UW's School of Pharmacy receives $300K investment
The University of Waterloo's School of Pharmacy announced Friday a partnership with multinational biopharma company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that will launch the Pharmacy Innovation in Immunization Research Collaborative (PIIRC). UW is receiving $300,000 in the partnership, which will be used in research, establishing a community immunization network and the creation of an advisory board, among several other goals. CBC K-W's John Dalusong attended the announcement event.
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CBC
27 minutes ago
- CBC
Interior Health's plans to close lab in Trail, B.C. leaves mayor and residents blindsided
Interior Health plans to close its Trail medical lab on July 28, moving those employees to the hospital and the lab's services to LifeLabs, a private company, but the mayor and some residents are calling for the health authority to reconsider. The move, announced in a press release on June 13, would mean people in need of lab services such as blood tests and electrocardiograms (ECGs) will have to go to LifeLabs in Waneta Plaza, about 6 kilometres east of the Interior Health lab, which is downtown in the Trail Health Centre. Interior Health said the lab is being closed to make the best use of staffing resources and to improve testing for patients at Trail's Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, which serves a large area including communities from Grand Forks to Nelson. Since the announcement, CBC News has heard from the mayor and a handful of Trail residents who say they were shocked by the decision and that there was little consultation on the matter. The mayor is hoping that Interior Health will reconsider, or at least meet with the community to hear their concerns. "There was no consultation, we had no idea it was happening," Mayor Colleen Jones told CBC News, adding that staff also had little notice. Joanne Isbur, Interior Health's program director for pathology and lab medicine services, said staff will shift to the hospital to improve acute care and emergency department response. She said there are "staffing deficits" across the region, and the extra staff at the hospital will also improve services for urgent and critical patients, like cancer care and those with pre-surgical requirements. "Interior Health recognizes that this is a significant change for patients and care providers, and employees. We've provided some time for patients to transition over to the LifeLabs location," Isbur said. She pointed out that LifeLabs is working in partnership with the Provincial Health Services Authority and the Ministry of Health, so services offered through LifeLabs will still be covered under the Medical Services Plan. Resident Helen Bobbitt has antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, an autoimmune condition which can cause blood clots. She relies on the clinic for regular testing and said the move is a mistake. "I have a blood clot disorder, and if it weren't for the staff in the location of this lab, where I have to sometimes go and get last-minute lab work and have been doing so for the last 22 years, I wouldn't be able to stay on top of things," Bobbitt said. "If they (Interior Health) can do this, with no – zero – consultation, what else can they do?" She also voiced frustration about no longer having a lab located downtown, adding that the lab has been a staple in the community for more than 20 years. Mayor Jones said the infrequent bus service to the Waneta Plaza will make the location more difficult for seniors and people with mobility issues to access. On Thursday, Jones said she hopes Interior Health will reconsider the closure. She has requested a meeting with the health authority. CBC News reached out to Interior Health for comment and they said they are working on a response. Bobbit said she's also concerned about the influx of patients at LifeLabs creating long wait-times and reducing their staffing resources. She said people from several other outlying communities, like Fruitvale, about 16 kilometres east of Trail, rely on the Interior Health lab. "You're giving no choice but to drive everybody to one location that's only open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no transportation to rely on to get there safely," Bobbit said. Capacity not an issue, says Interior Health The Trail Health Centre lab saw approximately 80 to 85 patients per day over the past six months, Interior Health said, adding LifeLabs has the ability to take on these new patients. "LifeLabs developed that location to accommodate the Trail community population. They do have the capacity to meet patient volumes," Isbur said. In an emailed statement to CBC News, LifeLabs confirmed it is prepared to take on the large number of new patients, adding that the location in Trail has been open since 2023. "We will be working closely with Interior Health to ensure a smooth transition for patients and health-care providers. We look forward to continuing to provide reliable, efficient, and trustworthy services for the community of Trail," the lab said in the statement. It added that all patients who visit LifeLabs will have access to a portal that can be used to manage appointments and view results through MyCareCompass. This is separate from the MyHealthPortal with Interior Health.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Wildfire smoke prompts air quality warnings in Manitoba
