Channel - BCCDC GRAND ROUNDS SERIES
3/5/2024 7:55:23 PM
Channel Videos
Christopher Boyd - Moving Public Health Agencies from Reactive to Preventative Approaches for Managing Water Borne Disease Risks From Building Water Systems
Christopher Boyd is the General Manager for Building Water Health with NSF Health Sciences and has over 30 years’ experience working with elected officials, NGOs, community based organization and the private sector to advance progressive environmental, public health, sustainability and economic solutions. With NSF, Mr. Boyd works with public and private sector stakeholders to adopt best practices for managing distribution and premise plumbing systems. Prior to coming to NSF, Mr. Boyd was the Assistant Commissioner for Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he led the agency’s response to the largest Legionella outbreak in New York City history. He also reorganized the response to building and community legionella outbreaks and oversaw implementation of the first proactive Legionella controlling regulatory standards for cooling towers. Mr. Boyd was responsible for regulatory oversight of the city’s municipal water system, recreational waters, radiation producing equipment, radioactive materials and supported emergency preparedness efforts. Mr. Boyd developed a consensus building model to dramatically reduce the radiological terror risk profile of NYC and this model is being replicated by the U.S. National Nuclear Safety Administration in the U.S. and internationally. While with NYC, Mr. Boyd managed a team of over 100 personnel, including engineers, research scientists, medical physicists, water ecologists and public health sanitarians.
BC CDC Presenters
10/28/2019 7:00:00 PM
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Is ethanol in kombucha of concern or is it a KALAMITea?
Summary: Kombucha is a mildly sweet and acidic beverage considered to be a healthy alternative to sugary soda drinks. It is popular in Canada and other countries and in British Columbia locally produced and imported kombucha can be found for sale. Kombucha may contain residual alcohol from the multi-step fermentation process that converts sugar to alcohol. This session will review the public health significance of low levels of ethanol to the general population and to at risk groups. A survey of kombucha products will be presented along with a discussion of issues such as lack of labelling to inform on handling, whether alcohol is present and compliance with liquor regulations (beverages with 1% alcohol by volume [ABV] are considered alcoholic). Based on the survey results, some kombucha varieties do contain alcohol and do not have appropriate labelling to allow consumers to make an informed decision. A review of the discussion regarding the roles of Public Health Inspectors, the Liquor and Cannabis Regulatory Board will be presented from a provincial viewpoint, along with roles of federal partners, particularly in managing imported products and labelling issues. Presenters: Lorraine McIntyre is a Food Safety Specialist with Environmental Health Services at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Lorraine has worked at the BCCDC for 25 years, the first 10 years in provincial labs (water and food poisoning) and since 2005 has been with Environmental Health. She liaises with academia, industry and government stakeholders, creates best practice guidelines (for e.g. sous vide, food donation) and food safety assessment advice on topical issues. Within EH Lorraine’s role includes research and education, and she enjoys working with students at BCIT and UBC. She is currently chairing a national fermented foods working group and has 120 litres of cider brewing in her basement. Sung Sik Jang is a senior scientist of food safety in Environmental Health Services and joined the BCCDC last year. He received his Ph.D. for Food Microbiology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Sung Sik is interested in the rapid detection of foodborne microorganisms. He worked in the dairy industry before BCCDC for 13 years. During his work in dairy companies, he led food safety research and product development.
BC CDC Presenters
9/29/2020 7:00:00 PM
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Utilizing genomic data for reconstructing tuberculosis transmission: advances and challenges
Establishing patterns of tuberculosis (TB) transmission - who infected whom - is critical for controlling ongoing outbreaks and informing future strategies to eliminate the disease. However, reconstructing transmission networks of infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)​can be difficult due to a highly variable latency period in which within-host evolution can occur and the clonal nature of MTB, particularly in low-incidence regions. Here, I present an overview of the current strategies being used to exploit genomic variation to resolve transmission networks, and introduce work that we are doing at the BCCDC to understand TB transmission dynamics in BC. Bio: Dr. Sobkowiak is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at BCCDC working on developing risk prediction models for TB transmission in BC through the application of bioinformatics and machine learning to genomic, epidemiological and healthcare data. He completed his PhD in Computational Biology in 2017 under Prof. Francois Balloux at University College London, UK and undertook his first postdoctoral position with Prof. Taane Clark at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, investigating TB transmission dynamics and associated risk factors in Malawi.
BC CDC Presenters
2/18/2020 8:00:00 PM
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What’s new in HPV-associated cancers in men?
Like cervical cancer, the vast majority (90%) of anal cancers and some oral cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). In some populations, specifically men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV, the rates of anal cancer are over 50-times the rate in the general population, and despite decades’ worth of effective HIV therapy, anal cancer rates continue to climb in MSM living with HIV. Anal cancer is one of the most common cancers in individuals living with HIV, and is a leading cause of death in these individuals. There are a number of ongoing large studies in Canada, the USA, and Australia examining the prevention, natural history and screening/treatment of HPV-associated anal pre-cancers, and emerging interest in HPV-associated oral cancers. This talk will review recent evidence from these trials, and discuss directions forward for HPV-associated cancers in males. Bio: Dr. Troy Grennan is currently the Physician Lead for the Provincial HIV/STI Program at the BC Centre for Disease Control, as well as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of British Columbia. Following training in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and medical microbiology, he completed a CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network postdoctoral fellowship examining human papillomavirus (HPV) in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM). His research and clinical work currently focuses on HIV and STI prevention, as well as HPV and anal cancer screening, with a particular focus on MSM. He is currently co-PI on the CIHR Team Grant “HPV Screening and Vaccine Evaluation in HIV-Positive MSM”, and also co-leads two grants on novel syphilis prevention using doxycycline chemoprophylaxis.
BC CDC Presenters
2/25/2020 8:00:00 PM
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ACE2 – from discovery to the centre of a pandemic
Presenter: Dr. Josef Penninger is a world-renowned geneticist and the Canada 150 Research Chair in Functional Genetics. Dr. Penninger is currently the Director of the Life Sciences Institute (LSI) at the University of British Columbia. His major accomplishments include pioneering insights into the molecular basis of osteoporosis and breast cancer, and demonstrating a critical role for ACE2 as the cellular receptor for the SARS Coronavirus infections and linking ACE2 to lung failure in such infections. Summary: My group developed the first ACE2 mutant mice which we initially identified studying fly heart development (Crackower et al. Nature 2002). We then developed ICUs for lung failure in mice which allowed us to show that ACE2 is the essential SARS receptor in vivo (Kuba et a. Nature Medicine) and that ACE2 protects from lung injury providing a molecular explanation why SARS-CoV and now SARS-CoV2 become lethal diseases (as compared to other Coronaviruses giving us the common cold) (Imai et al. Nature 2005). Over the years we also showed that ACE2 protects multiple tissues such as the heart, lung, kidney, or blood vessels from more serious disease and that ACE2 is also expressed in the kidney and the luminal surface of the gut epithelium (e.g. Danilczyk et al. Nature 2006, Hashimoto et al. Nature 2012, etc). Therefore, our previous work has provided critical insights and a blueprint for the current COVID-19 pandemic. I will discuss how this knowledge is being translated to clinical trials in severe COVID-19 patients.
