New Innovative Initiative, the Answer Factory, Makes Lab Space and Translational Research Expertise Available to Clinical Investigators Affiliated with BCCHR and WHRI

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WHRI

This new resource, which is part of the services offered through the Clinical Research Support Unit (CRSU) at BCCHR, aims to enable clinical faculty members and early career investigators gain access to a fully functional laboratory as well as technical support to move forward clinical and translational research they would otherwise not be able to conduct due to lack of access to the requisite resources and expertise. Dr. Shirin Kalyan is the translational scientist leading the Answer Factory, and she is available to provide consultation and advice for experimental planning and methodology for developing and implementing clinical and translational research studies. In addition to her role with the Answer Factory, Dr. Kalyan is an adjunct professor with UBC’s Department of Medicine and the Director of Scientific Innovation at a clinical-stage immunotherapy biotech in BC. She has accumulated significant experience in conducting translational and clinical research directed at improving patient outcomes through deepening understanding of disease pathogenesis and developing new treatment strategies.  Dr. Kalyan and the Answer Factory are also available to help support funding applications that aim to understand, diagnose or characterise a clinical problem that requires access to a wet lab or more sophisticated experimental analyses to address. The Answer Factory will be operational by late April 2019. However, it is recommended that any project that is anticipated to need Answer Factory support contact Dr. Kalyan as early as possible in the planning to get in que and to ensure the resources and protocols are in place by the time the project starts.

The ultimate goal of the Answer Factory is to create an environment that allows clinicians to gather new knowledge, promote translational research, and have an immediate impact on patient and public health. To learn more about this unique and new resource at BCCHR and how it may be of potential utility to you, please see: https://www.bcchr.ca/about-us/how-we-support-research/clinical-research-support.

The Women’s Health Research Institute would like to acknowledge that we are uninvited guests on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lo, and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-waututh) Nations.

As a provincial research institute committed to improving the health outcomes of women, including those across the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, we recognize our responsibility in the collective effort towards establishing culturally safe health care systems and services that address health inequities among Indigenous peoples, especially Indigenous women, girls, and Two-spirit peoples.

We encourage all people involved in research to read both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and the In Plain Sight Report, and reflect on ways we can incorporate the recommendations into our work. As we gather in spaces together, we encourage you to reflect on your positionality on these lands and your personal commitments to reconciliation.

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