UBC This Week

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Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/calendar.aspx.

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B.C. signs agreement with Japanese company to beat cancer

The BC Cancer Agency and the Vancouver Prostate Centre announced a formal agreement with Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited for new drug treatments to fight breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. The agreement is expected to bring almost $1 million in new cancer research funding to British Columbia.

Samuel Aparicio, professor at the Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory at UBC Faculty of Medicine, is the lead investigator for the collaboration. He is the head of the Dept. of Molecular Oncology at the BC Cancer Agency and is also the Nan and Lorraine Robertson chair.

The Vancouver Prostate Centre will also focus on looking at key mutations in prostate cancer that have become resistant to conventional therapies under the leadership of Martin Gleave, distinguished professor at the Dept. of Urologic Sciences at UBC, director of the Vancouver Prostate Centre, and the Liber Ero BC leadership chair in prostate cancer research.

The BC Cancer Agency and the Vancouver Prostate Centre, a Centre of Excellence at UBC and VGH, are respectively programs of the Provincial Health Services Authority and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

For more information, visit http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/ABCCA/NewsCentre/2010-News-Releases/BCsignsagreementwithjapanesecompanytobeatcancer.htm

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CRNBC award UBC faculty 2010 Nursing Excellence Awards

Faculty members of UBC’s School of Nursing were recipients of the 2010 Nursing Excellence Awards given by the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia.

Lecturer Marlene Groening was recognized in the category of Excellence in Nursing Education for her use of innovative teaching techniques to engage students.

Assoc. Prof. John Oliffe was recognized in the category of Excellence in Nursing Research for his pioneering work in men’s health research. 

Assoc. Dean Carole Robinson from the Okanagan campus was recognized in the Award of Distinction category for her contributions to cancer patients and their families in her role as Regional Professional Practice/Academic Leader and as Regional Nurse Coordinator with Pain and System Management and Palliative Care at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA). 

For more information, visit https://www.crnbc.ca/crnbc/Awards/excellence/recipients/201/Pages/Default.aspx

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UBC graduate student wins Equity Through Education Student Award

UBC graduate student Barbara Schober (Doctor of Philosophy/History) is one of 12 winners of the 2010 National Education Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) Equity Through Education Student Awards Program. She will receive $3,000 for tuition and student fees.
 
BMO Capital Markets supports NEADS through Equity Through Education, a charitable initiative launched by BMO Capital Markets to help people realize their educational ambitions by giving them the means to pursue those goals.
 
For more information, visit http://www.neads.ca/

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UBC engineering team wins ALSBC Innovation Award

A team from UBC Engineering—students Graeham Douglas, Enrico Guld, Stephen Herbrik, Mark Hewett, Colin Keightley, Fraser McDonald and Zach Ross, supervised by mechanical engineering professors Mike Van der Loos and Antony Hodgson and electrical and computer engineering professor Philippe Kruchten—has won the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) B.C. 2010 Innovation Award for their Neck Brace and Eye Gaze project and a $1,000 prize.

Their project, a powered head-support system for people with late-stage ALS, allows for comfortable support of the head and a return of head motion function to people who experience extreme weakness of the neck muscles. There is currently no effective device on the market that provides this for people living with ALS.

This year’s innovation featured the use of an eye-gaze tracker to control the motions of the system.  The student team was supported by Mirametrix Research, Inc., a start-up from UBC, through the loan of the eye-gaze tracking equipment.

For more information, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2010/may13.html

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Computer science prof receives two awards

Prof. Gail Murphy from the Dept. of Computer Science, is the recipient of two awards.

She was one of 12 to receive a 2010 Microsoft Software Engineering Innovation Foundation Award for her research grant proposal Automatically Finding Help for Framework Usage.

For more information, visit http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/focus/cs/seif.aspx

Murphy also received an ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award together with graduate students Thomas Fritz, Jingwen Ou and post-doctoral student Emerson Murphy-Hill.

For more information, visit http://www.sigsoft.org/awards/disPapAwd.htm

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New Associate Dean, Postdoctoral Fellows appointed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies

The Office of the Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies announces the appointment of Prof. Anthony P. Farrell, Chair in Sustainable Aquaculture (Dept. of Zoology and Faculty of Land and Food Systems), to the position of Associate Dean, Postdoctoral Fellows.

This associate deanship is a new position within the Faculty and will provide strategic leadership and oversight of the Postdoctoral Fellowship Office. Operating within the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Postdoctoral Fellowship Office will work to enhance the development and experience of Postdoctoral Fellows at UBC.

Farrell begins his appointment May 1, 2010.

For more information, visit http://www.grad.ubc.ca/about-us/news/new-associate-dean-postdoctoral-fellows-appointed-faculty-graduate-studies.

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Learning Centre gives update on current initiatives

Two years ago, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre celebrated its grand opening.  The Centre will hold an event to highlight its achievements of the past two years and give an update on current initiatives.

President and Vice-Chancellor Stephen Toope will give the welcoming remarks.  University Librarian Ingrid Parent and Director of the Learning Centre Sandra Singh will also speak.

Date:    May 25
Time:    5 – 7 p.m.
Place:   Golden Jubilee Room, top level of the Learning Centre
Info:    RSVP to library.development@ubc.ca

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UBC Library contributes to BC Books Online project

UBC Library is a participant of BC Books Online, a project that features a digital collection of non-fiction books about the province of B.C.  The collection includes books on history, natural history, Aboriginal culture, arts and culture, political commentary, the environment and other contemporary issues.

In 2007, a consortium of library organizations and publishers initiated the project, which supports equitable access to all British Columbians using Internet technologies and collaboration between libraries and the public sector.

BC Books Online marks the first-ever collaboration between publishers and libraries with the goal of delivering digital content throughout the province.

For more information on the project, visit http://www.bcbooksonline.ca/.

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TAG Institute gives week-long seminar

The Centre For Teaching and Academic Growth (TAG) will give a week-long series of seminars that feature a variety of topics on teaching, learning, professional and academic growth and technology.

The 15 available seminars are free of charge for all faculty members, students and staff of the UBC community.

For a complete list of events, visit http://events.tag.ubc.ca/series/view/137

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Alumni Weekend 2010, May 28-30

UBC welcomes alumni and friends back to campus for lectures, tours, athletic events, wine tastings and more.

For more information, visit http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/events/alumniweekend/index.php

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Institute for Strategic Funding Development offers grant writing workshop

The Institute for Strategic Funding Development is offering a Strategic Grant Development Proposal Workshop at UBC on June 7-9.  Participants will receive the basics of grant writing, learn how to strategically identify appropriate funding agencies, learn database applications, online research tools, and traditional publications about multiple grant opportunities, and how to initiate contact and cultivate effective relationships with potential grant makers.  Registration is on a first-come-first serve basis.

For information on tuition and registration, visit http://www.isfdonline.com/strategic.html or call 877.414.899.

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UBC Computer Science launches Summer Tech Trek

UBC Dept. of Computer Science is launching Summer Tech Trek, a new summer camp exclusively for students entering grade 8, 9 and 10 in September 2010. 

The week-long camps will be offered the weeks of July 12, 19, and 26.  Students can choose between a  five-day general computer science camp (for Grade 8 and 9) or a four-day advanced VEX robotics camp (for Grade 9 and 10).  Grade 9 students are eligible to attend both camps.  

For more information visit http://www.cs.ubc.ca/techtrek/SummerTechTrek2010.shtml

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