UBC This Week

Three UBC health researchers are part of five new national research projects designed to help further and address the H1N1 flu virus that were announced Oct. 14 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Funding for the projects – a total of $2.4 million over 2 years – is being provided through CIHR’s Catalyst Grant program, which provides short-term funding for targeted health research. The projects were selected through a peer review process following a call for applications issued in July 2009.

• Prof. John Schrader is leading a team of Canadian researchers to look into the rapid development of new drug therapies to treat patients with severe H1N1 infections.
• Prof. Bob Hancock is a principal investigator of a project seeking to determine why some patients with H1N1 go on to develop Serious Respiratory Illness.
• Prof. Deborah Money is a part of a team studying the impact of H1N1 on pregnant women.

For more information and the project descriptions, visit http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/40508.html

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Dr. Gavin Stuart has been appointed to the new role of Vice Provost Health and Ted Dodds to the new position of Vice Provost Information Technology.

Stuart was recently re-appointed to a second term as dean of the Faculty of Medicine. His leadership has been instrumental in enabling the successful implementation of the distributed medical education system. As Vice Provost Health, Stuart will represent UBC in interactions with other universities and with health authorities across the province.

Dr. Ross MacGillivray will support Stuart’s decanal duties as the new Vice Dean of Medicine. For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/media/med_mag/Gavin_Stuart_appointment.htm

As Vice Provost Information Technology, Dodds, formerly Chief Information Officer Information Technology, will identify and develop opportunities to apply innovations in information technology to enhance core academic functions in research, teaching and student engagement at UBC. Dodds will be supported by Oliver Grüter-Andrew, the new Chief Information Officer. For more information, visit http://www.e-strategy.ubc.ca.

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Liisa Holsti, assistant professor at the UBC Dept. of Occupational Science and Occupational, and clinician scientist with the Child and Family Research Institute (CFRI), has assumed a new role as the UBC Centre Leader for the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP).

CCHCSP is a national network of 17 child and youth research centres dedicated to training clinician scientists.

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

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The UBC TREAD robot team will compete in the NASA Regolith Excavator Centennial Challenge at Ames Research Air Force Base in Mountain View, California on Oct. 17. The robot will be shoveling moon dust in the international robotics competition, vying for a $500,000 prize and the opportunity to contribute to NASA’s future space exploration projects.

The UBC team has created a robotic machine that can excavate simulated lunar soil (regolith). Excavating regolith will be an important part of any construction project or processing of natural resources on the Moon.

For more info, visit: www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/oct9.html

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Breast Cancer Research Alliance and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to examine psychosocial aspects of breast cancer.

Asst. Prof. Chris Richardson, Faculty of School of Population and Public Health, and Joan Bottorff, Director of the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention at UBC Okanagan, will receive $307,035 to design and evaluate public health messages aimed at promoting smoke-free lifestyles to adolescent girls and boys.

Asst. Prof. Lynda Balneaves, School of Nursing, will receive $560,974 to develop and test a computer-based tool to help breast cancer survivors understand the risks and benefits of using natural health products to alleviate menopausal symptoms.

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

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Dr. Julian Marsden, clinical professor and acting co-head of the UBC Dept. of Emergency Medicine, has received the 2009 Leadership in Quality and Safety Award from the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council.
Marsden was integral in launching the provincial Evidence to Excellence project, or “E2E,” which aims to accelerate improvements in clinical and operational practices in emergency departments in British Columbia.

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

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Shaun Lee, third-year engineering physics (Electrical Option) student, was awarded the Live EDGE Scholarship valued at $2,500 by element14. Lee was the sole Canadian recipient among 12 award winners.

element14 is an online technology resource and community for electronic design engineers. It is a technical portal and social network where engineers are able to conduct research, ask questions and share information with other community members.

To view Lee’s winning entry, visit: http://www.element-14.com/community/thread/1690.

For more information, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/oct13.html

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Green College has launched their new website which highlights their calendar of free interdisciplinary lectures and featured guest speakers, weekday dinners at the College, and booking venue spaces and guest accommodations at the College.

To view their new site, visit www.greencollege.ubc.ca.

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UBC is one of more than 120 institutions worldwide that will participate in the First International Open Access Week. UBC members will give workshops and panel discussions on their involvement in the Open Access movement.

Open Access maintains that all research should be freely accessible online immediately after publication.

Date: Oct. 20-22
Place: Dodson Room on level three of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Info: Schedule and registration: www.library.ubc.ca/schol_comm/oa/start.html
Joy Kirchner at joy.kirchner@ubc.ca

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At the 19th annual UBC Apple Festival, more than 50 varieties of apples (many of them heritage) will be available to taste and purchase. Attractions will include a cider press display, mason bee display and an apple identification table (bring 6 apples from each tree to identify variety).

The event will also include a childrens’ area — a “Johnny Appleseed” orchard with activity stations, craft vendors, food vendors selling candied apples, pickles, sauces, chutneys and apple chips, and Friends of the Garden apple pies and hot apple cider. UBC Farm will also be selling UBC-grown produce.
Tours of the UBC Farm Heritage Orchard will be given on Saturday every hour from noon until 3 p.m. (no shuttle service to the farm).

Date: Oct. 17-18
Time: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Place: UBC Botanical Garden, 6804 SW Marine Drive
Info: Admission: $2, Free for children under 12, 604-822-3928
www.landfood.ubc.ca/ubcfarm/.

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Sander Gilman, Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emory University, will visit the UBC campus October 20-24 as Green College’s Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor. A literary and cultural historian, Gilman is the author or editor of over 80 books. His Fat: A Cultural History of Obesity appeared in 2008; his most recent edited volume, Race and Contemporary Medicine: Biological Facts and Fictions, was published in the same year.

Gilman will be delivering a series of free public lectures at a variety of venues across UBC during his visit.

For the full program, and to learn more about Sander Gilman and the CIGVP program, visit http://www.greencollege.ubc.ca/the_college_community/cecil_h_and_ida_green_visiting_professors/featured.php

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UBC Engineers Without Borders will be serving choco-banana pancakes at their Fair Trade Breakfast next week.

Date: Oct. 21
Time: 8 – 11 a.m.
Place: Kaiser Atrium, 2332 Main Mall
Info: $2.50 suggested donation. Discount given for bringing your own plates.

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