Ground-breaking research. Brighter futures.

Every day, our researchers are working towards breakthroughs to transform the lives of kids in BC, Canada and around the world. Learn about the latest innovations, awards and honours; executive updates; and advancements in child health.

For media inquiries, please contact: 
Stephanie Dunn, Manager, Research Communications
sdunn@bcchr.ca | 604-875-2401

Clinical research that transforms care: Q&A with Dr. Soren Gantt

May 18, 2018
Clinical research - research focused on improving patient care - is a central part of the BC Children’s Hospital mission. It allows researchers to learn about health conditions by directly studying patients and to move to medications, diagnostic tools, and treatments out of the laboratory and into the hospital where they can save and improve the lives of children. 

Understanding our patients’ experiences to provide meaningful care: Q&A with Dr. Julie Robillard

May 17, 2018
For Dr. Julie Robillard, “patient experience” encompasses everything from the treatments a patient receives, to how they access specialists and health information, to how they are engaged in their own care. It’s an area of research that examines how people interact with the health care system, with the goal of improving how hospitals deliver care in partnership with patients and families.

New website helps keep active kids safe from common sport injuries

May 10, 2018

An average of 900 BC children and teens are hospitalized each year due to sports-related injuries. A new website is working to change this by giving parents, kids, coaches and teachers easy access to injury prevention information for over 50 popular sports and recreational activities, including soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, ice hockey, kayaking, hiking and snowboarding.

Isa's story

Apr 11, 2018

It’s not every day that you get a visit from a patient that you worried might not make it. Last month, eight-year-old Isa Guerrero and his family paid a visit to Dr. Pascal Lavoie and his research team at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Lavoie is a BC Children’s Hospital investigator and neonatologist at BC Children's and BC Women's Hospital + Health Centre.

Making Complex Data Easy to See: Q&A with Dr. Mohamed Elgendi

Jan 26, 2018
Despite facing steep odds after being orphaned at a young age, Dr. Elgendi earned a PhD in biomedical engineering and now pursues innovative research projects as a UBC postdoctoral fellow supervised by Dr. Kenneth Lim and Dr. Rabab K. Ward. His research is supported by a BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute Mining for Miracles Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Care4Rare Canada: Harnessing multi-omics to deliver innovative diagnostic care for rare genetic diseases in Canada (C4R-SOLVE)

Jan 23, 2018
For many patients with a rare disease, diagnosis is a years-long odyssey involving visits to multiple specialists, invasive testing and fruitless or missed treatments. The C4R-Solve Project will increase access to state-of-the-art genomic and other innovative ‘omics’ testing, giving patients and families with rare diseases long-awaited answers and helping doctors provide the best possible care.

Silent Genomes: Reducing health-care disparities and improving diagnostic success for Indigenous children with genetic disease

Jan 23, 2018
Precision medicine, the creation of new precisely targeted therapies with a patient’s genetic information, is poised to revolutionize treatment and care, particularly for children with complex health conditions caused by genetic disease. Significantly, Indigenous Canadian communities are increasingly left behind in this “genomics revolution” and continue to face longstanding barriers to accessing health care.

PEGASUS-2: Personalized Genomics for Prenatal Abnormalities Screening Using Maternal Blood: Towards first tier screening and beyond

Jan 23, 2018
Non-invasive prenatal screening can accurately detect Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities in the first trimester of pregnancy with a simple blood test. Because of its relatively high cost, NIPS is currently only used on mothers who have already tested positive on a less expensive and less accurate test.

Genomic and outcomes database for pharmacogenomics and implementation studies (Go-PGx)

Jan 23, 2018
The powerful drugs that treat cancer can sometimes have unintended consequences. Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs), also known as “side-effects,” can result in pain and disability, interruptions in treatment and even death. Research led by Dr. Bruce Carleton has identified some of the genetic differences that can identify whether a child is at increased risk of developing ADRs and has implemented this predictive test at BC Children’s.

Childhood asthma and the microbiome – precision health for life: The Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study

Jan 23, 2018
Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting one in seven Canadian children and costing the health care system more than $2-billion per year. Current treatments can manage the symptoms of asthma, but there is no effective way to prevent or cure this dangerous, chronic condition.

BC Children’s Hospital researchers successful in prestigious national funding competition, bringing the benefits of genomics and precision medicine to BC kids

Jan 23, 2018
BC Children’s Hospital’s role as a national leader in the field of pediatric precision health was highlighted today with the announcement of the result of Genome Canada’s 2017 Large-Scale Applied Research Project competition.

Putting Crohn’s and colitis under the microscope: Q&A with Shauna Crowley

Jan 5, 2018
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases that can make it difficult for children to enjoy everyday activities and absorb the nutrients they need to grow. Shauna Crowley talks about how her research on the microscopic world inside our guts could lead to new treatments for these painful, lifelong conditions.

A simple toolkit that’s saving kids’ lives: The Smart Discharges Project

Dec 15, 2017
In remote and under-served areas with limited access to health care, research has shown that as many children die following discharge as during their stay in the hospital, about 5 to 10 per cent in each case. Many of these post-discharge deaths are caused by sepsis, a severe over-reaction of the immune system to infection that can lead to organ failure, tissue damage and death.