Led by Drs Jay Johnston and Jennifer Gardy, Molecular Epidemiology of TB in BC was a five-year project funded by the Foundation that recently wrapped up, and with our support the team was able to undertake the largest complete genomic study of TB transmission to date – nearly 1500 TB genomes. Working on genotyping and sequencing tuberculosis bacteria collected in BC between 2005-14, Drs Gardy and Johnston feel that the impact of this project has been profound, a world first, and is generating actionable insights into TB transmission and is changing how BC approaches TB prevention. The work has generated 16 publications (with more on the way) and been presented internationally, with over 50 invited talks and poster presentations. Begun with funds through the Foundation, additional funds were secured through Genome BC, allowing the Foundation to successfully leverage our initial investment. When asked to report on any challenges or limitations encountered during the study, Dr Gardy stated, “None – this project has been the best experience of our scientific lives so far!”. It is with statements like that, the Foundation is eager to support such a great team undertaking valuable work.

One of the things we are proud of is the extent to which student trainees were able to participate. Over the span of the five-year projects, there were 11 students ranging from PhD to undergrad, working on different aspects.

The initial BCCDC Foundation investment enabled the research team to secure additional funding from multiple sources, totaling over $1.2 million dollars, as the project grew and opportunities arose to study different facets of the data. The project has, per Dr Gardy , “ultimately convinced the BC Public Health Lab to adopt routine genotyping … and will change the way we diagnose and track TB in BC forevermore”.

Some of the publications from this project can be found here  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5850024/ , here  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6107743/   and here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30280646

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Dr. Gardy is a Senior Scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control, and an Associate Professor in SPPH at UBC, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Public Health Genomics and a Michael Smith Scholar award. She obtained her BSc in Cell Biology & Genetics from UBC in 2000 and completed her PhD at Simon Fraser University in 2006 under Dr. Fiona Brinkman, working on bacterial genomics and bioinformatics-based predictive methods. She completed three years of postdoctoral training in the R.E.W. Hancock laboratory at UBC, using systems biology techniques to study the mammalian innate immune response and working on visualization tools to facilitate scientists’ exploration of biological network data.

Dr. Gardy joined BCCDC in 2009, where she works in the emerging field of genomic epidemiology, combining whole genome sequencing with both new and old epidemiological techniques to understand the origins, evolution, and transmission dynamics of outbreak organisms, including tuberculosis. In 2018, she was recognized as one of BC’s most influential women in STEM by BC Business magazine, building on other accolades, including a YWCA Women of Distinction award in the Science, Technology, and Research category. Dr. Gardy is also a passionate science communicator involved in a number of science media projects, including regular appearances on CBC Television’s documentary series The Nature of Things. Her first children’s book, “It’s Catching: the Infectious World of Germs and Microbes” was published by Owlkids Books in 2014.

Dr. Gardy has been an advisor to the BCCDC Foundation Board of Directors since 2011. For more information on our Board of Directors and advisors, please visit our website.

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Dr. Sarah Henderson and her team have been awarded funds to study how exposure to forest fire impacts outcomes during pregnancy and early life.

Dr. William Hsiao and his team have been awarded funding to conduct a pilot study examining the replacement of one method of genomic sequencing of influenza samples with another, that ultimately may help inform whether seasonal influenza vaccines are being reformulated in a timely enough manner to be effective.

Dr. Inna Sekirov and her research team have been granted funds for a study to determine if a particular TB test is more effective than another currently in use, that may also be a better indicator of whether it is an active or latent infection.

Dr. Michael Otterstatter has been awarded travel funds for a team member for Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute) International User Conference.

For BCCDC Faculty interested in applying for funding, be sure to watch your email inboxes in late August for the announcement of the fall competition; the next round of applications will be reviewed in October 2018. To see some of our past research successes, click through to our main research page on our website, or you can review all posts in this blog for other successful OAP applications by clicking on the Open Awards Program category.

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The week starts off strong on Monday, with a workshop on Naloxone Training and Emergency Preparedness. We’ll also have the posters on display, so don’t forget to participate in the Poster Scavenger Hunt all week for you chance at some great prizes. Tuesday highlights include Keynote speaker Nathan Yozwiak, Associate Director, Viral Genomics in the Infectious Disease Program of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who will speak on “Outbreak Response in the Genomic Age”. As well, this is the first day of the research symposium, so you won’t want to miss presentations on innovation and research at the BCCDC. On Wednesday, we’re having a fun workshop on Ikebana, which now has a wait-list. Thursday, the Symposium continues (see full schedule below) and will close with our final Keynote speaker, our own Jane Buxton, who will present, “Naloxone: A Miracle Medication for the Opioid  Epidemic, but is it Enough?” The final event of Research Week is the Zombie Outbreak event on Friday Oct 27th, a collaboration between the BCCDC Foundation, BCCDC, and Science World. We hope you already have your ticket as it’s sold out!

Downloadable pdf: RW poster Schedule 2017

The BCCDC Foundation is proud to be an integral part of the planning and delivery of Research Week, as well as a sponsor, since 2011.

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The goal of their project, titled “Genomic Epidemiology of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Infection in Cystic Fibrosis”, is to use DNA sequencing to develop a better understanding of how Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients in British Columbia acquire both drug‐sensitive and drug‐resistant non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections.

