British Columbia's COVID-19 surveys on population experiences, action, and knowledge (SPEAK): methods and key findings from two large cross-sectional online surveys.

Objectives: To describe the methodology and key findings of British Columbia's (BC) COVID-19 SPEAK surveys, developed to understand the experiences, knowledge, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on British Columbians.

Methods: Two province-wide, cross-sectional, web-based population health surveys were conducted one year apart (May 2020 and April/May 2021). Questions were drawn from validated sources grounded within the social determinants of health to assess COVID-19 testing and prevention; mental and physical health; risk and protective factors; and healthcare, social, and economic impacts during the pandemic.

Chronic disease and where you live: Built and natural environment relationships with physical activity, obesity, and diabetes.

Background: Diabetes is among the most prevalent non-communicable diseases causing significant morbidity and mortality globally. The aetiology and disease development of diabetes are influenced by genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Due to an increasing number of cases each year, it is imperative to improve the understanding of modifiable environmental risk and protective factors.

Community design and hypertension: Walkability and park access relationships with cardiovascular health.

Background: There is an increased literature focusing on the role of the built and natural environments in preventing hypertension. However, very few studies have quantitively analyzed specific pathways through which urban form affects blood pressure levels.

Objectives: To examine how features of the built and natural environments relate to hypertension and the mediating role of transportation and leisure walking and body mass index in this relationship.

Routine HIV testing in acute care hospitals: Changing practice to curb a local HIV epidemic in Vancouver, BC.

Early treatment of HIV infection increases life expectancy and reduces infectivity; however, delayed HIV diagnosis remains common. Implementation and sustainability of hospital-based routine HIV testing in Vancouver, British Columbia, was evaluated to address a local HIV epidemic by facilitating earlier diagnosis and treatment. Public health issued a recommendation in 2011 to offer HIV testing to all patients presenting to three Vancouver hospitals as part of routine care, including all patients admitted to medical/surgical units with expansion to emergency departments (ED).

Near real-time monitoring of HIV transmission hotspots from routine HIV genotyping: an implementation case study.

Background: HIV evolves rapidly and therefore infections with similar genetic sequences are likely linked by recent transmission events. Clusters of related infections can represent subpopulations with high rates of transmission. We describe the implementation of an automated near real-time system to monitor and characterise HIV transmission hotspots in British Columbia, Canada.

Genes associated with an effective host response by Chinook salmon to Renibacterium salmoninarum.

An effective host response to Renibacterium salmoninarum, the etiologic agent of bacterial kidney disease, is poorly characterized. Using suppression subtractive hybridization, we exploited the difference in early host response in the pronephros of fish challenged by an attenuated strain (MT239) or a virulent strain (ATCC 33209) of R. salmoninarum.