Qu Biologics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs), a unique platform of immunotherapies designed to “reboot” the body’s innate immune system, has identified specific ulcerative colitis (UC) genetic markers that may predict response to QBECO SSI therapy and important immunological biomarkers that may be used to track response. These discoveries came from genetic and cytokine analyses of Qu Biologics’…
Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS) or asthma-COPD overlap captures the subset of patients with airways disease who have features of both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although definitions of ACOS vary, it is generally thought to encompass persistent airflow limitation in a patient older than 40 years of age with either a history of asthma or large bronchodilator reversibility.…
MSFHR is delighted to convene the first MSFHR Research Leaders Forum, a group of internationally recognized researchers who will advise the Foundation on the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping health research at provincial, national and international levels. Following a nomination process, the MSFHR Board of Directors has selected 15 distinguished researchers from across the broad spectrum of BC health research to…
InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel, cannabinoid-based drug therapies, announced today an update to its investors and stakeholders on the significant advancements in its proprietary technology for the microbial biosynthesis of cannabinoids. InMed has successfully demonstrated that it can selectively produce all four “gateway” cannabinoids using genetically engineered microorganisms. These molecules can be…
We are very pleased to congratulate our BC Children’s Hospital investigators, recipients of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) 2017 Reach Awards. The MSFHR Reach Program provides funding for teams of researchers and research users to support the dissemination and effective uptake of research evidence to inform and improve further research, practice and policy-making. Dr. Tim Oberlander, co-lead…
Islet macrophages reside in the perivascular space next to islet blood vessels. They are long-lived and self-renewing, maintaining about two to ten macrophages per islet [1]. However, more than three decades after the first description of islet macrophages [2], our knowledge regarding the biological role of these cells is limited (reviewed in [3]). Emerging evidence indicates that islet macrophages are…
TxCell SA a developer of cellular immunotherapies based on regulatory T cells (Tregs) for inflammation, autoimmunity and transplantation, today announces details on the new proof-of-concept preclinical data presented at the 18th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT), held in Barcelona, Spain, on September 24-27, 2017. The oral presentation made by Prof. Megan Levings describes positive data obtained with proprietary…
Dr. Srinivas Abbina, a postdoctoral fellow in the Kizhakkedathu research group, has been awarded the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Trainee Award. Dr. Abbina was among 32 postdoctoral researchers selected from a highly competitive applicant pool in Biomedical, Clinical, and Population Health research across British Columbia. The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) was established in memoriam of Nobel…
Dr. Louise Lund is a recent graduate who studied in the laboratories of Drs. Leonard Foster and Charles Haynes at the University of British Columbia. Upon finishing her studies, Dr. Lund opted to leave the bench to become a scientific recruiter at STEMCELL Technologies. We sat down with Dr. Lund to discuss her career choice, and her journey from bench…
In this study we used a mouse model of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common pediatric malignancy, to identify the components of an immune response that are necessary to achieve a long-lasting remission. We found that while a response directed against a single target antigen was able to exert early control over leukemia, it was not sufficient to sustain remission; prolonged survival required that the immune response...
