UBC In The News

Scientists uncover how soil closes deadly wounds

UBC researchers have shown for the first time that soil silicates promote blood clotting, rapidly closing potentially deadly wounds. The study authors Christian Kastrup, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and PhD student Lih Jiin Juang were quoted.
ZME ScienceNew Atlas

Honey bees reveal how heat stress affects fertility among insects

A new UBC study has investigated the link between heat stress and fertility loss in honey bees. The lead author Alison McAfee, a biochemist at the Michael Smith Labs at UBC, was quoted.
Earth.com

DNA blood test spots cancers in seemingly cancer-free women, but also produces false alarms

David Huntsman, an ovarian cancer researcher at UBC’s faculty of medicine, gave comments about DETECT-A study, which involves multi-cancer blood-based screening to deliver results to physicians to manage patient care. He stressed more data attesting to an overall survival benefit from testing are needed before the blood test should be approved for widespread use.
Science Magazine

Here's how an octopus helped a B.C. couple find their lost engagement ring

Chris Harley, a professor of zoology at UBC, commented on octopus helping a woman retrieve an engagement ring that she lost while swimming. He said octopuses collect a variety of things to put in front of their dens, and it is possible that that the octopus found the lost ring and decided to use it as home decor, so to speak.
CTV

Sports media battles to keep fans' attention during COVID-19 shutdown

UBC Sauder lecturer Aziz Rajwani spoke about the decline in the number of people listening to sports on the radio.
Vancouver SunThe ProvinceMSN

The U.S. reopening is coming, but 'normal' is still a ways off

UBC psychiatry professor Steven Taylor predicts confidence will return when people see others hugging, shaking hands and crowding into elevators, and believes most people will bounce back quickly.
New York Times (subscription), Seattle TimesSF GateSan Francisco Chronicle (subscription), Boston Globe (subscription), Yahoo (US)ABCNBCFox 5Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPittsburgh Post-GazetteBusiness StandardYahoo (UK)Times of IndiaOutlook IndiaManila TimesCityNews

Domestic violence organizations prepare for possible surge due to COVID-19 isolation

Wendy Carr, a professor of teaching at UBC’s faculty of education, has created an online support tool to help educators to identify and report suspected child abuse. She explained due to COVID-19, children don’t have direct face-to-face access with their schools, and teachers are very well-situated to notice differences in their children whether they’re in front of you or over a phone line or an internet connection.
CBCYahoo

How coronavirus affects women’s health care: ‘You can’t do a Pap smear over the internet’

Deborah Money, a UBC professor in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology and executive vice-dean of the faculty of medicine, says many types of appointments in women’s health care need to continue to be in person, and if those visits are deferred for too long due to the coronavirus, that could lead to long-term consequences.
Global

Ex-Harper government legal adviser warns on 'two simultaneous public health emergencies'

BNN Bloomberg interviewed Benjamin Perrin, a UBC professor at Peter A. Allard School of Law, about a spike in overdose-related deaths since COVID-19 and his new book on overdose crisis in Canada.
BNN Bloomberg

In our new COVID-19 world, what will the new normal be?

Patrick Condon, a professor at UBC’s school of architecture and landscape architecture, discussed how COVID-19 has shifted how we interact with the space around us in our cities and the risks many front-line workers face due to inequalities and unaffordable housing market.
Huffington Post (Canada)YahooThe Star (subscription)

COVID-19: As Canada seeks to ramp up virus testing, B.C. argues it's getting tests to everybody who needs one

UBC mathematics professor Daniel Coombs says understanding the prevalence of the virus among children would be helpful in decisions about reopening schools, and serology testing could provide useful information, although the immediacy of the virus test has a really important part to play.
Postmedia via Vancouver SunThe Province

Top doc pops notions of 'bubble' model

Richard Lester, a physician and a professor in global health at UBC, commented on the “bubble” approach which allows household units to establish an exclusive social circle with one other household unit. He said it could work for some, but we have to do anything we do carefully because we still don’t have absolute evidence behind the best strategies of reopening.
Winnipeg Free Press

Designing the future of PPE

The Tyee interviewed Peyman Servati, a UBC engineering professor and a founder of Texavie, a startup company that focuses on smart textile devices for interactive and virtual reality, about designing personal protective equipment with a better, more comfortable fit.
The Tyee