Media releases

• Large incoming class expected as Ontario high school students choose Brock

  Wednesday, June 09, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 9 June 2021 – R0068

  As Brock University looks toward the Fall 2021 Term and its own recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, all indicators point toward a large incoming class.

  Last week marked the deadline for Ontario secondary school students to accept their university admission offers and while there is an increase in applicants to universities across Ontario, the increase in those applying to Brock outpaces the provincial growth rate by a significant margin.

  While the provincial average sees an increase of 1.9 per cent in first-year confirmations, Brock has received a 6.5 per cent increase in high school applicant confirmations, marking an important bounce back after an enrolment dip due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21.

  Looking at the broader picture of all applications to Brock from across Ontario, Canada and around the world, the University is on pace to welcome more than 4,000 new students this fall. Total enrolment is expected to be nearly 19,000 students.

  The University is continuing to plan for a significant return to campus in September with a mix of classes being offered in-person and online.

  “At Brock, we have consistently placed a strong emphasis on the student experience and excellence in academic programs, making the University a special choice for students,” said Brock President Gervan Fearon. “We recently established new facilities, such as the Zone Fitness Centre in collaboration with our student organizations, so the return to campus this fall will be an enhanced experience for all students coming to Brock.”

  In addition to the strong incoming class of high school students, applications from transfer students, international students and those pursuing school in non-traditional ways are also positive this year. Brock has also seen strong demand for residence spots, which is expected to rise further in the coming weeks.

  While the increases in enrolment are indicated across the majority of Brock’s undergraduate and graduate programs, there has been particularly strong growth in the Faculty of Education, the Goodman School of Business and the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, where Nursing has proven to be very popular this year in response to an expanded number of available student spaces.

  “COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the lives of all Canadians, as it has on everyone around the world,” said Brock Provost and Vice-President, Academic Lynn Wells. “As we begin to move towards the recovery phase of the pandemic, we look forward to welcoming both our new students and those who are returning back to campus in September.”

  Geraldine Jones, University Registrar and Associate Vice-President, Enrolment Services, said the enrolment growth is a sign of Brock’s growing reputation, and the result of a lot of hard work by many people and teams across the University.

  “When we look at the traditional ways recruiting teams get the word out to prospective students and their families, much of that is face-to-face through school visits and events like the Ontario Universities’ Fair,” she said. “This year, we’ve had to completely rethink how we tell the Brock story and show off our beautiful and scenic campuses.”

  Instead, the University used virtual tours, online open houses and a significantly enhanced digital marketing campaign to attract attention at a time when all universities across the country were trying to set themselves apart.

  While some programs are now completely full, there are still some open spaces for full- and part-time studies across all seven Faculties and the admissions process is ongoing.

  For more information about enrolling at Brock, contact futurestudent@brocku.ca or visit brocku.ca

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock team awarded $250,000 grant to explore links between childhood adversity and allergies

  Thursday, June 03, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 3 June 2021 – R0067

  Does childhood trauma lead to the development of allergies and asthma?

  A Brock University research team is conducting a first-of-its-kind study to see if and how abuse, severe household dysfunction and other childhood traumas set the stage for a lifetime of suffering with allergies.

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

  Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Karen 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.”

  MacNeil and Patte are co-leading the team, which was awarded $250,000 from the Canadian government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) for their project “Allergenicity from Childhood Adversity.”

  Children’s brains and immune systems are what scientists call ‘plastic,’ meaning that nerve and immune cells are profoundly shaped by life experiences, especially in childhood. The brain, for example, develops new neural pathways or weakens and even destroys current ones — commonly referred to as ‘rewiring the brain’ — in response to events happening in one’s surrounding environment. The same is true of the immune system.

  Previous Brock research has explored how adverse childhood experiences change the body’s stress and inflammatory responses so as to bring about cardiovascular disease later in life, while other research has explored the impact of adverse childhood experiences on brain re-wiring.

  But little is known about how adverse childhood experiences contribute to immune system dysfunctions. Early indications are that childhood traumas can create a hypersensitive immune environment, called ‘allergenicity,’ which supports the development of asthma, food allergies, hives, eczema, hay fever and other allergies affecting more than 40 per cent of school-aged children in Canada.

  “When chronic allergic inflammation ensues, the immunological stage set in childhood primes them for longer-term pathological tissue remodelling, disease and notable loss in quality of life,” says MacNeil.

  The dynamic seven-member team aims to identify the specific associations between adverse childhood experiences and allergies, and examine how psychosocial, lifestyle and environmental factors boost or dampen allergy development, including how the gut and brain interact through the immune system.

  The researchers will measure and analyze physical samples such as white blood cells and gut microbes gathered from participants. The team will compare these physical results to participants’ incidence of adverse childhood experiences and measurements of psychosocial and behavioural factors such as depression, substance use, physical activity and sleep.

  “Expanding and refining our understanding of the immunological impact of adverse childhood experiences will reveal insights into the concealed harms of severe childhood adversity, with implications far beyond allergy,” says MacNeil, who directs the Inflammation and Immunity Lab.

  Patte’s expertise lies in youth mental health. “By integrating social and psychological factors with biological systems, we are pioneering a new socio-immunological framework,” she says. “This research is only made possible by our transdisciplinary and collegial environment.”

  The research team also includes critical expertise from: Health Sciences Professors Terrance Wade, Jens Coorssen and Deborah O’Leary, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Valerie Michaelson and Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Val Fajardo, who is also Canada Research Chair in Tissue Remodelling and Plasticity.

  Brock’s Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon says the team’s approach represents the breaking of new ground.

  “Linking sociology and psychology with immunology and physiology is a creative insight, and requires a unique team with a transdisciplinary approach,” he says, noting how the group is also being supported by experts in sociology, diversity, proteomics and physiology.

  “This research will deepen our understanding of allergies and may provide foundational knowledge to inform interventions mitigating the substantial lifelong burdens of allergies,” he says.

  The government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund, administered by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, supports international, interdisciplinary, fast-breaking, high-risk, high-reward research.

  The team will be recruiting participants, including young adults, in the Niagara region this fall.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases