A team led by UWindsor biologist Lisa Porter has received more than $1 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to advance research on an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, is the aggressive cancer that claimed the life of Gord Downie, lead singer for the Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip. Dr. Porter’s research focuses on finding new therapy directions to treat GBM.

The research began with funding from the Canadian Cancer Society, said Porter, the translational research director who helped found the Windsor Cancer Research Group.

“The results were so promising that we applied for this larger federal funding,” she said. “We are thrilled to have this support to continue the work.”

The funding, part of a $275 million announcement the federal health minister made earlier this week, will be spread over five years. It will be used to amass pre-clinical data, using samples for testing.

“While the goal is to move onto patients, we need to first complete all testing in the lab,” explained Porter.

The funding will support seven researchers, including students, who work in Porter’s lab. The research is being done in collaboration with Windsor neurosurgeon Abdalla Shamisa, Windsor oncologist Swati Kulkarni, Wayne State University researcher Ana deCarvalho, Michigan State University researcher Eran Andrechek and cancer researcher Daniel Schramek from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto.

“It takes a lot of collaborators to move this forward,” Porter said.

Porter’s GBM research is one of 370 health research projects across the country included in this week’s funding announcement. CIHR is the major federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada.

“Health research has the power to help us tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing us as a society,” said Michael J. Strong, CIHR president. “As a researcher myself, I can say that the work is rarely glamourous, but it is always worthwhile.”

In making the announcement in Quebec City Tuesday, federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said investments in health research are some of the most important the nation can make.

“These federally funded projects hold the potential for scientific advancements, new treatments and improved quality of life for Canadians living with a variety of health conditions while creating high-quality, middle-class jobs at hospitals and universities across the country,” she said.

─Sarah Sacheli

University of Windsor and St. Clair College students have joined forces to challenge schools worldwide in a competition that encourages the development of a high-speed technology that has the potential to revolutionize mass transit.

The joint Windsor team is one of two Canadian entries to advance to the final round of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition and one of 21 worldwide that will compete this summer at the California headquarters of SpaceX — a rocket and spacecraft company spearheaded by Elon Musk.

The group’s initial design work has helped them advance to the final round. After spending more than a year designing the pod and running calculations, simulations and modelling, uWinLoop turned to students from St. Clair College to assist with manufacturing.

“With their extensive manufacturing resources, we will be able to manufacture the pod faster, which will give us more time to test and iterate on designs to be competitive and win in California,” says uWinLoop president and founder Stefan Sing, a third-year student of mechanical engineering.

Hyperloop technology uses electric propulsion in a low-pressure tube to propel a pod above the track using magnetic levitation and transport people or goods at speeds over 1,000 km/h. This first-of-its-kind competition challenges students to build a functional, scaled-down, prototype that can propel at maximum speed and stop within 100 feet of the end of SpaceX’s vacuum test track.

Sing says the team hopes to have a working prototype by early May to maximize the testing phase. The team is now fundraising to cover the hefty $87,000 cost of manufacturing and testing required to meet stringent safety measures.

“We are looking for support from companies in almost all technical and engineering spaces, as well as other community supporters,” says Sing. “From network communications and energy storage to material supply and logistics, we need all of these resources to compete in California. Students from all disciplines are welcome to apply and come play an active role in making university history.”

The team has setup a GoFundME page and also a sponsorship package that includes a breakdown of costs and project timeline.

—Kristie Pearce

Leddy Library is transforming the current course reserves system with Course Resource Lists powered by Leganto, a new resource management system that integrates with the University of Windsor’s Blackboard system to create and manage online reading lists.

Starting March 15, faculty can submit their course readings via the online platform by adding the library resource list tool to their Blackboard course sites.

“Course Resource Lists serves as one-stop shop that connects faculty and students with Leddy’s print and online resources as well as external resources needed for courses,” said Dave Johnston, Leddy Library’s head of Access Services. “It enhances the traditional Course Reserves service by offering faculty an innovative approach to build, modify, and re-use course reading list directly in Blackboard each term.”

In January, some instructors had the opportunity to pilot the new platform with their winter classes.

