Alberta invests $55.1M to taking vaccines, antiviral drugs from discovery to manufacturing
Alberta is building a better pipeline, but this one’s not for oil and gas products – it’s for vaccines and therapeutic drugs to fight viral diseases. The province announced a $55.1-million grant on Wednesday for University of Alberta research on ways to prevent and treat COVID-19, including $15 million for vaccine projects and $10 million for studies…
Initiative could transform Alberta into a powerhouse in the development of life-saving therapies
A gap in homegrown drug manufacturing means that Canadians are at the mercy of the global supply chain when it comes to ensuring they have access to the drugs they need. Around 80 per cent of the raw ingredients for the world’s drugs are made in only two countries: China and India, according to a…
Synthetic data based on records ensures confidentiality
A University of Alberta researcher is developing an inventive solution to a problem plaguing health-care research around the world: how to make data-driven decisions without compromising the privacy of personal medical records. Dean Eurich, professor in the School of Public Health, is academic lead on a project that has successfully created a “synthetic data” set that…
Playing on fears, bribing and threatening to produce compliance is unconscionable
I am sorry to be so frank to a man whom I admired and from whom I expected good things. I confess that in younger days, I thought of Albertans mainly as people who cornered too slowly on mountain roads. But I learned, partly from you, that I must think much more of them than…
Daily positive messages are designed to help emergency personnel cope with trauma of the job, similar to successful Text4Hope
Two free text messaging services have been launched to support the mental health of Alberta’s first responders. Text4PTSI and Text4Well-being are designed to help emergency personnel cope positively with feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, disturbed sleep and suicidal thoughts, said project lead Vincent Agyapong, clinical professor of psychiatry and global mental health in the University of Alberta Faculty…
The province is now the North American hotspot for a rare, potentially fatal disease
A rare parasitic infection imported from Europe continues to take root in Alberta. The province is now the North American hotspot for human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), which takes the form of a growth in the liver, causing serious and potentially deadly health complications. A recently published review of known AE cases in Alberta found 17 instances…
Results from clinical trial expected to significantly change how clinicians monitor for atrial fibrillation in stroke patients
A clinical trial examining the efficacy of two devices to monitor and detect atrial fibrillation (AF), or an irregular heartbeat, in ischemic stroke patients – one an implantable device that monitors over 12 months, the other an external device that monitors over 30 days – found the implantable device is more than three times more…
Three University of Alberta projects have received funding from Alberta Innovates to accelerate health innovation in the province. PRECISE, ADEPT and the University of Alberta Health Hub & Accelerator have been awarded support through the Health Innovation Platform Partnerships (HIPP) program. The program seeks to enable a health innovation ecosystem that is robust, co-ordinated and offers a competitive…
A rare lung disease that is linked to bats has made Alberta home, according to new research led by scientists at Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) and the University of Alberta. The team of infectious disease experts confirmed that histoplasmosis – a fungal infection transmitted through bat and bird droppings – is now found in Alberta. Their…
Up until now, Canada has been highly dependent on foreign suppliers
University of Alberta spinoff company Applied Quantum Materials Inc. (AQM) is using its chemical production expertise to partner with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Alberta Precision Labs to provide critical reagents needed for COVID-19 testing. “These reagents – or ‘magnetic beads’ – used in standard nucleic acid testing are the gold standard for molecular tests,” said Stacey Hume, associate professor in…
Alberta is building a better pipeline, but this one’s not for oil and gas products – it’s for vaccines and therapeutic drugs to fight viral diseases. The province announced a $55.1-million grant on Wednesday for University of Alberta research on ways to prevent and treat COVID-19, including $15 million for vaccine projects and $10 million for studies…
