BCCHR Researchers Find a Researcher

Ghada Al-Rawahi

FRCPC, MD, DTM&H, D(ABMM)

Affiliate Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

My current research is focused on Clostridioides difficile infection. C. difficile is a common bacterium in the human gut that usually does not cause infection but in certain circumstances can cause diarrhea. It is significant because it can easily spread from patient to patient in hospitals if infection prevention measures and environmental cleaning practices are suboptimal. The current focus is on the interpretation of indeterminate (antigen positive/toxin negative) C. difficile testing and how patients are managed. I'm also aiming to improve the diagnostic stewardship of C. difficile to ensure that testing is done when clinically indicated and the right sample is collected.

Academic Affiliations

Adjunct Professor, , Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Theme: Evidence to Innovation
Research Group(s): Clinical Practice, Outcomes and Innovation

Contact Information

Location

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Al- Khoudh, PO Box 38, Seeb, Oman, 123

g.alrawahi@squ.edu.om

Listeriosis

Feigin and Cherry S Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases 9th Edition 2 Volume Set

Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Abu-Raya, B. and Robinson, J.L.

DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-82763-8.00095-9

Characterising the molecular epidemiology of human parechovirus in young infants in the UK and Canada

Journal of Clinical Virology

Kadambari, S. and Harvala, H. and Nguyen, D. and Sadarangani, M. and Martin, N.G. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Sekirov, I. and Defres, S. and Solomon, T. and Golubchik, T. and Bowden, R. and Pollard, A.J. and Simmonds, P.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2024.105715

Extraction-free clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus from saline gargle samples using Hamilton STARlet liquid handler

Scientific Reports

Gadkar, V.J. and Goldfarb, D.M. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Srigley, J.A. and Smailus, D.E. and Coope, R.J.N. and Pleasance, S. and Watson, N. and Chen, T. and Lam, S. and Hoang, L. and Tilley, P.A.G.

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30993-2

Trends in Clostridioides difficile infection rates in Canadian hospitals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

Choi, K.B. and Du, T. and Silva, A. and Golding, G.R. and Pelude, L. and Mitchell, R. and Rudnick, W. and Hizon, R. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Chow, B. and Davis, I. and Evans, G.A. and Frenette, C. and Johnstone, J. and Kibsey, P. and Katz, K.C. and Langley, J.M. and Lee, B.E. and Longtin, Y. and Mertz, D. and Minion, J. and Science, M. and Srigley, J.A. and Stagg, P. and Suh, K.N. and Thampi, N. and Wong, A. and Comeau, J.L. and Hota, S.S.

DOI: 10.1017/ice.2022.210

Epidemiology and associated risk factors for candidemia in a Canadian tertiary paediatric hospital: An 11-year review

JAMMI

Liu, S.H. and Mitchell, H. and Al-Rawahi, G.N.

DOI: 10.3138/jammi-2022-0021

Limitation of ctrA as a Target for Neisseria meningitidis Identification and Potential Alternative Targets

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Sirluck-Schroeder, I. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Gadkar, V. and Hoang, L. and Tsang, R. and Tilley, P.

DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00152-22

Evaluation of observed and unobserved self-collection of saline gargle samples for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in outpatients

Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Kinshella, M.-L.W. and Tilley, P. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Srigley, J.A. and Kayda, I. and Canes, M. and McLennan, M. and Bone, J.N. and Dittrick, M. and Gadkar, V.J. and Hoang, L.M.N. and Goldfarb, D.M.

DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115566

COVID-19 in an immunocompromised host: persistent shedding of viable SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of multiple mutations: a case report

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

Leung, W.F. and Chorlton, S. and Tyson, J. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Jassem, A.N. and Prystajecky, N. and Masud, S. and Deans, G.D. and Chapman, M.G. and Mirzanejad, Y. and Murray, M.C.M. and Wong, P.H.P.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.10.045

Characterization of Healthcare-Associated and Community-Associated Clostridioides difficile Infections among Adults, Canada, 2015-2019

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Du, T. and Choi, K.B. and Silva, A. and Golding, G.R. and Pelude, L. and Hizon, R. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Brooks, J. and Chow, B. and Collet, J.C. and Comeau, J.L. and Davis, I. and Evans, G.A. and Frenette, C. and Han, G. and Johnstone, J. and Kibsey, P. and Katz, K.C. and Langley, J.M. and Lee, B.E. and Longtin, Y. and Mertz, D. and Minion, J. and Science, M. and Srigley, J.A. and Stagg, P. and Suh, K.N. and Thampi, N. and Wong, A. and Hota, S.S.