BC CDC Presenters
11/17/2020 8:00:00 PM
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Advancing equity in hepatitis C care with people who inject drugs: Recent qualitative research findings
People who inject drugs are inequitably impacted by hepatitis C and also face significant barriers to healthcare access, including for hepatitis C treatment. In this talk, UBC PhD student Trevor Goodyear will discuss recent qualitative research findings about people who inject drugs’ experiences with the implementation of novel hepatitis C treatments in British Columbia. This presentation will cover several aspects of hepatitis C care with this group, including socio-structural barriers to treatment access, clinician approaches to care, and expectations versus lived experiences of health following hepatitis C cure. Trevor will also outline policy, programmatic, and clinical strategies for improving hepatitis C care and more generally advancing health equity with people who inject drugs. Presenter: Trevor Goodyear (he/him) is a registered nurse and PhD student in the School of Nursing at UBC. He recently completed master’s degrees in public health and nursing, where his thesis explored opportunities for improving hepatitis C treatment and care with people who inject drugs and who live in BC. This thesis was nested within Dr. Rod Knight’s program of research at the BC Centre on Substance Use, with whom Trevor remains an affiliated trainee.
BC CDC Presenters
10/5/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Applications of viral genomics for COVID-19 in BC - Grand Rounds - July 7,2020
Summary: We have been performing sequence analysis of Sars-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 using nanopore sequencing methods since February 2020. Our results have shown that this is a practical method for obtaining SARS-CoV-2 sequence data, which can provide insight in the transmission of the virus and is likely to lead to actionable public health decisions. Presenters: Dr. Richard Harrigan is a Professor in the Division of AIDS at UBC, who has spent the last two decades applying sequence analyses to the care and management of human viral diseases. Dr. Natalie Prystajecky is an Environmental Microbiologist at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory who has applied genomics in the context of foodborne outbreaks and now for COVID-19. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC.
BC CDC Presenters
7/7/2020 7:00:00 PM
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CANCOVID-Preg: Canadian COVID-19 in Pregnancy Surveillance - Epidemiology, Maternal and Infant Outcomes - June 16, 2020
Summary: This talk will describe the establishment of CANCOVID-Preg, present some preliminary data from BC and Ontario as well as describe some planned sub-studies. In addition, opportunity for antenatal serosurveillance to study seroprevalance of COVID-19 in the Canadian population will be discussed. Presenter: Dr. Deborah Money is a Reproductive Infectious Diseases (RID) Clinician/Scientist who runs a RID research program studying the HPV vaccine, perinatal outcomes in women living with HIV and congenital infections. Currently, she is the lead, with UBC/WHRI as the coordinating centre, of the pan-Canadian surveillance study of the impact of COVID-19 in pregnancy and for the infants and is part of a WHO working group on COVID in pregnancy. She is also a member of the Federal Task Force on Immunity. ​
BC CDC Presenters
6/16/2020 7:00:00 PM
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Catalyzing upstream mental health promotion and prevention through the development of the Youth Development Instrument
Summary: Mental illness and substance use disorders (MSUDs) create a substantial health and economic burden in Canada, with one in two Canadians experiencing an MSUD by age 40 and an estimated $51 billion in costs yearly. An estimated 75% of MSUDs have their genesis before the age of 25 years, affecting 7.5 million Canadian children and youth. Social and emotional learning (SEL) and positive childhood experiences like supportive family relationships, community belonging, and coping skills, as well as structural supports like improving access to care, are protective and can avert or delay mental illness onset and/or severity. Yet 95% of health system funding is dedicated to specialized, hospital-based or downstream services, creating compelling potential for early intervention and prevention programming. Today’s Grand Rounds describes how the Youth Development Instrument (YDI), a survey of youth mental health and well-being among BC Grade 11 students, will inform strategies to reduce mental illness incidence. The YDI builds on existing BC child development data collected for over 400,000 children at age 5, 9 and 12 years by the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP-UBC), creating a longitudinal cohort by linking student data. Cohort data will be linked with health services data to identify modifiable factors predicting mental illness. Inter-ministerial and intersectoral YDI advisory boards representing education, social work, public health and health services with central leadership from young people themselves guide project delivery and translation of findings into practice. Bios: Dr. Hasina Samji an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and a Senior Scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. She has a PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins) and studies how synergistic epidemics, or “syndemics,” of illnesses like HIV, HCV, and mental illness and substance use disorder interacting with contextual factors like poverty and early life trauma can create mutually reinforcing clusters of epidemics among populations, resulting in poorer access to healthcare and outcomes. Dr. Samji leads the Youth Development Instrument (YDI), an interdisciplinary study measuring predictors of positive youth well-being, mental health, and development in high school students in collaboration with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP-UBC), community, clinical and policy partners, and youth themselves. The YDI will elucidate upstream skill-development and structural supports for STBBI prevention. She is also the co-PI of a study in partnership with Anxiety Canada to measure the mental health impacts of the COVID-19: https://www.bcchr.ca/POP/our-research/pics Dr. Martin Guhn is Associate Professor at the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), School of Population and Public Health, UBC, and member of the Canadian Council on the Social Determinants of Health. He has a PhD in Human Development (UBC), conducted a Michael Smith Foundation of Health Research postdoctoral fellowship in Population Health at HELP, and has a master’s degree in Psychology and a bachelor degree in Music. His interdisciplinary, applied research focuses on social, cultural, demographic, and socio-economic determinants of children’s and adolescents’ developmental health, wellbeing, and educational trajectories. This research draws from population-level data linkages, and the EDI, MDI, TDI, CHEQ, and YDI research projects. Further research interests include children’s social and emotional development, bio-ecological theories of human development, and validation of population-level assessment. A primary goal of this research is to contribute to policy decision making and community-based knowledge mobilization that helps all children thrive.
BC CDC Presenters
3/2/2021 8:00:00 PM
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CDC Grand Rounds - Exploring host-directed Therapeutic Targets for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis - Dr Shannon Russell
New perspectives from South Africa
VCH Presenter, Vancouver Coastal Health Presentation
9/24/2019 7:00:00 PM
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Chronic Disease Surveillance at BCCDC
The goal of the presentation is to provide an overview of available information and tools as well as to highlight key projects completed or under way. Dr. Kate Smolina will introduce current resources available both publically and internally on data and statistics relating to chronic disease in BC, including Chronic Disease Dashboard, Cancer Dashboard, and a new CCHS Dashboard. Dr. Kate Smolina is the director of the BC Observatory for Population & Public Health, a partnership between the BC Ministry of Health and all BC health authorities to advance non-communicable disease, injury, and risk and protective factor surveillance in BC. Dr. Smolina holds a BSc in Bio-Medical Science from the University of Guelph and a DPhil in Public Health from the University of Oxford. Her professional career has been largely focused on chronic disease surveillance, linked administrate data, and health policy. 2. Dr. Drona Rasali: Indicators of Multimorbidity for Chronic Disease Surveillance Multimorbidity is becoming increasingly a key public health and primary care issue and is a complex underlying risk factor for COVID-19 case severity. A BCCDC team conducted a scoping review of the chronic disease multimorbidities for exploring the development of a multimorbidity indicator. I present briefly the development of an indicator comprising two or more conditions out of BC Chronic Disease Registries (CDR) is now being made available for surveillance through BCCDC Chronic Disease Dashboard. Dr. Drona Rasali, is the Director of Population Health Surveillance and Epidemiology working in the area Population and Public Health at BCCDC, PHSA since 2012. Prior to joining the PHSA, Dr. Rasali was the Provincial Chronic Disease Epidemiologist in the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health from 2005 to 2012. He holds a designation of a Fellow of American College of Epidemiology (FACE) and is an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. He earned his Doctorate degree from the University of Manitoba, specializing in quantitative genetic analyses using animal models and epidemiologic analyses. He has more than 150 peer reviewed journal papers, government reports and technical reports to his credits in wide ranging fields including chronic disease epidemiology, public health, population genetics, veterinary medicine, agriculture, food, social justice, and general interest.
BC CDC Presenters
3/9/2021 8:00:00 PM
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COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Safety, Immunity and Variants
Summary: We will review current safety data from use of COVID-19 vaccines, and highlight ongoing safety surveillance and research in BC and across Canada. Immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines will be discussed and implications for vaccine effectiveness. We will discuss Understanding how variants of SARS-V-2 can affect vaccine effectiveness. Presenters: Dr. Manish Sadarangani is Director of the Vaccine Evaluation Center at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, UBC Department of Pediatrics. He has worked in pediatrics throughout the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, North America and Europe. His research links clinical trials with basic microbiology, immunology and epidemiology to address clinically relevant problems related to immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr. Julie Bettinger, PhD, MPH, is a Professor at the Vaccine Evaluation Center in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist whose research interests include vaccine safety and vaccine preventable diseases, as well as attitudes and beliefs around immunization uptake and use. She is the data center director for the Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program, Active (IMPACT), an active surveillance network for vaccine preventable diseases and vaccine adverse events in 12 tertiary care pediatric hospitals across Canada and the principal investigator for CIRN’s Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) network, which monitors the safety of influenza vaccines each year and is monitoring COVID vaccines. Dr. Agatha Jassem, PhD, D(ABMM), FCCM, is a Clinical Microbiologist and the Program Head of the Virology/Molecular Diagnostics Lab at the BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at UBC. Dr. Jassem oversees diagnostic testing and her research focuses on evaluating new molecular- and serology-based strategies for virus detection/exposure.
BC CDC Presenters
4/27/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Covid-19: Guidelines for Testing and Interpretation. MAY 26 2020
Dr. Linda Hoang is a physician and the associate director and program head of the Bacteriology & Mycology Lab at BCCDC, as well as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC. Dr. Victor Yuen is a resident physician now graduating in Medical Microbiology from UBC. His primary research interests are molecular diagnostics, microbiology laboratory quality improvement, and public health clinical epidemiology.​
Mediasite Presenter
5/26/2020 5:00:00 PM
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COVID19: Treating disease, and figuring out what works. Redux.
Summary: This talk will focus on the current therapeutics landscape for COVID19, and where things are headed in the coming months. Presenter: Dr. Srinivas Murthy is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on clinical trial design and implementation across populations around the world for severe and emerging infections. For COVID-19, he serves on a number of government and public health advisory capacities, and is principal investigator of two multi-national clinical trials.
BC CDC Presenters
5/4/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Defining the Scope of Digital Public Health and its Implications for Practice and Research
Summary: “Digital Public Health” has emerged as a way describe the integration of digital technologies in public health functions to maximize public health impact. Despite keen interest in digital public health, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, its definition, scope, and inherent challenges are yet not clearly defined. We conducted a scoping review to clarify current conceptions of digital public health, its scope, inherent challenges and potential strategies to surmount these challenges. In this session, we present findings from our review of the literature, highlighting their implications for ongoing research and practice. Presenter: Ihoghosa (Muyi) Iyamu is a PhD Candidate at the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), UBC and conducts his doctoral research with the online sexual health services team, Clinical prevention services - BCCDC.
BC CDC Presenters
5/10/2022 7:00:00 PM
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EMED Study: Increasing Access to Buprenorphine/Naloxone Microdosing and Standard Dosing in Emergency Departments
Summary: People at risk for overdose commonly present to emergency departments (EDs), however opportunities to engage them in ongoing care are often missed. Buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) prevents mortality and is effective at engaging people in care when initiated in EDs. However, barriers exist to its initiation, including the need to be in moderate to severe withdrawal during induction, and the risk of precipitating withdrawal if started too early. Microdosing is a novel method that avoids withdrawal by starting small doses that increase gradually. The EMED study is a multicentre randomized controlled trial that is the first to test the effectiveness of microdosing versus standard dosing in retaining patients on Suboxone and other opioid agonist therapies. Early study implementation has overcome many challenges of implementing a RCT in the fast-paced ED setting. Bio: Dr. Jessica Moe is an emergency physician at Vancouver General and BC Children’s hospitals, and an Assistant professor in Substance Use and Addictions with the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine. She holds a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology and is a Clinician Scientist with the BC Centre for Disease Control. Her research interests lie in improving ED identification of people at risk for overdose, decreasing barriers to harm reduction interventions and treatments, and understanding people with frequent ED presentations. She is currently leading a multicentre randomized controlled trial evaluating buprenorphine/naloxone microdosing and standard dosing in the ED, as well as a study implementing and evaluating continuous pulse oximetry for people who smoke drugs at overdose prevention sites in BC.
BC CDC Presenters
1/11/2022 8:00:00 PM
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Examining contextual and health equity factors shaping the implementation of GetCheckedOnline in British Columbia and Ontario.
In this presentation, we discuss two complementary research projects that explored contextual and health equity considerations shaping the ongoing implementation of GetCheckedOnline in British Columbia, and the potential for introducing in Ontario a GetCheckedOnline-like service for gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men. Presenters: Dr. Oralia Gómez-Ramírez, MA, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Online Sexual Health Services unit at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health. She trained in sociocultural anthropology and, as an applied public health researcher, she specializes in implementation science, digital public health, health equity, and program evaluation. Dr. Gómez-Ramírez’s postdoctoral research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian HIV Trials Network, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Dr. Kinnon Ross MacKinnon, MSW, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, York University. He completed doctoral and postdoctoral training at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. His program of research seeks to improve the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+) people by transforming healthcare policy, clinical practice, and education.
BC CDC Presenters
5/18/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Health and economic impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) immunization program in British Columbia.
Presenter: Nirma Khatri Vadlamudi, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Vaccine Evaluation Center, BC Children’s Research Institute, University of British Columbia. She has been involved in vaccine research since 2016, investigating immunogenicity, safety, efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of novel vaccines to prevent infectious diseases. Summary: In this BCCDC Grand Rounds, Dr. Vadlamudi will present findings from a project designed to understand the health and economic impact of infant immunization policy at the population level to help shape healthcare policy for reduction of the pneumococcal disease burden in BC.
BC CDC Presenters
12/6/2022 8:00:00 PM
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Host Mediator Modulation in COVID-19
Summary: I review the clinical features of acute COVID-19 briefly before illustrating the clinical stages of COVID-19. The stages of COVID-19 matter A LOT because therapies are optimized according to patient stage. The early pre-clinical stage is the arena for primary prevention by behaviours and use of vaccination. The early viral stage is managed with anti-virals and antibodies. Some have recently suggested a role for anti-inflammatory agents early, but this is uncertain. The later hospitalization stage is when anti-inflammatory and immune modulators appear to play a role. I then review important host mediators in COVID-19, the classes of host mediators and the strategies for mitigating some of the aberrant host-mediated responses to COVID-19. I choose several classes of mediators and review prominent trials of host mediators, prominent for efficacy and prominent for design features. I present an update on our BC-grown international CIHR-funded ARBs CORONA program and present results of plasma renin angiotensin (RAS) components and proteomics studies, preliminary results of our pan-Canadian COVID-19 cohort evaluation of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in COVID-19, related meta-analyses (acute cardiac injury and acute kidney injury in COVID-19) , and an update of our recently launched international pivotal randomized controlled trial of an ARB (losartan) vs. usual care in adults hospitalized with COVID-19. Generic losartan is $0.25-0.50 per day, so if it proven effective, it could be used globally. I close with a future vision of COVID-19 prevention, care, and follow-up. Presenter: Dr. Russell is Professor of Medicine at University of British Columbia (UBC) and a Principal Investigator in the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI) at the University of British Columbia and St. Paul’s Hospital where he focuses on septic shock and COVID-19 research. He is on the editorial board of 5 journals, has 290 peer-reviewed publications, 277 international presentations, 45 chapters (including the chapter on septic shock in Cecil Medicine), 200 abstracts and 12 patents. Dr. Russell has four major current themes of research (1) randomized controlled trials in patients with septic shock and (2) the genomics and pharmacogenomics of septic shock. He is now developing two new themes (3) the renin angiotensin system (RAS) in COVID-19 and (4) operating characteristics and predictive value of short-term versus long-term outcome measures in sepsis. Dr. Russell’s research highlights (1) direct high impact on care of critically ill septic patients around the world, (2) publication in high impact journals, and (3) most important, illustrate the fundamental strategy of his research career, the successful coupling of expertise in clinical trials with biobanking and discovery of novel biomarkers that explain mechanisms of therapies in sepsis.
BC CDC Presenters
12/1/2020 8:00:00 PM
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Immunology of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses and extended dosing intervals
Summary: The goal is to discuss mechanistic immunological evidence supporting the effect of vaccine dosing interval and pre-existing endemic coronavirus cross-reactivity on SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine antibody responses. Presenter: Dr. Pascal Lavoie is clinician-scientist and immunology researcher at BC Children's Hospital and UBC, who leads the Tracking COVID-19 for Safer Schools study, and a COVID-19 Immunity Task Force-funded study looking at SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses in healthcare workers and children at BC Children's and Women's and Surrey Memorial Hospitals.
BC CDC Presenters
1/18/2022 8:00:00 PM
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Impact of school closures on learning, child and family well-being
We apologize for the poor audio quality during the introduction (first 7 minutes) of this recording. The audio is improved for the rest of the presentation Description: Schools were closed proactively across BC in an effort to reduce community transmission in the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation reviews currently available evidence to balance the potential benefit of school closures against evidence regarding harms of prolonged school absences. Aims include to: assess how children and youth are affected by COVID-19 and understand their role in transmission; explore effectiveness of school closures as a prevention measure and experiences of school re-openings, and describe the known consequences of school closures on the health and well-being of children and families. Presenters: Dr. Trevor Corneil is a public health and preventative medicine specialist, senior health care executive, and practising inner-city medicine physician with over 20 years’ experience in both clinical and administrative practice in BC. He is also a Clinical Professor at the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Dr. Naomi Dove is a Public Health & Preventative Medicine Physician in the Office of the Provincial Health Officer and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Dr. Jason Wong is a Public Health and Preventive Medicine Physician in the Clinical Prevention Services division at BCCDC and Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Dr. Quynh Doan is a Pediatric Emergency Physician at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH), a Clinician Scientist with the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (BCCHRI), and an Associate Professor at UBC.
BC CDC Presenters
9/9/2020 7:00:00 PM
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LGBTQ2 Equity through Public Health Policy and Practice
Presenter: Travis Salway is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, where he teaches and conducts research in affiliation with the BCCDC, the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, and the Community-Based Research Centre. Through research, community networking, and public health collaboration, Travis works to describe patterns of unjust and avoidable harms to sexual and gender minority populations (i.e., LGBTQ2 people) and then identify policies and practices that can prevent these harms. Travis holds a Michael Smith Foundation Scholar Award (2019-2024). He has worked at and with the BCCDC in various capacities since 2008. Summary: In 2019, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health undertook a historic four-month study to understand why, despite decades of incremental legal protections and improved social attitudes in Canada, LGBTQ2 people continue to face a substantially higher burden of poor health outcomes than our heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. In this talk, I will attempt to answer this question, presenting two case studies from contemporary research with thousands of LGBTQ2 people living in Canada. The first case study concerns so-called conversion therapy—organized attempts to deny or suppress LGBTQ2 identities—and the recent efforts of the Canadian government to ban these practices. The second concerns the role of public health in connecting LGBTQ2 people to accessible and safe mental health supports. I suggest that we need comprehensive, public health-led or supported strategies that affirm LGBTQ2 lives across the life-course; and, while we are waiting for the long-term benefits of these strategies (i.e., health equity for LGBTQ2 people), we need tailored secondary prevention strategies to address the elevated rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, and substance use that this population experiences.
BC CDC Presenters
2/9/2021 8:00:00 PM
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Metabolomics for the diagnosis of infectious diseases
Summary: Although molecular testing demonstrates high test performance and represents the standard of care for diagnosis of several infectious diseases, diagnostic gaps remain including high cost, high complexity and inability to differentiate active infection from colonization. These limitations have surfaced actively in the application of respiratory virus testing. These viruses infect respiratory epithelial cells, where they may induce metabolite alterations in the host. There is significant interest in leveraging alternative approaches such as metabolomics (small molecules) and proteomics (proteins) to address remaining gaps. This presentation will provide an introduction to metabolomics testing, draw on the current evidence base of metabolomics for infectious diseases applications, and present early findings for the diagnosis of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 via untargeted and targeted metabolomics approaches. Bio: Dr. Catherine Hogan is a medical microbiologist and infectious diseases physician with a passion for innovative diagnostic methods. She completed post-doctoral training at Stanford University, where she developed and optimized diagnostic methods for infectious diseases. During this time, she led a multidisciplinary team that completed proof-of-concept work demonstrating the successful adaptation of a novel and universal metabolomics method combined with machine learning for infectious diseases diagnostics. She joined the BC Centre for Disease Control in February 2021, where she is now working on extending this research program.
BC CDC Presenters
11/1/2022 7:00:00 PM
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Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on marginalized people: The ‘Accelerating SARS-CoV-2 SEroprevalence SurveyS Through Dried Blood Spots’ (ASSESS-DBS) Study
Sero-prevalence studies of people who are street entrenched, in prison, or live in remote or rural communities are challenging. We have experienced in the last couple of months that Point-of-care tests (PoCT) that use blood collected through finger prick (like a glucose test) seem to offer a solution to these challenges, but these tests lack specificity and therefore can’t provide the most accurate picture. On the other hand, Chemiluminescence Enzyme Immuno Assays that use blood drawn from veins have better performance, but with people who are not able to access care, or who have difficulties with venous access, these are not a viable option other. Dried Blood Spot testing may provide an effective solution to mitigate these problems. Dr. Sofia Bartlett is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the BCCDC & UBC with a background in infectious disease epidemiology, viral evolution, and molecular diagnostics. Her program of research seeks to address gaps in knowledge around infectious diseases, such as viral hepatitis, HIV, and COVID-19, that have the potential to inform public health policy and health programming, while also advancing the rights and the health of marginalized people. Dr. Muhammad Morshed is a Clinical Microbiologist and the Program Head for the Zoonotic Diseases and Emerging Pathogens and Parasitology Sections at BCCDC Public Health Laboratory. He is leading the COVID-19 serology validation project. His lab specializes in handling specialized serology of unusual pathogens.
