Providence Research

05/20/2026

Join the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use for the next edition of What’s New in Addition Social Work, “Overcoming the Infinite Scroll: Social Media
Addiction in Canadian Youth.”

Learn about how social media addiction is defined and assessed among Canadian youth, and what psychosocial interventions may help youth address problematic social media-based behaviours.

Register here: https://www.bccsu.ca/blog/event/whats-new-in-addiction-social-work-volume-32/?event_date=2026-05-27

Overcoming the Infinite Scroll: Social Media Addiction in Canadian Youth Katie Cribb Addiction Social Work Fellow, BC Centre on Substance Use Wednesday, May 27, 2026 12pm - 1pm PT Key Learning Objectives: How is social media addiction defined and assessed among Canadian y

05/19/2026

A decades-long research journey led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation researcher Dr. Jason Andrade is reshaping how clinicians approach atrial fibrillation (AFib), one of the world’s most common and consequential heart rhythm disorders.

Affecting roughly 170,000 British Columbians, AFib is an irregular heartbeat that doubles the risk of death and increases the likelihood of stroke or heart failure five-fold.

Read the full story: https://www.vchri.ca/stories/2026/05/07/alternative-first-line-treatment-proves-effective-persistent-atrial-fibrillation

05/15/2026

On April 17, around 280 pain specialists, health workers, and people with lived experience met at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre for the fourth annual Pacific Pain Forum.

The forum focused on compassionate and trauma-informed care and how stigma and inequity affect pain care. The goal was to help you understand pain better and improve how care is delivered.

Speakers talked about how pain care improves when people feel heard, safe, and respected.

Read the full story: https://thedailyscan.providencehealthcare.org/2026/04/pacific-pain-forum-advances-compassionate-pain-care-in-bc/

05/13/2026

In this blog post, researcher Dr. Erica Nishimura reflects on her journey from Japan to join the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation.

As a thoracic surgeon in Japan, she would often see and treat patients with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Because of this, she was excited to have the opportunity to join the HLI as a postdoctoral fellow, working on a new project aiming to develop a non-invasive treatment for emphysema.

Read it here: https://www.hli.ubc.ca/2026/04/in-pursuit-of-copd-discovery-coming-to-hli-from-japan/

05/12/2026

Join the BC Centre on Substance Use for their next BC ECHO on Substance Use session, “Addressing Long-term Benzodiazepine Use in Primary Care.”

Learn to discuss risks of harm associated with long-term benzodiazepine and Z-drug use, identify alternative treatment options, identify when deprescribing may be appropriate, and collaboratively design a benzodiazepine taper, when appropriate, with clients who have been prescribed benzodiazepines for an extended period.

Learn more and register here: https://bcechoonsubstanceuse.ca/echo-webinar/addressing-long-term-benzodiazepine-use-in-primary-care/

By the end of this BC ECHO on Substance Use session, participants will be able to: 1) discuss risks of harm associated with long-term benzodiazepine and Z-drug use, 2) identify alternative treatment options to benzodiazepines and Z-drugs for common presentations, 3) identify when deprescribing may b...

05/11/2026

Updated Canadian recommendations published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research aim to totally reconfigure how health professionals talk to their patients about alcohol.

“Excessive alcohol use frequently underlies many reasons people see their doctor, such as poor sleep or anxiety, but this explanation routinely goes undetected in health care settings,” says Dr. Evan Wood, co-chair of the guideline writing committee, BC Centre on Substance Use Clinician Researcher, and an addiction medicine specialist. “These updated recommendations set aside the older impractical approaches, and aim to support clinicians with a practical approach to initiating conversations about alcohol use and identifying those with potential problems earlier so patients can receive factual advice and care when needed.”

Read more: https://www.bccsu.ca/blog/news-release/new-canadian-recommendations-aim-to-redefine-how-health-professionals-talk-to-their-patients-about-alcohol/

05/08/2026

Iva Cheung and Michelle Carter from the PHC Mental Health Program and Department of Psychiatry are authors on the paper, “Identifying challenges in concurrent mental health and substance use disorder care: qualitative findings from an e-Delphi study in British Columbia, Canada,” published in BMC Health Research Services.

The study explored the health care experience of people with concurrent mental health and substance use disorders, the experience of health care providers, and identified recommendations for improvement in policy and practice.

Read it here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-026-14535-w

05/08/2026

Join the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS for the 2026 BC-CfE Update, which will address the status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with an emphasis on the latest clinical findings and best practice.

Learn to examine key issues affecting communities impacted by HIV in BC, discuss new long-acting antiretrovirals, summarize current vaccine recommendations and review recent insights from HIV cure research.

Learn more and register here: https://bccfe.ca/events/bc-cfe-update-spring-2026/

05/07/2026

Staying active is crucial for your health. Dr. Scott Lear, on of the Principal Investigators at the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, recently shared insights on the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Read the full article on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/not-getting-enough-physical-activity-may-be-harming-your-health-heres-what-being-sedentary-does-to-your-body-273675?utm_medium=article_clipboard_share&utm_source=theconversation.com

05/06/2026

Tao Sun is featured in the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation’s EDI Spotlight of the Quarter.

A Data Analyst in Dr. Ying Wang’s lab, Tao has built a career at the intersection of medicine, bioinformatics, statistics, and data science; focusing on cardiovascular and bioinformatics research through RNA-Seq and spatial transcriptomics.

Read more: https://www.hli.ubc.ca/2026/04/edi-spotlight-of-the-quarter-tau-tao-sun/

05/05/2026

On May 21, join us for a virtual Lunch & Learn on Indigenous cultural safety and perspectives in research!

Learning objectives:

🟩 Deepen our understanding of, and appreciation for Indigenous ways of knowing, including foundational concepts of how we understand the world, what we value, and how we come to know it.

🟩 Explore Two-Eyed Seeing, Being and Doing - what it means, how to apply it in research and practice, and how it supports culturally safe care and research with Indigenous peoples, and all communities, more broadly.

🟩 Learn wise practices related to statistical data that involve Indigenous patient outcomes in research and health care.

Learn more: https://www.providenceresearch.ca/en/event/indigenous-cultural-safety-and-perspectives-research

Join us for this virtual Lunch & Learn.