s mental attention is focused, and the intactness and speed of sight and hearing. She hopes the research can be used to design exercise and rehabilitation programs to prevent falls among elderly people.