Bachelor of Health Science
University of Calgary
BHSC in the news
iGEM Team Captures Trophy for "Best Environment Project"!
The 2011 Calgary iGEM team brings home the trophy for the "Best Environment Project" at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) World Championship Jamboree held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology!!! Way to go iGEM team!
For more information about this recent iGEM Jamboree, visit the iGEM Calgary link…
Necessity Driving Invention (with help of iGEM students...)
Alberta, toxic tailings ponds created by oil sands operations can be a dangerous and expensive challenge and knowing just how toxic a tailings pond is at any point in time is vital information to have. A team of students from the University of Calgary (U of C) and their project to use genetically-modified bacteria to monitor the level of toxins in oil sands tailings ponds earned it the opportunity to compete at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) World Championship Jamboree at the Massachusetts recently.
Read more in this Industrial Fuels and Power publication article...
BHSc students in JURA
The inaugural issue of JURA is out! Take a look through this link...
You will see that of the four articles presented, three have BHSC students as authors. As well, a BHSC student has authored one of the letters.
Congratulations to Andrew Wu, Iman Yazdanbod, Sean Choi, Jesse Basnak and Stefan Marcus!
A summer in the lab
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By Kathryn Sloniowski
“My experience in the lab this summer gave me the chance to explore the many exciting possibilities and discoveries that are made in research labs at the University of Calgary,” says Rouhi. “The experience has also inspired me to consider the many opportunities for graduate studies and careers in health research.” Rouhi’s research focused on how neuraminidase, an enzyme normally found in the cell membranes of the human lung, affects the attachment of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa to cells. The bacterium can be responsible for severe pulmonary infections in patients with cystic fibroses and other immunosuppressive diseases. Her research could potentially influence how patients with chronic lung infections due to cystic fibrosis or other immunosuppressive disorders are managed. Armstrong, Rouhi’s Faculty mentor, said the young woman’s work ethic will serve her well for any future career moves. “Azin was a very dedicated, diligent, motivated, and thoughtful student,” he says. The Markin USRP program allows undergraduate students to experience research in the real-world under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Students not only conduct research, they learn invaluable skills in terms of critical thinking and time management, and they get to meet with other students actively involved in research. “The opportunity for undergraduate students to be exposed to real research problems is very limited so the Markin Program is helping provide many gifted students with the opportunity of discovering what it means to do basic biomedical research, opportunities they may otherwise not have,” says Armstrong. |
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Rob Aronson, Founder at Spread the Love, named Peter Cruddas Social Innovator at Buckingham Palace
June 2010 was a month to remember for Rob Aronson and 12 young social entrepreneurs from around the globe as they were selected to spend five days in the United Kingdom as finalists for the Peter Cruddas Social Innovation Initiative –a project set up to highlight and encourage positive social change.
Highlights of the trip included a weekend workshop in Windsor and a celebration at Buckingham Palace, where the finalists were presented with certificates by HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. At the celebration, Spread the Love was one of four organizations to be visually displayed in grand style for all to see in the palace.
“It was an extreme honor and privileged to be invited to Buckingham Palace. I was motivated and inspired by the other youth finalists from around the world. It was such an incredible experience” said Aronson.
Spread the Love October 2010 Newsletter
Spread the Love recruits Leadership Team
Meetings held this summer were comprised of Spread the Love’s newly created Leadership Team. The team brings the dynamism and creativity it will take to channel Spread the Love’s growing momentum across the country!
Director of Programs
Adriana Briceno
Director of Volunteers
Kieutrinh Phan
Director of Fund Development
Jermyn Voon
Director of Communications
Ella Kinloch
Director of Research
Edwin Cheng
Founder and Executive Director
Miles Robert Aronson
Spread the Love Goes National
It couldn't’ be more fitting then for Spread the Love to go national on Valentine’s Day –putting love into action for those less fortunate. McGill University pioneered the way for national involvement when they launched their own Spread the Love chapter earlier this year. Jacob Hardy led his group to make over 525 sandwiches in less than 40 minutes! Later in the afternoon, the meals delivered to Refuge des Jeunes and distributed to hungry children in Montreal.
”It was incredible how many people came out and the amount of participants is really giving fuel to this project” says Jacob Hardy, McGill’s chapter founder.
Now more Montreal colleges and CGEPs are joining. Also this year, powered by two national tours, Spread the Love has launched in Hamilton, Toronto and Vancouver Island. Four provinces and counting – Look out Canada here comes the love!
Summertime and the undergraduate researcher...
HoMyung Lee, a Bachelor of Health Sciences program student at the University of Calgary, is doing his summer research on epilepsy, a neurological disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. See the full article in UToday here
World Health Organization internship
Karolina Kowalewski will travel to Geneva, Switzerland for her WHO internship.
Photo credit: Bruce Perrault
By Kyle Glennie
Over 10,000 people apply annually and only
"Basically it came from working at PHIRC and networking," says Kowalewski.
