UBC This Week | Jun. 5, 2008

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UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

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Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

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UBC professors awarded CIHR Chairs

Two UBC professors are among 14 scholars recently awarded five-year Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chairs in Public Health.

Assoc. Prof. Jean Shoveller, School of Population and Public Health, will explore new strategies for preventing sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancy in Canadian youth.

Assoc. Prof. Elizabeth Saewyc, School of Nursing, will focus on population-level monitoring and interventions for healthy youth.

The Chairs are funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Population and Public Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada, in partnership with the Centre de recherche en prévention de l’obésité, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) and the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services).

For more information, visit www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/36346.html.

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UBC Faculty of Medicine professors receive YWCA Women of Distinction awards

Clin. Prof. Susan Harris and Clin. Assoc. Prof. Susan Burgess, both of the Department of Family Practice, have been recognized with 2008 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.

Harris received the award in the Health and Active Living category for her dedication to collaborative patient-centered maternity care. Burgess was the recipient in the Community Building category in recognition of her community outreach work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards honour inspiring women from across the Lower Mainland. For more information, visit www.ywcavan.org/content/Women_of_Distinction_Awards_/201/30/114 or www.med.ubc.ca/news/Awards_and_Honours.htm.

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Neuropathic pain research award goes to UBC professor

Assist. Prof. Stephan Schwarz, Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, has received the Pfizer Canada Neuropathic Pain Research Award for his research examining intravenous lidocaine as a tool to identify novel drug targets for post-operative and neuropathic pain control.

Neuropathic pain is a disease caused by injury or dysfunction of the nerves, spinal cord or brain, which plagues an estimated 2.2 million Canadians. The Pfizer Canada Neuropathic Pain Research Awards is a grant competition to support independent neuropathic pain research in basic biomedical, clinical and health service and systems sciences.

For more information, visit www.pfizer.ca/english/newsroom/press%20releases/default.asp?s=1&releaseID=265.

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UBC professor named to Order of British Columbia

Clin. Assoc. Prof. Charles Ludgate, Radiation Oncology and Developmental Radiotherapeutics, has been named a recipient of The Order of British Columbia for 2008 in recognition of his work and commitment to improving the quality of life of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

For more information, visit www.protocol.gov.bc.ca/protocol/news/newsndx.htm.

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UBC physicist elected to Royal Society of London

Prof. George Sawatsky, Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Sawatsky and his collaborators’ work has made a significant contribution to the current understanding of many widely used methods such as x-ray absorption, magnetic x-ray dichroism, Auger spectroscopy and various forms of resonant x-ray scattering.

The Royal Society is the national academy of science in the UK and the Commonwealth. For more information visit www.science.ubc.ca/news/132 or http://royalsociety.org/publication.asp?id=7716.

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UBC community members receive Mayor’s Arts Awards

Three UBC community members are among the 13 honourees to receive a 2008 Mayor’s Arts Award later this month.

  • Liz Magor, a UBC alumna, has received an award in the Visual Arts category for her work in and teaching of sculpture, photography and installation.
  • Bill Millerd, Artistic Managing Director of Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre Company and a UBC alumni, has received an award in the Theatre category for his work and leadership in Canadian theatre.
  • Yulanda Faris, Chair of Vancouver Opera Foundation, Founder of the Judith Forst Fund for Young Artist Training and member of the Advisory Board for the Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Arts, received an award in the Philanthropy category for her support of the Arts.

For more information, visit http://mayorsartsaward.ca.

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Final days for Town Hall 2008 registration

UBC e-Strategy Town Hall 2008 will take place next week along the theme Here and Virtually There: UBC and the Digital Generation. Town Hall is a day of seminars and workshops open to the UBC community to discuss how technology enhances teaching, learning, research and community at UBC.

Date: June 11
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Place: Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall at Agronomy Road
Info and registration: http://update.estrategy.ubc.ca/2008/05/05/ubc-town-hall-registration

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Aboriginal film on classroom racism premieres to international educators

A 20-minute film, created by two recent UBC Aboriginal graduates for teaching Aboriginal issues in the classroom, is being premiered to international educators as part of the UBC-hosted Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

In What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom, students speak candidly about classroom discussions of Aboriginal issues that have left them feeling angry and alienated.

The aim of the documentary, according to filmmakers Karrmen Crey and Amy Perrault, is to raise awareness of these situations and provide educators with tools to foster more productive and professional classroom discussions. Crey and Perrault, who developed teaching materials to accompany the film, will attend the screening at UBC.

