Pharmaceutical companies are beating a path to Prof. Terry Snutch’s
lab. Snutch, a molecular neurobiologist, investigates how calcium
gets in and out of the brain’s 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons,
and triggers electrical and chemical signals en route. His research
has led one U.S. drug company to develop a pain reliever reported
to be a thousand times more sensitive than morphine. This particular
discovery involves a deadly cone snail from Micronesia whose toxic
venom blocks the ability of nerve cells to conduct electrical signals
in the body.

• Contact: Prof. Terry Snutch, Biotechnology Lab, 604.822.6968

Contemporary composers showcased

The works of Italian and Canadian contemporary composers will be
featured Feb. 24 to March 1 during a week-long series of recitals,
concerts and special events, co-sponsored by UBC’s School of Music,
including the world premiere of Riccardo Piacentini’s opera Mal’akhim–Angels.

• Contact: Dolya Konoval, School of Music, 604.822.9161

Endowment named in memory of slain geologist

A graduate scholarship endowment is being established in memory
of Colin Spence, a West Vancouver geologist and member of the board
of advisors of UBC’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit, who was killed
while surveying a mine site in the Philippines last June. The endowment
will fund in perpetuity a $6,000 scholarship available annually
to a master’s student in geological sciences, geological engineering
or geophysics.

• Contact: Elizabeth Ko, Development Office, 604.822.3846

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