Kowalewski is being slightly modest. The recent Bachelor of HealthSciences (BHSc) graduate worked part-time at PHIRC–the PopulationHealth Intervention Research Centre at the University of Calgary'sFaculty of Medicine–while she earned her BHSc degree. While there, shewas taken under the wing of several PHIRC researchers, namely AlanShiell and Penny Hawe.
"I had mentioned to Dr. Shiell that I was interestedin doing an internship and he really got the ball rolling for me,"recalls Kowalewski. While that may have started the process, there werestill more hurdles to clear before she was chosen for the internship.Shiell says Kowalewski's hard work and intelligence are the realreasons for her success.
"Karolina has been working in PHIRC for a number ofyears in various capacities as a research assistant, and she's verybright, keen to learn and always a team player," Shiell says. "Throughpersonal and professional connections with the WHO, I knew there wasinterest in having an intern support our investigations into theeconomics of health promotion. It was very easy to put the two thingstogether; she's a perfect fit."
Kowalewski will help both Shiell and Dr. KC Tang ontheir economic evaluation research, which seeks to determine how tobest promote health given the limited resources available. "We knowthere are difficult choices to make regarding health promotion and weseek to evaluate the costs and health consequences of those choices toensure the best decisions are made," explains Shiell.
After the six-month internship, Kowalewski believesshe'll likely return home to Calgary and enroll in medical school. "Myinterests lie in global health so this opportunity at the WHO isabsolutely incredible."
Thane Kubik chosen for an International Fulbright Science and Technology Award
Article by Kyle Glennie
(photo by Bruce Perrault)
For the first time ever, a Faculty of Medicine student has won the International Fulbright Science and Technology Award for Outstanding Foreign Students, arguably the most prestigious international scholarship in the world. Thane Kubik, a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) program where he majored in biomedical sciences, was chosen for the award by the Fulbright committee for his unique aptitude and innovation in biomedical science.
“It’s an incredible feeling to win this award and I’m very grateful to all my mentors at the Faculty of Medicine for helping me achieve this honour,” says Kubik. His mentors, especially Dr. Christian Jacob and Sonja Georgijevic, certainly helped him become the student he is today, but Kubik also owes a few other people in the BHSc program a debt of gratitude for bringing the Fulbright Scholarship to his attention.
“I had never heard about this particular scholarship before and it was actually the BHSc program coordinator who spoke to some of the directors and they recommended that I apply,” recalls Kubik.
It’s a good thing they did. Kubik was chosen as one of two Canadian nominees for the international award, usually given to about 45 people around the world. After that he was named one of the international recipients and his award was approved by the Fulbright committee.
The process may have been long and in-depth, but the benefits are obvious. Each winner chooses a list of schools in the US they would like to attend, and with the help of the Institute for International Education, they apply for admission. Once they find out which schools they are accepted to, the grantee then chooses which one to attend, with the first three years of tuition fully paid for by the scholarship. Not only that, the student is given funding for books and expenses, a monthly living stipend, a research allowance, and money to fly to conferences and even to travel home once a year.
“I ended up choosing Rockefeller University because I absolutely love research and this passion is really nurtured by the community at Rockefeller,” says Kubik. “I’m really interested in studying the physical principles that underlie biological systems, and Rockefeller is a great place to do this.”
Looks like Rockefeller is getting a very promising student!
HSOC Student Article in CjMLS Publication
Six BHSC students earn Markin awards
Posted December 7, 2009 on UofC News
Six students in the Faculty of Medicine’s Bachelor of Health Sciences program have won Markin Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) awards in Health and Wellness. Each year the Markin USRP provides studentships ranging from $4000 to $6000 to UCalgary undergraduate students participating in a research project focused on the area of health and wellness.
Here is a look at some of the winners:
Markin USRP winner Stephanie Nguyen in the lab of Samuel Weiss, PhD
(photo by Bruce Perrault)
Stephanie Nguyen,3rd year Bachelor of Health Sciences studentProject Title: "Role of the mismatch repair protein MSH6 in temozolomide sensitivity of glioblastoma brain tumour stem cells"
Stephanie Nguyen’s research focuses on brain tumours, specifically glioblastomas, in the lab of Dr. Samuel Weiss who is also her Faculty mentor. For her project, Nguyen utilizes brain tumour stem cell lines cultivated in the Weiss lab and tests the sensitivity of these stem cell lines to a chemotherapy drug called temozolomide. While some stem cell lines are sensitive to the drug treatment, several lines did not react to the drug even though they were predicted to as determined by other molecular tests. Research in the past has suggested inactivation of MSH6, a protein that exists in our bodies, could be the reason some glioblastomas avoid drug treatment. Nguyen’s research is testing this possibility by examining MSH6 in brain tumour stem cell lines with variable sensitivity to temozolomide.