BC CDC Presenters
7/21/2020 6:00:00 PM
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Monitoring and reducing inequities in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated control efforts (e.g., reduced social contacts) have measurably affected the mental health of the British Columbia population. Moreover, social inequities in mental health outcomes appear to have worsened in recent years, owing in part to an uneven distribution of material and social resources which existed before COVID-19 and were exacerbated in 2020-21 for a variety of reasons. In this talk, Drs. Samji and Salway from Simon Fraser University and the BC Centre for Disease Control review recent empirical evidence of social differences in mental health status during the COVID-19 pandemic and outline public health interventions that can remediate unjust and avoidable mental health inequities in 2022 and beyond. Presenter bios: Dr. Hasina Samji (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and a Senior Scientist in Population Mental Wellbeing in the Population and Public Health Division at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. She completed her PhD in infectious disease epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has expertise in the design and implementation of observational cohort studies and analysis of large administrative health databases. Dr. Samji leads the Youth Development Instrument (YDI), an interdisciplinary study measuring predictors of positive youth well-being, mental health, and development in high school students in collaboration with the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP-UBC), community, clinical and policy partners, and youth themselves. The YDI elucidates upstream skill-development and structural supports for mental illness prevention and promotion of positive trajectories for young people. She is also the co-Principal Investigator of the BC Children's Hospital's Personal Impacts of COVID-19 Survey (PICS) study to measure the population-level mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Travis Salway (he/him) is a social epidemiologist who works to understand and improve the health of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (2S/LGBTQ) populations. He is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and conducts research in affiliation with the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity. In 2019-2020, he testified for two standing committees of the Canadian House of Commons, to inform federal policy to promote 2S/LGBTQ health equity. This resulted in the passage of Bill C-4, making it a crime to perpetrate anti-2S/LGBTQ practices, otherwise known as “conversion therapy.” In Vancouver, on lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples, Travis directs MindMapBC.ca, a 2S/LGBTQ-affirming mental health service finder, and co-directs the Two-Spirit Dry Lab, Turtle Island’s first research group exclusively dedicated to understanding the health of Two-Spirit Indigenous people. In 2022, his team will launch the national UnACoRN.ca survey, to understand the range of settings where Canadian youth have their sexual and gender identities supported or threatened.
BC CDC Presenters
1/25/2022 8:00:00 PM
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Monkeypox Response in BC
Summary: In 2022, a global outbreak of monkeypox occurred outside of endemic regions, including BC. The monkeypox outbreak will be discussed, with emphasis on the BC public health and laboratory response, unique clinical findings, and patient management strategies. Presenters: Dr. Mayank Singal is the physician lead for enteric, vector-borne, and zoonotic diseases at the BCCDC. He is the medical epidemiologist lead for investigation of Monkeypox outbreak. In the past, he has led numerous local and provincial outbreak investigations as well as the development of guidelines for control and prevention of communicable diseases, including rabies and COVID-19. Dr. Mark Hull is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and Infectious Diseases consultant at St Paul’s Hospital. He provides HIV and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis services in a number of community clinics in Vancouver, with a focus on gbMSM populations. His research focuses on evaluating HIV outcomes, uptake of PrEP and prevention of other sexually transmitted infections amongst gbMSM. Dr. Agatha Jassem is a Clinical Microbiologist and the Program Head of the Virology Lab at the BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Jassem oversees diagnostic testing and her research focuses on evaluating new strategies for detecting and charactering viruses and viral exposures.
BC CDC Presenters
10/11/2022 7:00:00 PM
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Mystery hepatitis of unknown origin in children
Summary: This presentation will include a summary of the epidemiology of the mystery hepatitis, discussion of possible hypotheses, planned international investigations, as well as the role of public health in BC. Presenter: Dr. Mayank Singal is the physician lead for enteric, vector-borne, and zoonotic diseases at the BCCDC. He is the medical lead for investigation of severe hepatitis of unknown etiology. In the past, he has led numerous local and provincial outbreak investigations as well as the development of guidelines for control and prevention of communicable diseases, including rabies and COVID-19.
BC CDC Presenters
5/17/2022 7:00:00 PM
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Overdose, health equity and prescribed safer supply in the time of pandemic
Summary: Overdose continues to be an ongoing public health emergency, accounting for over 70,000 years of life lost in 2020. In this presentation we will review recent trends in overdose with an emphasis on the impact of the pandemic on persons who use substances, including widening health inequities experienced by First Nations peoples in BC. The presentation will also review recent findings from an ongoing CIHR and MSFHR-funded evaluation on prescribed safer supply initiatives that were launched in March 2020. Presenters: Dr. Amanda Slaunwhite is a Senior Scientist and the lead of the Provincial Overdose Cohort at the BCCDC. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. Louise Meilleur is the Director of Health Surveillance for the First Nations Health Authority. Dr. Heather Palis is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the BCCDC’s Provincial Overdose Cohort team and in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC.
BC CDC Presenters
11/16/2021 8:00:00 PM
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Preclinical studies of a protein subunit vaccine for COVID-19
Presenter: Dr. Robert Brunham is the head of the UBC-CDC Vaccine Research Laboratory at BCCDC and a professor emeritus of medicine at UBC. Until 2014, he was also the executive and scientific director of BCCDC. Summary: A COVID vaccine initiative was launched in July at UBC and BCCDC to search for a protein subunit vaccine. An interim report of the strategy taken and progress made will be given.
BC CDC Presenters
12/8/2020 8:00:00 PM
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Pre-existing immunity against SARS-CoV-2: What to make of the data?
SARS-CoV-2 caused an exceptionally high number of deaths and disability in a very short period of time worldwide. In contrast, infections in most results in mild disease. While age, sex, auto-antibodies (in a small proportion of people) and co-morbidities clearly modulate disease risk, we still don’t know much about the reasons for the broad range of COVID-19 clinical presentations, aside from a main role of age. Multiple research groups around the world have reported pre-existing antibody or T cell reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 in absence of prior infection, likely to previous exposures to endemic coronaviruses. In this lecture, I will discuss some of this evidence, what to make of it (or not), and present an ongoing study to determine the impact of pre-existing immune reactivity on responses to a single SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose in virus-naïve individuals. Dr. Pascal Lavoie is a Clinician-Scientist, Associate professor at the University of British Columbia and staff Neonatologist at BC Women’s Hospital. He completed medical school, and a PhD in human immunology at McGill University, a pediatric residency at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, and a fellowship in Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine at UBC, where he joined as full-time Faculty in 2008. His core research focuses on the developing immune system in early life. However, with the pandemic, a major focus of his research was re-oriented towards understanding immunity to SARS-CoV-2 at the population level, as well as two COVID-19 Immunity Task Force-funded studies on the 1) impact of pre-existing immunity on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses, and 2) SARS-CoV-2 infections within schools.
BC CDC Presenters
6/15/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Provincial CKD-TB Screening Program: epidemiological impact, safety, and provincial uptake - December 3, 2019 Grand Rounds
Talk summary: In 2012, BC began rolling out a province-wide latent TB screening program aimed at systematically screening all people initiating chronic dialysis with a combination of a risk assessment questionnaire, a chest X-ray, and an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), and treating when appropriate. Dr. Jay Johnston and Kamila Romanowski will be presenting on the epidemiological impact, safety, and provincial uptake of this program. Dr. Jay Johnston is a tuberculosis physician and researcher at BCCDC. He is Associate Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Medicine and Head of the VGH Division of Respiratory Medicine. Kamila Romanowski is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia and a researcher within Provincial TB Services at the BCCDC.
BC CDC Presenters
12/3/2019 8:00:00 PM
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Public Health Community Engagement with Asian Populations in British Columbia during COVID-19: Towards A Culture-Centered Approach
Summary: COVID-19 has posed significant challenges to those who endeavor to provide equitable public health information and services. This presentation shares results from a study on how community leaders, advocates, and public health communication specialists approached community engagement among Asian immigrant and diaspora communities in BC throughout the pandemic. Presenter: Wendy Pringle, PhD, MA, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Vaccine Evaluation Center, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Pringle brings her critical and interpretive communication training to the study of vaccine communication in community and healthcare settings. She works with Dr. Julie Bettinger and the Canadian Immunization Research Network to better understand how perinatal healthcare providers discuss vaccines with patients. Other current projects focus on COVID vaccine decision making and paths for improving pandemic policy effectiveness.
