News

  • Celebrate 50 Years of Earth Sciences

    Wednesday, June 06, 2018 | By

    Originally founded in 1968 as the Department of Geological Sciences, 50 years later, it’s time to celebrate!
    As a graduate of one of our programs, we hope that you’ll join us during Homecoming Weekend in September to reconnect and reminisce with fellow alumni, faculty and staff. We’ve arranged several events specifically for you and you won’t want to miss out!

    50 Years of Earth Sciences Symposium
    Date: Friday, September 21, 2018
    Time: 2 to 6pm
    Location: Pond Inlet, Brock University

    Learn what your fellow graduates have accomplished since graduating from Brock. We also encourage everyone to share memories of their years at Brock at the Symposium, with opportunities to socialize with one another, students, faculty and staff throughout the afternoon.
    A cash bar will be available and light refreshments will be provided.

    Earth Sciences Networking Brunch
    Date: Saturday, September 22, 2018
    Time: 11am to 1pm
    Location: Pond Inlet, Brock University

    Join us for a complimentary bite to eat – the day after our Symposium – before you head out to participate in other Homecoming activities. Share your insights and experiences with current students and recent graduates and meet the geoscientists of tomorrow as well as your fellow alumni in a more casual setting.

    REGISter HERE

    See you in September!

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • FMS Prof presented invited plenary lecture

    Monday, May 14, 2018 | By

    Professor Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh (Department of Mathematics and Statistics) presented an invited plenary lecture at the international conference OTHA 2018: Modern Methods, Problems and Applications of Operator Theory and Harmonic Analysis – VIII, 22-27 April 2018, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

    The title of his talk was “Generalized Variational Inequalities Without Convexity”.

    OTHA is one of the largest first-class international analysis conferences in Russia. It is sponsored by the Southern Federal University, the Don State Technical University, the Russian Foundation of Basic Research, and the International Society for Analysis, Its Applications and Computation. This was its 8th edition.

    LINK to website

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • FMS Student Among Winners at International SCAN Health Virtual Business Case Competition

    Monday, May 07, 2018 | By

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    WINDSOR, May 7, 2018 – The Supply Chain Advancement Network in Health (SCAN Health), proudly hosted by the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor is pleased to announce the winning teams of the inaugural SCAN Health Virtual Business Case Competition. Outstanding students from leading business schools around the world are recognized for their exceptional innovative thinking and practical approaches to scaling supply chain transformation across the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS) Scan4Safety initiative to 148 trusts of NHS England. Congratulations to the winning teams:

    1st Place – Tied
    Mariska van der Feen, Tessa Jansen, Eva Jelovčan (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
    James J. Hall, Olivia Poulin, Matthew McGarr, Michael Tolentino (Brock University)

    Michael is a Biomed student at Brock University.

    3rd Place
    Scarlett Kelly, Chris Smith (Dalhousie University)

    Prizes courtesy of TECSYS Inc. are awarded to the top three teams. Winners also receive an invitation to the Annual SCAN Health Global Networking Event in Alberta, Canada on June 5, 2018. This exclusive event provides an opportunity to engage with global leaders from industry, health systems, government and academia to examine key dimensions of supply chain infrastructure to improve health system sustainability, population health and economic growth.

    Proposals were judged by an esteemed international panel including Chair Dr. Kevin Schulman of Duke University (US), joined by Mr. Robert Drag of Salisbury NHS (UK), Mr. Desmond Griffiths of Electromac (CAN), Mr. Richard Martin of TECSYS (CAN), Dr. Liz Mear of the Innovation Agency (UK), Mr. Graham Medwell of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS (UK), Dr. Libby Roughead of the University of South Australia (AUS), Dr. Karin Schnarr of Wilfrid Laurier University (CAN) and Dr. Dave Williams, Canadian astronaut, physician and CEO (retired).

