There is currently no cure for HIV because the virus is able to persist in the body even during long-term antiretroviral therapy. BC-CfE scientists have published new research that characterizes in detail the HIV sequences that persist in the bodies of viremic controllers. Viremic controllers are a rare group of people whose immune systems naturally control HIV replication to low…
Solid tumour perfusion can be unstable, creating transiently hypoxic cells that can contribute to radiation resistance. We investigated the in vivo lifetime of transiently hypoxic tumour cells and chronically hypoxic tumour cells during tumour growth and following irradiation. Hypoxic cells in SiHa and WiDr human tumour xenografts were labelled using pimonidazole and EF5, and turnover was quantified as the loss…
Dena Shahriari is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC. Her research involves both engineering and medicine in pursuit of tackling major disabilities. We asked her everything from her admiration for the poet Ferdowsi Tusi to her mother being the inspiration for her career direction in hopes of giving you a better understanding of what goes on outside…
Research Infosource Inc., a Canadian R&D consulting firm, has released its annual ranking of Canada’s top 40 research hospitals. The Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI), combined with Providence Research, is ranked fifth, with $164.7 million in research funding for 2021. Research funding allows VCHRI to compete and attract leading research clinicians and scientists from around the world. VCHRI’s diverse research…
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:XENE), a neurology-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced that its collaboration to develop treatments for epilepsy with Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) achieved a regulatory milestone, which has triggered an aggregate payment of $15.0 million to Xenon. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted Neurocrine’s protocol amendment that expands the study population to include subjects aged between 2 and 11 years in…
The Canadian arm of the world’s largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics has shown that the antiviral medicine remdesivir reduces the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The results were published today in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The study, called the Canadian Treatments for COVID-19 (CATCO) trial, is part of the World Health Organization’s global Solidarity trial which…
Taking brain research in promising new directions is at the heart of a new Simon Fraser University (SFU) research institute, to be led by renowned neuroscientist Randy McIntosh. The SFU Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (INN), based at the Burnaby campus, will serve as a hub for research, training and engagement, bringing together researchers from across SFU and supporting interdisciplinary…
At some B.C. COVID-19 vaccine clinics, including the province’s largest at the Vancouver Convention Centre, patients are given a choice between receiving Pfizer or Moderna for their booster shot. Joshua Mann, who had Pfizer for his first two doses, chose Moderna for his booster during his appointment on Thursday. “My friends and I were talking about it today, because a…
Read the Publication This week we profile a recent publication in Development from Matthew Shannon (pictured, right) in Dr. Alexander Beristain’s (left) lab at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and UBC. Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus? Our lab is interested in the cellular and molecular processes that direct early development of the human placenta,…
A COVID-19 treatment developed in partnership between Vancouver biotech AbCellera Biologics Inc. (Nasdaq:ABCL) and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) thrust B.C.’s life science sector into the spotlight much of the past year. AbCellera went public in December 2020 – reaching unicorn status after its blockbuster IPO raised US$555 million – and soon after unveiled plans to build…
