UBC This Week

Recent UBC Media Releases

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Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/calendar.aspx.

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UBC People

The President’s annual Blue and Gold Revue

The President’s  annual Blue and Gold Revue will showcase inventions, interviews, videos and music from UBC’s most outstanding students, faculty and staff.  The Revue will officially launch the UBC 2009 Annual Report and Place & Promise: the UBC Plan, our strategic plan for the future.

The emcee for the event will be UBC alumna Jennifer Gardy, BSc’00, PhD, former co-host of Project X on CBC TV, blogger for The Globe and Mail and postdoctoral fellow and researcher.

Date: Dec. 2
Time: Reception:  5 p.m.  (complimentary appetizers by Wescadia)
Revue: 6 p.m.
 Place: Chan Center for the Performing Arts
 Info: Order free admission tickets at  www.supporting.ubc.ca/revue

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Dean of Medicine receives Presidential Medal Award

Dr. Gavin Stuart, UBC’s Vice Provost, Health, and Dean, Faculty of Medicine, has been given the Presidential Medal Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology/La Societe de Gyneco-Oncologie du Canada (GOC).

Stuart is Chair of the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup Trials, Co-Chair of the Clinical Trial Group of the GOC’s gynecologic site committee, Chair of the Cervical Cancer Prevention Control Network, and Chair of the Cancer and Infectious Committee for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.

Stuart sees patients at the Gyne Onocology Division at Vancouver General Hospital and the BC Cancer Agency, and is the principal investigator of an international phase III trial of the human papillomavirus vaccine.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/about_us/Awards_and_Honours.htm

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Head of Urology announces Men’s Health Initiative

Prof. Larry Goldenberg, Head of the Dept. of Urologic Sciences and founding Director of the Vancouver Prostate Centre, announced the creation of the Men’s Health Initiative of BC – an interdisciplinary project that will gather research about men’s health and disseminate findings to a broad audience.

“What’s missing is a formal program to bring this all together, and to reach as many men in all socio-economic groups as possible,” Goldenberg said at the official launch Nov. 17 at Vancouver General Hospital.  President Stephen J. Toope, speaking at the launch, said the project “presents further opportunities for our Faculty of Medicine to put its teaching and research strength to work on an initiative that is of tremendous value to British Columbians.”

The first phase is an interactive website, www.aboutmen.ca, aimed at public and health care practitioners. The initiative has also commissioned the Men’s Health Report, which will highlight the most significant issues in male health and make recommendations for clinical practice, research and health policy. Both efforts were funded with $1 million raised by VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/media/Men_s_Health_Initiative.htm

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Faculty of Medicine members take the torch in Whistler

Ten members of the Faculty of Medicine will be among 20 runners representing the B.C. Medical Association (BCMA) during the Olympic torch run for the 2010 Winter Games. 

Dr. Gavin Stuart, UBC’s Vice-Provost, Health, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Ron Wilson, Clinical Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Practice
Dr. Roy Purssell, Co-Acting Head of the Dept. of Emergency Medicine
Dr. Bill Mackie, Clinical Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Practice
Dr. Harvey Strecker, Clinical Instructor, Dept. of Surgery
Dr. Joanne Young, Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family Practice
Dr. Geoff Appleton, Clinical Instructor, Dept. of Family Practice
Dr. Victor Huckell, Clinical Professor, Dept. of Medicine (Division of Cardiology)
Dr. Brad Fritz, Clinical Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Practice
Dr. Mark Schonfeld, Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept. of Family Practice

Each team member will run 50 metres, for a total of one kilometre as part of a BCMA relay at the Olympic Park in Whistler on Feb. 5 (a week before the opening ceremonies).

Clinical Assoc. Prof. Tyler Dumont, Dept. of Physical Therapy, will carry the torch for a 300-metre segment in North Vancouver on Feb. 10, in recognition of the department’s lending of equipment to the Games.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/media/BCMA_torch_relay.htm

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Engineering student awarded EIC annual scholarship

Second-year civil engineering student Daniel Fortin has been awarded the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) Vancouver Island Branch’s Annual Scholarship.

Fortin graduated from high school with a 95 per cent average and received the Brad Beaton Memorial Aboriginal Award for top graduating Aboriginal student as well as the Coastal Community Credit Union Scholarship for his business plan to improve a park in Nanaimo.

At UBC, Fortin manages a seven-course workload, volunteers with the Beaver Scouts and will be applying for jobs this January through the UBC Engineering Co-op Program.

For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/nov6.html

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School of Population and Public Health Director wins award

Prof. Martin Schechter, Director of the School of Population and Public Health and National Director of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network, received the Norman E. Zinberg Award at the Drug Policy Alliance’s International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque. 

Schechter was recognized for his work as the principal investigator of the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) clinical trial project, which tests whether heroin-assisted therapy benefits people suffering from chronic opiate addictions who have not benefited from other treatments.

For more information, visit http://www.spph.ubc.ca/?p2=modules/blog/viewcomments.jsp&bid=45

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CUFA BC accepting nominations; adds Early in Career Award

The Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC (CUFA BC) Distinguished Academics Awards has announced the addition of the Early in Career Award, which recognizes the contributions to the non-academic community made by faculty members who are at an early point in their careers.

Nominations are now open for the Early in Career Award, the Academic of the Year Award
and the Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award.  Deadline for nominations for the 2010 awards is Feb. 5.

For more information, visit www.cufa.bc.ca/awards

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Sixth annual Faraday Show presents Physics of Toys

Faraday Show, the Physics Outreach Program’s Annual Science Lecture, presents Physics of Toys – Explore the physics concepts behind our favourite toys.  Designed for children and presented by UBC faculty members, the event will explore the physics concepts behind toys and games such as yoyos, tops, teeter-totters, loop-de-loop cars, and speak-and-tell.

Date: Dec. 6
Time: 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Place: Hebb Theatre, 2045 East Mall
Info:  Free admission, http://www.physics.ubc.ca/outreach/web/faraday/faraday.php
or contact outreach@phas.ubc.ca

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New GE Plaza at Robson Square offers ice skating and live concerts

The Province of BC invites you to a free outdoor skating at the new GE Plaza at Robson Square.

Date: Nov. 23 -24
Time: Noon – 9 p.m.
Info: Skate rentals $3, Helmets $2 (free for 12 and under)

The public skating will continue daily from noon to 9:00 p.m. until the start of the 2010 Winter Games. The new plaza will also feature live concerts and entertainment on:

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 5 – 9 p.m.
Sundays, 1:30 – 3 p.m.

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