A UWindsor research team has targeted and killed 20 varieties of cancer cells using a lab-synthesized drug compound inspired by the common spider lily plant. Chemistry professor Siyaram Pandey says the compound beat out any anti-cancer drug currently in use.

“This drug is very selective and targets the mitochondria of various cancer cells to induce apoptosis, which means the cancer cells commit suicide and the normal cells continue to thrive,” says Dr. Pandey. “We are talking about a drug that could be 10 times more effective that the very toxic chemotherapy drug Taxol, and our compound is non-toxic.”

In previous studies, Pandey found that the natural extract of the spider lily plant, a compound called pancratistatin, targeted and killed cancer cells. However, it took one kilogram of plant bud to make one milligram of extract.

Pandey, along with his UWindsor research team of graduate and undergraduate students, partnered with researchers James McNulty from McMaster University and Tomas Hudlicky from Brock University. Dr. Hudlicky synthesized and patented seven compound variations and the UWindsor laboratory team tested them on animals with tumours as well as 20 varieties of cancer cells, including breast, prostate, melanoma and bone.

By chemically synthesizing versions for this study, the researchers created a more potent cancer-killing compound. These compounds are non-toxic because instead of targeting the protein tubulin or DNA, which are the same for cancerous and healthy cells, they target only the mitochondria of the cancer cells.

“This is the first time we got a compound which can distinguish between cancer and normal cells,” Pandey says. He says the next step toward making a treatment available would be to have a company develop a clinical trial of the patented drug compounds.

The study’s results appear in Nature’s online publication, Scientific Reports, in the article, Cancer Cell Mitochondria Targeting by Pancratistatin Analogs is Dependent on Functional Complex II and III.

Four Lancer varsity teams are looking to make some playoff noise, with three series starting Wednesday, February 22.

The men’s hockey team will open a best-of-three quarter-final against the Ryerson Rams after besting the Laurier Golden Hawks in the opening round. The puck will drop at 8 p.m. Wednesday at South Windsor Arena. Games two and three are slated for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.

The men’s basketball team will host the McMaster Marauders in a single-game elimination contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the St. Denis Centre.

The women’s hockey team is in Guelph to face off against the Gryphons on Wednesday, and will be back in Windsor for the second of three games on Friday, February 24. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at South Windsor Arena.

Women’s basketball will host an Ontario University Athletics quarter-final February 25 against the victor of a preliminary match-up between York and Ryerson. Saturday’s action starts at 2 p.m. in the St. Denis Centre.

Tickets for any of the above home games is $10, with a youth and senior rate of $8, and $3 admission for UWindsor students. There will be no advance ticket sales; pay at the door starting one hour before game time.

Find more information, including details on admission to away games, at goLancers.ca.

The most valuable experiences of his time at the University of Windsor have been those that gave him the freedom to apply what he was learning in a semi-controlled environment, says psychology student Patrick Ng.

His list of these experiences, from service learning to community service and undergraduate research, won him a free sweatshirt in the Question of the Month Contest. Provost Douglas Kneale asked to recount their involvement with “high-impact practices” — activities that help students to become deeply engaged with their learning.

The question reflects the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), currently underway on campus, which seeks information on such high-impact practices as:

• Being part of a learning community or some other formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together
• Taking courses that include a community-based project (service-learning)
• Working with a faculty member on a research project
• Internships, co-ops, field experiences, student teaching, or clinical placements
• Studying abroad
• Undertaking a culminating senior experience (like capstone courses, senior project or thesis, comprehensive exam, portfolio, etc.)

Ng wrote that “high–impact practices help me develop professionally by facilitating skill or personal development and providing opportunities to learn about the field, myself, and best practices for applying what I’ve learned.”

He said his culminating course in “Community Psychology” called upon everything he’d learned in other classes, and a project for “Management and Organizational Life” helped him to zero in on his own goals.

“This course was the first time I got the hint of how important the reason I do something is in my satisfaction with a project,” Ng wrote. “I really come to life when the purpose or goal of my project is to genuinely improve the life of someone who really craves it, even if it’s one person at a time.”

Dr. Kneale calls Ng’s story inspiring.

“Patrick is really making the most of his time at the University of Windsor,” Kneale says. “But the community, the University, and the students are the beneficiaries of his amazing engagement and leadership.”

The next round of the Question of the Month contest will start in early March.

In the meantime, students in their first and final years are encouraged to complete the National Survey of Student Engagement, which they can access through their Blackboard sites. They will receive a $5 coupon for Starbucks by e-mail within about a week of completing the survey.

For more information on the survey, please visit: http://www1.uwindsor.ca/provost/nsse.

A class Tuesday, March 7, will help staff and faculty responsible for maintaining UWindsor websites learn the basics of the Drupal content management system.

Drupal 7 - Basic Training will focus on teaching site editors how to create pages and events, upload graphics and use menus and blocks, says instructor Rob Aitkens, web architecture, development and design lead in Public Affairs and Communications.

The class is aimed at employees with little previous experience with the system, for those upgrading their sites from version 6 to 7, or as a refresher. It will run 1:30 to 4 p.m. and is limited to 16 participants. Registration is required through this online form.

Shortlisted candidates for the position of dean of the Faculty of Education will visit the UWindsor campus over the next two weeks.

Each will make a public presentation at 11 a.m. in Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall:

• Marie-Josée Berger, associate vice-principal, continuing education, Bishop’s University, on Monday, February 27;
• Ken Montgomery, associate dean  for research and graduate programs, Faculty of Education, University of Regina, on Wednesday, March 1;
• Joao Paraskeva, director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture and professor of educational leadership and policy studies, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, on Friday, March 3;
• Donna Kotsopoulos, professor in the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Science (Department of Mathematics), Wilfrid Laurier University, on Thursday, March 9.

During the course of these visits, the candidates will also meet with the search committee; senior administration; faculty, staff and student in education; representatives from the Greater Essex County District Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board; and the University community. 

The search committee invites members of the campus community to provide written comments on the suitability of the candidates in confidence to Iva Gentcheva, ivag@uwindsor.ca by noon Thursday, March 16.

Candidates’ CVs are available for viewing at http://www1.uwindsor.ca/provost/dean-of-education-search. Please note: this page is password-protected and can only be accessed with UWin ID and password.