Stephen Ouimette, Tom McCamus, Michael BlakeO brave new world / That has such people in’t! From left: Stephen Ouimette as Trinculo, Tom McCamus as Stephano and Michael Blake as Caliban in the Stratford Festival production of “The Tempest.”

Trip offers opportunity to see grads on Stratford stage

The Alumni Association invites grads and friends of the University of Windsor to join a trip to the Stratford Festival on Wednesday, October 17.

A motor coach will leave campus at 8:30 a.m. to arrive in plenty of time for the 2 p.m. performance of The Tempest in the Festival Theatre.

UWindsor alumni figuring prominently in this production include director Antoni Cimolino (BFA 1984, D. Hum 2004), Martha Henry (LLD 1991) as Prospero, and acting grads Tom McCamus (BA 2007), Stephen Ouimette (BFA 1977, LLD 2016), Brigit Wilson (BFA 1982), and Alexis Gordon (BFA 2012).

A dinner reception will follow the show. Tickets include admission to the play and the dinner for $65; an $80 option also includes return transportation on the coach from Windsor to Stratford. Find more information and register online through the alumni website.

turkey dinner with fixingsShare your Thanksgiving traditions with a student new to Canada through the Host for the Holidays program.

International students seeking opportunities to immerse in Canadian traditions

The University of Windsor’s International Student Centre will once again be sponsoring its annual Host for the Holidays program this Thanksgiving and is reaching out to generous faculty and staff members willing to share a traditional holiday meal and a taste of Canadian culture with international students.

“Students new to Canada are on an educational adventure and are always keen to meet new people and share Canadian cultural traditions,” says Beth Oakley, director of the International Student Centre.

“This is also a great opportunity for people in the community to get to know an international student and showcase some of what makes Canada a great place to live.”

New this year, the International Student Centre will host an information session on Wednesday, September 19, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre Commons.

Stop by the table to speak with a host and a student participant to learn more about this great opportunity to host an international student. If you have ever hosted a student or been a student participant, you are welcome to drop by and share your experiences.

Luis Rueda, Abedalrhman Alkhateeb, Ashraf Abou Tabl, Alioune NgomLuis Rueda, Abedalrhman Alkhateeb, Ashraf Abou Tabl, and Alioune Ngom utilized machine learning to help predict survivability rates of breast cancer patients.

UWindsor researchers hope to increase survivability of breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide, largely due to the unpredictable ways in which the body responds to cancer treatment.

A collaborative study at the University of Windsor is seeking to identify breast cancer survival rates for individuals undertaking hormone therapy, radiotherapy, or surgery.

Doctoral student Ashraf Abou Tabl from the Department of Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering, and post-doctoral researcher Abedalrhman Alkhateeb from the School of Computer Science, have analyzed the genetic activity of breast cancer patients to better understand bodily responses to cancer treatment with the help of their supervisors and research team.

Abou Tabl and Dr. Alkhateeb gathered data from an online publicly accessible dataset with a total of 347 patients, both living and deceased.

Computational methods and machine learning approaches developed in the PRIB-lab at the School of Computer Science was utilized to extract and pre-process the data, and then to make predictions based on the genomes, proteins, and clinical data of the patients to determine survivability of future patients based on a given therapy.

“Every time the database is updated with further patient information the machine learns and becomes more efficient in terms of predicting patient survivability,” said Alkhateeb.

Patients that have been identified to have lived for five years or longer after their treatment are considered to have survived.

“This would allow for better understanding of which patients should be given which treatments based on their bodily response to increase the rate of cancer survivability,” Alkhateeb said.

Also assisting with the research were doctoral student Huy Quang Pham, engineering professor Waguih ElMaraghy, and the principal investigators, computer science professors Alioune Ngom and Luis Rueda.

The study has been published in their collaborative paper, A Novel Approach for Identifying Relevant Genes for Breast Cancer Survivability on Specific Therapies. Read the full publication in Evolutionary Bioinformatics.

—article and photo by Darko Milenkovic

Leddy Library info deskThe Leddy Library will conduct guided tours of its facilities, resources, and services this week.

Library tours hold promise of learning and earning

Guided tours of the Leddy Library this week offer patrons new and old more than a chance to familiarize themselves with its resources and services. Students who attend may enter a few draw for a $50 gift certificate to the Campus Bookstore.

Library staff and librarians will conduct 20-minute tours of the building and its facilities starting in the lobby at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, September 18 to 20.

The tours are free with no need for advance registration; find additional details on the Leddy website. To request a specialized group tour, contact please contact Angela Sullivan at 519-253-3000, ext. 3180.

“The Road to Emmaus,” 1877 painting by Robert Zund.“The Road to Emmaus,” 1877 painting by Robert Zund.

Lecture to use Bible story as model for church youth outreach

When Jesus encountered disciples on the road to Emmaus, according to the Gospel of Luke, their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Claire Bondy will explore how this story can be a model in a free public presentation “Called to accompany: How to draw young people back into the life of the church,” at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Hall, on Tuesday, September 18, at 7:30 p.m.

“Each of us is called to walk along the path with the young church, whether they are sitting in the pews every week or have wandered in a different direction,” Bondy says.

She is a family and youth ministry specialist for the Roman Catholic diocese of London. Her talk is presented by Assumption University as part of its Christian Culture Series. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is located at 4401 Mount Royal Drive.