The proposed project will use classical animal models to investigate the therapeutic effects and associated side effects of extracts from the whole plant of different strains of cannabis. The targeted medical conditions include pain and chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). Our data and results will play a key role in pre-screening of cultivars to obtain best candidates suited for particular medical conditions, or that have lower side-effect liability.

It is well known that an adequate and stable income promotes health. Material security (e.g., housing, food, and service access) may operate distinctly from income security, yet may also be critically important to health. Nevertheless, material security and its relationship with employment is not well understood, an important oversight in research among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) given that the ongoing need to acquire drugs may disrupt the translation of income security into material security.

Goldcorp recently announced a new initiative referred to as H2zero with the goal of reducing water usage in their mining operations by 80 to 100%. Mineral processing and specifically comminution and mineral separation are the main consumers of water. This research focuses on dry comminution technologies and represents a first step towards advancing dry comminution as part of a longer term goal and research intersect. A literature review will be conducted to compile information about existing and novel dry comminution technologies.

Natural gas is one of the cleanest fuels for heat and power generation. But in China, coal is still the dominant fuel
but burning coal has caused severe and damaging air pollutions. The partner organization of this project, Seven
Generations Energy Ltd., is a significant Canadian producer of natural gas. This project will comprehensively
assess the overall environmental performance of natural gas production (by Seven Generations) and exporting it
to China to replace coal.

UBC and Microsoft intend to collaborate on an applied research project where 3D models of the brain will be used to create an interactive Holographic lecture using Microsoft’s new augmented reality device, the HoloLens. The will form the basis for a lesson or “HoloLecture,” and will feature new interactions to take advantage of the HoloLens’s technology. The ability to manipulate the 3D objects and dynamically adapt them to a live lecture format will form the basis of a HoloLecture prototype that can be applied across disciplines.

The SRRM4 gene has been recently identified as a key protein responsible for a subtype of highly aggressive prostate cancers, called neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). Detection of SRRM4 protein in patient tumor biopsies is therefore important to predict and diagnose NEPC, so that early and more effective therapeutic means can be in place. Unfortunately, there is no SRRM4 antibody currently available that can be used for pathological analyses. This project will join force of academic and industrial expertise to develop a SRRM4 antibody that can be used in clinic for NEPC diagnosis.

As one of the healthiest edible oils on the market, flaxseed oil is mostly promoted for its high Omega-3 content.
Regrettably, flaxseed oil is unsuitable for cooking because of its low smoke point. AlliggaTM’s innovative cold pressing/filtering system has remarkably revolutionized this nutritious oil, making it a quality oil to cook with,
while maintaining the richest content of Omega-3 essential fatty acids of any other cooking oil. This project will
determine the frying qualities of Alligga TM flaxseed cooking oil and compare this with other common cooking oils
on the Canadian market.

Rapid growth of renewable energy generation and DC loads as electric vehicles and consumer electronics results in the proliferation of DC microgrids. DC microgrids are small electrical grids where energy sources and loads are connected to a main energy distribution power line using power converters.

Over the past 25 years researchers at the UBC Geophysical Inversion Facility (GIF) have generated forward modelling and inversion codes that deal with most types of data of interest to a consortium of mining companies. This proposal moves the research to applications in their corporate environments, and to advance the tools and understanding about how to use the research to date in an efficient manner to extract maximum information from their geophysical data. GIFtools, the computing software for carrying out advanced inversion, was developed for this purpose.

Medical leeching can be traced back to the beginning of civilization. Ancient Egyptians, Indians, and Greek physicians used leeching as a treatment for a variety of diseases. In the past few decades, comprehensive studies have investigated the therapeutic applications of leech products and especially leech saliva. Recent studies completed by our lab have determined a therapeutic potential of a leech saliva extract component (BPS-001), with demonstrated strong anticancer properties.