Earlier testing and contact tracing might have prevented SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from becoming established in the United States and Europe, suggests a new study recently published in Science. For the study, an international research team-including UBC scientist Dr. Jeffrey Joy-reconstructed the spread of SARS-CoV-2 across the world using genomic data from coronavirus

Can you provide a brief overview of your lab’s current research focus? Our joint lab groups at Simon Fraser University and the BC Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS investigate HIV pathogenesis and the human immune response to viral infection. We use molecular, cell biology and genetics approaches to examine host/pathogen interactions that may inform the

Early interventions were effective at stamping out coronavirus infections, but subsequent, poorly monitored travel allowed the virus to ignite major outbreaks in Europe and North America, according to a new study. A new study combines evolutionary genomics from coronavirus samples with computer-simulated epidemics and detailed travel records to reconstruct the spread of coronavirus across the

Detailed genetic analyses of the strains of virus that cause COVID-19 suggest that the outbreak took hold in Washington state in late January or early February, but went undetected for weeks. That’s the upshot of two studies published by the journal Science, based on separate efforts to trace the genetic fingerprints of the coronavirus known

Une Žtude suggre que les efforts de traçage des contacts aprs l’apparition des premiers cas de COVID-19 aux États-Unis et en Allemagne ont portŽ fruit en janvier, la transmission communautaire ne prenant racine que des semaines plus tard. Les rŽsultats de l’Žtude contredisent ceux de travaux antŽrieurs selon lesquels le coronavirus avait continuŽ de se

Number of new people signing up to take the medication in Vancouver also drops When British Columbians were told to stay home and stay safe at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Denis Laferriere did exactly that. It also meant that his dating life was put on hold. So, Laferriere decided to stop taking his

The Tri-Agency Awards are awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). These awards support outstanding students pursuing a doctoral or master’s degree in a health-related field. … Aniqa Shahid: CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada

As overdose death rates have risen in this population, life expectancy has increasingly narrowed. The life expectancy of people living with HIV in British Columbia has increasingly declined in recent years due to a troubling rise in overdose deaths in the population, aidsmap reports. Martin St-Jean, MSc, of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how we all live and work. It’s also changed how we do science. At Providence Health Care, our research community has been faced with shuttered labs and offices, financial uncertainty, and a rapid shift to virtual research environments. In this Q&A series, we’re asking PHC researchers and research staff to