What’s all the Academic Hub-bub about at Lions Gate Hospital?
The unveiling of the new Academic Hub at Lions Gate Hospital takes place next Tuesday. Staff are invited to take a tour and learn more about VCH research at an Open House June 28 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. (First 200 people to take the tour get a free lunch, which is being provided by the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation.)
The Hub, located on the second floor of the HOpe Centre on the LGH campus, is the new regional home for:
- Clinical Education (an additional Sim room is located in the Hub)
- Professional Practice Nursing
- Library Services
- Research Department
Regional orientation sessions are also now being held in the Academic Hub.
Research underway at VCH
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) representatives will be on-site. They will be there to discuss VCHRI centres/programs/areas, highlight the research happening within VCH, as well as discuss its awareness campaign about ways to get involved with health research.
Researchers who will be in attendance include:
- Dr. Erin E. Michalak – Associate Professor in Psychiatry, UBC, Director for Mental Health Research, CONNECT, Lead, CREST.BD
Dr. Michalak will be demonstrating her CREST.BD network’s Bipolar Wellness Centre (www.bdwellness.com), which houses cutting-edge evidence and tools on quality of life (QoL) and self-management of bipolar disorder (BD). Within the Bipolar Wellness Centre are a number of unique interactive features, such as a sophisticated QoL Tool, videos showing concrete examples of BD self-management in action, 14 expert webinars on different QoL domains, a Living Library and resources for healthcare providers. The QoL Tool allows people with BD to measure their QoL over time, and provides them with tailored information on self-management strategies that reflect their personal QoL profile.
- Dr. Gary Andolfatto – Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC; Attending Physician, Emergency Department, Lions Gate Hospital
Dr. Andolfatto has contributed significantly to the practice of emergency medicine. His special interest is in pain control and patient sedation for painful emergency department procedures. He has published several studies in top-tier journals and pioneered the use of the sedation medication combination “ketofol” that is now commonly used worldwide. He has continued to accomplish important initiatives for providing expedient and effective pain control including the use of intra-nasal analgesic delivery and protocols designed to provide rapid pain control in the emergency department as well as in the pre-hospital setting. In his role as ED Research Director and subject matter expert, Dr. Andolfatto was a founding member of the International Committee for the Advancement of Procedural Sedation – an international multidisciplinary body dedicated to the advancement of optimal evidence-based sedation practice. His work in procedural sedation and analgesia is frequently quoted in the emergency medicine literature and at emergency medicine conferences.
- Dr. Robert Tarzwell – Nuclear Medicine, Psychiatry, UBC Clinical Assistant Professor – Department of Psychiatry; Cross Appointment – Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Tarzwell is interested in measuring changes in brain function caused by psychiatric disorders. He co-authored research showing that brain imaging can help distinguish traumatic brain injury from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was showcased 19th in Discover Magazine’s Top 100 Stories of 2015. He is currently examining the different ways depression affects the brain, and whether those can be used to help distinguish major depressive disorder from bipolar disorder. Pilot data came from LGH, and based on preliminary analysis, Dr. Tarzwell has moved on to a database of just over 11,000 patients with mood disorders.
- Dr. Marylene Kyriazis – Clinical Pharmacist, Pain BC Program Co-Developer, Faculty, Program Lead
- Dr. Helene Bertrand – Clinical instructor, Department of Family Practice, UBC, Family Practitioner
Dr. Kyriazis and Dr. Bertrand have invented a mannitol containing cream which, in a pilot project, they have shown to relieve the pain of post-herpetic neuralgia. They are planning to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Forty participants will apply placebo cream on one leg and the same cream with mannitol on the other for one week.
They will then decide which cream they want to use and will be given a supply of their favorite cream for one month. The primary outcome will be the brief pain inventory, which measures how much pain interferes with their emotions, their relationships, and their daily activities. Secondary outcomes will be their pain level on a numerical 0 -10 rating scale, and their PHQ – 9 depression score.
Hub part of LGH Now Campaign
The Academic Hub is part of the larger LGH Now Campaign, which is funded by the LGH Foundation and includes the redevelopment of the ambulatory care area into an expanded and redesigned Outpatient Care Centre and atrium.
A classroom inside the new Academic Hope on the second floor of the HOpe Centre at LGH.