The project was titled, “Antimicrobal resistance gene detection using metagenomics” and it’s preliminary findings were also part of a published manuscript in a recent issue of Clinical Infectious Disease, titled “Antimicrobal resistance gene acquisition and depletion following fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for recurrent Clostridium difficile infections” along with co-authors from UBC and McGill.

Dr. Manges expressed her thanks to the Foundation and noted how grateful she was for the support. The results of the most recent round of OAP applications will be announced on the next blog post.

The post BCCDC Foundation Funding Provides Starting Point for Growing Research appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The project “A Patient-centred TB risk assessment tool: reducing stigma, increasing knowledge”, led by Maureen Mayhew, Rosemin Kassam, Victoria Cook, Michelle Murti, Dick Menzies, James Johnston, Nash Dhalla, and Jennifer Gardy received $10,000 to develop pilot data over one year.

Background: Risk-based latent TB infection (LTBI) diagnosis and treatment is important in Canada but tools on how to target screening and treatment are missing. In 2008, “The Online TST/IGRA Interpreter” tool for clinicians to calculate a lifetime risk of TB disease was developed, yet patients have requested multi-lingual educational tools to facilitate their understanding of LTBI. In this research, literature reviews and knowledge synthesis will inform future research and clinical care.

Key objectives for the pilot study were threefold. First, a systematic review of literature on LTBI-related stigma was undertaken. Two main themes emerged from the synthesis: a) forms and characteristics of stigma—fear and shame and b) the impacts of stigma—rejection, suspicion, and certification.  Second, a patient survey was created to understand perceptions of LTBI-related risks. Third, LTBI surveillance data was analysed for data completeness and LTBI Screening and Treatment Results.

Impact of the study:  Directly addressing strategic objectives of the BC Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Prevention, Treatment and Control in BC, Canada, that prioritizes improving access to TB prevention in those at risk, this project included detailed literature reviews of LTBI-related stigma and perceptions of TB risks, creation of a clinical patient survey on perceptions of LTBI-related risks, and quality assessment and analysis of LTBI surveillance data from 2010 to the first quarter of 2016. The results inform patient-centred health messages for our routine work at BCCDC TB Services, which have the potential to increase LTBI treatment initiation and completion in those at risk leading ultimately to an expected reduction in TB incidence.

The BCCDC Foundation is pleased to have played a part in getting the ball rolling for Dr Mayhew and her team’s work on this project.

The post Open Awards Program as a Springboard for Larger Peer Reviewed Funding appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Dr. Bhagirath Singh is an internationally-recognized expert in the field of immunology with years of research experience in the regulation of autoimmunity by microbes and autoantigens and peptide vaccines. Dr. Singh is also the former Scientific Director for the Canadian Institute of Health Research’s Institute of Infection and Immunity. Currently he is the Director for the Centre for Human Immunology and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Western University and a scientist at the Robarts Research Institute. In recognition of his significant contributions, Dr. Singh has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Alberta Heritage Medical Scientist Award and the Award of Excellence of the Faculty of Medicine of University of Western Ontario. In 2000 he was the Banting and Best Memorial Lecturer at the 17th International Diabetes Federation Congress and in 2001 he was Bernhard Cinader Award Lecturer at the Canadian Society for Immunology. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004 and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2005. Dr. Singh continues to be sought as a speaker at international meetings. He has served as co-chair of Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative and a member of peer review grant panels of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, the Canadian Diabetes Association, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, MS Society of Canada, CIHR and the National Institute of Health etc. He has published over 220 research papers in all aspects of immunology.

The BCCDC Foundation is honoured to have as its SAB Chair such a highly-regarded member of the scientific community. We would like to thank Dr. Singh for his dedication over the last three years. For a complete list of the projects that have been funded by the Foundation’s Open Awards Program, please scroll further back within this blog, as they have been posted twice a year.

The post Scientific Advisory Board Member Spotlight: Chair, Dr. Bhagirath Singh appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The BCCDC Foundation is very pleased to have been able to provide seed funding of $10,000 to the team in 2014 to support their work in understanding organizational knowledge exchange networks to conceptualize and improve the efficiency of these networks by using modeling and visualization tools to capture the characteristics of the pathways that facilitate the process of translating research to policy. This work helped them to develop proof-of-concept evidence needed for the CIHR grant. This is exactly what the Foundation’s internal Open Award Program is meant for – catalyzing $10,000 into $500,000 is a wonderful return on our investment in the BCCDC!

The post BCCDC Researchers Leverage Foundation Seed Funding into CIHR Operating Grant appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.