At a 1978 genetics conference in Montana, Philip Pallister, then the clinical director of the Boulder River School and Hospital, asked medical geneticist Judith Hall and a group of other researchers a rather startling question: Should we dig up a decomposing baby?

“This story is ghoulish,” Hall tells The Scientist.

The baby had been born with extra fingers, had issues with its anal opening, and hadn’t survived more than a few hours after birth. The child’s father didn’t even know that his baby had died when the medical team asked him if they could perform an autopsy on the child. “He tore up the form and went to grieve with his wife,” Hall recalls. Three months later, the couple asked for the results of the autopsy, but without permission, the medical team hadn’t done one, and the baby had been buried. [MORE]

World Sleep Society (founded by World Association of Sleep Medicine and World Sleep Federation) has collaborated with the Canadian Sleep Society to host World Sleep 2019. The venue selected for the congress on sleep medicine from September 20-25, 2019 is the Vancouver Convention Centre.

World Sleep 2019 offers a worldwide forum inviting sleep professionals to advance current medical and scientific thinking, discover ways to improve sleep health and encourage the prevention and treatment of sleep disorders. For the first time World Sleep also offers Sleep Expo a free event open to the public: http://sleepexpo.org/

“The study of sleep impacts nearly every facet of health,” said Dr. Clete Kushida, President of World Sleep Society. “Our organization gathers the best and brightest minds in the field of sleep to teach, learn and network with other specialists from around the world. It is an exciting collaboration of science.”

Dr. Kimberly Cote, President of the Canadian Sleep Society, says of the joint congress, “The Canadian Sleep Society is pleased to co-host World Sleep 2019 to further support sleep research and education. A coastal city in the Province of British Columbia, Vancouver is a place of diverse landscape and culture – the perfect site to host World Sleep.”

The World Sleep 2019 congress will provide participants from around the world with unmatched opportunities to exchange scientific ideas and experiences in sleep medicine. www.worldsleepcongress.com.

Congratulations to Dr. Edmond Chan, 2019 Robyn Allen Leadership Award. The Robyn Allen Leadership Award recognizes an individual who has made a unique contribution to the lives of Canadians with food allergy through their efforts in education, advocacy, community building, leadership, or fundraising.

Dr. Edmond Chan is a certified practicing pediatric allergist, UBC Clinical Associate Professor, and Head of the Division of Allergy & Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at BC Children’s Hospital where he sees patients. He created the UBC Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy fellowship training program and was its first program director. [more]

On May 14, 2019, Dr. Jeffrey Simons career was recognized at the UBC Retirement Celebration at Academic Gowns Event.

Dr. Simons played an important role in increasing connections between UBC and BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) that allowed him to build UBC pediatric infrastructure in the north and improve the care of the children in that region.

After 18 years as Head of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario critical care team, Dr. Simons moved to Prince Rupert, BC to serve as: 1) Chief of Staff (2000-2003), 2) Consultant Pediatrician (2000-2014), and 3) Locum Consultant Pediatrician (2014-2015) at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital. He held concurrent roles with Northern Health, specifically the Northwest Health Services Delivery Area (NW HSDA) as; 1) Medical Director (2002-2005) and 2) Head, Department of Pediatrics (2006-2014). Dr. Simons was a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of British Columbia (UBC), Department of Pediatrics (2002-2018).

Happy retirement and thank you for your contributions Dr. Simons!

The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recognized outstanding contributions to child and youth health on June 6-9 in Toronto.

This year’s Distinguished Neonatologist is Dr. Alfonso Solimano, a medical graduate of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia where he also learned physiology and biophysics as a biology student of Dr. Carlos Monge, a world leader in high altitude research. He completed his residency in paediatrics at Rush University in Chicago, and his fellowship in neonatology at The Hospital for Sick Children where he was a research fellow in respiratory physiology under Dr. A Charles Bryan. [more]

Congratulations to Dr. Solimano!

Congratulations to Dr. Edmond Chan, Head of the Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and his team for their work advancing research into pediatric allergies.

“… our findings confirm in a real-world setting that this treatment is not only safe but is well-tolerated in a large group of preschool-aged children.”

