This marks our final competition of the current OAP. The BCCDC Foundation is very proud to have funded over 50 grants since its first competition in 2014. Twelve rounds of competition later, we have provided over $400,000 in research/knowledge translation funding to BCCDC researchers to help with pilot funding, new team building, and student training. We have been very gratified to watch the initial funding grow, in some cases, to larger projects receiving funding from national and international sources, and to watch results being implemented into policy. Our goal with the OAP was to support and build the research enterprise at the BCCDC, and to add to the overall robustness of the scope of research being done at the Centre, and we can say with utmost confidence that we have been able to reach that goal.

We would like to thank our dedicated Scientific Advisory Board for their work over the years, and their commitment to ensuring we are funding quality projects. We’d also like to acknowledge all the BCCDC Faculty and researchers who have produced excellent results through this program, and have helped to improve public health outcomes in BC.

We will be evaluating the OAP and its outcomes as we look ahead to what types of funding would be most optimal to support our partnership with BCCDC, and to support public health more broadly.

So stay tuned in 2020! Make sure you signed up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on future funding opportunities and other activities.

The post Open Awards Program Fall 2019: Six successful applications in recent competition appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The objective of the OAP is to help enhance the research enterprise at BCCDC and to increase the opportunities for success at major peer review organizations such as CIHR. We offer three types of funding: i) money for blue sky, discovery, or pilot grants; ii) workshop and team-building grants, to bring colleagues together either for the exchange and discussion of new research and/or its translation into new policy/practice or to help in generation of research teams; iii) research travel awards for investigators to learn new techniques, exchange research information and prepare material for publication.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 at 4:30pm PST and is open only to faculty members of BCCDC/BCPHL. If you are faculty, please check your inboxes for an email containing an application form and Terms of Reference. If you didn’t receive one, or just would like more info, email: foundation@bccdc.ca

To learn more about the projects funded through the OAP by the BCCDC Foundation, please search this blog for the tag “OAP”.

The post Call for Applications for Fall 2019 OAP Competition Now Open! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The BCCDC Foundation is pleased to announce funding for five new projects: three for “Blue Sky” research awards, one Workshop award, and one travel award.

Dr. Reza Afshari and his team have been awarded funds to explore how the alcohol levels in Kombucha may affect pregnant mothers, toddlers and youth.

Dr. Mel Krajden and his team will use funds to investigate Whole Genome Sequencing use regarding Hepatitis C surveillance and treatment in BC.

Dr. David Patrick received funds for his team to develop an understanding of the short-term and long-term clinical outcomes of reduced antibiotic prescribing in BC’s new-born patients.

Dr. Mohammad Morshed has been awarded funds to help host a “One-Health Workshop” that will train students on Leptospirosis, an emerging threat in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Dr. Ian Pike and Megan Oakey will receive travel funding to help build a collaboration between road safety experts in BC and Victoria, Australia.

BCCDC Faculty interested in applying for funding, be sure to watch your email inboxes in late August; the next round of applications will be reviewed in October 2019. To see some of our past research successes, you can search the OAP tag in this blog section.

BCCDC Faculty interested in applying for funding, be sure to watch your email inboxes in late August; the next round of applications will be reviewed in October 2019. To see some of our past research successes, you can search the OAP tag in this blog section.

The post Open Awards Program Spring 2019: Five successful applications in recent competition. appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The objective of the OAP is to help enhance the research enterprise at BCCDC and to increase the opportunities for success at major peer review organizations such as CIHR. We offer three types of funding: i) money for blue sky, discovery, or pilot grants; ii) workshop and team-building grants, to bring colleagues together either for the exchange and discussion of new research and/or its translation into new policy/practice or to help in generation of research teams; iii) research travel awards for investigators to learn new techniques, exchange research information and prepare material for publication.

The deadline for applications is Monday April 1, 2019 at 4:30pm PST and is open only to faculty members of BCCDC/BCPHL. If you are faculty, please check your inboxes for a recent email containing Application Forms and Terms of Reference. If you didn’t receive one, or just would like more info, email : foundation@bccdc.ca

To learn more about the projects funded by the OAP by the BCCDC Foundation, please search this blog for the tag “OAP”

The post Call for Applications for Spring 2019 OAP Competition is Now Open! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Dr. Mark Gilbert and his team have been awarded funds to explore anxiety among clients of SmartSexResource.com’s sexual health chat services for the next year.

Dr. Troy Grennan and team have been granted funding to pilot a novel assay to reduce diagnostic lead time for syphilis in asymptomatic men who have sex with men.

Dr. Tom Kosatsky and the environmental health team have been awarded funding to study the potential toxicity of road dust in the spring in rural BC.

We look forward to seeing the results of these research studies and where they may lead in the future. For BCCDC faculty interested in applying for the next competition, be sure to watch your email inboxes in February for the announcement of the Spring 2019 competition, with a deadline of April 1st.