“Course Resource Lists allowed me to efficiently gather and share sources with students,” said Tim Brunet, Speech Communications to Inform professor, who was part of the pilot group. “Leganto ultimately made my course more accessible because I replaced the course textbook with readings on reserve, online journals, and organized links to multimedia sources.”

Course Resource Lists transform the student learning experience by providing quick and easy access to course resources.

“All of our course resources were organized directly in our Blackboard course site,” said Emily Whitfield, second-year student studying English and media, communications and film. “It allowed me to revisit resources easily without having to carry a heavy textbook or a lot of papers.”

The Leddy Library team will support faculty with the creation of their course resource lists, provide copyright assistance, and conduct digitization of print material. The library will also host workshops to provide Course Resource Lists system training for faculty.

Instructors who wish to use the library’s course reserve system for their classes in the spring and summer can find more information and get started by visiting http://leddy.uwindsor.ca/course-resources-faculty.

—Marcie Demmans

An event next week at the University of Windsor offers high school students and their parents a chance to meet with science faculty and students.

Parents Night is hosted by the USci Network and the Faculty of Science to showcase the many opportunities the University of Windsor is able to offer science students. The event is open to all parents and prospective students and invites them to discover why UWindsor, with its faculty-to-student ration of 1:16, is the destination science program in Ontario.

“It is a great chance to learn more about the opportunities we have available in undergraduate research, service learning, and studying abroad,” says dean of science Chris Houser.

Current students and their parents are also encouraged to attend.

The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m., on Wednesday, March 20, in room 100 of the Toldo Health Education Centre. Free parking will be available in the Education Lot.

—Darko Milenkovic

The UWill Discover! conference will present the research, scholarship, and creative work of undergraduate and graduate students, March 18 to 21 in the CAW Student Centre.

Free registration is now available to members of the campus and broader communities.

Conference chair Phil Wernette says it is an excellent opportunity for students to share their work in an interdisciplinary context with faculty and their peers.

“It is an expression of the goals and aspirations of our University, to develop deeper and broader connections between teaching and research, between learning and the community, and between the classroom, the lab, and the working world,” he says.

Dr. Wernette says the event will bring together students, faculty, and staff across all university disciplines, along with regional business and community partners.

“Discovery can take many forms and varies from field to field,” he says. “Research, business pitches, prototypes, film production, music and drama performance, compositions, educational tools, scholarship, are all types of discovery.”

The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice will welcome Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and former Attorney-General of Ontario, for his lecture, “A Growing Tolerance for Injustice in Canada amid Quasi-Judicial Chaos in Ottawa,” in Windsor Law’s Moot Court on Thursday, March 21, from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m

Bryant will discuss the state of the justice system in Canada with particular reference to the constitutional relationship between Attorney General and First Minister, and a growing trend that dilutes the supremacy of our Constitution. It is the 2019 entry in the Access to Justice Distinguished Lecture Series.

The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice is the leading peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the study of access to justice. The Yearbook was launched in 1979 and is edited by Windsor Law. The journal is independently refereed and publishes French and English essays and book reviews.

The event is free, but attendees are asked to register on Eventbrite. For more information about the event, visit the Windsor Law website.

—Rachelle Prince

Business students partnered with RBC to host the second annual Border City Financial Case Competition at the University of Windsor on March 9.

The Odette School of Business was one of nine institutions from across Ontario — plus Georgetown University from Washington, D.C. — represented by 16 student teams.

UWindsor alum Adriano Durante (MBA 2017) and student Justice Dundas wrote the case, concerning a fictitious company facing succession planning issues. Teams received the brief a week in advance and presented their recommendations in front of a panel of judges which included officials from RBC divisions and the UWindsor’s Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre), as well as the case writers.

Teams were also required to devise and present a spontaneous disruptor case. They were given two hours to work on this case and the top six teams presented their findings to the judges, who awarded top honours to Western University.

The student organizers of the event included co-chairs Nico Fazio and William Alfieri, along with B.J. Ivanovski, Rachel Khouri, and Michael Valente.