Questioning the Wisdom of the Full Course of Antibiotics
Doctors and healthcare professionals have long urged patients to always finish a course of antibiotics to prevent the development of antibiotic resistance, but is this protocol still warranted? Researchers have discovered that over-use of antibiotics can have negative effects.
CBR Researchers Develop a Novel Blood Binding Bandage to Help Control Traumatic Hemorrhage
A team of chemists from the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia have developed a new wound-dressing material engineered to locally enhance the clotting process at hemorrhage sites.
What is the Best Method of Preventing HIV Transmission?
Researchers collaborated to study the most salient methods of preventing HIV transmission via contaminated needles, comparing two harm reduction strategies and antiretroviral therapy (ART).
More than an Antibiotic: Unveiling Alternative Therapeutic Potential of Gentamicin
A minor component of gentamicin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, has the ability to suppress nonsense mutations. This may greatly benefit patients living with rare genetic diseases.
Kastrup Lab Uses Simulations to Uncover a Potential New Player in Thrombosis
Researchers from the Kastrup Lab at the CBR have provided insight into the mechanism of action for one activator involved in blood clot formation: short‑chain polyphosphate (PolyP).
Bromme Lab Makes an Osteoporosis Mouse Model that is More Similar to Humans
All new osteoporosis drugs have failed clinical trials with unexpected severe side effects and no one knew the reason. Now, Bromme Lab at the CBR discovered key differences between mouse and human cathepsin K proteins that can help create more effective mouse models and test for side-effects long before human trials.
Kizhakkedathu Lab Develops Heparin Reversal Treatment Without Usual Side-Effects
Published in Blood, Dr. Manu Kalathottukaren showed that the Universal Heparin Reversal Agent (UHRA) developed in Dr. Kizhakkedathu’s Lab is non-toxic and has many advantages over the current standard of treatment.
CBR Researchers Achieve near Atomic Resolution of Salmonella’s Nano-Syringe
How do pathogenic bacteria manipulate host cells and cause disease? Published in Nature, Dr Strynadka’s lab at CBR solved the structure of the “nano-syringe” Salmonella uses to infect the host and cause disease.
Hancock Lab Develops a New Tool for Studying Chlamydia Infection
While the pathological findings of the study will indeed be beneficial to antibiotic development, it is the innovative approach used in creating the in vitro model that must be highlighted.
Solving the Mystery: Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia Without Heparin?
Heparin use is not without consequence as its usage can result in an auto-immune clotting disorder, called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Interestingly, HIT can persist even after heparin has cleared from the body – a mystery that the CBR researchers aimed to solve.