Long-COVID is a condition marked by the continuation of COVID-19 symptoms—or the emergence of new ones—after recovery from acute (or the initial phase of illness of) COVID-19. While there is not yet a formal definition of long COVID, it generally refers to the persistence of symptoms four weeks or longer after the onset of COVID-19. Long-COVID has many similarities to disorders of the autonomic nervous system, such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). In this study we are trying to understand the quality of life of Long-COVID and POTS patients.

Help our research team learn more about intestinal ultrasound measurements in children! The bowel (or intestine) is like a long tube with many layers. We are measuring the thickness of the layers that make up the bowel wall in children using ultrasound. We know what measurements are normal vs abnormal in adults, but we need more data in children, especially because they are smaller in size. This will help us understand how these measurements can change when the bowel is inflamed. Participation in this study includes a brief screening phone call and an in-person study visit at the Alberta Children's Hospital for an intestinal ultrasound (about 45 minutes). The ultrasound is a safe, non-invasive test that uses sound waves to create pictures of the bowel. It does not include any pokes or radiation and it does not hurt. With your child lying down, we use ultrasound jelly with a wand (probe) to press over the abdomen. We will take a series of measurements of the bowel wall thickness in various sections of the bowel. There is a brief participant survey after the ultrasound as well.

The purpose of this study is to identify the mental health experiences and service needs of individuals with a history of concussion or mild traumatic brain injuries. This study is recruiting individuals who have experienced a concussion or family members of individuals who have experienced a concussion and healthcare providers who provides concussion and related mental health services. The study also aims to gather patient and family member recommendations on how to improve mental health services available to patients who have experienced concussions. Interested participants will be asked to complete a survey via the Qualtrics platform. Survey respondents will also be asked for their consent to participate in an interview which will be conducted either virtually or in-person. All responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. The information collected will only be used for evaluating and improving access to concussion-related mental health services.

We are studying how a non-invasive, low electrical current applied through the scalp affects the part of the brain that helps start and stop movements. During one visit (about 1.5-2 hours) at Foothills Medical Centre, you will have a brain scan (MRI), receive 20 minutes of gentle transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), and do simple computer button-press tasks. We will compare brain activity before, during, and after the stimulation. What we learn may help design future, non-invasive treatments for movement and tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome. Participants will receive $45 for their time.

This study is for children aged between 2 and 17 years who have Drug Resistant Epilepsy (DRE) to take part in a clinical research study. The primary purpose is to investigate if cannabinoids (CBD) work to reduce seizures in children with DRE, and if CBD works better alone or in combination with other cannabinoids including THC.

We are looking for healthy adults to take part in a research study about the body’s natural system that helps control stress, anxiety, and mood. This system uses special chemicals called endocannabinoids, which can be measured in blood, saliva, and hair. The study has 6 visits and takes place at the Cal Wenzel Building at the Foothills Campus of the University of Calgary. The first visit (Visit 1) will take about 45 minutes and includes questions about your health and lifestyle, measurements of height and weight, and collection of three blood and one hair sample. You will also receive saliva swabs to collect samples at home in the morning. Visits 2 to 6 will each take about 20 minutes and occur on days 1, 7, 14, 28, and 84. At every visit, you will give blood and answer questions about cannabis use, anxiety, and stress. A second hair sample will only be collected at Visit 6. You can schedule visits a few days before or after the planned dates, especially for later visits, to better fit your schedule.

Young, healthy females and males will complete three identical blocks comprised of two testing days per block. After a baseline block, there will be an initial 8-week no-training period followed by 8 weeks of inspiratory muscle training. Day 1: You will fill out a health questionnaire and test your breathing/lungs to ensure you're healthy. Next, you will complete a maximal exercise test on a stationary bike to fatigue. This test will determine your aerobic fitness and strength of your breathing muscles. After resting, you will briefly cycle again and breath higher carbon dioxide than normal. This will increase breathing rates above normal levels to test how much you can breathe. After, will practice the test done in Visit 2. Day 2: You will exercise your breathing muscles several times. We will measure how much blood goes to the breathing muscles during progressive exercise. To do this, we will inject microbubbles into your blood and image your diaphragm with an ultrasound. That allows us to measure how much blood is going to the diaphragm. During both visits, we will insert a thin tube in your nose and place it in the esophagus and another in the stomach. The end of the tube contains a small air sac that will measure the force you breath with. Inspiratory muscle training will consist of 30 breaths done 2x/day for 5 days/week for 8 weeks. The strength of the respiratory muscles will retested every 2 weeks. Participants will repeat testing following 8-weeks of no training and training.

This study consists of a short online survey for licensed healthcare providers in Canada to assess their knowledge and attitudes about cannabis use during pregnancy. We want to understand what healthcare providers know about the impacts of cannabis use during pregnancy and their awareness of guidelines, as well as their attitudes towards pregnant people who use cannabis. By learning more about providers' knowledge and attitudes, we hope to find ways to improve education, support, and care for pregnant people.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, life-disrupting and highly recurrent illness. Unfortunately, 30–40% of patients do not respond to currently available interventions. The research study we are conducting hopes to shorten the path from diagnosing a person with MDD to starting them on a right, or 'personalized', treatment plan. To achieve this we examine brain scans, clinical assessments and blood samples to gain a better understanding of depression and how best to treat it. we are. To do so, we are seeking to recruit participants who either have major depressive disorder (MDD) and are currently experiencing symptoms of depression. We are also recruiting healthy comparison participants.

A team of researchers from the Department of Psychiatry in the Cummings School of Medicine at the University of Calgary is looking for research participants who have been identified as people living with dementia (PWLD) and/or their caregivers. The overall goal of our project is to understand the effects of participating in park visits for people living with dementia and their caregivers. If you are interested in participating in this study, you will be invited to have the option of filling out your demographic information online (through Qualtrics) or on paper in this survey. It will take 15 to 30 minutes to complete this task. Following that, you will be invited to take part in an interview which will take 45 to 60 minutes, to learn about your experience and perceived barriers and facilitators to participation in nature-based activities.