Cheering from afar: Study illustrates public’s concerns over contact with healthcare workers
Tag: research
2 billion vials. Public acceptance. The obstacles to vaccine delivery
Fake journals in the age of fake news: the dangers of predatory publishing
Medical research: One size doesn’t fit all
Why aren’t new health care models studied more?
Hype in science: It’s not just the media’s fault
Ground-breaking. Life-saving. Revolutionary. Health journalists like André Picard of The Globe and Mail and Julia Belluz of Vox.com often see such words splashed on press releases about new studies in medicine. “When I see those words,” says Belluz, “my little alarm bells go off.” Journalists have come under fire for sensationalizing health science. But research…
The surprising science behind evidence-based hospital design
Rahel Yetbarek sits with her feet up, looking out onto the city and the large swath of treed land that surrounds the freeway below her. The nurse is taking in the view over her lunch break, from the 10th floor rooftop garden at Bridgepoint, a Toronto hospital. Nearby, a few patients do the same. The…
Should patients be told about incidental findings from genetic testing?
Genomics is moving at a lightning pace. Whole genome sequencing, a special type of genetic test, can produce much more information about a person’s genes than ever before. However, this rapid advance in technology has outpaced our ability to understand what to do with all of this additional information. As a result, patients and clinicians…
Experts warn bureaucratic duplication in research ethics delaying important science
Research on human subjects is essential to the advancement of patient care. Every life-saving drug, surgical technique and medical procedure was tested at some point in its development on humans. While research on humans has yielded enormous benefits, it can also carry risks to research participants. It is therefore essential to ensure research is carried…
Groundbreaking Canadian cohort studies aim to shed light on risk factors for cancer, chronic diseases
The British Whitehall studies helped establish the importance of the social determinants of health, while a Danish study of children provided strong evidence to disprove the damaging MMR-vaccine-causes-autism hypothesis. Those are just two of many international cohort studies—studies that follow large groups of people over many years. In Canada, starting such studies has never been…
Cancer research: should investments reflect disease burden?
Vigorous patient advocacy over the past 25 years has pushed funding for breast cancer research in Canada to the top of the charts, outstripping the amounts devoted to research into other cancers. It’s a remarkable success story for a type of cancer that, just forty years ago, was spoken of only in hushed tones. But…
Patient-oriented research in Canada: what progress has been made?
The governments of Canada and the United States have patient-oriented research initiatives underway, which share the goals of supporting research that will improve health care systems and directly benefit patients. However, the mandate, structure and funding of these initiatives differ significantly, with the United States accomplishing a great deal in a relatively short period of…
Managing conflicts of interest in research
There have been a number of recent reports of conflicts of interest in medical research. There are at least two types of conflicts of interest – financial conflicts, where researchers stand to gain financially from their work; and intellectual conflicts, where researchers stand to gain professionally. Ensuring that all conflicts of interest are declared and…
The influence of politics & the public on research funding in Canada
The recent controversy about a new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) has raised questions about the role of patients and politicians in determining health research priorities. In the past, the scientific community has generally determined what research is conducted. However the public is increasingly demanding that they be involved in setting research priorities – the…