Markin USRP winner Niloufar Farid in the lab of Dr. Jun Yan
(photo by Bruce Perrault)
Nilourfar Farid,2nd year Bachelor of Health Sciences studentProject Title: “NMDA and GABA receptors mediate cortical plasticity induced by intracortical microstimulation"
2nd year Bachelor of Health Sciences student Niloufar Farid is researching why learning changes human brain interpretation of sound information that is received in the ear. While research on this topic has been completed in the past, many questions still remain as to how we process sound information. Farid’s project focuses on the biochemical interactions within the neurons of a specific part of the brain, the auditory cortex, and discovering how these neurons are changed in response to learned and experienced sounds.Markin USRP winner Niloufar Farid in the lab of Dr. Jun Yan: photo by Bruce Perrault
To learn more about these neuron changes, Farid and her colleagues in lab of her Faculty mentor Dr. Jun Yan record and interpret data compiled by stimulating a single neuron in the auditory cortex of lab mice. She hopes to publish the results of her work sometime next year.
Jonathan Strecker,4th year Bachelor of Health Sciences studentProject Title: “Acute immune response in a murine model of hemolytic uremic syndrome”
Jonathan Strecker is an undergraduate student who has been researching in Glen Armstrong’s microbiology lab for almost three years. This semester, during his final year of the Bachelor of Health Sciences program he was awarded the USRP scholarship for work involving E.coli. His research uses a humanized mouse model to better understand the pathology of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli O157 infection that can lead to severe kidney failure and death. After graduation this spring, Strecker hopes to pursue graduate studies
Valerie Hurdle,4th year Bachelor of Health Sciences studentProject Title: “Role of accessory proteins Bfpl, J, and K in the assembly of bundle-forming pili expressed by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli”
Valerie Hurdle has a background in microbiology so it was a natural fit for her to spend her last year as an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program in the lab of Glen Armstrong. She is using the USRP scholarship to look at the role of how proteins Bfpl, BfpJ, and BfpK contribute to enteropathogenic E. coli infections. Hurdle says no one really knows how these proteins work and her work will help scientists learn more about their role in pathogenesis.
Also receiving Markin USRP awards from the Bachelor of Health Sciences program were: Geeta Singh who works in the lab of Dr. Regine Mydlarski, and Mariam Narous who works in the lab of Dr. Ken Lukowiak
Standing Strong
Read about a Bachelor of Health Sciences student, Razelle Botha, who has overcome all odds to study at the University of Calgary, in the current issue of UCalgary Medicine Magazine Fall '09.
Spread the Love
The power of a sandwich
BHSc student’s simple idea for feeding the homeless blossoms into a province-wide non-profit organization
U of C student Rob Aronson founded Spread the Love to help feed the homeless.
/ Photo: Alberta Credit Unions
By Jacob Hardy
Walking down the halls of the O’Brien Centre, Miles Robert Aronson—known as Rob—looks like any other student at the University of Calgary. However, in his spare time, Aronson doubles as the founder and CEO of a non-profit organization that aspires to fight the global crisis of hunger.
Now a second-year student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program in the Faculty of Medicine, Aronson’s devotion to public service began at age 15 when he organized a small group of volunteers to make sandwiches and distribute them to the homeless.
Six years later, his initiative has blossomed into an inspiring project, becoming an official non-profit organization in the summer of 2008 known as Spread the Love.
In Aronson’s own words, Spread the Love “mobilizes communities to combat hunger through the simple power of the sandwich.” So it was only fitting that Aronson chose an off-campus burger joint to discuss his organization, which has so far delivered more than 29,000 sandwiches to the hungry.
Aronson reflects on the growth of his organization and its humble beginnings. “We didn’t even have a name, a logo or a website. We had nothing. It was just an idea.”
That idea spawned a monthly gathering of volunteers in Cochrane, and then grew into a movement that mobilized communities in more than nine cities across Alberta.
The central vision of the organization is to provide food to the hungry, but an equally important goal is to inspire youth.
Aronson says the organization serves as a leadership and education opportunity. Through involvement in the program, young leaders can gain confidence, fulfillment and a better understanding of the world around them.
University of Calgary Spread the Love volunteers make sandwiches for the homeless. U of C event sponsored by APEX Credit Union and Paintearth
Energy Services. All U of C students welcome to join U of C's Spread the Love Club. / Photo: Mike Sturk
What really sets Aronson’s vision apart is the focus on the sandwich. Spread the Love is unique in its simplicity by serving the needs of Alberta’s hungry through simple culinary effort. The sandwich accounts for most basic nutritional groups, is filling and, most importantly, pretty much anyone can make one.
The work of Spread the Love has recently been recognized with the YMCA Calgary Peace Medal and by being named the Alberta Credit Union’s Agent4Change. The organization is looking to expand further in Alberta and across Canada.
Aronson’s story demonstrates the power of individual action—how anyone can stand up and act within their community. This part-time student, part-time hunger-fighting CEO is truly a testament to his own mantra.
To learn more about Spread the Love, visit http://www.spreadthelove.ca/, find Spread the Love on Facebook or contact Rob Aronson at aronson@ucalgary.ca or mra@spread-the-love.ca.