DOI: 10.3201/eid2806.212262

Characterization of Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR) Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales (CPE) in Canada from 2019 to 2020

Microbiology Spectrum

Bartoszko, J.J. and Mitchell, R. and Katz, K. and Mulvey, M. and Mataseje, L. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Davis, I. and Ellis, C. and Embree, J. and Hota, S.S. and Kibsey, P. and Leis, J.A. and McGeer, A. and Minion, J. and Musto, S. and Rajda, E. and Smith, S.W. and Srigley, J.A. and Suh, K.N. and Thampi, N. and Tomlinson, J. and Wong, T. and Pelude, L. and Rudnick, W. and Choi, K.B. and Silva, A. and Steele, V. and Cayen, J. and McClellan, C.

DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00975-22

Self-Collected Saline Gargle Samples as an Alternative to Health Care Worker-Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for COVID-19 Diagnosis in Outpatients

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

David M. Goldfarb and Peter Tilley and Ghada N. Al-Rawahi and Jocelyn A. Srigley and Geoffrey Ford and Heather Pedersen and Abhilasha Pabbi and Stephanie Hannam-Clark and Marthe Charles and Michelle Dittrick and Vijay J. Gadkar and Jeffrey M. Pernica and Linda M. N. Hoang and Yi-Wei Tang

DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02427-20

03 / 2021

Septic arthritis due to Mycoplasma orale in a young patient with hypogammaglobulinemia

JAMMI

Liu, A.C. and Harvey, M. and Lee, A. and Hildebrand, K. and Hoang, L. and Gantt, S. and Al-Rawahi, G.N.

DOI: 10.3138/JAMMI-2021-0002

Development and validation of a new triplex real-time quantitative reverse Transcriptase-PCR assay for the clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2

Molecular and Cellular Probes

Gadkar, V.J. and Goldfarb, D.M. and Young, V. and Watson, N. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Srigley, J. and Tilley, P.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mcp.2021.101744

Self-collected Saline Gargle Samples as an Alternative to Healthcare Worker Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for COVID-19 Diagnosis in Outpatients

DOI: 10.1101/2020.09.13.20188334

09 / 2020

Prevalence of Candida auris in Canadian acute care hospitals among at-risk patients, 2018

Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control

Garcia-Jeldes, H.F. and Mitchell, R. and McGeer, A. and Rudnick, W. and Amaratunga, K. and Vallabhaneni, S. and Lockhart, S.R. and Al-Rawahi, G. and Brodkin, E. and Charles, M. and Comeau, J. and Davis, I. and Delport, J. and Dingle, T.C. and Dufresne, P. and Ellis, C. and Embree, J. and Frenette, C. and Golding, G. and Hoang, L.M. and Hota, S. and Katz, K.C. and Kibsey, P. and Kus, J.V. and Langley, J.M. and Lee, B.E. and Lefebvre, M.-A. and Longtin, Y. and Malejczyk, K. and Masud, S. and Mertz, D. and Mulvey, M.R. and Poutanen, S. and Purych, D. and Rantelidis, R. and Richardson, D. and Schwartz, I.S. and Smith, S. and Tremblay, M.-A. and Wong, T. and Yamamura, D. and Bharat, A.

DOI: 10.1186/s13756-020-00752-3

Gargle-Direct: Extraction-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 using real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) of saline gargle rinse samples

medRxiv

Gadkar, V.J. and Goldfarb, D.M. and Young, V. and Watson, N. and Hoang, L. and Lee, T. and Prystajecky, N. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Srigley, J.A. and Tilley, P.

DOI: 10.1101/2020.10.09.20203430

Contribution of Real-Time Xpert MTB/RIF Testing to Establishing Early Diagnosis of Pediatric Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in a Nonendemic Setting: A Case Series

Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

Mijovi?, H. and Al-Nasser, Y. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Roberts, A.D.

DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000002488

Performance of the BD Phoenix Automated Microbiology System for Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Susceptibility Testing of Staphylococcus aureus

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Ghada N. Al-Rawahi and Sam Chorlton and Sukhvinder Dhaliwal and George R. Golding and Peter Tilley and Karen C. Carroll

DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00994-19

12 / 2019

Pediatric oncology and stem cell transplant patients with healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection were already colonized on admission

Pediatric Blood & Cancer

Ghada N. Al-Rawahi and Abeer Al-Najjar and Rachel McDonald and Rebecca J. Deyell and George R. Golding and Rollin Brant and Peter Tilley and Eva Thomas and Shahrad R. Rassekh and Aisling O'Gorman and Peggy Wong and Lucy Turnham and Simon Dobson

DOI: 10.1002/pbc.27604

05 / 2019

Prevalence and clinical impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization among infants at a level III neonatal intensive care unit

American Journal of Infection Control

Lavie-Nevo, K. and Srigley, J.A. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Bone, J. and Osiovich, H. and Roberts, A. and Ting, J.Y.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2019.04.173

Running out of options: Extensively drug-resistant urinary tract infection in an infant

Paediatrics and Child Health (Canada)

Mijovic, H. and Wakeham, S. and Ng, K. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Tilley, P. and Ho, L. and Roberts, A.

DOI: 10.1093/pch/pxz048

Baylisascariasis: A young boy with neural larva migrans due to the emerging raccoon round worm

Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology

Dunbar, M. and Lu, S. and Chin, B. and Huh, L. and Dobson, S. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Morshed, M.G. and Vanden Driessche, K.

DOI: 10.1002/acn3.694

Asymptomatic Pharyngeal Carriage of Kingella kingae among Young Children in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

Masud, S. and Greenman, J. and Mulpuri, K. and Hasan, M.R. and Goldfarb, D.M. and Tilley, P. and Gadkar, V.J. and Al-Rawahi, G.N.

DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000002403

Measles Lymphadenopathy in a Child With PFAPA Syndrome

Pediatric and Developmental Pathology

Terry, J. and Brown, K. and Hiebert, J. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Moxham, J.P. and Krajden, M. and Jassem, A.N. and Tucker, L.

DOI: 10.1177/1093526617727970

Ten-year-old traveller with fever and an exceptional exanthem

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Osowicki, J. and Badawi, M. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Rehmus, W.E. and Sauv, L.

DOI: 10.1111/jpc.1_13703

Comparative evaluation of laboratory developed real-time PCR assays and RealStar() BKV PCR Kit for quantitative detection of BK polyomavirus.

Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi G and Thomas E and Tilley P

DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2016.04.009 PubMed: 27091098

08 / 2016

Evaluation of amplification targets for the specific detection of Bordetella pertussis using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi GN and Thomas E and Tilley P

PubMed: 25285127

07 / 2014

Granulomatous herpes simplex encephalitis in an infant with multicystic encephalopathy: a distinct clinicopathologic entity?

Schutz PW and Fauth CT and Al-Rawahi GN and Pugash D and White VA and Stockler S and Dunham CP

DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2013.12.008 PubMed: 24485930

04 / 2014

Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by wild urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Himsworth CG and Miller RR and Montoya V and Hoang L and Romney MG and Al-Rawahi GN and Kerr T and Jardine CM and Patrick DM and Tang P and Weese JS

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087983 PubMed: 24498421

AMMI Canada " CACMID Annual Conference: April 2"5, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia.

Evaluation of amplification targets for the specific detection of Bordetella pertussis using real-time polymerase chain reaction

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Hasan, M.R. and Tan, R. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Thomas, E. and Tilley, P.

DOI: 10.1155/2014/763128

Clostridium difficile vertebral osteomyelitis.

Al-Najjar A and Al-Rawahi GN and Hoang LM and Kollmann TR

DOI: 10.1097/inf.0b013e318296b424 PubMed: 23594589

09 / 2013

Optimal use of MRSASelect and PCR to maximize sensitivity and specificity of MRSA detection.

