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Chairs Appointed
Addiction Research - University of British Columbia
Drug addiction causes people to experience overdoses, develop infectious diseases, and become involved in drug-related crime. At present, treatments for addiction to injection drugs are limited in effectiveness. On December 13, 2007, Dr. Michael Krausz was appointed to the BC Leadership Chair in Addiction Research with matching fund from St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation. This program is designed to be a leader in translational research and to be a catalyst for the development and evaluation of entirely new approaches to addiction treatment.
Dr. Michael Krausz, a noted psychiatrist and researcher, who will also hold a clinical appointment at St. Paul’s Hospital, part of Providence Health Care, is a world authority on addiction treatment and led the world’s largest addiction trial, carried out in Germany using heroin-assisted therapy. Examples of the research he will conduct in his new role will involve gaining a better understanding of the impact of life experiences like violence and sexual abuse on addiction, as well as looking at medications and other therapies that can improve people’s lives.
His proposed research will encompass primarily clinical research and knowledge translation, and catalyze the development and evaluation of entirely new approaches to addiction treatment. The translational research will address this significant public health problem in 3 areas by seeking to improve: (1) the treatment of Hepatitis C and HIV in injection drug users, (2) the understanding of the co-morbidity of addictions and severe mental illness, and (3) the treatment of addictions, using novel drugs and treatments.
Cognitive Neuroscience in Early Childhood Development – Simon Fraser University
World-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Urs Ribary has been appointed as the B.C. Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Early Childhood Health and Development at Simon Fraser University. Over the past twenty years, Dr. Ribary has built a track record as one of the leading researchers in magnetoencephalography (MEG) and its application for neuroscience diagnosis and treatment in Switzerland and the USA.
The BC Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Early Childhood Health and Development will provide a research network that will encompass numerous institutions at the provincial, national, and international level. The principal aim of this network is to develop a research program and brain imaging infrastructure that will place BC (British Columbia) at the leading edge in this discipline. A world-class cognitive neuroscience research community within BC with access to state-of-the-art infrastructure will provide a stimulating environment for researchers to study and understand normal brain development as well as cognitive disabilities, and to develop innovative diagnostic procedures and therapeutic intervention strategies.
This initiative will bring together existing research facilities in cognitive neuroscience at both the behavioral and the neurophysiological levels. The existing facilities include – but are not limited to – those currently available at Simon Fraser University (SFU), the Down Syndrome Research Foundation (DSRF), BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH), and the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Chair will bring these and related resources together into a complementary and coherent research environment that will provide scientists and clinicians alike with access to non-invasive brain imaging and analysis procedures across institutions.
By providing the focal point for a coordinated team effort, the Chair will spearhead a coherent multidisciplinary research program in developmental cognitive neuroscience. The immediate target will be the development of new research strategies and intervention procedures for a range of genetic and acquired cognitive disabilities, including Down syndrome, dyslexia, autism, and traumatic brain injury among others. The Chair will be instrumental in expanding international expertise and collaborations, leading an international research community in the study of brain development and cognitive disabilities, and promoting the effective translation of empirical research into objective diagnostic markers relating to specific intervention strategies.
For additional information visit the Child and Family Research Institute and the Down Syndrome Research Foundation
Early Childhood Development - University of British Columbia
BC Leadership Chair in Early Childhood Development recipient Dr. Thomas Boyce is a pediatrician and a recognized leader in the field of psychobiology, researching how different social experiences affect early human development and influence health, learning and behaviour.
He will lead these studies within the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) based at UBC, a unique network of researchers at UBC, SFU, UVIC, UNBC, TRU and UBC Okanagan which conducts cross-disciplinary research to help children thrive. The Chair is supported by the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children Foundation and the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
The chair’s research program will examine interactions among social, environmental, genetic and neurobiological elements in the pathogenesis of early biomedical and mental health disorders. The goal will be to translate epidemiologic and laboratory research findings into promising early interventions in childhood populations (what, when, ethical considerations, policy implications).
Dr. Boyce and his colleagues are seeking to understand how genes and early social experience can work together to influence a child’s health and development over time. Focused on disorders of mental and physical health in early life, his work offers new insights into why children growing up in stressful or impoverished circumstances sustain a larger share of illness and misfortune. His work also helps explain why some children are exceptionally vulnerable to the health effects of a difficult upbringing and why others are exceptionally resilient
Proposals
Receiving Preliminary Approval
The following institutions have been invited to submit full proposals for Leading Edge Endowment Fund chairs.
Aboriginal Early Childhood Development - Malaspina University
Aboriginal-led generative and post-secondary learning supports early childhood development by transforming both the professional practice and the personal lives of graduates, and by producing good community-based practice. The Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Chair will work with Aboriginal partners throughout the Malaspina University-College region to design and implement a collaborative community development and learning model that will strengthen and expand parenting and family supports.
Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk – UVic
The connection between cultural well-being and ecosystem health is often made
by people indigenous to an area who possess traditional and local knowledge.
This chair will concentrate research on ethnoecology, the study of interactions
between human societies and their ecosystems, to better understand the issues
and seek solutions for cultures and ecosystems at risk.
Proactive Approaches to Reducing Risk for
Violence Among Children and Youth - SFU
Youth violence represents an important public health and economic issue and the
impact on our communities is extremely high. The chair will conduct interdisciplinary
research and develop interventions for reducing violent and aggressive behaviour
among children and youth, working with stakeholders such as families, schools,
law enforcement, and community groups and organizations.
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