    This unique virtual competition enables emergent leaders from business schools around the world to compete and demonstrate their exceptional skill, knowledge and innovative ideas to advance health sector supply chain innovation. The competition encourages cross-disciplinary teams from business and health sciences to collaborate to build leadership capacity in health sector supply chain. To further strengthen knowledge of business processes in health systems each team has access to a panel of internationally renowned leaders and experts in health system supply chain and logistics strategy. The next SCAN Health Virtual Business Case Competition will launch Fall 2018. Details and updates can be found at www.SCANHealth.ca.

    About SCAN Health

    SCAN Health is an international knowledge translation organization funded by the Government of Canada, Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) and hosted by the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business. Spanning five countries, including Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada – and with over one hundred partners from industry, healthcare, government and academia – SCAN Health will advance global capacity to adopt and scale best practices in healthcare supply chain to offer traceability of products and care processes from bench to bedside to patient outcomes.

    – 30 –

    SCAN Health Media Contact:
    Kathryn Cox
    (905) 213-8384
    Kathryn.Cox.SCANHealth@uwindsor.ca

    Tags: , ,
    Categories: News

  • FMS student videos among Top 15 of national science research contest

    Friday, April 27, 2018 | By

    A Brock University student has scored third place in a national science research video contest, with two other Brock student videos among the contest’s Top 15 finalists.

    Science, Action! features student-produced, 60-second videos on research projects funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), one of Brock’s major research funders.

    Taylor Lidster took third place with her video, On the Fly. Two other videos – produced by Matthew Mueller and the team of Zakia Dahi and Jina Nanayakkara — were included in the Top 15 of finalists from universities across Canada.

    All four students are from the Department of Biological Sciences. Mueller, Dahi and Lidster are master’s students, while Nanayakkara has just completed her undergraduate degree.

    “It’s wonderful to see Brock student researchers being recognized nationally, both for the excellence of their research projects and for their ability to explain the impact and significance of their work,” says Brock Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

    “The remarkable extent of Brock students’ success in the Science, Action! program is a powerful indication of their calibre, and a great credit to the training and research mentorship they receive from Brock University professors,” he says.

    Lidster’s On the Fly shows how the fruit fly is used to study inflammation in the gut. The researchers use genetic techniques and microscopy to see any changes in the gut environment, good or bad.

    Mueller’s Cell Talk explains that the root cause of several contemporary diseases is a disruption in communication between cells, examines the language that cells use to talk to one another, and describes how this changes in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

    DNA: A Mobile Molecule, by Dahi and Nanayakkara, explores how DNA sequences that move around – called “jumping genes” – copy and paste themselves into different parts of our genomes. The research aims to understand how “jumping genes” have led to human variation and disease.

    The Science, Action! contest enables students to present their NSERC-funded science research to a wide audience.

     

    Students entering the contest faced some big challenges. In mid-February, NSERC posted 75 video entries from students across Canada; seven of these videos were from Brock. The 25 videos with the most views by March 2 would then make it to the next round. Five Brock videos made it into the Top 25. From there, a panel of judges selected the Top 15.

    Read the full story here

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • Brock community mourns Math employee Darrell Short

    Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | By

    Brock University is mourning the loss of long-time employee Darrell Short, who spent nearly four decades working with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

    Short died Tuesday, April 17 at the age of 61.

    He held many roles with the University over the years, including teaching assistant, instructor and course co-ordinator, and was known for helping and inspiring countless students in a multitude of courses.

    “His contributions to the Department were immeasurable, touching the lives of students, faculty and staff members alike,” said a tribute on the Department’s website. “He will be missed very much by all of us. It simply won’t be the same place now that he has passed.”

    For more information, please see Short’s obituary.

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • FMS recipients of Jack M. Miller Excellence in Research Award

    Tuesday, April 17, 2018 | By

    During the Faculty of Graduate Studies’ Mapping the New Knowledges Conference awards ceremony, two graduate students from the Faculty of Mathematics and Science were honoured with the 2018 Jack M. Miller Excellence in Research Award. This award is given to research-based graduate students who are working on innovative projects.