New data published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice suggests that oral immunotherapy is safe for preschool-aged children with peanut allergies. [see more]

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2019.04.010

Authors: Lianne Soller, PhD, Elissa M. Abrams, MD, Stuart Carr, MD, Sandeep Kapur, MD, Gregory A. Rex, MD, Sara Leo, MD, Per G. Lidman, MD, Joanne Yeung, MD, Timothy K. Vander Leek, MD, Mary McHenry, MD, Tiffany Wong, MD, Victoria E. Cook, MD, MSc, Kyla J. Hildebrand, MD, MScCH (HPTE), Thomas V. Gerstner, MD, Raymond Mak, MD, Nicole J. Lee, MSc, Scott B. Cameron, MD, PhD, Edmond S. Chan, MD

VIDEOS:

https://globalnews.ca/video/5179937/b-c-researchers-make-new-recommendations-on-treating-peanut-allergies?fbclid=IwAR2JP5W_VBrusRF7Y-f8282NmkPs0ulave-L2EC8ZlJSEBNdPVWYUIf82qc

https://www.btvancouver.ca/videos/study-gives-hope-for-kids-with-peanut-allergies/

RADIO:

http://www.iheartradio.ca/cfax-1070/audio/a-peanut-allergy-treatment-has-been-deemed-safe-for-allergists-to-use-even-with-young-kids-1.9090372?mode=Article

OTHER:

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/life-pmn/food-life-pmn/study-finds-peanut-allergy-treatment-safe-for-allergists-to-use-with-young-kids

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/low-doses-of-peanut-a-safe-and-effective-way-to-counteract-allergies-b-c-study

https://www.bcchr.ca/news/oral-immunotherapy-safe-preschool-aged-children-peanut-allergies

https://news.ubc.ca/2019/04/17/oral-immunotherapy-safe-for-preschool-aged-children-with-peanut-allergies/

The ‘Power of Play’ highlights the many important benefits of just playing around.

The Power of Play, a documentary episode on CBC Nature of Things (https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/the-power-of-play), puts forward fascinating scientific evidence that all animals play and the critical importance of play for healthy development and survival. In children, research is mounting on the many aspects of development that are affected by play, including the brain, the socio-emotional learning, mental health, physical development, and resilience. The documentary highlights changing childhoods, where opportunities for outdoor play and risk taking have gone down. Outdoor risky play lets kids explore the world on their own terms and test their limits in freer and positive environments, which is one of the best things we can do to keep them safe.

The Power of Play features Dr. Mariana Brussoni, a developmental psychologist at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Pediatrics and School of Population and Public Health, and the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Brussoni and her research team focus on child injury prevention and risky play. Dr. Brussoni’s Playability study – highlighted in the Power of Play – examines how children use their neighbourhoods for play in order to develop a ‘Playability’ index to assess how playable a neighbourhood is for children’s outdoor play, and how best to design for play-friendly neighbourhoods.

In the documentary, Dr. Brussoni discusses common parental fears that limit children’s opportunities for play. Her Go Play Outside! study addresses these fears, providing a tool for parents, OutsidePlay.ca, to reframe their perceptions of risk and change parenting behaviours. Parents are taken through a journey featuring a series of tasks carefully designed to coach them to reflect on their attitudes and fears to develop a personalised action plan for making changes to their parenting/caregiving approach. A recently completed randomized controlled trial study confirmed the effectiveness of the tool in changing mothers’ perceptions and parenting behaviours.

For more information on Dr. Brussoni’s research:

• visit https://brussonilab.ca/
• follow us on FB, Instagram and Twitter @PlayOutsideUBC

(From left to right:) Ms. Sabrina Gill, Drs. Joanna McDermid, Dzung Vo, and Jake Locke.

Congratulations to Drs. Vo, McDermid, Locke and Ms. Gill, members of the MARS-A Mindfulness Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents program (MARS-A) at BC Children’s Hospital.

The MARS-A Team were awarded the PHSA+ Award for 2018. The PHSA+ Awards were created with a goal of recognizing and celebrating the passionate contributions our staff make to province-wide health-care solutions. This award is the highest honour within PHSA.

MARS-A Mindfulness Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents program (MARS-A) is an 8-week outpatient training program to teach adolescents (age 15 – 19 years) mindfulness skills to cope with psychological distress, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, chronic pain, and chronic stress.  MARS-A is a partnership between Adolescent Medicine and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital.

Mindfulness video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk7IBwuhXWM

Congratulations All!

Congratulations to Dr. Hal Siden, PI of the Optimizing the Management of Pain and Irritability in Children with Severe Neurological Impairment project, for being featured in an article published by Today’s Parent on Oct. 4th.

Read about ‘The children’s hospice that helps terminally ill kids really live‘ to learn more about his important work at Canuck Place.

On Wednesday, October 10, the research symposium is open to all who are interested in hearing about the future of injury prevention in British Columbia. 20/20 Hindsight and Vision: Focusing on Injury and Violence Prevention in the Future will feature TEDx-style presentations from top researchers and influencers in injury prevention. This event is intended to shine a light on the future of injury prevention in British Columbia, highlighting key provincial activities and emerging research.

Let us know if you are attending the symposium on Wednesday, October 10 by following the link below (the event space is limited to 200 attendees):

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2020-hindsight-and-vision-bcirpu-20th-anniversary-symposium-registration-48500848343