BC CDC Presenters
5/31/2022 7:00:00 PM
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Respiratory and patient reported outcomes after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and implications for follow-up
Summary: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to over 86 million confirmed cases and nearly 2 million deaths globally. There is growing evidence that patients can have persistent symptoms and physiologic sequelae well after COVID-19 recovery, supporting the need for short and long term patient follow-up. In this presentation, we will discuss the development of the Post-COVID-19 Respiratory Clinic (PCRC) at St. Paul's Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital and review the research it has generated including studies looking at respiratory and patient reported outcomes after COVID-19. We will then discuss the implications these findings have on the long-term management of patients recovering from COVID-19. Presenters: Dr. Alyson Wong completed her core medical training at the University of British Columbia (UBC), followed by a Respirology fellowship at Dalhousie University. She subsequently returned to UBC where she completed a 2-year Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) clinical and research fellowship and Master of Health Science. Dr. Wong is currently a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Medicine at UBC and postdoctoral research fellow with the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation. She works as a respirologist in the Interstitial Lung Disease program at St. Paul's Hospital. Dr. Aditi Shah is part of Faculty of Medicine, Division of Respirology at University of British Columbia. She completed her training in Respiratory medicine at University of Saskatchewan and has received clinical and research training in Sleep Medicine and Neuromuscular respiratory disease at University of British Columbia. She is currently working as a Respirologist at Vancouver General Hospital and in Sleep Medicine department at University of British Columbia Hospital.
BC CDC Presenters
1/19/2021 8:00:00 PM
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Road Trauma – Solutions for a Public Health Epidemic - Ms. Megan Oakey, MPH – Provincial Manager, Injury Prevention
Abstract: Road traffic deaths and severe injuries are a health epidemic in B.C. Each year over 300 people die from road trauma and almost 4,000 are hospitalized. Severe injuries have increased 25 per cent over the last four years, but most importantly, these deaths and injuries are preventable. This presentation will explain Vision Zero, a safety policy that takes an ethical approach towards achieving safety for all road users, setting the goal of zero road traffic fatalities or severe injuries. It is based on the tenants of the Safe Systems Approach, placing the responsibility of road traffic safety primarily on the system designers. Vision Zero calls for a shift in attention from the traditional and primarily educational approach aimed at influencing individual behavior, to an “upstream” approach that shapes policies, systems and the built environment as the key factors that most influence people’s behavioral choices. Bio: Ms. Megan Oakey, MPH – Provincial Manager, Injury Prevention Population & Public Health, BC Centre for Disease Control, and BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, University of British Columbia Ms. Megan Oakey joined the BC Centre for Disease Control and the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit in 2016 as Provincial Manager for Injury Prevention, with 15 years’ experience working in Public Health in Canada, Australia, Cambodia, Kenya and Tanzania. Megan is the current co-chair of the BC Provincial Public Health Injury Prevention Committee, which provides guidance and recommendations on injury prevention to the Provincial Public Health Executive Committee, the Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Officer. She also co-chairs the BC Injury Prevention Alliance, chairs the BC Falls and Injury Prevention Coalition, and is an active member of the BC Road Safety Strategy. Megan holds an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and a BHK in Exercise Science from the University of British Columbia.
BC CDC Presenters
2/11/2020 8:00:00 PM
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Second Dose Deferral to Extend COVID-19 Vaccine Coverage: A Review of the Evidence
Cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 have been increasing since mid-September in BC and as of January 2021 remain elevated. Two mRNA vaccines have been authorized for use in Canada but vaccine supply will be limited through the first quarter of 2021, requiring strategic management to address scarcity during a period of heightened need. To extend protective vaccine coverage to as many priority group members as possible, population risk assessment and response require consideration of second dose deferral. This talk will review the evidence and benefit-risk analysis underpinning decisions to defer the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Danuta Skowronski leads the Influenza and Emerging Respiratory Pathogens Team at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) where she informs surveillance, research and program/policy recommendations for influenza, and more recently COVID-19, prevention and control. She is credited with co-development of the test-negative design, a methodology now used globally to monitor seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness. With more than 170 scientific publications, Dr. Skowronski’s pioneering epidemiological work related to influenza vaccine will also help shape COVID-19 vaccine monitoring strategies.
BC CDC Presenters
1/26/2021 8:00:00 PM
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Shadows and Light: A Physician's Lens on COVID
This recording will only be available online for one month, starting Sept 21, 2022. All images in the presentation are copyrighted. Presenter: Dr. Heather Patterson is an adult and pediatric emergency physician and photographer from Calgary, Alberta. When the pandemic struck, Patterson decided to put her twenty years of photography experience to use and began photographing the intimate moments at Calgary hospitals that went on to become Shadows and Light, her recent book publication. Photographs from the project have been featured in Macleans, where they were a finalist for a National Magazine Award, and the Calgary Herald and on CBC, CityNews, Global News, and CTV. Patterson has received the Award for Medical Journalism from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and her work has been featured in medical journals and presented at conference and grand rounds across Canada. Summary: Through a chronological visual story of the people who have experienced the pandemic first-hand, Heather shares how she found hope and a renewed sense of purpose in the resilience of the human spirit and the inspiring fortitude of Canada’s pandemic heroes. Intimate images of healthcare workers, support staff, patients and families, shed light on the compassion, teamwork, and even joy that can be found amidst tragedy. The images and stories highlight love and loss, kindness and grace, and the importance of authenticity during an epidemic of burnout, delivering a message that is relevant and critically important during our current health-care crisis.
BC CDC Presenters
9/13/2022 7:00:00 PM
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Support for School Vaccine Mandates in British Columbia
Summary: School vaccine mandates are population health interventions that require monitoring and communicating about the vaccination status of school-aged children, with the aim of controlling infectious disease in the population. While such policies are usually associated with higher vaccine coverage in the pediatric population, in cases where mandates are highly controversial they may be ineffective or risk unintended consequences such as backlash; therefore, monitoring of population attitudes toward new mandates is important. With the implementation of the Vaccine Status Reporting Regulation (VSRR) in 2019, BC became the 3rd Canadian province with a school vaccine mandate. This presentation will share results of monitoring to date of population attitudes toward the components of the VSRR and describe next steps in policy implementation and surveillance to minimize risks of unintended consequences. Presenter: Devon Greyson (PhD, MLIS) is Assistant Professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, where they study the influence of information and information-based interventions on population health outcomes.
BC CDC Presenters
6/14/2022 7:00:00 PM
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The BC Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act evaluation: Lack of awareness, limited protection, "but better than nothing"?
The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, enacted in 2017, provides protection at the scene of an overdose, for possession of drugs for personal use, in order to reduce concerns of police attendance and encourage people to call 9-1-1. Our study, funded by the BC Ministry of Health, is a multidisciplinary collaboration to assess the knowledge, attitudes and implementation of the Act from the perspectives of enforcement and people at risk of witnessing or experiencing an overdose, including youth and people on release from prison. We will share findings from the study to date, highlight resultant initiatives and discuss potential policy implications as BC and Canada explore decriminalization to address the unacceptable and preventable drug toxicity overdoses and deaths. Dr. Jane Buxton is a public health physician and professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She is medical lead for harm reduction at BC Centre for Disease Control. She developed the Drug Overdose and Alert Partnership to identify and respond to issues related to illegal drugs. In 2012 she led the implementation of the BC Take Home Naloxone program - which has shipped one million kits to distribution sites across the province. Jane's research uses qualitative and quantitative approaches, and she is committed to including the authentic voices of the experts - people with lived and living experience - in developing policy, program planning and evaluation, and research. Jessica Xavier is the research coordinator for the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act evaluation at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Prior to her work at the BC Centre for Disease Control, Jessica’s research was focused on increasing accessibility to supervised consumption sites in Ontario for groups who experience barriers to access. Jessica holds a master’s in public health in Health Promotion. Her research interests include community-based research with people who use drugs and effective drug policy.
