Mural bears message promoting vaccination Artists Elyssa Biscocho, Paola Noriega Flores, and Aya El-Hashemi pose with their chalk mural in the Essex Centre of Research. Photo by Ruqayyah Faizan. Students from the Students Igniting Vaccine Confidence team have created a chalk mural in a campaign to promote confidence in vaccination against COVID-19. Volunteer artists from the Faculty of Science’s Science Meets Art (SMArt) group and St. Clair College filled the main floor chalk board walls of the Essex Centre of Research (CORe) building with art on Friday, Nov. 4. Aya El-Hashemi (BSc 2022), a master’s candidate in translational health science, created the installation design. The project lead says the team used a chalk wall to communicate this science-based vaccine confidence message because art is a tool that transcends language barriers and broadens the vaccine confidence scope. “Incorporating multiple disciplines helps close gaps as we translate knowledge to the community,” says El-Hashemi. “By having members from various…
Recruiting participants for a study on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on child development The purpose of this study is to understand the impacts that relative social isolation, in the sense that very young children (from neonates to 18 months old) have been exposed to during the COVID pandemic of the past 1.5 years, can have on all the diff erent aspects of early development, including social development, language development, motor development, and cognitive development. To participate in the study, please click here. For more information about the project, please click here.
Contest calling attention to vaccine confidence campaign A share-and-tag on Instagram contest is the latest effort in a student-led campaign to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. A contest run by the Students Igniting Vaccine Confidence team is aimed at drawing attention to lawn signs it has posted across the University of Windsor campus and coming soon to St. Clair College. The “Booster your confidence in vaccines” signs promote three calls to action: Get boosted Stay informed Spark vaccine confidence The contest offers a $25 e-gift card for Subway restaurant for sharing and tagging a graphic posted on the WE-Spark Health Institute’s Instagram feed. Contestants can enter as often as they like until Dec. 13 but only one winner will be drawn at random. Find the graphic and contest details here: instagram.com/wesparkhealth/.
Conference to showcase and strengthen local health research A health research conference, Nov. 11 and 12 at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts, is open to researchers, clinicians, students, and trainees. The Windsor-Essex health research community will come together over two days in November to learn from experts and to present, share, and discuss health research projects. WE-Spark Health Institute’s first in-person conference will feature presentations from local, regional, and international experts, and a rapid-fire session where students and trainees will present their current and completed research projects. The conference will include keynotes from three experts in the healthcare field: Steven A Narod is a clinician and scientist at Women’s College Hospital where he has led the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit for the past 25 years. Molly Shoichet is Michael E. Charles Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She served as Ontario’s first chief scientist in 2018, co-founded four companies, and has won numerous…
Networking event to bring together health research community WE-SPARK Health Institute hosts monthly networking events for members of the Windsor-Essex health research community to get to know one another through fun and casual conversations. There is no formal agenda, and all are welcome. This is an opportunity for anyone interested in health research to make connections in an informal and enjoyable atmosphere. The next event will be held Thursday November 3rd, 5-8pm at Bourbon Tap & Grill, 1199 Ottawa St, Windsor. No RSVP is required. WE-SPARK Health Institute is a partnership of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, St. Clair College, the University of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospital designed to take healthcare outcomes to the next level through research.
Nanoparticles studied as a treatment for brain cancer Research associate Dorota Lubanska is part of a team studying the use of nanoparticles to target and treat the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma. UWindsor researchers have come together to explore a novel potential treatment for an aggressive type of brain cancer. The scientists are studying the use of nanoparticles to target and treat glioblastoma (GBM). The collaborative UWindsor team published their findings in the article “Impairing proliferation of glioblastoma multiforme with CD44+ selective conjugated polymer nanoparticles” in the journal Scientific Reports. Dorota Lubanska (PhD 2013), research associate in the biomedical sciences lab of Lisa Porter, led the biological side of the study. “You can treat GBM with chemotherapy and radiation, but the tumour contains small populations of tumour-initiating cells, or cancer stem cells, which are highly resistant to these therapies,” says Dr. Lubanska. “These cells stay behind, leading to the tumour recurrence, patient relapse,…
Research team seeking to prepare fuel products from carbon waste Chemistry professor Marcus Drover leads a team working towards creating sustainable fuel products from greenhouse gas-containing waste streams. Marcus Drover and team are working towards creating sustainable fuel products from greenhouse gas-containing waste streams. Typically, when a fuel is burned, it produces carbon dioxide (CO2) as a by-product. Dr. Drover, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and his team intend to turn this waste product into a fuel source. The three-year $150,000 project is a part of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Alliance Grant that will partner Drover and his lab with Imperial Oil Limited. “Alliance grants link academic research expertise to the interests of an industry partner,” says Drover. “Imperial oil is interested in methods of decarbonization. Together, we will develop new means to ‘close’ a carbon cycle: it’s about sustainability with a lens to the future.” Drover says his lab is…
Science grad earns Convocation honour Biochemistry alumnus Michael Ocheje received the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence during Fall Conovocation ceremonies. Science alumnus Michael Ocheje (BSc 2016, PhD 2022) is one of this year’s Governor General’s Gold Medallists for academic excellence at the graduate level and was recognized during Fall Convocation ceremonies on Friday, Oct. 14. “When I found out I won, that was a big surprise,” says Dr. Ocheje. “There are a lot of talented people in my cohort and amongst all those people, they chose my thesis.” During his doctoral studies, the chemistry and biochemistry graduate developed organic bioelectronic materials that can stretch and imitate properties of human skin. “Usually when you strain electronic devices, the inorganic brittle materials will break, but my research deals with using organic materials that can stretch and still be conductive,” says Ocheje. “Essentially things like polyethylene, or plastic bags, are stretchable but not…
University to honour physician and scholar The University of Windsor will award an honorary degree to physician Caroline Hamm (pictured) and engineering professor emeritus Philip H. Alexander. The University of Windsor will award honorary degrees to physician Caroline Hamm and engineering professor emeritus Philip H. Alexander during its 118th Convocation celebration this weekend. Dr. Hamm is chair of oncology at the Schulich School of Medicine’s Windsor Campus. More than 2,300 students will gather at the newly-opened Toldo Lancer Centre (TLC) this Friday and Saturday for five sessions of University Convocation. She is the clinical research director of the Windsor Cancer Research Group, working to enhance both local and cross border research initiatives, chairs the Windsor Regional Hospital Research and Academic Committee, and leads the Complex Hematology Program development in Windsor. Among other honours, Hamm has received the Human Touch Award from Cancer Care Ontario for service and innovation in cancer care; the Summit Award…
