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UBC nursing director named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women

Dr. Sally Thorne, Director of UBC’s School of Nursing, has been named one of Canada’s most powerful women. The award, presented by the Women’s Executive Network at the Awards Summit and Gala today in Toronto, recognizes both the significance of Thorne’s leadership position as well as the vital role of nursing in Canada.

Thorne received her BSN and MSN degrees at UBC, in ‘79 and ’83, and completed her PhD at the Union Institute of Advanced Studies in Ohio. An established leader and scholar, she has been academic head of the UBC School of Nursing since 2002, during which time the School has expanded its research funding by over 300 per cent, launched a primary care Nurse Practitioner initiative, and made impressive innovations in undergraduate education.

For more information, visit http://www.wxnetwork.com/files/top100_2009winners.pdf.

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ISI Director receives award for contribution to international education

The Director of the International Student Initiative, Karen McKellin, has been honoured by the Council of International Schools (CIS) with the 2009 T. Michael Maybury Award.  The award recognizes a high level of service and leadership in promoting international post-secondary education. 

The award citation describes McKellin as a pioneer of international education in Canada who has built a broad network of support for international students on the UBC campus and within the university sector in Canada.  As a founding member of the CIS Canadian Higher Education Committee, McKellin has seen the Canadian university presence in CIS grow from three to more than 40. 

Headquartered in the UK, CIS is a not-for-profit organization of over 650 member schools and 450 colleges and universities, including institutions in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. 

McKellin received the award at the CIS Forum on International Admission and Guidance last month in Munich.  She is the first Canadian recipient of the award.

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UBC faculty shine at the Rogers Writers’ Trust Awards

UBC faculty members from the Creative Writing Program were recognized at the 2009 Writers’ Trust Awards.
 
Annabel Lyon’s debut novel The Golden Mean was awarded the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Award for Fiction, while Brian Brett won the $25,000 Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize for Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life. Both are adjunct professors in the Optional-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at UBC. The $10,000 Journey Prize was also given out at the awards, with $2,000 going to the publisher of the winning short story, local magazine Vancouver Review. The magazine’s fiction editor, who selected and nominated the winning story, is Zsuzsi Gartner, who also teaches as an adjunct in the Optional-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing.
 
“I’m delighted that UBC Creative Writing faculty dominated the Writers’ Trust Awards,” said Keith Maillard, Chair of the UBC Creative Writing Program. “But not surprised. We only hire the best.”
 
The Writers’ Trust of Canada is a charitable organization that supports Canadian writers and writing through various programs, including literary awards, financial grants, workshops, scholarships, and a writer’s retreat.
 
For more information on, visit http://www.writerstrust.com/events_writers_trust_awards.html.

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UBC researchers identify variants that predict deafness from chemotherapy

Research led by three members from the UBC Faculty of Medicine has identified variations in two genes that predict with high specificity which children will likely become deaf as an adverse effect of cisplatin, a lifesaving anti-cancer drug that’s used to treat over one-million patients worldwide each year. It’s frequently used in children to treat different types of cancer including brain, bone and liver cancers. Cisplatin is also used in adults for ovarian, lung, bladder, head and neck cancers.  The study is published online in the journal Nature Genetics.

Dr. Michael Hayden, the study’s principal investigator, is director of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) at the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) in Vancouver. He is University Killam professor in the department of Medical Genetics at UBC and a Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine.

Dr. Bruce Carleton, the co-principal investigator, is a CFRI senior clinician scientist, UBC professor of Pediatrics, and director of the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Programme (POPi) at BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, agencies of PHSA.

Dr. Colin Ross, the study’s first author, is a research associate at the CMMT and in the UBC department of Medical Genetics.

For more information, visit http://www.cfri.ca/news/media/default.asp

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Superstars documentary premiere and panel

The documentary short film Superstars will premier tonight on campus followed by a panel discussion.  The film features three women (Bernice, Susan and Yvonne) enrolled in the fitness outreach program for older adults run by the UBC School of Human Kinetics, and shares stories about their lives and their perceptions of growing old.
Superstars is supported in part by the UBC Winter Games Education initiative and is part of the UBC Winter Games Event Series.

Date: Dec. 3
Time: 6 p.m.
Place: Lillooet Room, Iriving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall
Info: RSVP to Christine Moore at christine.mckay@ubc.ca or 604-822-2767
http://www.webcommunications.ubc.ca/ubc2010/whats-on/ubc-winter-games-seminar-series/superstars-documentary-premier-and-panel-discussion/

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