Using OMICs to assess contaminant related exposure and effects in Fraser River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

The Fraser River watershed, British Columbia provides habitat for Chinook salmon, which delivers food for First Nations, recreational anglers, commercial fisheries and endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Extensive forestry, agricultural, industrial and urban activities take place in the Fraser Valley exposing early life history stages of Chinook to a mix of legacy and new contaminants, […]

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A Community-Based Participatory Action Research Project to Examine How People Who Use Drugs are Represented in Anti-Stigma Campaigns and How Anti-Stigma Work Can be Made More Inclusive

Through a review of existing anti-stigma campaigns targeting stigma towards people who use drugs (PWUD) and a series of focus groups conducted with marginalized PWUD, this community-based research project will explore how anti-stigma campaigns can be made more inclusive of all PWUD, especially those most severely impacted by stigma. The project is being guided by […]

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Breaking Biofilms with Ordinary Polymers – Light-Activated Antimicrobial Crosslinkers

Microbial growth on surfaces, or biofouling, is a pervasive problem across sectors including medical implants, hospital surfaces, water treatment, and environmental monitoring. Many existing solutions involve the use of harsh chemicals that may harm human health or the environment. In this work, our team of chemists, biologists, and engineers will develop a plastic that includes […]

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Targeting Semaphorin 3C in Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men and a major cause of cancer deaths. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the first-line therapy for metastatic prostate cancer but invariable the cancer regrows despite the androgen deprivation – this regrowth is termed castrate resistant prostate cancer. We have discovered that expression of a specific gene […]

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Tracking the parasympathetic nervous system, emotions, and wellbeing in chronic pain conditions

Wearable body sensors are groundbreaking in that they allow for continuous and unobtrusive physiological measurements. The promise is that someday soon, smartphones will monitor our bodily state and thus prevent all kinds of wellbeing implications: acute physiological issues like stroke or heart attack; less acute but still serious illness, such as chronic illnesses caused by […]

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Moose responses to anthropogenic forest disturbance

Moose are an environmentally, economically, and culturally important game species. However, moose numbers have declined rapidly in the central portion of British Columbia. This decline could be related to widespread and rapid forest harvesting. We will study the impact of human-caused changes to forests on how moose select habitat and why they migrate. Monitoring moose […]

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Genomic tools development for international high sea salmon research

Pacific salmon spend most of their life in the open ocean, where we know little about the factors influencing their health and abundance. Last year, we participated in the first expedition to explore the winter habitat of salmon the Gulf of Alaska. We collect samples to inform ongoing research projects focusing on salmon health and […]

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Determining the antiviral properties and mechanism of actions of BOLD-100 against SARS-CoV-2 in 2D and 3D cell culture systems

BOLD-100 is a promising new clinical stage therapeutic, originally developed for the use as a cancer treatment. The mechanism of action for BOLD-100 suggests that this therapeutic might also protect against infections with viruses, including coronaviruses like SARS-COV-19. The purpose of this project is to test the antiviral efficacy of BOLD-100 against SARS·COV-19 in 20 […]

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