Events, News & Resources

Register on Zoom

• Time: 1-3 p.m. PST
• Theme: Indigenous-led Health Research: Knowledge, Understandings, and Wisdom
• Moderator: Laura McNab Coombs- Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) Lead, BC Cancer Clinical Trials 

Presentations:

Welcome, words of wisdom and prayer

A Perinatal Collaborative Community Laboratory on Substance Use and Harm Reduction: The Mothering Co/Lab

• Presenters: Dr. Sana Shahram PhD, Hereditary Chief Sophie Pierre, LL.D (Hon.); Ms. Lisa Knox, PhD Candidate; Ms. Gwen Phillips, Lead Grandmother 
• Description: The Mothering Co/Lab brings together the expertise of Grandmothers of the seven Interior Region Nations, the BC First Nations Data Governance Initiative, Perinatal Services of BC, Interior Health, and the BC Co/Lab to extend and refine shared commitments to equity-oriented perinatal substance use monitoring. The Mothering Co/Lab is applying the BC Human Rights Commissioners’ framework: Disaggregated Demographic Data Collection in British Columbia: The Grandmother Perspective to the contexts of perinatal substance use monitoring, surveillance, and reporting. Under the guidance of Lead Grandmothers, Ms. Gwen Phillips (who coined the concept of the “Grandmother’s Perspective’ in the Framework) and Hereditary Chief Sophie Pierre of Ktunaxa Nation, the research team is exploring how to apply the Grandmother’s Perspective to collecting data on substance use during pregnancy for the explicit goal of promoting justice for mothers, their families, and communities.

Reconnecting Roots, Rebuilding Nations:  The xaȼqanaɬ ʔikiniɬ (Many Ways of Working on the Same Thing) project

• Presenters: Hereditary Chief Sophie Pierre, LL.D (Hon.); Dr. Christopher Horsethief, PhD; Dr. Sana Shahram, PhD; Ms. Racheal Nicholas, MA
• Description: The xaȼqanaɬ ʔikiniɬ (Many Ways of Working on the Same Thing) team will share insights from their Nation-led research partnership, which engages in co-learning between the Ktunaxa Nation, Interior Health, University of British Columbia- Okanagan, and University of Victoria. Through culturally-grounded research, the project is facilitating community dialogue around Ktunaxa approaches to promoting and restoring community wellbeing. This presentation will highlight the transformative power of reconnection and resilience in shaping nation rebuilding, and demonstrate how the xaȼqanaɬ ʔikiniɬ project is contributing to more appropriate and productive relationships between research partners.

Register on Zoom

• Time: 1-2 p.m. PST
• Theme: Building Bridges to Barriers in Clinical Research: Landscape and Learnings
• Moderator: Kim Barnes, Research Navigation and Community Facilitation Lead, IH Research and Interior Centre

Presentations:

Building Clinical Trial Capacity in Rural Areas

• Presenters: Dr. Denise Jaworsky, MD, PhD, General Internal Medicine Physician, Interior Health, Researcher, Division Head for General Internal Medicine – Community, University of British Columbia, and Jen Siemens, RN, BSN, MSN, Nursing Instructor, College of the Rockies, EKRH Clinical Research Coordinator, Interior Health
• Description: Rural populations are significantly underrepresented in clinical trials, and health-care teams in these areas encounter substantial barriers in facilitating patient access to such studies. This disparity is critical, as participation in clinical trials is associated with improved health outcomes. To establish equitable access to clinical trials in rural settings, researchers must navigate challenges distinct from those in urban environments. In our presentation, we will explore the process of establishing a rural clinical trial site in the East Kootenays and developing the necessary infrastructure to support clinical trial capacity in these communities. We will discuss geographic, logistical, and resource-related obstacles, and highlight collaborative models that integrate local health-care providers, community members, and academic institutions. By sharing insights from ongoing initiatives, we aim to provide a framework for expanding clinical trial access in rural areas, ultimately enhancing the inclusivity and applicability of clinical research.

The Study to Avoid cardioVascular Events in British Columbia (SAVE BC)

• Presenter: Amanda Thomson, BSN RN BA Psych, Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Research Department, Kelowna General Hospital, Interior Health
• Description: Premature heart disease often has a genetic component, which means people can be screened prior to ever having a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack. SAVE BC aims to identify those individuals most at risk and prevent, or at minimum delay, the onset of heart disease. Adapting a framework built in Vancouver to the unique contexts of Interior Health was paramount for the success for this program. This presentation will cover important research findings, lessons learned and future directions of this life saving program.

