The purpose of the study is to identify and respond to experiences of and potential challenges faced by drug-using mothers when their children are placed in the care of family members (otherwise known as “kinship care”) as an alternative to a formal foster care placement. As an outcome, we will develop an information package for […]

Periodontitis is a polymicrobial infectious and inflammatory disease that can lead to destruction of supporting structures of teeth. Although pathogenesis of periodontitis includes genetic and environmental factors, oral microbial biofilm elicits an inflammatory host reaction. Improvement in patients with periodontitis relies mainly on elimination or at least control of periodontal pathogens. The aim of this […]

With the advancement of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, an exciting time has emerged for research in the field of cerebral anatomy and physiology. The basis of this proposal is to employ a one of a kind imaging technique to drive forward our basic understanding of regional blood flow regulation in the human brain. The […]

Gene expression in blood is highly affected by the type and proportion blood cells. Therefore, cell composition needs to be taken into account when looking for signatures specific to a condition. The issue is that cell composition needs to be assessed on fresh blood, i.e. at time of blood collection. If this has not been […]

The return on investment for medical imaging, interventional radiology, is not well understood, with limited existing research on the value realised from the funds spent. It is expected that the Hot Stroke Intervention by interventional radiologists will not only add direct value to the health care system but will have far reaching and significant impact […]

Personal Support Workers (PSWs) provide 70-80% of all paid home care. Unfortunately, community-based PSWs experience occupational injuries at more than twice the rate of the general population. This internship centres on three complementary studies to improve our understanding of why these injuries happen and how they might be prevented: 1) An 18-month study of 930 […]

Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries performed worldwide. The incidence of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) after cataract surgery, a serious complication that affects vision and requires additional treatment, is ~30%. In this study, we will investigate differences in PCO, presence of fibronectin, and ciliary ring distortion between lenses in eyes obtained from […]

Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BGCBigs) are non-profit organizations in communities across Canada and the USA, with the largest Canadian chapter in Edmonton, Alberta. These organizations deliver programming to support the physical, emotional, academic and overall wellness of children and youth, including mentorship programs and the provision of safe places for […]

Silica is a known lung carcinogen and causes silicosis, an irreversible fibrotic lung disease. RCS is a major problem in the construction sector because of the high content of silica in construction materials. New tools are needed to help the construction industry in recognition, evaluation and control of RCS. The intern will develop an on-line […]

According to the Ontario Domestic Violence Advisory Council (DVAC, 2009), legislative responses to violence against women were introduced across Canada in the 1980s. These policies included provisions for mandatory police-laid charges against perpetrators of domestic violence. The DVAC report noted numerous unintended negative consequences of these policies and recommended an impact study which was never […]

This project aims at developing a semi-automatic computerized system for spine diagnosis. It improves the efficiency and the efficacy of the image based spine diagnostic procedure. The development of the system is grounded on the state-of-the-art computer vision algorithm “Optimally Oriented Flux”. Based on this algorithm, I tailor various mathematical formulations to mimic human experts […]

A critical challenge today in neuro-surgery is the determination of tumor boundaries intraoperatively. There are means of doing this using high-resolution MRI machines, however, these can be prohibitively costly. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers a promising, cheaper, label-free alternative. However, the basic models used for clinical, real-time OCT limit its usefulness and depth of focus. […]