Hasan MR and Brunstein JD and Al-Rawahi G and Tan R and Thomas E and Tilley P

DOI: 10.1007/s00284-012-0241-1 PubMed: 23053488

01 / 2013

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Roscoe, D.L.

DOI: 10.1155/2013/929717

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species.

Al-Rawahi GN and Roscoe DL

PubMed: 24421833

Short-term stability of pathogen-specific nucleic acid targets in clinical samples.

Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi GN and Thomas E and Tilley P

DOI: 10.1128/jcm.02659-12 PubMed: 23052319

12 / 2012

Severe genital ulceration in an acute epstein-barr virus infection.

Al-Rawahi GN and Dobson SR and Scheifele DW and Rassekh SR and Murphy JJ

DOI: 10.1097/inf.0b013e3181f41b2e PubMed: 20736877

02 / 2011

Swift mobilization of infection control, employee health, clinicians, engineering, laboratory and public health averted secondary cases following a large measles exposure at the British Columbia Childrens Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Thomas E and Dobson S and Al-Rawahi G and Holmes L and Gustafson R and Papilla S and Hoang L and Tilley P

Community-associated CMRSA-10 (USA-300) is the predominant strain among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains causing skin and soft tissue infections in patients presenting to the emergency department of a Canadian tertiary care hospital.

Al-Rawahi GN and Reynolds S and Porter SD and Forrester L and Kishi L and Chong T and Bowie WR and Doyle PW

DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.09.030 PubMed: 18325716

01 / 2010

Anaerobic brain abscess following chronic suppurative otitis media in a child from Uganda.

Cox K and Al-Rawahi G and Kollmann T

PubMed: 20808460

Anaerobic brain abscess following chronic suppurative otitis media in a child from Uganda

Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Cox, K.A. and Al-Rawahi, G. and Kollmann, T.R.

DOI: 10.1155/2009/407139

Case report: failure of subcutaneous ivermectin in treating Strongyloides hyperinfection.

Leung V and Al-Rawahi GN and Grant J and Fleckenstein L and Bowie W

PubMed: 19052292

12 / 2008

First report of isolation and characterization of Aurantimonas altamirensis from clinical samples.

Luong ML and Bkal S and Vinh DC and Lauzon D and Leung V and Al-Rawahi GN and Ng B and Burdz T and Bernard K

DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00337-08 PubMed: 18495852

07 / 2008

HIV-1 viral load after leukodepletion.

Al-Muharrmi Z and Al-Jabri AA and Al-Rawahi G and Scrimgeor EM and Al-Marhobi A

DOI: 10.1097/qai.0b013e318160a694 PubMed: 18520683

06 / 2008

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among injection drug users: six years later.

Al-Rawahi GN and Schreader AG and Porter SD and Roscoe DL and Gustafson R and Bryce EA

DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01596-07 PubMed: 18039800

02 / 2008

AMMI Canada?CACMID 2008 Annual Conference February 27 ? March 2, 2008 Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia.

01 / 2008

Case report: Failure of subcutaneous ivermectin in treating Strongyloides hyperinfection

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Leung, V. and Al-Rawahi, G.N. and Grant, J. and Fleckenstein, L. and Bowie, W.

DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2008.79.853

Candidemia

To determine the epidemiology of candidemia in adults and children and the incidence of mixed candidemia.

To describe the correlation of antifungal susceptibility results with clinical outcome.

Clostridium difficile in pediatric oncology

To determine the prevalence of indeterminate C. difficile results and correlate with the clinical management and outcome.

To establish a diagnostic stewardship QI focusing on C. difficile testing as a start.

Catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI)

To implement insertion and maintenance bundles for urinary catheters.

To create an electronic tool to collect consistent and accurate CAUTI information.

To reduce the rate of CAUTI.

Our Research

At BC Children’s, we are making discoveries that save lives and transform health care for children in our province and around the world. Our research portfolio includes basic, clinical, population, and public health research.

