Offering Support and Connection to Patients Seeking Kidney Transplantation with Christina Schellenberg and Jody Max Christina Schellenberg and Jody Max are two health care practitioners at St. Paul’s Hospital who are passionate about improving the overall health journey for patients living with end-stage renal disease and facing transplant. For many patients with kidney failure, transplantation...
Getting to the Heart of the Matter with Dr. Kathryn Armstrong
“I remember each and every one of the patients that I have been lucky enough to look after – I learn something from every patient that I have cared for.” – Dr. Kathryn Armstrong In honor of heart month, we had the opportunity to catch up with BC Children’s Hospital pediatric cardiologist Dr. Kathryn Armstrong....
Meet Our Researcher – Dr. Sara Belga
Tailoring Post-Transplant Care for Recipients: Why Research Matters with Dr. Sara Belga For the past three years, TRF has partnered with Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) to fund highly rated transplant-focused research projects through the Team Grant program. These $30,000 awards seek to answer research questions that matter to patients, while addressing key areas...
Improving Viral Management for Pediatric Transplant Recipients
Improving Viral Management for Pediatric Transplant Recipients: Renewing Hope Through Research with Dr. Karina Top Pediatric transplant recipients do not currently receive certain vaccines post-transplant as experts have deemed the live vaccines (including chicken pox, measles, mumps and rubella) to be a potential risk of infection. This leaves those children completely vulnerable in case of...
The Gift of Time
Transplantation means different things to different people. For Michel Grandbois, it meant over two decades of living and making memories with his family, and the chance to watch his children grow into adults and have families of their own. Michel’s transplant story began many years ago, in the mid-1990’s when transplant science was rapidly advancing...
A Life Reimagined
The transplanting of an organ is a complex undertaking, where the generous and selfless decision of one individual and family has the potential to transform the life of another person through the gift of donation. For 21-year-old Naomi Lee, a recent lifesaving heart transplant not only ended her struggle with end-stage heart failure, but it...
Talking Donation and Transplant with Reema Garcha
Reema Garcha is the newest member of the TRF team, having recently joined the board of directors. As a living kidney donor to her sister Binn, Reema knows firsthand that the best gift to give is the gift of life through organ donation. For National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW), Reema is sharing...
An Open Letter To My Organ Donor
As part of our recent Christmas Campaign, we had grateful recipient Fiona Walker share how her pancreas and kidney transplants have enabled her to go from being very sick with an uncertain future, to now pursuing her dreams and giving back to the community as a paramedic. Celebrating her ten-year transplant anniversary this past summer...
Meet our Researcher – Cindy Luo
Cindy Luo is passionate about seeking answers that help improve the transplant experience for patients in the transplant program at Vancouver General Hospital. As a past Research Challenge winner for her project on anti-fungal prophylactic use in lung recipients and her most recent Team Grant project that explores a more personalized approach to medication, Cindy...
Forever my Hero
Forever my Hero While the world was grappling with a new and virulent virus, Dakota Meredith was facing her own battle. Diagnosed with colitis when she was just a young child, Dakota later developed autoimmune hepatitis. Eventually, this condition evolved into primary sclerosis cholangitis. Dr. Eric Yoshida at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) was instrumental in...