DNA sequencing is creating a new age of health and medicine that is more personalized and targeted than ever before Sitting in an office cluttered with books and papers, Dr. Terry Snutch, professor at UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, picks up a small rectangular object. Compact and light enough to carry in a pocket,…
Canada is known internationally for the excellence of its medical research, particularly in the field of infectious disease. When the first SARS outbreak struck in 2003, the viral sequence was determined quickly and efficiently in Vancouver. The Ebola vaccine, currently used to limit the spread of this deadly virus, was developed in Winnipeg. Across Canada, many scientists and researchers are…
Researchers have uncovered the important role of CD4+ T-cells in characterizing disease severity for people with the common bacterial infection. Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is the leading cause of gastroenteritis-associated death in North America, and infects around half a million Americans annually. While most people affected will fully recover, new research from Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) scientist Dr. Theodore Steiner…
Acuitas Therapeutics is pleased to announce that Steve Arns has joined the team as Director of Chemistry. Dr. Arns comes to the newly created position on the Acuitas executive from adMare BioInnovations, where he most recently was a senior scientist in the medicinal chemistry department. Prior to that, Dr. Arns was a scientist with the Centre for Drug Research and…
Every species on Earth possesses a characteristic genome, shaped by millions of years of evolution. Through the study of genomes—the complete genetic and inheritable information of an organism—we can explore life’s diversity, better understand how species are related, how they develop together to create ecosystems, foster conservation, and uncover the biology of health and disease for all living things. The…
Over a year has passed since the pandemic hit Canada and the lockdowns began. While businesses, schools, institutions, public and health services were forced to shut down or reinvent themselves, so too were scientific research laboratories. Live experiments, grant funded research and educational activities ground to a halt as scientists around the world refocused their efforts on tackling the COVID-19…
Burnaby-based Symvivo Corporation announced Monday the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) is earmarking $4.6 million to support the clinical advancement of the company’s vaccine candidate known as bacTRL-Spike. Symvivo previously received $2.8 million in IRAP funding last fall for the room-temperature stable vaccine candidate. Unlike the jabs Canadians are presently getting in the ongoing…
A future where autism care is personalized to fit an individual’s unique genetic makeup is now one step closer to reality, thanks to a new big data initiative. Known as the Autism Sharing Initiative, the project is bringing together autism researchers from around the world to create the first global network for sharing clinical and genetic data—a move that will accelerate…
The Board of Directors of the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) announces the appointment of Jim Woodgett, a senior scientist based at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI), part of Sinai Health in Toronto, as its new President and Scientific Director effective Aug. 1. Dr. Woodgett is an accomplished research leader and senior scientist with a track record for excellence and…
Microglia—the immune cells of the brain—have been an important area of study over the last decade, especially with respect to their impact on brain disorders. In a recently published paper, DMCBH member Dr. Annie Ciernia and her team used an open science platform to help researchers understand how certain genes are regulated in microglia. “There has been a large amount of…