RSI and Engineers Canada are partnering to offer an online version of the introductory workshop on the PIEVC Protocol for infrastructure climate risk and vulnerability assessment. Online Workshop: Integrating Climate Risk into Infrastructure Development: The PIEVC Protocol April 2, 4, 9, 11, and 16, 2019;  11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST This workshop  will provide participants…

Adverse effects of drugs among the elderly should be given special attention when considering a pharmacological intervention. Two recent papers using large electronic health records have explored the impact of drugs with anticholinergic properties. The first, “Associations between Anticholinergic Burden and Adverse Health Outcomes in Parkinson Disease” view here used a HealthFacts database (Cerner Corporation, Kansas…

RSI chairs and presents on panel sessions for the Toronto conference, “Building the Next Generation of Canadian Infrastructure: Defining a roadmap for optimizing infrastructure planning, implementation and operation” held on May 15 .  This inaugural conference, hosted by InfoNex, see more here recognizes that the next era of Canadian infrastructure must become more resilient, responsive, integrated…

RSI’s Dr. Emma Hartnett chaired the recent Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). The focus of the week-long event held March 11 to 15, 2019, was the update and consolidation of technical guidance documents to allow for a more current and coordinated approach to assessing microbiological hazards in food. For further information…

RSI launched the Climate Change Hazards Information Portal (CCHIP).

This issue of QuarterWatch analyzes MedWatch Reports from the third quarter of 2015. This issue identifies major differences in reports of cancer associated with drugs for psoriasis, a common skin disorder affecting an estimated 7.5 million people. While corticosteroid and other topical drugs are sufficient for many cases, potent immunosuppressant drugs are used in increasing…

RSI Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Donald R. Mattison, in collaboration with colleagues from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Wake Forest University, evaluated and compared the safety profiles of newer contraceptives using 43,324 adverse event case reports submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), for the two years…

Following up on the recommendations put forth by the Expert Management Panel on River Flood Mitigation, the Environmental and Safety Management (ESM) and Water Resources (WS) business units of the City of Calgary are currently assessing how to best develop a suite of watershed-scale climate models to capture various weather event scenarios that may affect the…

Problem Formulation in Food Safety Assessments conducted by the European Food Safety Authority RSI investigators recently provided advice to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the problem formulation step in the EFSA scientific assessment approach shown in the figure below.  The recommended problem formulation framework is designed to translate the mandate into well-formulated assessment questions and sub-questions, and select the…

The OPTrust Climate Change Symposium being held NOVEMBER 19-20, 2018 in TORONTO offers an opportunity to provide new insights into how to face climate change and thrive in an era of disruption. Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today and increasingly complex to navigate. Despite years of debate, a…