Pandemics and Borders Project

10/28/2024

Planning papers and not getting rained on📖✨ Thank you to the Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) team at Western Washington University for hosting us again 🍂🍁☕️

07/07/2024

Team Meetings, June 2024🤝
It was great seeing everyone! Games, papers, and more in the works – stay tuned✨

07/06/2024

📣Did you live in the USA or Canada between March 2020 and May 2023? Consider participating in our survey on COVID-19 travel measures applied to travel between the USA and Canada for a chance to win one of 100 $25 gift cards👇
https://pilotsurveysfu.limesurvey.net/191785
📣The survey is available in English, French, and Spanish.

06/07/2024

📣 "Alongside the successful development of innovative products, there is a need to support optimal uptake by the people who need them," says Lee. "We learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that new vaccines not only need to be safe and effective, but they must also be socially acceptable and accessible." 🤝

Read more in the story below ✨

A new SFU-based research group has received a major funding grant totalling $14.6 million to prepare for future pandemics. The Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Consortium will be led by Kelley Lee, professor in SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

The SSH Consortium will bring together leading social scientists from across Canada and globally to better understand and support confidence in, and equitable access to, vaccines and other immune-based innovations. This work will support the rapidly advancing field of immuno-engineering, which has the potential to develop new lifesaving and health promoting vaccines and therapeutics.

“Alongside the successful development of innovative products, there is a need to support optimal uptake by the people who need them,” says Lee. “We learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that new vaccines not only need to be safe and effective, but they must also be socially acceptable and accessible.”

Learn more: https://ow.ly/yrb850S8LFh

06/03/2024

✨The Pandemics and Borders Project team attended the official launch of four projects funded under the University of British Columbia-based Canadian Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub (CIEBH) to support future pandemic preparedness in Canada🇨🇦 This includes the Social Sciences and Humanities Consortium which will involve several members of the Pandemics and Borders Project team✨

06/03/2024

Thank you to the University of British Columbia and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia for hosting this amazing event! It was an honour learning from all of the speakers. Congratulations to all of the funding recipients and their teams! Here's to more innovative work in the future✨

06/03/2024

Randeep S. Sarai: "The nearly $574 million in federal funding announced today, including $140 million for CIEBH, led by UBC, solidifies Canada's position as a global leader in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector."

Pandemics and Borders' Dr. Kelley Lee is leading one of the projects in Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub! Read more about the Hub and Kelley’s project in the story below 🌎

Today, UBC and its partners unveiled how we'll ensure Canada is ready to respond to the next pandemic, thanks to a $140M federal investment in Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub. ➡️ bit.ly/4c1qSbc

Explore the 4 projects accelerating the development of lifesaving medicine for Canadians:

1. First-of-its-kind therapeutics manufacturing facility 💊
2. Next-generation RNA vaccines 🧬
3. Ready-to-deploy antibody therapies 🔬
4. Building trust, equity and access to new therapies 🤝

Learn more about the projects and how they’ll build a strong, sustainable life sciences sector for Canada.

05/13/2024

Congratulations, Kelley🎉

In today's version of "what is Health Sciences?" - we are highlighting Faculty of Health Sciences professors Dr. Kelley Lee and Dr. Ralph Pantophlet.

Both faculty members are collaborating with Canada's Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub (CIEBH) on two projects aimed at supporting Canada to rapidly respond to future pandemic threats.

Dr. Kelley Lee is leading a ground-breaking project - the Social Studies and Humanities Consortium - that aims to strengthen public trust in, and access to, safe and effective vaccines and other immune-based innovations as a critical part of Canada's rapid response to future pandemics. This project will engage many SFU experts including professor Dr. Wendy Chun, associate professors Dr Ahmed Al-Rawi and Dr. Maya Gislason, and assistant professor Dr. Julia Smith.

Dr. Ralph Pantophlet is part of the team supporting UBC researcher Dr. Sriram Subramaniam on the PROGENITER project. This work will enable the rapid design, engineering, and production of antibody leads against present and future viral diseases to advance at least three antibodies into IND-enabling studies within four years. Dr. Kelley Lee is also a team member for this project.

Both projects aim to support the national response against infectious diseases at the social and biomolecular levels, keeping Canadian healthy through cutting edge innovation and research.

Read the full announcement: https://immunoengineeringhub.ca/ciebh-announcement/

05/13/2024

"I think people were surprised that 'trust us' didn’t work," Dr. Lee said. "Coming out of the pandemic, we’re in a very different place."

See the insights of Dr. Kelley Lee and other scholars in the article, "Ottawa spends $575-million to shore up pandemic readiness," in the Globe and Mail.

05/13/2024

"I think people were surprised that 'trust us' didn’t work," Dr. Lee said. "Coming out of the pandemic, we're in a very different place."

See the insights of Dr. Kelley Lee and other scholars in the article, "Ottawa spends $575-million to shore up pandemic readiness," in the Globe and Mail.

Scientists say a more sustained investment will be needed for years to come to avoid losing the expertise and knowledge gained during the pandemic

05/01/2024

Thank you to the amazing Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) team at Western Washington University for hosting us! It was a wonderful visit and a great opportunity to share feedback on various projects! Lots of fascinating research is being done, so stay tuned!

04/30/2024

"Rather than treating community-engaged research as a 'peripheral activity,' the principles of community engagement should be embedded in research, teaching and learning." Simran Purewal and Dr. Julia Smith discuss the importance of research practices that work with stakeholders and community members in the context of COVID-19 and future crises.

See their article, "Preparing for the next health crisis: COVID-19 showed the importance of community-engaged research," in The Conversation.