BC CDC Presenters
6/8/2021 7:00:00 PM
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The Changing Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in BC
Presenters: Dr. John R Tyson PhD has a background in molecular cell biology and genomics, with a particular focus on next generation sequencing technologies and molecular diagnostics. He has recently joined the BCCDC as a Senior Scientist focusing on microbial genomics. Over the last year in collaboration with local and international colleges he has helped developed cost effective, and widely adopted, SARS-CoV-2 sequencing methods (ARTIC network amplicon sequencing). His work has continued within the BCCDC on tracking and characterizing the genetic drift observed in the SARS-CoV-2 genome lineages here in BC and the emergence of variants of concern (VoC). Dr. Catherine Hogan MD MSc recently joined the BCCDC as a medical microbiologist. Her research interests include novel diagnostic methods, metabolomics for infectious diseases diagnostics and tropical medicine. She has been very active in investigating diagnostic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from large-scale healthcare worker screening to novel molecular testing, and contributing directly-applicable knowledge with the goal of improving public health and clinical outcomes. Summary: The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern has triggered a need to go beyond a simple positive diagnosis. In BC, an integrated approach incorporating both rapid variant-specific qPCR detection and whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been used to provide timely genetic characterization. These approaches enable the identification and tracking of specific mutations upon arrival and upon onward transmission. This is particularly important in the early days of novel variant emergence and provides an opportunity for implementation of enhanced mitigation strategies. How this approach will evolve as VoCs become established in BC will be discussed and the changes required as the landscape of variants shifts with new variants anticipated to emerge secondary to vaccination roll-out. Knowledge of the shifting SARS-CoV-2 genetic landscape integrated into the rich epidemiological data available here in BC will assist efforts going forward tracking the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and any specific impact they may have.
BC CDC Presenters
3/30/2021 7:00:00 PM
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The Changing Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in BC - Mar 30, 2021
Presenters: Dr. John R Tyson PhD has a background in molecular cell biology and genomics, with a particular focus on next generation sequencing technologies and molecular diagnostics. He has recently joined the BCCDC as a Senior Scientist focusing on microbial genomics. Over the last year in collaboration with local and international colleges he has helped developed cost effective, and widely adopted, SARS-CoV-2 sequencing methods (ARTIC network amplicon sequencing). His work has continued within the BCCDC on tracking and characterizing the genetic drift observed in the SARS-CoV-2 genome lineages here in BC and the emergence of variants of concern (VoC). Dr. Catherine Hogan MD MSc recently joined the BCCDC as a medical microbiologist. Her research interests include novel diagnostic methods, metabolomics for infectious diseases diagnostics and tropical medicine. She has been very active in investigating diagnostic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from large-scale healthcare worker screening to novel molecular testing, and contributing directly-applicable knowledge with the goal of improving public health and clinical outcomes. Summary: The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern has triggered a need to go beyond a simple positive diagnosis. In BC, an integrated approach incorporating both rapid variant-specific qPCR detection and whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been used to provide timely genetic characterization. These approaches enable the identification and tracking of specific mutations upon arrival and upon onward transmission. This is particularly important in the early days of novel variant emergence and provides an opportunity for implementation of enhanced mitigation strategies. How this approach will evolve as VoCs become established in BC will be discussed and the changes required as the landscape of variants shifts with new variants anticipated to emerge secondary to vaccination roll-out. Knowledge of the shifting SARS-CoV-2 genetic landscape integrated into the rich epidemiological data available here in BC will assist efforts going forward tracking the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and any specific impact they may have.
BC CDC Presenters
3/30/2021 7:00:00 PM
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The effect of vaccination against pertussis during pregnancy on infants’ antibody responses to primary and booster vaccinations.
Vaccination with tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine in pregnancy aims to protect young infants from "whooping cough" disease in young infancy. This strategy is highly effective in reducing pertussis disease in young infants and is recommended in Canada and increasingly number of countries. This individual-participant data meta-analysis funded by British Columbia Immunization Committee aimed to determine the effect of Tdap vaccination in pregnancy on infants’ vaccine responses and factors affecting these immune responses. Infants of women vaccinated against pertussis in pregnancy had lower antibody levels against pertussis, diphtheria and some streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes after their vaccination compared with infants of unvaccinated women. Maternally-derived antibodies induced by Tdap vaccination in pregnancy reduced infants’ immune responses to primary and booster vaccination. Enhanced surveillance of pertussis, diphtheria and invasive pneumococcal disease in infants of women vaccinated with Tdap in pregnancy is needed to determine the clinical significance of these findings. Infant vaccination programs may need to be modified in settings where Tdap vaccination in pregnancy is implemented, if these lower antibody levels are clinically significant. Presenter: Dr. Bahaa Abu-Raya is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician-scientist at the Vaccine Evaluation Center, University of British Columbia. Dr. Abu-Raya's research has been predominantly in the field of pertussis immunization in pregnancy and his research has contributed to immunization policy in several countries. Specifically, the recommendation that pregnant women need to be immunized with pertussis vaccine in every pregnancy and also the ideal timing of pertussis immunization in pregnancy. Dr Abu-Raya is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Young Investigator Award and Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
BC CDC Presenters
2/23/2021 8:00:00 PM
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The harm reduction client survey: From small beginnings to influencing harm reduction policy and programs
This presentation will explore how the harm reduction client survey was introduced in 2012 for quality assurance purposes and to provide a snapshot of substance use across BC. Since that time the survey has expanded into an invaluable tool in the ever changing context of highly toxic drugs and the devastating overdose crisis. We will share some findings and how these have informed policy, program development and evaluation, research and knowledge translation priorities. We will also highlight how people with lived and living experience are engaged in all steps of the survey development, administration and interpretation of the findings. Presenters: Dr. Jane Buxton is a public health physician and professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She is medical lead for harm reduction at BC Centre for Disease Control. She developed the Drug Overdose and Alert Partnership to identify and respond to issues related to illegal drugs. In 2012 she led the implementation of the BC Take Home Naloxone program - which has shipped one million kits to distribution sites across the province. Jane's research uses qualitative and quantitative approaches, and she is committed to including the authentic voices of the experts - people with lived and living experience - in developing policy, program planning and evaluation, and research. Charlene Burmeister has over 12 years of experience in peer engagement and leadership, and holds several roles including the People with Lived and Living Experience Stakeholder Engagement Lead for the BC Centre for Disease Control, and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Coalition of Substance Users of the North. She is also a board member of the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs. Charlene was one of the first members of the provincial advisory committee, PEEP in 2015 and continues to inform provincial harm reduction policy using her expertise and leadership. Max Ferguson is a research epidemiologist on the BCCDC's Harm Reduction team. They hold a dual Master of Public Health and Master of Science in Nursing from the University of British Columbia. They are currently leading the development of a Canadian Take-Home Naloxone Best Practice Guideline.
BC CDC Presenters
9/21/2021 7:00:00 PM
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The Medicine Bundle Pilot: Communities Driving Change
Summary: The Medicine Bundle Pilot is an Indigenous approach to the HIV-ST and DBS kits. In response to the barriers and needs that were identified through community consultations the sexual health Medicine Bundle was developed. Under the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing – weaving western and Indigenous knowledge for the benefit of all – the Medicine Bundle is an Indigenous approach to addressing the needs and barriers to sexual health testing and resources faced by Two-Spirit folks in rural and remote communities throughout BC. Presenter: Martin Morberg is a Two-Spirit Northern Tutchone and Tlingit man from the remote community of Mayo, Yukon Territory. He is a member of the Na Cho Nyak Dun First Nation. “It’s my goal to empower the lives and voices of Two-Spirit and Indigenous people affected by HIV and addictions while contributing to the visibility of these communities.” Much of Martin's work and activism is rooted in community and grassroots initiatives and he acknowledges that many Indigenous leaders and community members have guided and supported him in growing into the activist he is today. He hopes to pay this knowledge and support forward to Indigenous communities and Two-Spirit people and contribute to the meaningful work and reclamation of Two-Spirit culture and identity. Martin is the Two-Spirit Program Coordinator at the Community-Based Research Centre.
