Medications ideally improve patient health, occasionally with mild or moderate side effects. But sometimes patients have significant damaging responses to drugs, events called adverse drug reactions (ADRs). In Canada, there are 87,000 – 200,000 debilitating or life-threatening ADRs, which cause 3,600 – 10,000 deaths each year. The problem is worse in children, where ADRs are three times more life threatening than in adults.
Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease, affecting one out of every 3,600 children born in Canada. In 2013 alone, Canadians with cystic fibrosis spent about 25,000 days in hospital, mainly due to pulmonary exacerbations, which cause respiratory distress due to excessive mucus production, infection, and inflammation in the lungs.
Tuberculosis (TB) and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections (NTMs) are bacterial infections that create serious problems in BC. Treating TB costs the health system nearly $13 million per year, and NTMs are emerging as a new and poorly-understood threat, especially in BC’s seniors.
A dental implant is a screw-like device that is surgically placed in the jawbone to provide a foundation for artificial teeth. This involves precise removal of bone using drills, which is often risky because of proximity to delicate structures such as the maxillary sinus, orofacial nerves, and blood vessels. Mistakes in the drilling path may result in permanent nerve damage, life threatening hemorrhage, or injuries to adjacent teeth.
Close to 5,000 Canadians are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and it is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Canada. Unfortunately, a majority of these patients die within a year of their diagnosis, due in part to late diagnosis and tumour resistance to chemotherapy. In addition, most patients who are successfully treated eventually recur and succumb to the disease.
The severity of motor impairments due to stroke vary markedly in different people, and with therapy, a degree of recovery is possible. Understanding the underlying neural mechanisms supporting motor recovery from stroke would inform development of more effective therapies.
In Canada, there are over 50,000 new strokes reported every year. The prevalence and severity of subsequent upper limb disability is increasing and the prospect of complete recovery is poor. Stroke survivors who lack early indicators of a good prognosis, such as movement at the shoulder or wrist, are considered unlikely to regain much arm function through rehabilitation.
Malnutrition in early life underlies almost half of all child deaths globally and has long-term negative effects on education and productivity. HIV infection further compounds these effects in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends daily use of the antibiotic co-trimoxazole (CTX) to prevent infections in HIV-infected children.
Many people who have an incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) have the potential to improve their ability to walk. Current training strategies are limited in their ability to target skilled walking tasks (e.g. stairs and obstacles).
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research/Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research/ Pacific Alzheimer Research Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award