The UBC News Digest is a weekly summary of news stories about UBC
people, research, learning, community, and internationalization
initiatives. News Digest past
issues are also available on-line.
Nov. 28, 2003
- Finlay receives national life sciences award
- School of Nursing grad cited for contribution to
cultural harmony - Professor emeritus receives Japan’s Order
of the Rising Sun - Lights, camera, learning — psychiatry prof awarded
for education project - UBC researcher receives e-Learning fellowship
- New e-learning tools make it easy to create media-rich
learning resources - Students organize discussion on UBC’s promotion
of global citizenship - Liu Institute for Global Issues hosts Landmine
Foundation event
Receive UBC News Digest via
e-mail.
Finlay receives national life sciences award
Brett Finlay, UBC’s Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and
a professor of biochemistry & molecular biology and microbiology
& immunology, has received the National Merit Award from the
Ottawa Life Sciences Council.
The award recognizes national leadership, international collaboration
with the life sciences industry, an excellent research record and
overall contribution to the development of life sciences in Canada.
Finlay is scientific director of a Canadian collaboration to find
a vaccine for SARS. He has also developed the world’s first cattle
vaccine to combat E.coli. Marketers of the vaccine are currently
applying to U.S. and Canadian authorities for regulatory approval
to manufacture and sell the product.
A member of UBC’s Biotechnology Laboratory, Finlay was awarded
the E.W.R. Steacie Prize in 1998, Canada’s top award for young scientists
and engineers.
The Ottawa Life Sciences Council is a not-for-profit local and
international, private and public sector partnership committed to
stimulating the growth of the life sciences sector in the Ottawa
area.
School of Nursing grad cited for contribution
to cultural harmony
UBC School of Nursing graduate Sukhdev Grewal, who received her
master’s degree this week, was one of Vancouver’s first South
Asian nurses. She was recently awarded the City of Vancouver 2003
Cultural Harmony Award in the Individual Category.
Grewal has worked for more than 20 years as an advocate for women’s
health issues affecting culturally diverse communities in Vancouver,
especially the South Asian community. As a community nurse, she
has provided health information in different languages, held workshops
with other professionals on cross-cultural awareness and service
delivery issues, and developed a pap-test screening clinic for South
Asian women.
Grewal is also a longstanding member of the UBC-Guru Nanak Partnership
Project Advisory Committee, helping the School of Nursing advance
its support for the development of nursing education and primary
health care in the rural Punjab.
An active volunteer with many organizations including the Vancouver
Multicultural Society, the India Mahila Association, the Canadian
Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Heart and Stroke Association,
Grewal is a founding member of the South Asian Family Association
(SAFA), and the more recent ‘Sawan Mela’ Festival.
Professor emeritus receives Japan’s Order
of the Rising Sun
John F. Howes, professor emeritus of Asian Studies at the University
of British Columbia, has been given one of Japan’s most prestigious
honours, the Order of the Rising Sun. It was bestowed in recognition
of service and dedication to facilitate better understanding between
Japan and Canada.
From his early days in Japan after the war, Howes actively found
ways to connect with local communities and academic organizations
building bridges between Japan and the West. He was practical in
his approach to teaching, and has influenced generations of students
by his enthusiasm and positive approach. Howes’ fields of
expertise include Christianity in Japan, the modernization of Japan
and the study of two influential thinkers of the modern era, Uchimura
Kanzo and Nitobe Inazo.
In recognition of Howes’ outstanding contributions, Her Excellency
Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan sent
a congratulatory note praising the work of Howes.
Lights, camera, learning — psychiatry prof awarded
for education project
Dr. Harry Karlinsky has received an award for the Most Outstanding
Continuing Education Activity in Psychiatry in Canada from the Canadian
Psychiatric Association.
