Since the beginning of the epidemic, HIV has killed more than 25-million people worldwide. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which was introduced in 1996, has revolutionized HIV treatment, by improving health, life expectancy, and dramatically reducing transmission of HIV to others. The British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS played a leading role in […]

Operations Research — often referred to as the “Science of Better” — uses Mathematics to improve the efficiency of everything from the operation of airlines to hospitals. In collaboration with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital and Merck Frosst, this project will use Operations Research to improve the treatment and […]

Drug-induced dyskinesia is a debilitating side effect induced by anti-parkinsonian and antipsychotic drugs. Frequency can reach 80% in Parkinson’ disease and around 50% in schizophrenia patients treated with typical antipsychotics. Treatments for dyskinesia currently available have a very limited impact and generate important side effects. We have identified a new pharmacological target that may offer […]

Drug use in older persons is a major public health concern. Even though therapeutic drugs are beneficial for patients’ health in terms of survival or quality of life, patients aged >65 years have a greater risk of developing drug-related complications. Such complications may be fatal because of the high frequency of both multiple pathologies andpolypharmacy […]

Many HIV-positive persons on HIV medication have trouble taking this medication as prescribed by their doctor (treatment adherence). This threatens the long-term ability of the drugs to preserve a patient’s health. For 1 in 5 in Canada, their medication does not work, in part because of adherence problems. Furthermore, doctors and their HIV-positive patients do […]

A number of fungal pathogens cause life-threatening infections in patients whose immune system is crippled. Among others, these include patients treated with cancer chemotherapy and patients who receive organ or blood cell transportation. Pre-term infants, elderly patients and patients in intensive care units are also at risk of developing life-threatening infections. Moreover, fungi cause very […]