Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes

06/12/2026

Advancing Health scientist Dr. Brian Grunau is the recipient of the 2026 PHC Research and Mission Award, recognizing his leadership of a multidisciplinary team that combines clinical care, big data, engineering, and real-world community interventions to identify gaps in and translate them into actionable research questions and trials.

“I’m winning this award, but really, it’s a team effort. There are a lot of trainees and staff in my research team, in addition to collaborators at St. Paul’s, at BCEHS, and throughout the province, that deserve recognition,” says Dr. Grunau.

Learn more: https://shorturl.at/Nfwcx

06/11/2026

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on that illnesses related to the Disease had become a national disaster. Sirisena, who was conferred an award by The International Society of Nephrologists for his “extraordinary contribution” to the fight against the Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology, said CKDu is endemic among poor farmers in 11 districts and villages of Sri Lanka.

As the first national level program in the world, the Sri Lankan National Program against CKDu has made rapid progress in a short time, ISN President and Advancing Health scientist Dr. Adeera Levin said, “Sri Lanka is a model for other countries to follow.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/4amXOwu

06/08/2026

Are you looking for some evidence-based updates? June's edition of Evidence Speaks is here to help.

This month we look at how:

🏥 Ivermectin unlikely to improve COVID-19 outcomes
🧓 Donor age has minimal impact on kidney transplant success
🍽️ can link diet patterns to cardiovascular disease outcomes

Read more:
buff.ly/lffnVv8

06/05/2026

In the BC-led CLiCK trial, researchers found that locking a catheter using a t-EDTA solution instead of saline substantially reduced the number of -related infections or complications.

"If this reduction is shown to be cost-effective, clinical practice will be changed completely," said biostatistician Dr. Hubert Wong, who helped design and analyse the CLiCK trial in collaboration with teams at Simon Fraser University and Royal Columbian Hospital. Data management for the trial was led by Erica Jaaf and Irina Chua, with further analysis conducted by Sandra Blitz. As Program Head for Biostatistics at Advancing Health and a faculty member at UBC's School of Population Health, Dr. Wong worked with the team to develop a trial design that enabled the ICUs to participate without interfering in their day-to-day operations. "At the end of the day, we're trying to cut down on the number of complications," said Dr. Wong, "and I think we've demonstrated pretty clearly that this EDTA solution does that."

🖱️Learn more about the study here: https://bit.ly/3PJodOa

06/01/2026

🧓For a frail elderly person, a life-changing medical emergency begins like this: a sudden fall and a broken hip.

When waits for treatment stretch beyond 48 hours for surgery in older adults, the risks the risk of death, complications, and longer hospital stays significantly increase. In this piece, Advancing Health scientist Dr. Jason Sutherland argues in favour of policy changes that will prioritize emergency surgeries, flexible staffing models, and faster patient stabilization.

Learn more about how we can improve wait times for hip surgeries:
https://bit.ly/4343W91

05/28/2026

In the latest episode of The Knowledge Exchange podcast, the hosts speak with Advancing Health's Dr. Skye Barbic and her colleague from Foundry, Dr. Julia Langton. Listeners will get to learn about:

👪 Foundry’s embedded program of research and evaluation and how youth and families are involved in both research and service design
🤝 How COVID-19 shaped their work and relationships with communities
📝 How research supports accountability to young people and communities in BC

Listen here 🎧:
https://bit.ly/3RviBrm

05/27/2026

'CHSPR Seminar | When Sounds Right but Gets Research Wrong: Demonstrations from Health Research Workflows'

AI tools are increasingly acting like research assistants, with outputs can be fast, polished, and persuasive — but sometimes the most convincing answer is the one that most needs checking. In this seminar, Advancing Health scientist and UBC researcher Dr. M. Ehsan Karim explores why verification, documentation, and domain expertise matter before AI-generated outputs are used in research and decisions.

📆 Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026
⏰12-1 pm PT
👉 Register: https://bit.ly/42QPyAS

05/26/2026

Dr. Anne Gadermann, Advancing Health scientist and Associate Professor at UBC School of Population and Public Health, has been renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Bio-Eco-Social Determinants of Child and Youth Mental Health, recognizing her leadership in advancing research focused on the mental health and well-being of young people.

Learn more about Dr. Gaderman's research:
https://bit.ly/4tZJXmW

05/26/2026

"We do know a lot more about this virus compared to SARS-CoV-2, and our colleagues in South America have been managing this virus for decades," says Advancing Health scientist Dr. Srinivas Murphy, giving an update on for the CBC. "We're starting not from zero, but a bit ahead of the game this time."

Watch the full segment to learn more about why the epidemiological context of hantavirus is so different that COVID-19:

Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis

05/25/2026

Jacynthe L’Heureux, a PhD candidate in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and trainee under Advancing Health scientist Dr. Wei Zhang, has been selected as one of three winners of the Work Disability Prevention and Integration (WDPI) Patrick Loisel Student Abstract Award, given at the 7th International Work Disability Prevention and Integration Conference.

Learn more about the award:
https://bit.ly/49mYfXd