Date: June 7
Time: Noon
Place: Buchanan A204, 1866 Main Mall
View film and materials: www.whatilearnedinclasstoday.com
Info: www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2008/08may01/film.html

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Manga versions of the Tale of Genji

UBC’s Department of Asian Studies presents a lecture by Prof. Lynne Miyake, Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, Pomona College, California. She will speak on The Six Faces of Genji: Manga Versions of The Tale of Genji.

The 11th century Tale of Genji has spawned over 20 manga versions from instructional tomes for children to shojo girls, ladies comics, and gag introductory manga. Miyake will introduces several of these manga and explore their richness, vision and contemporary take on a beloved tale.

Date: June 10
Time: 2:30 – 4 p.m.
Place: Asian Centre Auditorium, 1871 West Mall
Info: www.asia.ubc.ca/index.php?id=5257

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Learning at the Botanical Garden

UBC’s Botanical Garden will host a lecture on Plant Propagation from Cuttings by Kevin Kubeck, a UBC Botany horticulturalist and propagation specialist.

Date: June 9
Time: Noon – 1 p.m.
Place: Botanical Garden Reception Centre, 6804 South West Marine Drive
Cost: $5
Info: www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/education/courses/propagation_2008.php
Note: Bring a bag lunch. Coffee supplied.

The Garden will also host a course on Espalier, a pruning technique of training fruit trees into shapes. Tony Maniezzo, UBC Botanical Garden Horticulturalist, will discuss the cultural requirements, how to get started and how the trees are trained and pruned.

Date: June 13
Time: Noon – 3 p.m.
Place: Botanical Garden Reception Centre, 6804 South West Marine Drive
Cost: (General) $40 or (Garden Members) $33
Info: www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/education/courses/espalier_fruit_trees_2008.php
Note: Advance registration required at 604-822-3928 or botg@interchange.ubc.ca Participants will need to
bring secateurs and a pair of gardening gloves, and dress for the weather.

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Marketing science conference hosted by Sauder

UBC’s Sauder School of Business will host the 2008 INFORMS Marketing Science Conference. Academics, practitioners and policymakers from around the world will present and discuss new research in a broad range of marketing science topics.

Date: June 12 – 14
Place: Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
Info: www.marketscience2008.sauder.ubc.ca

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Studies on hearing loss looking for participants

UBC’s School of Audiology and Speech Sciences is recruiting for participants for two studies on hearing loss.

The Adult Hearing Loss Study is looking for people between 19 – 69 years who have bilateral hearing loss. The study requires participants to sleep or quietly relax for a few hours while their brain waves are recorded. This is to help develop a new technique of hearing test, where brainwaves register hearing sensitivity. Participants will receive a $20 honorarium.

The second study looks at the auditory system of infants. One baby in every 1,000 is born with permanent hearing impairment. As the baby generally looks healthy, the hearing loss will not be suspected. Hearing screening can be done as early as the first 48 hours of life using a painless, safe, fast and ear-specific test while the baby sleeps, making early intervention possible.

The study involves recording the brainwaves of babies from 0 – 4 months old while the baby sleeps, along with a hearing screening. A copy will be given to the parents of those who participate in the study, along with a $20 honorarium.

Both studies are conducted by Prof. David. Stapells and audiologist and Post-doctoral Fellow Ieda Ishida of the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. For more information, contact the Ishida at the HAPLAB at 604-822-7424 or haplab@audiospeech.ubc.ca.

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International conference on light therapy and circadian rhythms

The 20th Annual Meeting of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (SLTBR) will be held at the UBC Robson Square Conference Centre on June 26-28, 2008.

This international meeting will feature information and symposia on circadian rhythms and psychiatric disorders, including symposia on chronobiological aspects of attention deficit disorder and light therapy. A public education event as part of the conference will give an update on SAD and other topics from the 2008 SLTBR meeting.

For more information, visit www.sltbr.org.

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University administrators to gather at UBC

UBC is the official sponsor of the International Meeting of University Administrators (IMUA) 2008 conference in Vancouver this summer. The IMUA is a forum for the discussion of management and administration issues in higher education. This year’s theme is globalization.

Speakers include Prof. Bryan Gould, an international authority on higher education; Prof. Carl Wieman, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at UBC; Prof. David Dolphin, Professor Emeritus in Chemistry at UBC and lead creator of Visudyne™.; Dr. Ron Dembo, founder of Zerofootprint; Prof. Rachel Gumbi, Rector and Vice Chancellor of the University of Zululand; and Dr. Dan Muzyka, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at UBC.

Date: Aug. 17-21
Time: 8:30 – 3:45
Place: Fairmont Hotel, 900 W. Georgia St.
Info: www.imua2008.ca