    This year’s Faculty of Mathematics and Science recipients are:

    Alyssa Davis
    MSc Earth Science
    Studying “Paleoatmospheric and paleoenvironmental interpretations of the Early Paleozoic”

    Guan Wang
    PhD Chemistry
    Studying, “Analytical devides and assays for point-of-care disease diagnosis”

    Tags: , , ,
    Categories: News

  • FMS students receive President’s Surgite Awards

    Monday, April 16, 2018 | By

    They’re student leaders who have made significant contributions to Brock University or the wider community, and on Monday they were honoured with the President’s Surgite Awards.

    Ten Brock students from across the University’s seven Faculties were given the awards in recognition for the work they’ve done during their time studying here.

    “Students at Brock are supported and encouraged to develop their leadership, academic, student life and community engagement skills and contributions,” said President Gervan Fearon. “The students receiving these awards have excelled at these activities and exemplify the values of being outstanding students at the University and across the broader community.”

     

    Tom Dunk, Interim Provost and Vice-President, Academic, said the awards are meant to be an extra achievement students can use as they head out into the workforce.

    “We recognize in that doing what you’ve done, it’s good for your resumés, but you’ve also improved the lives of our students and life at Brock, and in some cases, within the broader community. We recognize your contribution to making everyone proud of Brock locally, nationally and beyond.”

    2017-18 President’s Surgite Award winners:

    • Allison Flynn-Bowman, Community Health
    • Aniqah Zowmi, Social Justice and Equity Studies
    • Evans Boadi, Mathematics and Statistics
    • Sarah Mohammed, Child Health
    • Nicholas Lepore, Accounting
    • Michael Tolentino, Biomedical Sciences
    • Aynsley Maves, Concurrent Education
    • Christine Saleeb, Medical Sciences
    • Vanessa Cservid, Medical Sciences
    • Matthew McGarr, Medical Sciences

    Tags: , ,
    Categories: News

  • Assistant Professor of Chemistry captures Ontario’s Early Researcher Awards

    Friday, April 13, 2018 | By

    Creating a device to detect prostate cancer. Determining how and why perfectionism impacts adolescent health. Understanding the process that leads to children forgetting to carry out a future intention.

    These areas of interest will be pursued by three Brock University researchers thanks to a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science.

    Assistant Professor of Chemistry Feng Li is one of the three who received funding this year under the Ministry’s Early Researcher Awards program.

    “These rare and prestigious awards are reserved for early-career researchers whose innovative work is recognized as crucial to the social, cultural, economic and intellectual future of Ontario,” says Brock Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

    “For a university of Brock’s size to receive three awards in one year is amazing and will definitely turn some heads. But it is not surprising to anyone who knows the incredible research talent that Brock has been recruiting for years.”

    Li and his team of four graduate students will develop a single device that will examine blood and urine samples for the presence of certain proteins and nucleic acids that are present in the early stages of prostate cancer.

    The device will give results in about an hour. Li previously created a three-dimensional, nano-sized robot that detects disease, which the new device, made out of paper, will read and interpret.

    At the moment, testing for these proteins and nucleic acids is done separately and requires highly complicated, time consuming and expensive equipment and processes.

    “You would use this device like you would do a pregnancy test,” he says. “You mix your samples with the 3D robot and load it onto the paper device. You would see coloured strips, just like in a pregnancy test,” says Li.

     

     

     

    The Early Researcher Awards program enables new researchers working at publicly funded Ontario research institutions to build research teams.

     

    Read about the other researchers’ work here

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • Brock research examines messaging to encourage less red meat consumption

    Wednesday, April 11, 2018 | By

    With the beef industry acting as a major contributor to greenhouse gasses, Brock University researchers are examining what can be done to cut down on the consumption of red meat by Canadians.

    Brock food scientist Gary Pickering and graduate student Samantha Stea are examining what type of messaging works to encourage people to either lessen their red meat consumption or stop eating it all together.

    The duo asked 593 red-meat eaters from across Canada why they eat beef, pork, lamb and other red meat, as well as how much they know about the environmental impacts of red meat farming.

    “Taste and quality are the most important motivators when it comes to consuming red meat,” says Stea, who recently completed a Master of Sustainability degree.