BC CDC Presenters
6/28/2022 7:00:00 PM
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The Pandemic Acid Test: What We've Learned About How to Improve BC's Health Research System
Pandemics will occur again and will require a coordinated, rapid response research capacity. Successes aside, BC researchers encountered major obstacles to rapid response research during the pandemic. We will examine these lessons and discuss the opportunity of functioning as a more integrated learning health research system in BC and Canada. There are clear implications for integrated public health service and research organizations like BCCDC. Presenter: Dr. David Patrick is an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist with a career interest in responding to emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Patrick is Director of Research and Medical Epidemiology Lead for Antimicrobial Resistance at the BC Centre for Disease Control, and Professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health.
BC CDC Presenters
12/14/2021 8:00:00 PM
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The Unequal Toll of the Pandemic – Findings from the BC COVID-19 SPEAK R2 Population Health Survey
More than 188,000 British Columbians participated in the second British Columbia (B.C.) COVID-19 population health Survey on Population Experiences, Action and Knowledge (SPEAK). The survey ran in April and May 2021 to better understand the experiences of British Columbians one year into the pandemic and how to support the population during recovery. The presentation will provide an overview on British Columbian’s experience of the pandemic and how those experiences changed between May 2020, when the first survey was completed and one year into the pandemic. The results from the B.C. COVID-19 SPEAK survey provide data and evidence to enable us to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of the residents of B.C. These findings can help guide our work during the recovery to ensure unintended societal consequences do not proliferate and the overall health and wellbeing of the population is improved. Presenter bios: Dr. Jat Sandhu is the Senior Executive Director, Innovation, Partnerships and Population Public Health Management at BCCDC. Dr. Sandhu oversees a portfolio that includes strategic planning and implementation; data analytic services; public health information governance; communications and knowledge translation; stakeholder management and collaborative partnerships; and sustainability of strategic and transformative population health initiatives. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor with the UBC School of Population & Public Health and Adjunct Professor with the SFU Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr. Geoffrey McKee is a public health physician and Medical Director for Population and Public Health at BCCDC. He is also a clinical instructor at the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Dr. McKee is interested in applied public health research related to the use of administrative and survey derived data to assess the health of the population and inform public policy .
BC CDC Presenters
9/14/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Towards a comprehensive understanding of the overdose crisis and its relationship to social and health inequities
Talk summary: Three years into BC’s first public health emergency, there is growing acceptance that the overdose crisis will be a persistent public health challenge that is linked to multi-generational social, health, and economic inequities. In this context, there is a critical need to not only measure the current effects of the toxic drug supply on rates of overdose morbidity and mortality, but the contribution of risk environments and population health inequities to overdose risk and survival. This lecture will outline current efforts at the BCCDC and the First Nations Health Authority to understand the role of sociodemographic factors, disconnection from traditional culture, criminal justice involvement, and geographic determinants of health in reducing or exacerbating overdose risk, and the need for a nuanced understanding of the overdose crisis that reflects the complexity associated with the social determinants of health. Dr. Amanda Slaunwhite Amanda Slaunwhite is a Senior Scientist for the Provincial Overdose Cohort at the BC Centre for Disease Control. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health. Ms. Louise Mellieur Louise Meilleur is the Director of Health Surveillance for the First Nations Health Authority and holds dual Masters in Quantitative Psychology and Public Health and is a PhD candidate.
BC CDC Presenters
1/7/2020 8:00:00 PM
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Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Australia
Description: Here, I will present the experience of tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Victoria, Australia, from a public health perspective. Going over the first, and second waves, a parliamentary inquiry, and ongoing efforts to carry out national surveillance in a context of a federation of independent states. Presenter: Dr. Anders Gonçalves da Silva has PhD from Columbia University in population genetics, and is currently the senior bioinformatician and Bioinformatics Section Head at the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, in Melbourne, Australia. For the past five years, he has been working to deliver high quality bioinformatics solutions for public health microbiology. More recently, he has been involved in the conception and initial role out of AusTrakka, a data sharing platform to enable real-time pathogen surveillance across jurisdictional boundaries.
BC CDC Presenters
8/25/2020 7:00:00 PM
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Two-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness in British Columbia (BC), Canada
Summary: In this presentation, the effectiveness of two doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in BC will be presented by outcome (including infection and hospitalization), vaccine type (including "mix and match"), age group (including elderly adults), variant of concern (including Delta), duration since vaccination, and finally interval between doses to assess the impact on booster dose protection associated with second-dose deferral in Canada. Presenter: Dr. Danuta Skowronski leads the Influenza and Emerging Respiratory Pathogens Team at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) where she informs surveillance, research and program/policy recommendations for influenza, and more recently COVID-19. With more than 170 scientific publications, Dr. Skowronski is credited with pioneering development of the test-negative design, a methodology now used globally for seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness monitoring. She will share observations of two-dose COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in BC.
BC CDC Presenters
9/28/2021 7:00:00 PM
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Unintended Consequences of the COVID-19 Response
Summary: Many measures were implemented to prevent and slow the spread the COVID-19, such as physical distancing, suspension of in-class learning, temporary closures of non-essential businesses, and limiting size of large gatherings to 50 people. While these measures were effective in limiting the spread of COVID-19, there were many unintended consequences of these measures. The presentation will outline the work to identify, prioritize, monitor and report on the unintended consequences that have occurred. Presenters: Dr. Jason Wong is a Public Health and Preventive Medicine Physician at BCCDC and Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Dr. Brian Emerson is the acting Deputy Provincial Health Officer for BC. Dr. Jason Wong and Dr. Brian Emerson are co-chairs of the Unintended Consequences Working Group.
BC CDC Presenters
9/22/2020 7:00:00 PM
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When will we have a COVID-19 vaccine?
Summary: At least 160 candidate SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are in development and being assessed in preclinical studies and clinical trials. In general, for a vaccine to be approved or licensed by regulatory authorities, it must demonstrate both safety and high efficacy in the prevention of a specific disease in the relevant populations. However, the COVID-19 pandemic poses specific logistic and scientific challenges with respect to the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates. Challenges to the evaluation of candidate vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 before approval or licensure during the ongoing pandemic include rapidly changing levels of exposure to the virus and population immunity, social distancing practices and the possibility of antibody-dependent enhancement of disease. Careful attention must also be paid to postlicensure assessment of vaccines, including the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement of disease, which must be actively monitored closely over multiple years after vaccination. Mathematical modelling results underlining the importance of vaccine efficacy in older age groups will also be highlighted in this talk. Presenters: Dr. Manish Sadarangani is Director of the Vaccine Evaluation Center at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, UBC Department of Pediatrics. His research links clinical trials with basic microbiology, immunology and epidemiology to address clinically relevant problems related to immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr. Daniel Coombs obtained his MSc and PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Arizona. He then did postdoctoral work at Los Alamos National Lab, before joining the Department of Mathematics at UBC as a faculty member, in 2003. Dr. Coombs contributes to our understanding of health-related sciences, especially immunology, within-host infection, and epidemiology, through development and application of mathematical, computational, and statistical methods. He works closely with experimental scientists at UBC and BC Children’s Hospital Research Centre, and public health experts at the BCCDC. He is a member of the Canadian Chief Science Advisor’s expert panel on COVID19.
BC CDC Presenters
7/28/2020 6:00:00 PM
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