Graduate students Dylan Levac and Vonny Salim, shown with Professor Vincenzo De Luca, will discuss their research related to turning plants into life-saving medicine.

Faculty and graduate student research teams will put a spotlight on the wonders of bioscience during a Nov. 15 Mapping the New Knowledges Research Café.

The Brock community and the public are invited to attend “Targeting Health and Disease: New Frontiers in Biological Research,” held from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. in Pond Inlet. There is no cost and refreshments will be provided.

The event is organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Office of Research Services and the Graduate Students’ Association. It is the kick-off event for the 2011-12 Mapping the New Knowledges series of events culminating in the seventh annual Graduate Student Research Conference.

“Our Research Café presentations make it possible for our graduate community to intersect and engage with one another and the broader community so that the full value of their ideas, knowledge and creativity can be felt in dynamic ways,” said Mike Plyley, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies.

“Our café topic on Nov. 15 will highlight examples of the calibre of faculty and student researchers who are involved in cutting-edge bioscience research and discovery at Brock. It’s particularly timely given that the University is within months of completing construction on the world-class Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex.”

Rick Cheel, Interim Dean, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, will moderate the following Nov. 15 panel presentations:

• “Neuroscience: Linking chemical messengers and neural function”
Chemical signalling underlies all functions of the nervous system, from generation of behaviour to regeneration of tissues. Professors Joffre Mercier and Robert Carlone and their graduate researchers will discuss their work in this area. One project deals with the potential to contribute to our understanding of aggression and the other in developing new methods to treat people with nerve damage and spinal cord injury.
Graduate student presenters include Amanda Lepp and Holly May, both PhD candidates in Biological Sciences, and Maja Milakovic, an MSc graduate from the Department of Biological Sciences.

• “Plant disease resistance and plant medicinal production”
Brock researchers are studying many aspects of nature’s treasure trove of plant life. Professors Vincenzo De Luca and Charles Després and their graduate students will talk about research projects focused on how to fortify plants to be productive and how to increase their resistance to disease and fluctuation of environmental conditions.
Graduate student presenters include Dylan Levac, Vonny Salim, Jan Bosak and Nina Slavickova, all PhD candidates in Biotechnology.

• Read more about the Research Café presentations

For more information, contact Heather Junke or Carolyn Mullin.