Giving innovators the right tools and guidance can set a new path for responsible health innovation for products from concept to disposal.
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New health technologies raise complex economic, social, environmental and safety concerns. Just as greenwashing tarnished sustainability efforts, ‘responsibility washing’ threatens health innovation.
Involving young patients and their parents or caregivers can help bring new research evidence into clinics.
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In health care crises, researchers can avoid waiting for clinical trial results by using data from health care systems to analyze the effectiveness of treatments for COVID-19 and other illnesses.
Canada needs to revitalize its scientific mojo, and to do so must improve research funding.
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Researchers are key to Canada’s capacity to create a high-tech economy, build the biomedical sector and seed entrepreneurial activity, but they can’t do it without research funding.
Women continue to experience disparities in treatment and prevention of heart disease in comparison with other Canadians.
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Women are often under-diagnosed and under-treated for heart disease and may be unaware of their specific risk factors. Clinical and research practices need to reflect the diversity of women in Canada.
Gender bias in health research is an ongoing issue, but health interventions that target women or men ignore gender-diverse people and create new areas of discrimination.
Both sex and gender analysis are crucial to health research to enable access to appropriate health information, diagnoses and care for gender-diverse populations.
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Sex is not gender but research continues to treat these as the same concept, with potentially damaging consequences for health studies, health policies and health programs.
One criticism of traditional mentoring is that it teaches people how to succeed by playing by existing rules, thus reinforcing the status quo. But mentoring can also be a force for change.
The government’s 10-year target is to increase research and development funding to 2% of GDP. Investment in science in the latest budget is out of step with that goal.
Gathering on the land: Indigenous ways of knowing can ensure that communities reclaim and promote health and healing.
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Many researchers may lack resources to guide them in conducting research that is equitable, inclusive and respectful of diverse Indigenous knowledge, ethics, practice and research sovereignty.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, speaks with scientist Krishnaraj Tiwari at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Aug 31, 2020.
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To continue the fast-paced collaborative research and innovation we have seen during the pandemic, here are five ways universities can support health research that responds to societal needs.
Using ‘base editing’, researchers have cured progeria in mice. This genetic syndrome causes premature ageing in humans – those with the disease usually don’t live past the age of 13.
The growing use of artificial intelligence in health care should be driven by careful consideration of what is important to members of the public.
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The use of artificial intelligence in health care is on the rise, and the concerns of the public need to be considered in developing policy that regulates its application.
Investment health-related research is not adequate.
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Immunosenescence — the decline of immune system function with age — means that vaccines are not as effective in older adults, the demographic most susceptible to many diseases, including COVID-19.
There’s no guarantee a coronavirus vaccine will arrive, so we need research to understand the best ways to use facemasks, hand hygiene, and other interventions to control the spread of the disease
Research with Canadian families found that modelling of healthy food intake by fathers, but not by mothers, was associated with a healthier diet among their children.
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Most Canadian children spend too much time on screens and don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables. Fathers can help by modelling healthy behaviours and getting involved in research.
The key concerns is that kids will develop body image problems and adopt unhealthy behaviours to lose weight.
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The proposal is very different to schemes in the US where BMI report cards are sent to parents. Instead, the data would feed into obesity research and prevention programs.
There are now many gender categorizations, from the traditional ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ to ‘gender fluid’ and ‘undifferentiatied.’ Health researchers can work with these to gain a more accurate understanding of disease susceptibilities.
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