    Interestingly, the fourth-highest motivation for eating red meat was for health reasons, going against “traditional wisdom” that consuming too much red meat is actually bad for human health, says Pickering, a Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology, as well as in Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre.

    “Concerns around the ethics and morality of eating red meat were very low,” he says.

    Participants read a list of 13 environmental impacts — including global warming, deforestation, overuse of land, acid rain, soil contamination and others — and ticked off those they thought were associated with red meat consumption.

    Pickering and Stea then presented the red meat eaters with one of six message types that contained information about the environmental impacts of red meat production.

     

    The researchers then asked participants several questions about their intended future red meat consumption.

    Participants also re-read the list of 13 environmental impacts and once again ticked off those they thought were associated with red meat consumption. In all 13 categories, the red meat eaters’ knowledge and awareness of the environmental impacts of red meat farming increased.

    The researchers say several important lessons can be drawn from their study, “Optimizing Messaging to Reduce Red Meat Consumption,” which was published earlier this year in the journal Environmental Communication, and won the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Food and Agriculture Technologies in Bali, Indonesia last year.

    Stea says the results paint a hopeful picture of what can be done to protect the environment.

    Read the full story here

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

  • Brock-led study examines role of protein levels in preterm birth

    Tuesday, April 10, 2018 | By

    A Brock-led international research team is developing an approach to predict if women in the early stages of pregnancy are at risk of experiencing a premature birth.

    The team, headed by Professor of Health Sciences and Biological Sciences Jens Coorssen, discovered that the levels of certain proteins found in the mother’s blood during the first trimester can potentially act as early predictors or biomarkers of premature birth.

    “There aren’t any good markers of preterm birth, even in the second and third trimester,” says Coorssen. “The idea was, can we identify markers in the blood samples of women taken during their first routine checkup between 11 and 13 weeks?”

    Preterm birth, which occurs before 37 weeks, is the leading cause of death in children under the age of five, according to the World Health Organization.

    The research team, consisting of Coorssen, PhD student Arlene D’Silva and University of Sydney researcher Jon Hyett, analyzed blood samples from 20 women who were each around 12 weeks pregnant.

    The researchers examined the total set of proteins contained in a part of the blood called serum.

    “We were looking to see if there are different levels of specific proteins in the blood of women who go on to have a normal term delivery versus women who go on to have a pre-term delivery,” he says. “That way we can identify women at risk early and cut down on emergency interventions, and the complications often associated with premature birth.”

    Those women subsequently experiencing a preterm birth had significantly higher or lower levels of 30 different protein species, 20 of which included specific modifications that can alter their functions or locations.

    They also have lower levels of complement C3, a protein that, when activated, kills invading microbes without damaging surrounding tissues. The protein becomes active when encountering a bacteria, virus or other harmful substance.

    These and other findings are in the team’s paper, “Proteomic analysis of first trimester maternal serum to identify candidate biomarkers potentially predictive of spontaneous preterm birth,” published Feb. 13 in the Journal of Proteomics.

    Coorssen says researchers don’t know what causes these protein levels to change, or which of these proteins might be linked more directly to cellular processes that may cause preterm labour.

    “Understanding the cellular and molecular processes involved in preterm labour, which is also part of the ongoing project, is the only route to developing new, targeted medicines,” he says.

    “What we’re immediately interested in right now, though, is if there is a way to identify these women at risk early so that they can be better monitored and managed so as to avoid a preterm event.”

    Coorssen says future research would focus on expanding the number of research participants and focusing more on mechanisms as well.

    The World Health Organization says 15 million babies — one in 10 — are born too early every year, with one million children dying each year due to complications of preterm birth. Many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including breathing issues, learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems. The agency lists a number of measures during pregnancy to avoid preterm births, such as antenatal steroid injections, nutritional counselling, avoiding tobacco and drug use, and “a minimum of eight contacts with health professionals” to identify risk factors.

    Tags: ,
    Categories: News

1 2 3 4 5 … 14