CF is a life‐shortening genetic condition affecting over 4,000 Canadians. The NTMs are bacteria that can cause lung infections in patients with CF. About one in ten CF patients will have an NTM infection at least once in their lifetime. The impact of these infections on the health of CF patients is unpredictable, but they can cause lung damage and can prevent a patient from being a candidate for lung transplantation, a life‐saving treatment. Little is known about how these bacteria are acquired by people within British Columbia, even though the incidence of NTM infections is climbing.

Drs Gardy, Bradley Quon, Marc Romney, James Johnston and Mel Krajden have obtained $50,000 from the BC Lung Association’s Grants-in-Aid program to scale up the pilot study work and use whole genome sequencing to investigate a larger set of NTM isolates. With the new funding, they will be able to sequence both clinical and environmental isolates to explore the etiology of NTM infections in greater detail.

The Foundation is pleased to be able to support such great work and see our dollars leveraged into larger, important studies.

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The research was conducted over a two year period, and it involved the collection of multiple species of ticks from small rodents in areas of British Columbia that were determined to be high risk for tick exposure. The results of the study were consistent with previous studies and data suggest that there is a low prevalence of ticks carrying the predominant causative agent for Lyme disease. The full article can be read online here .

This study is one of the projects that the BCCDC Foundation has helped provide funding for, through grants and awards. The Foundation is proud to play a role as BCCDC researchers continue to work towards improving public health in British Columbia. A big congratulations to all involved in the study. We are looking forward to seeing what comes out of Dr Morshed and his team’s other projects; they have been working on spirochetes including Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi since 1997 at BCCDC. Dr Morshed has isolated many strains of B burgdorferi over the years from different parts of the province. Currently Dr Morshed and his team are trying to characterise those isolates through whole genome sequencing and are also working on developing molecular tools for detecting other spirochaetal pathogen such as Treponema pallidum (syphilis) and Helicobacter pylori (gastric pathogen).

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BCCDC’s own ‘science rockstar’, Dr. Jennifer Gardy discusses inter-disciplinarity and how to create a meaningful career that blends with your personal life at this year’s Simon Fraser University’s Outstanding Alumni Awards on March 3^rd, 2016.  Dr. Gardy is recognized for her innovative research in genomic epidemiology and her role as guest-host on CBC’s “The Nature of Things” and Discovery Channel’s “Daily Planet.” Her work in science and science communication is an example of the innovative careers that she believes we will see in future generations of SFU Alumni.

For those of you that were unable to attend the sold-out Simon Fraser University’s “An Evening with Our Outstanding Alumni” event on March 3^rd, 2016, you can watch Dr. Jennifer Gardy’s full speech here.

In addition, you can watch speeches by fellow 2016 Outstanding Alumni Award recipients, Margaret Trudeau, David Mark, and Zabeen Hirji, as well as the surprise visit from our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau!

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Dr Amee Manges will work on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene detection using metagenomics, addressing the need for novel ways to detect and prevent AMR, and testing whether fecal microbiota transplantation into Clostridium difficile-infected patients can eliminate or reduce the burden of other AMR bacteria in the gut. Drs Troy Grennan and Jason Wong will determine the efficacy and safety of daily doxycycline prophylaxis in preventing new syphilis cases, as well as other bacterial STIs, in high-risk, HIV-positive MSM, and the impact of doxycycline on rates of AMR. Dr Sarah Henderson, Dr Tom Kosatsky, and Lorraine McIntyre will undertake two projects on shellfish safety – one using environmental modelling to inform on shellfish bed closures, the other through a workshop that will enable public health and industry professionals to discuss specific mitigation strategies to address the risk of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in raw oyster consumers.

In the first systematic design study for reporting whole genome sequencing data in the public health microbiology domain, Dr Jenn Gardy will use the design study approach from the field of information visualization to create a one-page report that translates tuberculosis (TB) genomic data into an interpretable format to demonstrate the utility of this approach to clinical report design. In addition, Dr James Johnston, with Dr Gardy, will host a workshop to bring BC TB stakeholders together to develop and discuss the new process and reporting format for TB genotyping data to lead to faster, more appropriate patient care and TB cluster investigation. Dr Maureen Mayhew and team will target TB prevention toward those at risk by creating, testing and implementing a patient-centred web-tool that empowers patients by improving latent TB infection (LTBI) knowledge and reduces stigma, identifies personalized TB risk, and influences acceptance and completion of LTBI treatment.

Dr Jane Buxton, Ashraf Amlani, and the Peer Engagement and Evaluation Project (PEEP) team, which develops, implements and evaluates best practice guidelines for peer engagement for harm reduction programs and policies, will come together for a three-day meeting to validate qualitative analysis findings to enable their continued work in ensuring that everyone across BC has equal access to harm reduction services.

It is our goal to support BCCDC researchers with small grants to enable further peer-reviewed support from other agencies. We are excited to have been able to fund this number of diverse and innovative projects, and we look forward to some intriguing outcomes. Congrats to all and their teams!

Watch your inboxes in the coming weeks for an announcement of the next BCCDC Foundation Open Awards Program, with a deadline of April 1.

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