Research Resources

The Faculty of Medicine’s Research Resumption Plan is a staged-in approach for resuming on-campus research activities. During Stage 1, on-site access was limited to only those who required on-campus resources and couldn’t conduct their work remotely.

The Faculty of Medicine is now in Stage 2 of its Research Resumption plan. Stage 2 Guidelines include, but are not limited to:

• Gradual resumption of research activities and teaching/education activities based on approved safety plans.
• Individual Faculty and Unit Leads will decide which team members will resume on-site activities.
• Principal Investigator’s (PI) are responsible for ensuring that their team is following all safety protocols and guidelines.
• All members returning to work will need to complete the required safety training for their location. This may include UBC training, BCCDC training, and/or building specific training.
• Each person is required to assess their health before resuming any on-site activity, including completing the BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool.
• Any work that can be done off-site will continue to be done off-site.

Find further information about Faculty of Medicine – Research Resumption Stage 2 Guidelines.

Please note: Any changes or reversals to on-campus research activities may be required in response to the evolving situation and public health guidance.

The Faculty of Medicine is now in Stage 2 of its Research Resumption Plan for the gradual resumption of on-campus research, scholarship and creative, teaching and education activities.

To resume working on-site, including on-campus, contact your Unit Lead (Department Head/Centre/Institute Director).

For information related to the resumption of research at your site contact:

• BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
• BC Cancer Research Institute
• Providence Health Care Research Institute
• VCH Research Institute

Once approval has been provided to resume research activities on-site, all faculty and staff are required to complete UBC’s mandatory online training. This training has been designed to help us all in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 on our campuses.

UBC employees must also follow the protocols and guidance provided in the safety plans outlined by the Provincial Health Office, the Health Authority or partner institution in which they work.

For more information related to safety training at your site contact:

• BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
• BC Cancer Research Institute
• Providence Health Care Research Institute
• VCH Research Institute

Depending on your program, your access to research settings, including research in clinical settings, may be affected by COVID-19. For further information, please contact your supervisor or program director.

If you are interested in conducting research related to COVID-19, contact the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coordination Initiative (CRCI).

For information related to research involving human patients and subjects, visit the UBC Research and Innovation website.

For information related to research involving animal subjects, visit the UBC Research and Innovation website.

During this time, we must follow UBC and health authority directives relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, and be aware that these directives will change to accommodate the rapidly evolving situation. Researchers with drugs, treatments or medical devices that may be effective in treating or diagnosing COVID-19 are encouraged to contact the Public Health Authority of Canada for assistance with facilitating clinical trials. A list of all COVID-19 clinical trials authorized in Canada is available on Health Canada's website.

Please see Health Canada’s notice to clinical trial sponsors on the management of clinical trials during the COVID-19 outbreak. Please contact your institutional clinical trials operations or your research ethics board for more information.

Clinical researchers should also be aware of the US FDA Guidance on conduct of clinical trials of medical products during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Efforts to reduce, minimize or eliminate risks related to research participants and the public are critical at this point, and we must minimize any burden that clinical trials and clinical research activity can create for our health care system.

Key principles:

1. Safety of our research participants, their families and staff.
2. Limit excessive use of resources within VCH and PHC, given the increased risks involved with decreased number of staff and increasing demands on our health care system.
3. Minimize the potential spread of COVID-19.
4. Limit adverse impact on the integrity of ongoing trials.
5. Guidance is subject to change as the situation evolves. We will review and advise on any changes on a regular basis.

Clinical trials and clinical research operations at hospital sites
With consideration for continuity of care and participant and staff safety, hospital sites are currently suspending the initiation of new clinical trials/clinical research projects and halting recruitment for new and ongoing clinical trials/clinical research studies.

Enrollment into clinical trials and clinical research studies that are part of essential clinical care, projects related to the COVID-19 outbreak, or those that have significant cost or time-related implications will be assessed by your hospital site. We recognize that some ongoing clinical trials and clinical research studies require important safety monitoring and/or on-site visits that are critical to the participant’s clinical care, and therefore encourage investigators to use good judgment and consider the level at which this is appropriate for each ongoing protocol and patient participant.

All researchers conducting studies at any of the Health Authority sites must, first and foremost, follow the directives of the relevant Health Authority. For ongoing clinical trials and clinical research at our hospital sites, please find more information at your respected location:

• VCH/PHC
• BCCHR
• BC Cancer
• For all other health authorities, please connect with your site for further direction.

In addition to the advice received from the relevant Institutions, UBC’s clinical Research Ethics Boards (REBs) have developed operational advice which can be found at the following:

• UBC: CREB Bulletin 1: COVID-19 | E-mail: pia.ganz@ors.ubc.ca
• PHC REB | E-mail: julie.hadden@ubc.ca
• C&W REB | E-mail: jennie.prasad@bcchr.ubc.ca
• BC Cancer REB | E-mail: reb@bccancer.bc.ca

BC’s clinical research ethics boards have developed a rapid ethical review process for provincial clinical research pertaining to COVID-19. For more information, see https://researchethicsbc.ca/rapid-review-process/.