Humans are exposed to thousands of chemical substances every day. Yet alarmingly, the vast majority have not been tested in depth for their effects on the human body.

To date, more than 85 million chemicals have been synthesized, 140,000 on a commercial scale and even more appearing in natural products. However, only 10,000 to 20,000 have been tested for toxicity in humans—signalling a need to catch up with the growing numbers.

As the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital opens its doors, there may also be a window opening for new research opportunities in children's health.

Adverse drug events could be avoided by sharing patients’ medication histories and previous harmful medication exposures among various health-care facilities. That’s one of the key findings of a study published July 18, 2019 in CMAJ Open.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO and BORN Ontario have conducted one of the largest studies to date on the effect of cannabis use during pregnancy. They found that reported cannabis use during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. The findings were published in JAMA.

Reducing a specific protein in the fat cells of mice not only prevents onset of Type 2 diabetes but also appears to reverse the disease in the animals, researchers at the University of British Columbia and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute have found.