Sonya Soh
In the labs and out in the community:
FoMD student-led CureCancer TIMbit Tuesday a sweet success
On September 6, 2016, CureCancer held its first Technology, Innovation and Medicine (TIM) bit Tuesday event for the public. Summer students offered coffee and donuts to those interested in how cancer develops and how new cures can be designed from protein structures.
CureCancer is a new network of scientists and collaborators at the University of Alberta who are united on one perspective: better outreach into the public sector is necessary to empower, fund and strengthen the impact of cancer research. CureCancer aims to make their lifetime of work more understandable and meaningful to fellow community members, who they see as their partners in innovation.
Frodo Bark, a second-year Biochemistry student who presented his studies on cancer signalling explained: "TIMbit Tuesday is a bridge between the work of researchers at the university and the community it will ultimately impact; without such bridges, our research is done in the dark and people don't realize how they can support our work or even benefit from it."
The inaugural TIMbit event drew in a good mix of attendees, including Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock. CureCancer volunteers led the event, where students funded by organizations including Alberta Cancer Foundation and NACTRC demonstrated how a summer's worth of research can lead to advances in understanding cancer mechanisms.
"What draws me to cancer research in particular is how dynamic it is," said Steffane McLennan, one of four summer students who was presenting her work on a breast cancer driving protein. "Cancer is a disease that we do not fully understand yet and it is exciting to be pushing the boundaries of knowledge every day."
Second-year biochemistry student Sonya Soh presented her studies on how a new breast cancer and leukemia target behaves on cell membranes in order to help design novel drug molecules, and developed a new way to use polymers to make membrane nanoparticles.
Anna Jutla presented her studies on an oncogenic protein involved in triple negative breast cancer and a rare pediatric cancer called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. She hopes her research will ultimately "give patients more time to enjoy life to the fullest. We hope to create effective drug therapies so maybe, in the future, patients don't have to spend as much time in hospitals or worrying about their treatments; I think this is why public support really matters."
Visitors also received a tour of NANUC, the National High Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center which recently received $2 million in funding from Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions and the Canada Foundation for Innovation for drug discovery research.
The next TIMbit Tuesday will be held at the University of Alberta on December 6, 2016 with a new group of presenters from CureCancer offering tours, snacks and engaging conversation about how their research is making a difference.
-files by Sonya Soh
On the airwaves:
FoMD PhD student creates informative radio series as part of her CBC media fellowship
Lauren Albrecht, a PhD student in the Department of Pediatrics, was awarded a media fellowship by Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions to work at CBC Radio this summer. During her fellowship, Albrecht created two series to be aired in September 2016: one on child health and one on gender bias in science and research.
Learn more about the AIHS media fellowship and listen to the two series online.
-files by Judith Chrystal
On the playing fields:
Medicine wins two top U of A intramural awards
At the university-wide intramural meeting on September 6, 2016, Medicine was presented with two top awards among all the faculties and associations:
- Top Overall Unit for Women participants
- Top Overall Unit in Conference A
Credit goes to the Class of 2019 Sports Reps (Alex Bain, Kaitlin Thomas, Zander Laurie, Kevin Verhoeff), who have coordinated Medicine's intramurals participation over the past year, as well as students from all four years who played on various teams.
"This is a great achievement that I think speaks to the wonderful student life and culture we have in our program," said Yasamin Mahjoub, President of the Medical Students' Association.