Nine-year-old Girl Gets ‘A New Life’
March 6, 2013. – By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun; With Files From Postmedia News – Nine-year-old Shan Rée loves to ski and swim, but having cystic fibrosis always made it difficult for her to breathe and play sports. But now, thanks to a breakthrough drug doctors say is the closest thing to a cure for CF yet, the West Vancouver girl can ski all day without having her parents carry her off the slopes because she is so wiped out. And she swims with a team – the Otters – three times a week. In 2010, Shan became one of the first kids in Canada to be part of a Phase 3 clinical trial for a drug to treat one type of cystic fibrosis. Since then, she has gone from being hospitalized several times each year to being a healthy, active child with no disease symptoms. The drug, called Kalydeco, or by its common name ivacaftor, is manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and was approved by Health Canada in December, but still must go through provincial and pharmaceutical reviews before it will be available in B.C. Read More…
Diamond Jubilee Awards
December 06, 2012. – This year her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second marked her 60th anniversary of ascension to the Throne as Queen of Canada. And to celebrate Her Majesty’s diamond anniversary, the Queen Elizabeth the Second Diamond Jubilee Medal was specially designed to recognize outstanding Canadians who have built — and continue to build — our caring society through their outstanding service, contributions and achievements. On December 5th, 2012, Cystic Fibrosis Canada Vancouver was honoured to present the Diamond Jubilee Award to four deserving recipients. Read More…
Vancouver Chapter Staff Announcement
September 4, 2012. – By Leona Pinsky, Chair of the Board, Cystic Fibrosis Canada – Vancouver – It is with mixed emotions that I am informing you that our Executive Director, Martina Meckova, will be leaving Cystic Fibrosis Canada. She has accepted a position with the Vancouver Police Foundation as its Executive Director. Since Martina joined Cystic Fibrosis Canada close to three years ago, she has made significant contributions to our organization. She has led the Vancouver Chapter to realize major revenue increases, developed a high-performing team, moved offices and enabled governance renewal for the local Board. We are working closely with the National Office to shortlist candidates and conduct interviews. Martina’s last day with Cystic Fibrosis Canada will be Friday, September 21, 2012. Please join me in congratulating Martina and wishing her well as she begins the next chapter of her career.
BC Children’s Hospital Announces Champion Child
August 28, 2012. – Eleven-year old Luca Piccolo has been named the 2012-2013 Champion Child as part of the Children’s Miracle Network program that honours remarkable children who have triumphed despite severe medical challenges. Luca’s announcement was celebrated at BC Children’s Hospital on Tuesday, August 28th. Luca was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of two, but he has never let CF slow him down. He is an avid athlete and a role model at his school, where he shines while educating other children about CF. We are so proud of Luca and we hope that you will join us in congratulating him on this exciting opportunity. He will be sharing his story at home in BC, as well as travelling to Ottawa and Orlando, Florida. Click here to watch Luca’s Story.
Bowled Over
August 5, 2012. The Province – Pretty 20-somethings hit the greens this summer not chasing birdies, but jacks at the Vancouver Leisure Society’s fourth annual Lawn Summer Nights held at the Granville Park Lawn Bowls Club. The brainchild of Duncan Gillespie, 27, and brothers Graham and Andrew Dalik, 160 young and hip lawn bowlers came out dressed in costumes and their summer best for the grand finale of a four week lawn bowling tournament benefiting Cystic Fibrosis Canada. View Article
Distinguished Medical Research Lecturer Award
July 6, 2012. UBC – Two members of the Child & Family Research Institute — David Speert, a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Jan Friedman, a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics — have received the Distinguished Medical Research Lecturer Awards from the Faculty of Medicine. Continue Reading…
Lawn Summer Nights benefits CF
July 14, 2012. By Malcolm Perry, Vancouver Sun – BOWL ON: If Eva Markvoort hadn’t succumbed to cystic fibrosis in 2010, she’d be 28 now. But she wouldn’t have joined 160 same-aged folk who flocked to the Granville Park Lawn Bowling Club Thursday. Nor the 130 or so others who competed at Toronto’s Leaside Lawn Bowling Club. Finally, the Cystic Fibrosis Canada organization wouldn’t have stood to receive $100,000 from every-Thursday bowling in each city this month. Continue Reading…
A ride to remember
June 13, 2012. By Boaz Joseph, Surrey North Delta Leader – This weekend, George Keulen will celebrate his new second birthday with a long bike ride. On June 16 and 17, the North Delta resident will cycle 235 kilometres from Crescent Beach to Manning Park, located more than 25 kilometres east of Hope. The following Monday will be the second anniversary of his double-lung transplant. Continue Reading…
The staff of the eighth floor deserve to be recognized
May 25, 2012. By Dianne Prysizney, The Province – If the walls of St. Paul’s Hospital could talk, the eighth floor would have its own unique voice. On the eighth floor, the exceptional medical and nursing care teams, along with the dedication of the doctors and nurses, respiratory, physiotherapy and interdisciplinary support teams, integrate and touch the lives of each family, particularly the cystic fibrosis families, many of whom spend as many days of the year in the hospital as at home. Continue Reading…
We are thrilled to announce that the 2012 BC-wide London Drugs coin box campaign raised $3,710 for Cystic Fibrosis Canada!
Thank you to London Drugs for including our coin boxes in their BC stores for the month of March. They made it so easy for us by taking care of all the distribution and collection of coin boxes. Continue Reading…
Teen science buff behind key cystic fibrosis Research
April 16, 2012. By Louise Brown, Toronto Star – He was a Grade 10 science buff at a summer science camp who heard a fellow teen rave about doing real research for real scientists. “I thought that was so cool,” marvelled Marshall Zhang, so he went home to Richmond Hill (Ontario) and started emailing biomedical researchers to see if any would take him on. Continue Reading…
Dr. Tsui inducted into Medical Hall of Fame
March 21, 2012 – The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame welcomed Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui, OC, the scientist who discovered the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene in 1989, among its six medical science inductees of 2012.
Praised as making one of the most significant breakthroughs in human genetics in the past 50 years, Dr. Tsui’s discovery of the cystic fibrosis gene improved understanding of how the disease works. This led to newborn screening for early detection of cystic fibrosis, carrier testing for parents, and opened the door to important research targeting the root cause of the disease. Dr. Tsui’s discovery would not have been possible without funding from Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Click hereto watch a short interview with Dr. Tsui and his colleague Dr. Frances Collins.
Dancing keeps me out of the hospital
January 26, 2012. By Eva Cohen, Vancouver Sun – At 18, Darren Kerr can’t remember a day when he hasn’t had to swallow at least 50 pills.
Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as an infant, at times he has been so ill he’s relied on a feeding tube to survive.
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract and other parts of the body. A life-threatening condition, it is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and young adults in Canada. Continue reading…
Surviving Cystic Fibrosis
In August 2010, Maclean’s Magazine featured the story of Ashley Dryer, a Montreal woman with CF and a successful double lung-transplant. Ashley was the CF poster child when Dr. Tsui and his team discovered the gene for CF in 1989. She was six years old.
Today, Ashley is 26-years old. She is a student, a mother and CF survivor. Ashley is thrilled to have this second chance at life.
August 2010. By Cathy Gull, Macleans – Anyone driving along Highway 401 west to Toronto from Montreal on Oct. 6 would never have known Caroline Donelle had turned her red Honda Civic into a hospital room on wheels. Continue reading…
