Media releases

• Open House to highlight Brock’s renowned student experience

  Tuesday, April 02, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: April 2 2024 – R0043

  Like spring, Brock University’s annual Open House is filled with signs of new beginnings.

  Thousands of prospective students and their families will visit Brock’s campus Sunday, April 7 to begin planning the next chapter in their educational journeys and their lives.

  To help them along the way will be hundreds of student ambassadors, staff and faculty members eager to share their own Brock experiences and answer questions about all the University has to offer.

  Held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Open House includes a packed day filled with tours, presentations and demonstrations that allow visitors to learn about Brock’s innovative programming, cutting-edge research and hands-on learning opportunities that have seen the University rise as a top choice for high school graduates.

  Among the day’s highlights is an information fair in Ian Beddis Gymnasium that will share insight into all aspects of the Brock student experience, from academic programs to student supports and extracurricular opportunities.

  Presentations on “Next Steps to Becoming a Brock Badger” will be offered every hour, sharing details on how to apply for scholarships, awards and Brock’s experiential Plus Programs, as well as information on summer orientation programs and course registration. Participants will also learn about typical costs for first-year students, OSAP funding and how to make tuition payments.

  “Brock’s Open House is an opportunity for us to highlight the ongoing support our dynamic staff and faculty offer students throughout their university journey, which begins well before their first classes start in September,” says Matt Melnyk, Director, Student Recruitment. “We’re here to help them break through at Brock and find success each step of the way.”

  Visitors will have the opportunity to tour Brock’s main campus, exploring labs, classrooms, athletic facilities and more, in addition to taking specialty tours that focus on residences, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines and the Goodman School of Business. Program-specific presentations will also be offered to help visitors learn more about their academic areas of interest.

  “Between our beautiful campus on the Niagara Escarpment, our exceptional programs and our welcoming University community, it doesn’t take long to see why Brock is a top choice for so many students,” says Carly Dugo, Senior Recruitment Officer, Events and Operations. “We look forward to meeting many future Badgers this Sunday and watching as they turn offers into acceptances.”

  As Open House takes place one day prior to the April 8 total solar eclipse, ISO-certified eclipse viewing glasses will be handed out to visitors (while supplies last). Brock is hosting its Eclipse on the Escarpment event April 8 to mark the celestial phenomenon.

  For a full schedule for Brock’s Open House, visit the event website.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

  – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases

• Participants needed for Brock research linking allergies, asthma to childhood experiences

  Monday, April 01, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: April 1 2024 – R0042

  The composition of good microbes harmoniously living in our bodies could be shaped by early childhood experiences, one of several physiological connections a Brock team is exploring in their research on allergies.

  Associate Professors of Health Sciences Adam MacNeil and Karen Patte are heading up a team exploring whether early life events and upbringing contribute to the development of allergies and asthma.

  But they need a few hundred research participants of diverse backgrounds to be able to fully explore the topic.

  The researchers are looking for people ages 18 to 25 years in the Niagara area, with no allergy or asthma diagnosis necessary.

  Participants would need to answer online questionnaires and come to Brock to undergo physical measurements and provide bodily samples.

  One of these samples is stool, which MacNeil says holds valuable clues to connections among the brain, gut and immune system.

  “If we’re able to identify that a particular species of microbe in the gastrointestinal tract could influence the likelihood of developing allergies or asthma, we can potentially intervene, perhaps with the development of a screening tool,” says MacNeil.

  “We encourage people not to be put off by this part of the research,” he says. “The collection and submission process takes place at home and is easy and discreet. These small samples will give the research team a great deal of information.”

  Research participants will receive $50 for their involvement as well as a chance to win an iPad.

  For more information, and to sign up to participate, contact Allergy Asthma and Adversity Study Co-ordinator Katie Hunter.

  Patte, Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion, says about 100 people have participated in their research so far — an excellent early response — but many more participants are needed, especially males who’ve been underrepresented thus far.

  “We’re also looking at many different factors that could be protective against the development of allergies and asthma, such as diet, physical activity and social supports,” she says. “Our research could contribute to possible medical, psychological or social interventions.”

  MacNeil and Patte’s first-of-its-kind study explores if and how experiences in childhood hypersensitize the immune system and set the stage for a lifetime of suffering with allergies.

  They are co-leading the seven-member team that was awarded the Canadian government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) in 2021 for their project “Allergenicity from Childhood Adversity.”

  The other team members include Professors of Health Sciences Deborah O’Leary and Terrance Wade, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Valerie Michaelson, and Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Canada Research Chair in Tissue Re-modelling and Plasticity throughout the Lifespan Val Fajardo.

  “Allergy prevalence is rising rapidly and understanding why requires new transdisciplinary thinking, outside the box,” MacNeil says. “Many of the contributing factors remain elusive.”

  Patte says the team is “taking a unique approach by linking sociology and psychology with immunology and physiology — fields that seldom collaborate — to help determine the mechanisms linking childhood adversity and allergies.”

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

   

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

   

  – 30 –

  Categories: Media releases