UBC This Week

UBC Film Production alumnus Julian Clarke (BFA 2000) has been nominated for an Academy Award in Film Editing for his contribution to Neill Blomkamp’s feature film, District 9.  The film is also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Film category. Clarke has also been nominated for both an American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award as well as an Orange British Academy Film Award.

Read more about Clarke’s experience on District 9 at http://www.film.ubc.ca/film_production/events.shtml#clarke2

to top

Michael Law and Steve Morgan at UBC’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and the School of Population and Public Health are set to investigate a new BC program that gives pharmacists the authority to independently modify and renew some prescriptions. Led by Law and including researchers from UBC and the University of Alberta, the project will receive $310,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) over the next three years.

The policy change, introduced in Jan. 2009, is intended to improve patient access to drugs and reduce the burden on primary care physicians in BC. However, some physicians and others have raised concerns over potential inappropriate medication modifications and reduced continuity of care.

While several provinces have implemented or proposed similar policies, there have been few assessments of their impact. Using health research datasets in B.C., this project will study the effects of the policy change on drug utilization and costs, patient adherence to medication, the number of visits to physicians, and hospitalization. Results from the study will inform the design and refinement of future policies.

For more information, visit http://www.spph.ubc.ca/?p2=modules/blog/viewcomments.jsp&bid=50

to top

Prof. Linda Siegel, Educational and Counseling Psychology, Faculty of Education, is the recipient of the CPA Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Canadian Psychology.  She is recognized for her research in reading, learning disabilities (e.g. assessment and intelligence tests), bilingualism, English as a second language, and language learning of French, Spanish, Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, and other languages.

Siegel holds the Dorothy C. Lam Chair in the Dept. of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at  UBC.   She has been the associate editor of Child Development and the International Journal of Behavioral Development. Currently she is directing an English immersion program in Xian China as well as conducting research on English language teaching in Hong Kong.

to top

At the 25th annual Western Engineering Competition, UBC received the 25th Anniversary Excellence Award and engineering student teams placed within the top-three of five categories. The annual event was held Jan. 20-24 at the University of Manitoba and connected approximately 250 engineering students from Western Canada to develop problem solving, teamwork and communication skills through peer competition.

For more information, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2010/feb2.html

to top

UBC Mining Engineering Prof. Emeritus Janusz Laskowski has received the Medalla Rectoral and has been recognized as a Distinguished University Visitor by Chile’s Universidad de Concepción. The medal and accompanying title honours an individual that has elevated the university’s prestige within the national and international community through contributions, collaborations and commitment.

For more information, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2010/jan29.html

to top

Four teams from UBC will be advancing to Enterprize Canada’s national business plan competition on Feb.  5-7 in Vancouver.

The four qualifying teams from UBC are:
1st Place: Aeos
Formed from a collaboration of students in APSC 486/New Venture Design, Aeos’s main product is a gridded biomedical tape. The team includes engineering students Patti Backlund and Colin O’Neill and commerce students Nick Seto, Wylie Spencer and Emi Yamada.

2nd Place: Dragonfly Instruments 
Engineering students Lin Watt and Tagg Jefferson founded Dragonfly Instruments. Its initial product is a portable laboratory-grade field device that measures water quality.

3rd Place: MNB Devices
Founded by engineering student Graeham Douglas and political science student Andrei Pop, MNB Devices produces the Cerv360, a powered head support system for people with late-stage ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). The Cerv360 allows for comfortable resting of the head and a return of neck function to people who experience extreme weakness and fatigue of the neck muscles. There is currently no effective device that provides this for people living with ALS.

4th Place: Aegis
Developed through a partnership formed in APSC 486/New Venture Design, Aegis’s main product is software that connects students, teachers and parents through an online portal containing grades, assignments and other relevant information. Founders include engineering students Winnie Lai, Edwin Jaury and Christopher Chan and commerce students Scott Schaffter and Peter Stein.

For more info, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2010/feb3.html

to top

UBC alumnus Yvette Lu (MD 2007) will read her one-woman play, Stories from the Closet: a play about living with chronic illness.  The play is a culmination of a process that began in 2007 when Lu – then a second-year medical resident with the UBC Department of Family Practice – chose to study the qualitative impact of chronic illness on the lives of patients for her mandatory residency research project. After reviewing scientific literature and interviewing both patients and doctors, she transformed her findings into a play that presented and bridged the perspectives of patients, their loved ones and health care providers.

“Stories from the Closet takes an educational and emotional look at what life is like for those who live with illness every day,” says Lu. “[Doctors can] fail to grasp how much the disease is affecting [patients’] lives. Understanding what [patients] face on a daily basis would allow [doctors] to provide improved care and support.”

A milestone in the emerging field of research-based theatre, Stories from the Closet creates audience engagement and stimulates dialogue about the topic of chronic illness long after the house lights come up.

Date: Feb. 8
Time: 8 p.m.
Place: Vancouver Playhouse Production Centre
Info: RSVP 604-629-2107 or rsvp@vancouverplayhouse.com
http://www.yvettelu.com/projects.html

to top

The UBC Bookstore will be hosting several “Cheer On Canada” events.  The Point Grey and Robson Square locations will be open at extended hours in February. For more information, visit http://www.bookstore.ubc.ca/storeinfo/extend_hourFeb2010_content.html.

Event: Olympic Torch Relay Comes to UBC
Date: Feb. 11
Time: 4 – 8 p.m. (torch arrives between 6 – 7 p.m.)
Place: Across from UBC Bookstore at Old Bus Loop, University Blvd. and East Mall
Info: Main stage and live entertainment, activities and booths, torch building contests
Food and concessions, free hot chocolate

Event: Pancakes on the Plaza
Date: Feb. 12
Time: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Info: Free pancakes to celebrate the opening day of the Olympics

Event: Cheer On Canada Circle
Date: Feb. 15 – 26
Time: each day from 12 – 1:30 p.m. free Canadian treat offered
Info: Follow the athletes on TV in a special Cheer on Canada Circle.

to top

Nominations are now being accepted from UBC Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni for the 2009/10 UBC Vancouver Student Development Awards. The Office of the Vice President Students recognizes exceptional contributions or significant improvements to the student experience and learning environment at UBC.  They actively support the University’s Place and Promise strategic commitments, in particular those that are the focused on improving the student experience across all priorities. 

For information on award categories, past recipients and criteria and process for the nominations, visit http://www.vpstudents.ubc.ca/student.cfm.

to top