March 1, 2022British Columbians worried pandemic will never end, and climate change is only adding to the fearIf you’re feeling like the pandemic is never-ending, you’re not alone. Sixty-four per cent of British Columbians are worried the COVID-19 pandemic will be around for years to come, with concerns about climate change adding fuel to the fire. The latest results from a national mental health survey...Learn more
February 10, 2022Futuristic coating for hospital fabrics and activewear kills COVID and E. coliUBC researchers have developed an inexpensive, non-toxic coating for almost any fabric that decreases the infectivity of the virus that causes COVID-19 by up to 90 per cent. And in the future, you might be able to spray it on fabric yourself. “When you’re walking into a hospital, you want to know...Learn more
February 9, 2022Your Google symptom searches could improve COVID modellingAdding Google searches for symptoms and other information to COVID forecast models increased their accuracy, recent UBC research has found. What’s Google got to do with it? Researchers led by UBC statistics professor Daniel McDonald (he/him) fed extra COVID-related information into a basic model,...Learn more
January 26, 2022UBC-led research team finds nine new coronavirus speciesA former UBC postdoctoral research fellow led an international research team in re-analyzing all public RNA sequencing data to uncover almost ten times more RNA viruses than were previously known, including several new species of coronaviruses in some unexpected places.Learn more
December 23, 2021UBC clinical trial supports new self-administered rapid antigen testWhen it comes to COVID-19, peace of mind is difficult to come by. But thanks to new research compiled with data from UBC’s first on-campus clinical study, a new self-administered rapid antigen test will soon be available in Canada. It’s a tool that could help combat growing uncertainty, prevent...Learn more
December 22, 2021UBC scientists unveil world’s first molecular-level analysis of Omicron variant spike proteinFindings show strong antibody evasion and binding with human cells that contribute to increased transmissibility—and that vaccination remains the best defence UBC researchers are the first in the world to conduct a molecular-level structural analysis of the Omicron variant spike protein. The...Learn more
December 1, 2021Delaying second dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine produces stronger immune responseThe first peer-reviewed study in North America examining the timing between the first and second doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines shows that a longer dose interval leads to a stronger immune response. The study is funded by the Government of Canada through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF)...Learn more
November 25, 2021UBC scholars call for global research agenda into TikTok’s impacts on public healthTikTok has acquired more than one billion monthly users in just five years, but the influential video-sharing app remains one of the least studied social media platforms around. UBC researchers want to change that. In a commentary published this week in BMJ Global Health , assistant professor Dr...Learn more
October 13, 2021Flu season is coming and it could be ugly: what you need to knowAs COVID-19 restrictions ease, Canada is seeing a resurgence of many respiratory viruses—and many experts predict this year’s flu season could be severe. Dr. Michael Curry (he/him) , clinical associate professor with UBC faculty of medicine’s department of emergency medicine, reveals how this year’...Learn more
September 28, 2021At-home exercise reduced depression levels significantly during COVID-19 lockdownsAt-home, app-based workouts were very effective at reducing people’s depression levels during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new UBC research trial whose findings were released today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine . “We found that regardless of the type of movement...Learn more