Register on Zoom

• Time: 1-2:30 p.m. PST
• Theme: Women’s Health in Mid-Life and Menopause: Story’s Shared and Paths Forward
• Moderator: Paula Morrison, BBA, Adv. Cert. Health Leadership, Regional Lead - Research, Quality, Knowledge Mobilization - LTC, Seniors Care; Interior Lead - BC’s LTC-QI - Bridging Research to Practice, Interior Health

Presentations:

HER-BC: Health and Economics Research on Midlife Women in BC – Women's Health Research Institute

• Presenters: Marina Adshade Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Teaching, University of British Columbia
• Description: An overview of HER-BC, a research initiative examining how economic factors influence the health of midlife women in BC. Dr. Marina Adshade will share key findings and recommendations from the study.

Transforming Menopause Research: In Vitro Models, Bioengineering, and Future Therapies

• Presenter: Marcia de Almeida Monteiro Melo Ferraz PhD, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Toronto Zoo
• Description: We will explore emerging research and technologies aimed at improving (peri)menopause knowledge. This includes advancements in bioengineering, in vitro models, and novel therapeutic approaches aimed at improving women's health during this life stage.

Register on Zoom

• Time: 1-2:30 p.m. PST
• Theme: Indigenous Cultural Safety in Clinical Trials and Closing Reflections
• Moderator: Lindsay Botterill, Research Administrative Coordinator, BC Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (BC NEIHR)

Presentations:

Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) in Clinical Trials: Trust - Both a Barrier and Tool in Accessing Clinical Trials

• Presenter: Laura McNab Coombs- Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) Lead, BC Cancer Clinical Trials
• Description: In this session, Laura McNab-Coombs, the ICS Lead for BC Cancer Clinical Trials, explores how trust - a factor impacted by both historical and contemporary injustices and reconciliatory actions – directly impacts the accessibility of clinical trials for Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. Beginning with context setting, Laura will discuss how trust is both a barrier and a tool in accessing clinical trials, providing practical take-homes for how to create trusting, safer spaces and foster trust from the intake/recruitment stage of a trial to its completion.

Closing reflections and prayer

• Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) - Canada's federal funding agency for health research. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR collaborates with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health-care system.

• Interior Health Foundations - Interior Health's foundations are the public face of our hospitals and health-care centres. Each foundation is made up of a board of respected community leaders, volunteers, and a professional staff of fundraisers and support services.

• Michael Smith Health Research BC - B.C.’s health research funding agency. Funding programs are designed to attract, develop and retain B.C.’s health research talent and contribute to addressing B.C. health system priorities.

• BC Data Scout – an online tool that gives health researchers a general idea about how many people in B.C. meet specific health characteristics or criteria. It offers a quick way of discovering if there’s enough information about people with certain health characteristics to support a research study, using just a single point of access.
• Interior Health Library Services – a resource that connects physicians and IH staff to information. See the link for a full list of services.
• REACH BC - an online platform that aims to improve how British Columbians can connect with opportunities to volunteer in health research
• REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) - a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. Access to REDCap can be requested free of charge if the work is patient oriented.

• Michael Smith Health Research BC – patient oriented research training opportunities for patient partners and researchers
• San’yas: Indigenous Cultural Safety Training - San’yas: Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) Training is a unique, online training program designed to enhance self-awareness, and strengthen the skills of those who work both directly and indirectly with Indigenous people. Anyone is eligible to take the training (see the FAQs to find out who is eligible to take the course at no cost)
• TCPS 2: CORE Tutorial (Course on Research Ethics) - The purpose of TCPS 2: CORE is to provide an introduction to TCPS 2, primarily for researchers and, secondarily, for Research Ethics Board members. All researchers who intend to engage in research with human participants should take the course.

Interior Health's Research Data Management Institutional strategy recognizes the importance of data as a research output and outlines how Interior Health will provide our researchers with an environment that enables and supports research data management, in fulfillment of the Canadian Tri-Agencies (NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR) Tri-Agency Research Data Management (RDM) Policy requirements. This document is a road map to build research capacity by making research data more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable over a multi-year horizon.