Author Archives: Gabriel Piña, MD

Although not a life-threatening condition, chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) represents the most distressing side-effect for cancer patients and the fear of hair loss causes severe anxiety in patients. Thus it is important to understand the mechanisms of CIA in order to design safe and effective prevention strategies. Chemotherapy drugs, such as taxanes and particularly anthracyclines, cause […]

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit psychoactive substance in the world  and the second-most commonly smoked substance after tobacco. Its use has increased in Canada since the legalization of nonmedical marijuana in 2018. In 2020, 20% of the population in Canada aged at least 15 years reported having used marijuana in the previous 3 […]

Influenza A virus (IAV) remains a serious health burden that disproportionately affects older individuals. Most young people who contract IAV only experience mild to moderate symptoms, but older individuals (≥65 years of age) experience higher rates of susceptibility, mortality, and complications such as secondary bacterial infections. For example, 86% of the deaths due to 2017–2018 […]

Reconstruction of bone defects that cannot heal spontaneously, that is, critical-sized bone defects, continues to be an enormous clinical challenge. Such defects may result from trauma, inflammation or following bone tumor resections. Although autogenic, allogeneic and xenogeneic bone materials have been widely applied to treat such defects, they possess potential limitations, including limited availability and […]