Connect with the Health Research Community at WE-SPARK After Dark WE-SPARK Health Institute will host its next WE-SPARK After Dark networking event on Thursday, September 3.Held monthly, WE-SPARK After Dark provides a casual and welcoming opportunity for members of the local health research community to connect, exchange ideas and build new relationships. Attendees are encouraged to bring a friend or invite someone they have been hoping to connect with. Everyone is welcome.Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026Time: Starting at 5 p.m.Location: The Bourbon Tap & Grill, 1199 Ottawa Street, WindsorRegistration is encouraged but not required.Register today.
UWindsor researcher studies breast cancers that occur after childbirth — and heads to national competition to spread the word Isabelle Hinch beat 16 other graduate students to win the 2026 University of Windsor 3MT® competition.(DAVE GAUTHIER/University of Windsor) Isabelle Hinch’s ability to explain her research on how childbirth affects breast cancer risk in three minutes has earned her a spot in a national pitch competition. Her talk, Breastfeeding helps reduce the risk of breast cancer…but, explores the complicated truths surrounding breast cancer risk after childbirth. “We've all heard, and it is true, that breastfeeding does help reduce the risk of cancer, but that protection happens later in life,” says Hinch. “We know now that there is a window of up to 10 years after giving birth where women are sensitive to developing a unique type of breast cancer called ‘Postpartum Breast Cancer.’” This November, the University of Windsor PhD candidate will travel to Regina, Sask., to compete in the National Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition at the 64th Annual Canadian Association…
Smart materials could help future medical devices speak the body’s language Dr. Simon Rondeau-Gagné will receive $400,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) as part of a larger $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant through the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program. (PETER MARVAL/University of Windsor) Simon Rondeau-Gagné is developing a new generation of smart, flexible polymer materials that could transform how technology interacts with the human body. In the not-so-distant future, those materials could contribute to medical breakthroughs ranging from wearable biosensors that detect disease earlier to implantable devices that help restore vision. “Our body does use electrical signals, but they are carried by ions moving from place to place, not by electrons the way they are in a computer chip,” says the University of Windsor chemist. “The materials we create conduct both electrons, or electricity, and ions, making them compatible with both the human body and technology.” Rondeau-Gagné’s…
Connect and Collaborate at WE-SPARK After Dark August 6 Join the WE-SPARK Health Institute community for the next WE-SPARK After Dark on Thursday, August 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Bourbon Tap & Grill.This free, informal networking event brings together researchers, students, healthcare professionals, community partners and anyone interested in health research. The evening provides an opportunity to make new connections, exchange ideas and learn more about the work happening across our region’s health research community.Registration is encouraged but not required, and everyone is welcome.Please click here to register.
How hot is too hot? Guidelines could protect athletes from heat injury The heavy gear required for football may put athletes at particular risk when training in extreme heat (JASON JONES/University of Windsor) How hot is too hot to exercise safely? For Canadian varsity coaches, athletes and even youth sports organizations, getting a clear answer to that question is surprisingly difficult. With extreme heat blanketing southern Ontario in recent weeks, UWindsor Kinesiology professors Dr. Anthony Bain and Dr. Andrew Perrotta sought out heat training guidelines governing Canadian varsity sports. “I was shocked that we had nothing,” says Bain. While U SPORTS, the governing body for Canadian university athletics, provides parameters for training related to air quality, lightning and wind chill, Perrotta and Bain noticed that heat-related guidelines are absent. “With global climate change only progressing, I found it astonishing that the governing body has not addressed this,” Perrotta says. “It’s actually up to each institution.” With Canada…
UWindsor nursing study shows trust and mentorship are key to medication incident reporting Faculty of Nursing professor Natalie Giannotti led a study examining perceptions of medication incident reporting,helping advance a culture of patient safety, learning, and transparency. (SUBMITTED BY NATALIE GIANNOTTI/University of Windsor)Administering medication may appear straightforward, but behind every dose is a complex series of steps where errors can still occur despite the best intentions of health-care professionals.Nearly two decades after introducing a medication incident reporting system for nursing students, the University of Windsor is seeing evidence that its efforts to build a culture of safety are taking hold.A new study led by Dr. Natalie Giannotti, a professor in the Faculty of Nursing, explores how nursing students and instructors perceive medication incident reporting and the culture surrounding it."We wanted to see how far along we've come and whether we've established the culture of safety we thought we had," Giannotti said. "If there are…
Getting proactive about women’s bone density: Partnership with Field Hockey Canada to explore athlete spine health Dr. Andrew Perrotta worked as the physiologist with the Canadian national women’s field hockey team during the Rio Olympic cycle(PROVIDED BY A. PERROTTA/University of Windsor)For female athletes — and women in general — bone health is key to long-term health.At the same time, research on women’s physiology has often been overlooked in medicine and sports science.As part of a new partnership with Field Hockey Canada, kinesiology professor Dr. Andrew Perrotta and the University of Windsor’s Sport Science Laboratory are working to help change that, examining the spine health of female field hockey players on Canada’s national team.“With women, it’s really important that they prep their body physically for later in life when they go through menopause and bone mineral density goes down due to changes in estrogen,” Perrotta explains.“It’s really important for female athletes and women in general to develop as much bone mineral density as possible early in life, during…
A fair shot at work: UWindsor researcher explores what helps justice-involved Canadians succeed Dr. Kemi Anazodo, professor at the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business, is part of a research team studying employment outcomes for justice-involved adults. (DAVE GAUTHIER /University of Windsor) For people with criminal records, finding steady work can be one of the hardest parts of rebuilding their lives. A new research project involving University of Windsor business professor Kemi Anazodo is examining how employment programs can help justice-involved Canadians overcome those barriers and build long-term stability. Backed by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Engage Grant, the study evaluates the John Howard Society of Ontario’s EMPower program, a 12-week employment training and placement initiative designed for people navigating the justice system and other structural barriers. The project is led by Steven Smith of Saint Mary’s University, with Katelynn Carter Rogers of St. Francis Xavier University, Anazodo and the John Howard Society…
What happens when bacteria outsmart antibiotics? A UWindsor researcher is building the answer Dr. Opeyemi Lawal is the Canada Research Chair in Environmental and Public Health Genomics. (PETER MARVAL/University of Windsor) Drug-resistant infections are silently spreading through water, soil, food systems and healthcare settings — often undetected until they become a public health emergency. At the University of Windsor, environmental microbiologist Dr. Opeyemi Lawal is developing new ways to spot these threats early, understand why they persist, and stop them before they spread. His work focuses on detecting and controlling antimicrobial resistance and emerging pathogens in environmental reservoirs — places where resistance often takes hold long before people get sick. That research has now earned Lawal a Canada Research Chair, one of the country’s highest academic honours, recognizing his work at the intersection of environmental science, public health, genomics, and artificial intelligence. He is a professor in the School of the Environment and a researcher with…
