51猎奇入口

The funded projects include:

EXAMINING IMPACTS OF HARM REDUCTION SERVICES ON HEALTH CARE ACCESS, ENGAGEMENT AND OUTCOMES

Kanna Hayashi from Faculty of Health Sciences received $1,464,976 together with the co-principal applicants, Drs. Nadia Fairbairn and Mark Lysyshyn at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), to examine how harm reduction services influence health care access and outcomes for people who use drugs in Vancouver amid the ongoing toxic drug crisis.

Working with the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, VCH and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, the research will link data from a long-running community cohort with health care records to quantitatively examine whether supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention sites and drug-checking services improve engagement with primary care, mental health services and other health care supports. The findings will help inform harm reduction and health policy in British Columbia and across Canada.

UNDERSTANDING EARLY BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

Lisa Julian from Faculty of Science received $1,071,000 to investigate how early brain development is affected by mutations in the TSC2 gene which, when inherited in human patients, cause a devastating epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorder called tuberous sclerosis (TS).

This research will use three-dimensional human brain organoids and mini brain tissues made from stem cells of actual TS patients to investigate how TSC2 mutations disrupt how the early brain is built. These findings will reveal why the cell types, tissue structures and neural networks that develop in the brain in TS are so atypical and provide clues for how to treat these abnormalities.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE OF RARE BRAIN DISEASE

David Vocadlo from Faculty of Science received $960,076 to investigate the role of the MYORG gene in primary brain calcification, a rare genetic disorder characterized by abnormal calcium deposits in the brain.

The research will explore how the MYORG enzyme functions and identify potential therapeutic approaches that could benefit people living with primary brain calcification, while also advancing understanding of related neurodegenerative diseases.

EVALUATING NEW TREATMENTS FOR OPIOID USE DISORDER

Bohdan Nosyk from Faculty of Health Sciences, along with Dr. Brittany Dennis and Ehsan Karim from the University of British Columbia and Jill Murray from the BC Ministry of Health, received $794,990 to evaluate emerging prescribing practices for opioid use disorder (OUD) in response to Canada's increasingly unpredictable toxic unregulated drug supply.

Using population-level health data from British Columbia, the project will evaluate new strategies being used for treatment of OUD. This includes initiating treatment on higher doses compared to standard treatment, combination therapies of short-acting opioids with standard treatment to prevent relapse, and co-prescription of benzodiazepines to manage withdrawal related to benzodiazepine contamination in the unregulated drug supply. The findings will provide evidence to help update clinical guidelines for OUD treatment and support health care providers and policymakers in providing evidence-based care to people living with OUD in the context of the toxic overdose crisis.