As communities around the world grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, research into public health, infectious diseases, epidemiology, and our collective health and safety has never been more relevant or important. At the School of Population and Public Health, we’ve been conducting groundbreaking research in these fields for decades – so it’s no surprise that our researchers, students and staff have answered the call of our time. Read below to learn more about how faculty and graduate students are applying their expertise to solving the medical, public health, social, and policy challenges of COVID-19.
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- Dr. Peter Berman, Professor of the School of Population and Public Health
Dr. Berman is a health economist with forty years of experience in research, policy analysis and development, and training and education in global health. At SPPH, he works on addressing COVID-19 through inter-jurisdictional collaborations. He is coordinating an International Network on Health System Responses to COVID-19, which is developing studies to examine the continuum from national political, economic, and social structures to public health and health systems organizations and on to interventions to address COVID-19. Dr. Berman and his colleagues are working to identify how jurisdictions can learn from the COVID-19 experience to improve preparedness in the future. Going forward, a key next step in the network is the development of “jurisdiction-focussed team” to do the work. A UBC team involving SPPH and SPPGA is developing collaborations in different jurisdictions in Canada, Asia (China, Hong Kong, and India), Latin America, Africa (Ethiopia).
- Dr. John Carsley, Clinical Associate Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health
A committed public servant and former Medical Health Offier of Vancouver Coastal Health, Dr. John Carsley has returned from retirement to support BC CDC with their professional and public communications amidst COVID-19. - Dr. Corinne Hohl, Associate Member, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Associate Professor in UBC’s Department of Emergency Medicine and a Scientist at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation.
Dr. Hohl has an impressive background in emergency medicine, drug safety and effectiveness and adverse drug event surveillance. She is working on a Canadian COVID-19 Registry looking at health system capacity and health care service effects on clinically underrepresented populations, including marginalized populations and pregnant or breastfeeding women. Ultimately, Dr. Hohl aims to help characterize the burden, prognosis and resource allocation of ED COVID-19 patients in Canada, which in turn will have a significant impact on resource allocation and planning, allowing the province and health authorties to best respond to the current – and future – healthcare resource challenges. - Dr. Jason Sutherland, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and Program Head, Health Services and Outcomes, Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences.
Dr. Sutherland’s expertise in health systems’ efficiency, effectiveness, quality of care, and the policies that support them have long been in demand from governments across the country. He is now applying these skills and his extensive experience advising governments to policy questions around structuring health care systems to address COVID-19 and ensuring jurisdictions can appropriately care for COVID-19 patients.
- Dr. Karen Bartlett, Professor, Program Director, MSc OEH
Dr. Bartlett is part of an interdisciplinary initiative that includes faculty from UBC Mechanical Engineering, Barrelwise – a UBC spin off engineering think tank – and occupational hygienists in the health authorities. They are doing proof of concept work in improving the fit and efficacy of respiratory protection for healthcare workers in BC, who are on the front lines of fighting and treating COVID-19. The Mechanical Engineering group are testing the filter materials, and our laboratory manager, Matty Jeronimo, is coordinating the initiative to document the improved fit. - Dr. Annalee Yassi, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Capacity-Building
Dr. Yassi is a member of a 20-person international ad-hoc community established by WHO bringing together the global experience of protecting healthcare workers. Locally, she is establishing surveillance and follow-up procedures for patient care workers on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 as the new Physician Lead in Occupational Health at Vancouver Coastal Health.
- Dr. Patti Janssen, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Associate Faculty, Depts of Obstetrics and Family Practice, Adjunct School of Nursing
Dr. Janssen is the founder of the lauded texting program SmartMom, a Senior Scholar at the Child and Family Research Institute and the leader of Optimal Birth BC, a consortium of clinician-scientists and public health practitioners who undertake both institutional quality improvement initiatives and the development of information resources for childbearing families in BC. She is applying her wealth of experience and leadership to the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting a national study of the safety of the influenza vaccine during pregnancy, which will help researchers understand the effects of a COVID-19 vaccine once available.
- Dr. Deborah Money, Associate Member, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Health in Populations (HiP). Executive Vice Dean, UBC Faculty of Medicine, Professor, UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Money is a researcher and physician. You may recognize her name as one of the world-renound experts named by Dr. Bonnie Henry in the daily press conference on May 9th as a leading researcher in our province. She is working on the Canadian Surveillance of COVID-19 in Pregnancy: Epidemiology and Maternal and Infant Outcomes, a multi-provincial observational project on the influence of comorbidities on susceptibility and outcomes, Development of decision support treatment and guidelines. - Dr. Gina Ogilvie, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Health in Populations (HiP), Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Control of HPV related diseases and prevention, Senior Public Health Scientist, BCCDC, Senior Research Advisor, BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre
In collaboration with other researchers, and led by Dr. Steve Jones, Dr. Ogilvie is working on a germline analysis of COVID-19 patients to determine if there are any genetic determinants of the severity of the virus in confirmed patients. You may recognize her name as one of the exceptional faculty members named by Dr. Bonnie Henry in her daily press conference on May 9th as a leading researcher in our province. Her aim is to help create a database of genetic variants that can be correlated with features of the virus and patient phenotype information that can be shared nationally and internationally to better understand the infection. - Dr. David Patrick, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Medical Epidemiology Lead for Antimicrobial Resistance, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
Dr. Patrick is an infectious disease modeller who has been instrumental in developing the modelling graphs shown at the daily provincial updates from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix. He is also on the front lines of researching treatments for COVID-19. In collaboration with other UBC faculty, Dr. Patrick is working on a multi-provincial and multi-national study funded by the CIHR called CATCO: Canadian Treatments for COVID-19, focused on understanding more about the virus, as well as potential drug therapies through a randomized, controlled trial with hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases. - Dr. Joel Singer, Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Associate Director, MHSc Program
Dr. Singer is on the front lines of researching potential treatments to COVID-19. In a CIHR-funded study led by Dr. Jim Russell, Dr. Singer examines the potential role of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) in the treatment of COVID-19. The study evaluates similarities between the influenza virus and coronavirus and highlights the possibility of limiting lung injury in COVID-19 patients. If shown to be effective, ARBs would be an inexpensive and clinically available resource that would help immensely in the clinical treatment of COVID-19.
To view the most up to date information on the COVID19 research response in British Columbia, click here.
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