Researchers from the University of Calgary are conducting a research study on social status. We want to see how you rank your own social status so that we can better understand what adults consider when they rank their social status and how their social status can affect their health. If you are interested, we will ask you to take part in an interview where we will ask you to rank your social status using a ladder scale and ask you a few questions about how you decided on that rank.

This study will explore the factors that influence food choices in the year after childbirth. We will also study the attitudes people have towards their changing body after childbirth. Our results will help health professionals such as dietitians to provide better care for postpartum individuals. This study involves an online survey with questions about how food choices are made and how postpartum individuals feel about their body. There will be an optional question to state if you would like to be contacted for a follow-up interview in the future.

We are conducting a study on explore the experiences of children and teens with chronic pain and their families accessing healthcare services in primary care settings. To do this, we are looking for young people (aged 10-21) with chronic pain, and their parent or primary caregiver, who would like to share their experiences. To participate, you, and your parent or child, will be asked to attend 2 virtual interviews that will take place over Zoom. These interviews with be conducted by a research team member to learn more about your experiences seeking chronic pain care in primary care settings (e.g., your family doctor's office, a walk-in clinic). The first of these interviews will last about 60-90 minutes. You can attend this interview on your own. What we learn will allow us to a draft a visual map of your experience accessing pain services, called a "patient journey map." The second and final interview will last about 45-60 minutes. You will attend, along with your parent or child, to review the journey map and discuss possible solutions to the challenges that your have illustrated along their your journey.

We are looking at activation of platelets (clotting factors in the blood) in women with pre-eclampsia or at risk of pre-eclampsia and comparing them to healthy pregnant controls. We are recruiting pregnant women who either have a low or high risk pre-eclampsia screen in the first trimester (between 11-14 weeks gestation), have a prior history of pre-eclampsia, have gestational hypertension or have been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia in this pregnancy

Pain is one of the most under-diagnosed and inadequately treated medical conditions. Pediatric chronic pain, defined as pain occurring 3 months or more is alarmingly prevalent in adolescence, affecting 1 in 4 Canadian youth. Moreover, it is a growing epidemic, costing upwards of $19 billion CAD/year. Unmanaged pain during childhood can lead to persistent pain and internalizing mental health conditions (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety, depression) into adulthood. Therefore, pediatric chronic pain is a major public health concern. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are stressful or traumatic events occurring prior to age 18 years. Youth with chronic pain disproportionately report being exposed to more ACEs than the general population. Consequently, they are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and PTSD. Concurrent pain and PTSS have been linked to increased pain intensity and sensitivity. However, despite support for a relationship between ACEs and chronic pain, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. The present study will invite chronic pain-free youth aged 12-18 years from the community to undergo an MRI and pain sensory testing and reporting, annually during adolescence. We will examine the extent that ACEs and PTSS which occurred either prior to and/or during the assessment period are associated with altered brain structural and functional connectivity and the development of pain symptomology in youth. Early identification and appropriate pain management may prevent the transition from acute to chronic pain. Therefore, this research may lead to changes in assessment, access, and clinical practice across health centres. As well, it may be an important step in understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain in youth. This could lead to targeted, evidence-based interventions preventing the persistence of pain and mental health problems into adulthood.

The purpose of this study is to try and understand how the adolescent brain responds to pain. The first part of the study involves teens filling out an online questionnaire, which asks about pain, sleep and mental health. They will receive a $10 gift card for answering this questionnaire. One week later, we will have the teen come to the Alberta Children's Hospital. Using a device that applies thermal heat, we will establish their threshold for low, medium and high heat on their forearm. We will then apply 3 creams to their forearm: 1) one will enhance sensitivity to pain; 2) one will have no effect on pain; and 3) one will decrease sensitivity to pain. We will test their responses to the creams both outside and inside the MRI. Transportation to and parking at the hospital will be reimbursed via gift card. Teens will receive an additional $20 gift card and pictures of their brain to thank them for participating in this study.

We are interested in finding the cause of diseases of the heart and blood vessels that first show up in children and young adults. Many of these diseases are inherited, but we still do not know the cause in most cases. This study will use genetic testing to find these causes, followed by experiments in the lab to look at these changes in detail to see how they may cause the heart or blood vessel disease.

This study is looking at genetics, antidepressant medication, and side effects. Although antidepressants, such as selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are often effective and well-tolerated in children and adolescents, some will have difficulty with side effects. One possible side effect is behavioral disinhibition. SSRI-induced behavioral disinhibition (SIBD) is characterized by a rapid onset of aggression, agitation, impulsivity, or hyperactivity following a start or increase in SSRI medication. This can result in socially inappropriate behavior and can lead to devastating consequences (e.g. suicidal impulses, violence). 10%–20% of children treated with SSRIs experience behavioral disinhibition. There is currently no way for doctors to predict which children will experience SIBD and other side effects. Knowing which genes could increase the chance of side effects with certain medications could give doctors and parents a simple, low cost, personalized tool for assessing risk and choosing a medication. This study is including children and adolescents who have taken an SSRI, both with and without side effects, to look for genes that may lead to side effects with certain medications. This is an exploratory study that will hopefully provide information to improve prescribing practices in the future.

Stimulant medication (Biphentin®, Concerta®) are first-line treatment for children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but experiences with these treatments vary from child-to-child. Despite helping many youth, some who use stimulants experience minimal to no benefit, while others experience significant side effects. If a personalized prescribing strategy were available to improve the use of stimulants, we could prevent a lot of suffering and negative outcomes. Unlike other medications prescribed for mental health (e.g., antidepressants) that have genomic markers to guide prescribing, we have limited evidence to help similar personalized prescribing of stimulants. This study aims to identify genetic markers associated with stimulant response and side effects that could be used to improve prescribing and shorten the path to wellness for youth with ADHD.

This study has multiple goals, all with the aim to improve outcomes for children with complex immune dysregulation disorders. The immune system fights infection and protects the body from disease-causing changes. Rare genetic changes lead to the immune system inaccurately targeting the body itself, resulting in ‘complex immune dysregulation disorders’. Children with these conditions often experience a ‘diagnostic odyssey’ – a delay in diagnosis and treatment leading to poor health outcomes. We are a team of doctors who care for children with complex immune dysregulation at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. We propose to create a complex immune dysregulation research program with several goals. First, we will improve access to genetic testing to reduce the time to genetic diagnosis. Second, we will perform laboratory tests to examine how the immune system can malfunction in children with complex immune dysregulation. Lastly, we will partner with families to develop methods to accurately assess patient experiences and outcome measures within the cohort. Many new therapies are being developed which can be used in patients with complex immune dysregulation disorders once they are accurately diagnosed. We want to help these children end their diagnostic odyssey and improve access to life-preserving precision therapies.