A clinical professor in the department of psychiatry, Karlinsky
is director of continuing medical education and professional development
for the department. His innovative continuing education program,
called Frames of Mind, brings together the public, psychiatrists
and community mental health professionals as well as cinema experts
to view films related to mental health themes. A panel of experts
makes a presentation following the film and the audience has an
opportunity to discuss the issue.
Karlinsky’s research interests include geriatric psychiatry as
well as how information technology can improve care and education
in mental health.
Frames of Mind films are screened at Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver
each month. More information may be found at http://www.psychiatry.ubc.ca/cme/film/.
UBC researcher receives e-Learning fellowship
UBC Faculty of Science researcher Cyprien Lomas has been awarded
one of two prestigious fellowships from the Educause National Learning
Infrastructure Initiative (NLII).
The fellowship is a half-time appointment for one year, where
Lomas will study the transformation of teaching and learning through
the use of technology in higher education. The award means that
Lomas will become part of an international network of experts and
visionaries studying emerging issues in technology and education
that may change the way we learn.
“It will give Cyprien — and UBC — access to some of the
most thoughtful and innovative minds in higher education,”
said Collean Carmean, a former NLII fellow and a member of the selection
committee. “NLII, as the teaching and learning arm of Educause,
is the ‘bleeding edge’ of discovery and possibility
in a time of great change in higher education.”
For more information, please visit: http://www.estrategy.ubc.ca/news/update0311/031126-fellowship.html.
New e-learning tools make it easy to create media-rich
learning resources
UBC’s Arts ISIT has developed two new e-Learning template tools
that allow faculty and students to easily create their own multimedia
learning tools, including media-rich, interactive timelines and
saved discussions from WebCT courses. In turn, the tools faculty
and students develop can be used again in other courses, for a variety
of purposes, and shared with other faculty and students.
Warren Scott, coordinator for instructional support in Arts ISIT
and Tim Wang, instructional developer, developed the tools which
were released this fall.
The Timeline Tool allows you to quickly construct an interactive
timeline tailored with your own text, images, as well as audio and
video clips. The WebCT Discussion Extractor Tool allows you to export
and save WebCT Discussions as SCORM standard-compliant learning
objects that can then archived or analyzed as a dataset and base
of collective student knowledge. (SCORM is the Shareable Content
Object Reference Model, a set of standards for online learning).
The tools are designed so that anyone can use them without being
technical experts. They also give instructors more control over
developing media-rich content for their courses.
For more information, please visit: http://www.estrategy.ubc.ca/news/update0311/031126-tools.html.
Students organize discussion on UBC’s promotion
of global citizenship
Students from the School of Community and Regional Planning are
hosting a discussion for members of the university community on
global citizenship. The event is planned for December 4, from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Liu Institute for Global Issues.
The event aims to bring together individuals and groups at UBC
who are committed to global citizenship, to address questions like:
- What are the various global citizenship projects underway at
UBC? - What are the opportunities to strengthen linkages with local
and global communities? - How can UBC strengthen its contribution to global citizenship?
For information contact Lisa Hallgren at lmhallgren@telus.net.
To RSVP, contact Danyta Welch at danytaw@interchange.ubc.ca.
Liu Institute for Global Issues hosts Landmine
Foundation event
The Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, director and CEO of UBC’s
Liu Institute for Global Issues, will host a reception for the Canadian
Landmine Foundation on December 3 at The Rooftop in Hotel Vancouver.
The event will include special presentations from the Youth Mine
Action Ambassador Program and the Canadian Landmine Detection Dogs
Society. Tickets are $100 for adults, $50 for seniors and students.
The Canadian Landmine Foundation, a private sector foundation,
continues to exemplify Canada’s commitment to a global ban on landmines.
Officially introduced by The Hon. Lloyd Axworthy on June 28, 1999,
the Foundation was formed as a registered charity with a mission
to raise awareness & funds to end the human and economic suffering
caused by anti-personnel landmines.
For information, e-mail: georgia.dahle@ubc.ca.