To see some of our past research successes, click through to our main research page, on the BCCDC Foundation website, or you can review all posts in this blog for other successful OAP applications by clicking on the Open Awards Program category.

The post Open Awards Program: Fall 2018 Competition Successful Applications appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The objective of the OAP is to help enhance the research enterprise at BCCDC and to increase the opportunities for success at major peer review organizations such as CIHR. We offer three types of funding: i) money for blue sky, discovery, or pilot grants; ii) workshop and team-building grants , to bring colleagues together either for the exchange and discussion of new research and/or its translation into new policy/practice or to help in generation of research teams; iii) research travel awards for investigators to learn new techniques, exchange research information and prepare material for publication.

The deadline for applications is Monday, October 1st 2018 at 4:30pm PST and is open only to faculty members of BCCDC/BCPHL. If you are faculty, please check your inboxes on Friday, Aug 17th for an email containing Application Forms and Terms of Reference. If you don’t receive one, or just would like more info, email : foundation@bccdc.ca

To learn more about the projects funded by the OAP by the BCCDC Foundation, please search this blog for the tag “OAP”

The post Call for Applications for Fall 2018 OAP Competition Opens Soon! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

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.

The post Open Awards Program: Four Successful Applications for Spring 2018 Competition appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The research is evaluating if using copper-nickel and titanium dioxide-coated surfaces along with other engineering approaches for bone marrow transplant patient rooms can reduce the bacterial load in their setting. The Bone-Marrow Transplant (BMT) team at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) along with the VGH Infection Control team has coordinated the room re-engineering, and sampling of patients, healthcare workers and the environment for microbial testing. Analysis is being done on the effect of re-engineered rooms on the patient’s and their environment’s microbiome during the course of their treatment in hospital. Their healthcare workers’ microbiomes are also evaluated during the course of their admission. Preliminary results, from genomics studies at the BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, suggest that the patients are susceptible to pick up microorganisms that are found in their immediate environment. They also found that the engineered rooms had somewhat fewer types of bacteria compared to the non-engineered rooms. This was consistent with culture-based studies done at the VGH Microbiology Laboratory.

The funding from the BCCDC Foundation was able to jump start a multidisciplinary and collaborative research project to help build the case for the larger Genome BC funding.

In today’s world, we are increasingly faced with a growing number of antibiotic resistant superbugs, but using creative engineering approaches to reduce the burden of microbes in the healthcare environment raises the hopes for bone marrow transplant patients who are especially vulnerable to healthcare-acquired infections. Nine rooms have been re-engineered with seven high-touch areas replaced by using materials, such as copper, known to have antimicrobial properties.

At a time when we are running out of antibiotic solutions, it is worthwhile to explore all our alternatives.

This is an 18-month project, called GEnBMT (Genetics and Engineering for Bone Marrow Transplant), Co-led by Dr. Liz Bryce, Regional Medical Director for Infection Control at VGH and Dr Linda Hoang, Program Head for the Bacteriology and Mycology Laboratory at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory. The project has received funding support from the BCCDC Foundation, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and Genome BC.  Dr. Hoang explains, “We hope by using a combination of creative engineering methods, including copper-based coatings of surfaces, that the hospital microbial load will be reduced. This will reduce the exposure of vulnerable patients to potentially harmful hospital bacteria. At a time when we are running out of antibiotic solutions, it is worthwhile to explore all our alternatives. The funding from the BCCDC Foundation was able to jump start a multidisciplinary and collaborative research project to help build the case for the larger Genome BC funding.”

The Foundation grant for this project was one of our Open Awards Program “Blue Sky” recipients in the spring of 2015.

The post BCCDC Foundation Grant Helps Re-engineer Hospital Beds to Prevent Infections appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The objective of the OAP is to help enhance the research enterprise at BCCDC and to increase the opportunities for success at major peer review organizations such as CIHR. We offer three types of funding: i/ money for blue sky, discovery, or pilot grants; ii/ workshop and team-building grants, to bring colleagues together either for the exchange and discussion of new research and/or its translation into new policy/practice or to help in generation of research teams; iii/ research travel awards for investigators to learn new techniques, exchange research information and prepare material for publication.

The deadline for applications is Tuesday April 3, 2018 at 4:30pm PST and is open only to faculty members of BCCDC/BCPHL. If you are faculty, please check your inboxes for a recent email containing application forms and Terms of Reference. If you didn’t receive it or would just like more info, email foundation@bccdc.ca

To learn more about the projects successfully funded by the OAP of the BCCDC Foundation, please search this blog for the tag “OAP”.

The post Call for Applications for Spring 2018 OAP Competition is Now Open! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The Foundation is forever indebted for the skilled assistance of our Scientific Advisory Board, who volunteer their time to review the applications twice a year.

We could not be more satisfied with this program and look forward funding more innovative projects. Stay tuned for the spring 2018 competition announcement!

The post Celebrating Four Years of Pilot Funding appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.