EXPLORE OUR RESEARCH

Ghada Al-Rawahi

FRCPC, MD, DTM&H, D(ABMM)

Affiliate Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Academic Affiliations

Contact Information

Location

Publications

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Listeriosis

Characterising the molecular epidemiology of human parechovirus in young infants in the UK and Canada

Extraction-free clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus from saline gargle samples using Hamilton STARlet liquid handler

Trends in Clostridioides difficile infection rates in Canadian hospitals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Epidemiology and associated risk factors for candidemia in a Canadian tertiary paediatric hospital: An 11-year review

Limitation of ctrA as a Target for Neisseria meningitidis Identification and Potential Alternative Targets

Evaluation of observed and unobserved self-collection of saline gargle samples for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in outpatients

COVID-19 in an immunocompromised host: persistent shedding of viable SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of multiple mutations: a case report

Characterization of Healthcare-Associated and Community-Associated Clostridioides difficile Infections among Adults, Canada, 2015-2019

Characterization of Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR) Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales (CPE) in Canada from 2019 to 2020

Self-Collected Saline Gargle Samples as an Alternative to Health Care Worker-Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for COVID-19 Diagnosis in Outpatients

Septic arthritis due to Mycoplasma orale in a young patient with hypogammaglobulinemia

Development and validation of a new triplex real-time quantitative reverse Transcriptase-PCR assay for the clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2

Self-collected Saline Gargle Samples as an Alternative to Healthcare Worker Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for COVID-19 Diagnosis in Outpatients

Prevalence of Candida auris in Canadian acute care hospitals among at-risk patients, 2018

Gargle-Direct: Extraction-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 using real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) of saline gargle rinse samples

Contribution of Real-Time Xpert MTB/RIF Testing to Establishing Early Diagnosis of Pediatric Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in a Nonendemic Setting: A Case Series

Performance of the BD Phoenix Automated Microbiology System for Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Susceptibility Testing of Staphylococcus aureus

Pediatric oncology and stem cell transplant patients with healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection were already colonized on admission

Prevalence and clinical impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization among infants at a level III neonatal intensive care unit

Running out of options: Extensively drug-resistant urinary tract infection in an infant

Baylisascariasis: A young boy with neural larva migrans due to the emerging raccoon round worm

Asymptomatic Pharyngeal Carriage of Kingella kingae among Young Children in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Measles Lymphadenopathy in a Child With PFAPA Syndrome

Ten-year-old traveller with fever and an exceptional exanthem

Comparative evaluation of laboratory developed real-time PCR assays and RealStar() BKV PCR Kit for quantitative detection of BK polyomavirus.

Evaluation of amplification targets for the specific detection of Bordetella pertussis using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Granulomatous herpes simplex encephalitis in an infant with multicystic encephalopathy: a distinct clinicopathologic entity?

Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by wild urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus).

AMMI Canada " CACMID Annual Conference: April 2"5, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia.

Evaluation of amplification targets for the specific detection of Bordetella pertussis using real-time polymerase chain reaction

Clostridium difficile vertebral osteomyelitis.

Optimal use of MRSASelect and PCR to maximize sensitivity and specificity of MRSA detection.

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species.

Short-term stability of pathogen-specific nucleic acid targets in clinical samples.

Severe genital ulceration in an acute epstein-barr virus infection.

Swift mobilization of infection control, employee health, clinicians, engineering, laboratory and public health averted secondary cases following a large measles exposure at the British Columbia Childrens Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Community-associated CMRSA-10 (USA-300) is the predominant strain among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains causing skin and soft tissue infections in patients presenting to the emergency department of a Canadian tertiary care hospital.

Anaerobic brain abscess following chronic suppurative otitis media in a child from Uganda.

Anaerobic brain abscess following chronic suppurative otitis media in a child from Uganda

Case report: failure of subcutaneous ivermectin in treating Strongyloides hyperinfection.

First report of isolation and characterization of Aurantimonas altamirensis from clinical samples.

HIV-1 viral load after leukodepletion.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among injection drug users: six years later.

AMMI Canada?CACMID 2008 Annual Conference February 27 ? March 2, 2008 Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Case report: Failure of subcutaneous ivermectin in treating Strongyloides hyperinfection

Research

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Candidemia

Clostridium difficile in pediatric oncology

Catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI)

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Research Roundup: January 2022

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