Barriers to Surgical Innovation Research: A Canadian Study on Public Funding Trends.

Background: A decline in research funding has been cited as a potential cause for limited surgical innovation in the United States. We aim to understand if this is a North American phenomenon and explore whether a lack of public funding is a barrier to surgical innovation in Canada.

Methods: Publicly available funding data from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) were reviewed from 2008 to 2019 to determine the yearly funding distributed to surgical departments.

Assessing the prevalence and correlates of prenatal cannabis consumption in an urban Canadian population: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Recreational cannabis use was legalized in Canada in October 2018. We aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of cannabis consumption among pregnant individuals in a single Canadian city following national legalization.

Methods: Over the period May to October 2019, we distributed an anonymous cross-sectional survey to pregnant patients attending family practice, midwifery, and low-risk and high-risk obstetrics clinics in Hamilton, Ontario.