Science, Health and Technology

Breastfeeding mom

Mom and baby share “good bacteria” through breast milk

A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba has found that bacteria are shared and possibly transferred from a mother’s milk to her infant’s gut, and that breastfeeding directly at the breast best supports this process.

Jul 10, 2020

Scientists in sites spread across Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, French Guiana and Puerto Rico performed identical experiments on bromeliads—large flowering tropical plants that trap water and provide a habitat for many aquatic insects and larvae.

Extreme rainfall events cause top-heavy aquatic food webs

An expansive, multi-site ecology study led by UBC has uncovered new insights into the effects of climate change on the delicate food webs of the neotropics.

Jul 9, 2020

UBC experts on long-term care home visits in B.C.

UBC experts on long-term care home visits in B.C.

UBC experts are available to comment on long-term care home visits in B.C.

Jun 30, 2020

Credit: Don Erhardt/UBC

UBC receives $14 million in federal funding for COVID-19 research

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have received a combined total of $14.3 million in grants in the latest round of funding from the federal government in support of research aimed at addressing the health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jun 25, 2020

Credit: Jude Beck/Unsplash

COVID-19 survey highlights growing suicide and mental health risks across various groups

COVID-19 has significantly increased the suicide risk for Canadians with preexisting mental health challenges and experiences of marginalization, reveals a new survey by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in partnership with researchers at the University of British Columbia.

Jun 25, 2020

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Credit: CDC/Unsplash

UBC experts on COVID-19

UBC experts are available to comment on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jun 25, 2020

Credit: Dave Hoefler

Wildfire smoke has immediate harmful health effects: UBC study

Exposure to wildfire smoke affects the body’s respiratory and cardiovascular systems almost immediately, according to new research from the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health.

Jun 24, 2020

Credit: Luka Malic/Unsplash

UBC study identifies social and behavioural factors most closely associated with dying

Smoking, divorce and alcohol abuse have the closest connection to death out of 57 social and behavioural factors analyzed in research published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jun 22, 2020

Credit: J Etzel/Flickr

Heat may kill more people than previously reported

As temperatures rise this summer, a new study by UBC’s School of Population and Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health researchers finds that thousands of U.S. deaths may be attributable to heat each year, far more than the 600 deaths previously estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jun 19, 2020

Pregnancy and birth in the time of a pandemic

Pregnancy and birth in the time of a pandemic

 When it comes to COVID-19 and pregnancy, there’s a lot we don’t know. UBC’s Dr. Deborah Money, professor in the faculty of medicine’s department of obstetrics and gynaecology, is trying to fill that knowledge gap.

Jun 12, 2020

UBC experts on seniors health

UBC experts on seniors health

Monday, June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. UBC experts are available to comment.

Jun 12, 2020

A sea otter in the waters off Vancouver Island. Credit: James Thompson

Recovery of sea otter populations yields more benefits than costs

The long-term benefits of thriving otter populations – such as healthier kelp forests, higher fish catches, carbon storage and tourism – could be worth as much as $53 million per year, according to new UBC research.

Jun 11, 2020

Credit: Jonas Kakaroto/Unsplash

Men can click their way to better health

Men who regularly used a free web resource made significantly more health changes than men who did not, finds a new study from the University of British Columbia and Intensions Consulting.

Jun 11, 2020

Credit: Paul Joseph/UBC

‘Wobble room’ provides time-out for COVID-19 frontliners

Working in a busy, major hospital can be incredibly demanding and stressful. But the COVID-19 pandemic brought on a different kind of stress for staff at the Vancouver General Hospital emergency department—one that they had never encountered before.

Jun 8, 2020

Credit: Fusion Medical Animation/Unsplash

Predicting the evolution of COVID-19 to help manage future outbreaks

As the world prepares for future waves of COVID-19, the ability to predict mutations in the novel coronavirus even before they emerge will be essential to stopping future outbreaks.

Jun 5, 2020

Physicians at Kelowna General Hospital, together with UBC emergency medicine residents and Southern Medical Program students have come together to develop a phone follow-up service for self-isolating patients.

UBC medical students support patients in self-isolation

UBC Medicine faculty members, along with emergency medicine residents and Southern Medical Program student volunteers, are operating a phone follow-up service for self-isolating patients.

Jun 2, 2020

Helping seniors in long-term care combat social isolation during COVID-19

Helping seniors in long-term care combat social isolation during COVID-19

UBC faculty and students are delivering new iPads to long-term care homes across B.C. to help reduce feelings of social isolation for seniors. The iPads will come complete with recorded performances by students from UBC’s School of Music

Jun 1, 2020

A glass sponge in the lab displaying tissue loss bottom and living tissue. Credit: Angela Stevenson/UBC

Climate change an imminent threat to B.C.’s ‘living dinosaurs’

Warming ocean temperatures and acidification drastically reduce the skeletal strength and filter-feeding capacity of glass sponges, according to new UBC research.

Jun 1, 2020

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Credit: CDC/Unsplash

Canadian COVID-19 trial gets additional $3.5 million in federal funding

The Canadian arm of a major international clinical trial—led by a University of British Columbia researcher—that aims to find the best treatment for COVID-19 has received an additional $3.5 million in funding from the federal government through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

May 28, 2020

Climate action was at the forefront of public consciousness recently—until COVID-19 pushed the global issue to the background. Credit: Unsplash

Webinar: Climate action in the wake of COVID-19

Climate action was at the forefront of public consciousness recently—until COVID-19 pushed the global issue to the background.

May 26, 2020