Trees burned by wildfires in northern Manitoba are shown during a helicopter tour in the surrounding area of Flin Flon, Man., on Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Deal-Pool Several Manitoba communities are under air quality advisories Saturday due to wildfire smoke. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued warnings for Berens River, Bloodvein and Little Grand Rapids because the smoke is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility. ECCC has also issued air quality statements for areas including Winnipeg, Brandon and the Interlake. 'High levels of air pollution have developed due to smoke from forest fires,' Environment Canada warned. 'Smoke plumes moving over southern Manitoba from forest fires in northwest Ontario have resulted in deteriorated air quality in the area.' The weather agency said widespread improvement is expected by Saturday evening. ECCC air quality Manitoba Environment and Climate Change Canada issued air quality warnings and statements for parts of Manitoba on June 21, 2025. ECCC warns that smoke puts everyone's health at risk, but especially those over the age of 65, pregnant people, infants and young kids, those with existing illnesses, and people who work outside. To stay safe, the weather agency recommends limiting time outdoors, keeping windows and doors closed, and using a good quality air filter in your ventilation system. For those who must spend time outside, it's recommended that you wear a well-fitting respirator-type mask. Smoky conditions can lead to symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as a headache or mild cough. More serious symptoms including wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. According to the provincial wildfire service, there were 22 fires burning in Manitoba with 6 deemed as 'out of control.'
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Researchers discover ancient predatory, fanged fish that swam in Nova Scotia waters
Researchers have discovered a new species of ancient fish with hooked front fangs that made them a fearsome and effective predator. A paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology this week says the long, curved jaw of the animal sheds light on how fish were evolving smaller, front teeth that acted like fishing hooks, about 350 million years ago. Meanwhile, the centimetre-long back fangs were used to chew the catch before digestion into a body that may have been almost a metre long. They hunted for prey in the inland waters of Nova Scotia, in what was likely a vast inland lake. Lead author Conrad Wilson, a doctoral candidate in paleontology at Carleton University in Ottawa, said in an interview Friday that the fish has been named Sphyragnathus tyche, with the first phrase meaning "hammer jaw." "I would say it's a fairly fearsome looking fish. If its mouth is open, you would see those fangs in the jaw," he said But the fossil is also significant for the clues it offers to the evolution of ray-finned fish — a huge and diverse vertebrate group that occupies a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic environments around the globe. "These fish were the last major group of vertebrates to be identified and we still have big gaps in our knowledge about their early evolution," Wilson said, who published his paper with Chris Mansky, a fossil researcher at the Blue Beach Fossil Museum in Hantsport, N.S., and Jason Anderson, a professor of anatomy in the veterinary faculty at the University of Calgary. "The fossils are telling us about what the fish existing right after a mass extinction looked like," said Wilson, referring to the transition from the Devonian to the Carboniferous periods. Wilson said paleontologists have wondered how ray-finned fish recovered from the extinction period as other groups of fish, such as the heavily armed category referred to as placoderms, were disappearing. "The beach where this fossil was discovered tells us ... this is a group of animals that is doing well, pretty quickly, after a mass extinction," he said. The paper theorizes that the feeding methods of the evolving teeth may have played a role, creating an evolutionary advantage for the species. Wilson noted "that particular feature of the curved and pointy fang at the front and processing fangs at the back became a feature of many species in times to come." The area where the fossil was found — at Blue Beach on the Minas Basin, about 90 kilometres north of Halifax — was believed to be part of a vast freshwater lake not far from the ocean. The research team's paper credits Sonja Wood, former director of the Blue Beach Fossil Museum, for finding the fossilized jaw by urging Mansky to check along a creek that flowed onto the beach. Wood, who died last year, was in a wheelchair and had urged her colleague to search the area. "She had a good feeling about what could be found ... and she said he should go and have a look," said Wilson. "He went down and sure enough it [the jaw fossil] was sitting right there," he said, adding that Mansky managed to recover the fossil before a storm rolled through that night. Wilson said more discoveries are possible as examination of the fossils from the Blue Beach area continues. "We have lots of different anatomies that simply haven't been described yet. And we'll be working on that in a paper that's coming up in a few months," he said.
