Woman holding pen over creative writing journal.An online event April 9 will celebrate the work of UWindsor creative writing students.

Gala to celebrate creative writing talents

A live online event will celebrate the work of UWindsor creative writing students tonight — Friday, April 9.

The gala will feature readings by participating students as well as a special guest appearance by 2021 writer-in-residence Cecily Nicholson.

“Everyone has done an absolutely marvellous job putting this together,” says creative writing professor Nicole Markotic. “Come out and celebrate the talents of all our wonderful students. They’ve really done well this entire, strange year!”

The action is via video on YouTube; attendees will also be able to share their thoughts in real time via chat starting at 7 p.m. Check it out at youtu.be/K-y6lxy1-Tc.

Andrew SwanBiology professor Andrew Swan has been awarded a $30,000 grant to study a protein associated with cell growth in hopes of identifying treatment for cancer.

Fruit flies could hold key to unlocking cancer mystery, says UWindsor researcher

The tiny insect attracted to overripe bananas and discarded apple cores is being used at the University of Windsor to unlock one of the mysteries surrounding cancer in humans.

UWindsor biologist Andrew Swan is using fruit flies to study a protein that holds cell division in check. The protein, called tuberin, is the product of a tumour suppressor gene in our DNA. It’s been established that tuberin is related to cell growth, but Dr. Swan says its role in mitosis, or cell division, requires further study.

“This is where we come in,” said Swan. “Our collaborator, Dr. Elizabeth Fidalgo Da Silva from Dr. Lisa Porter’s lab, found that tuberin has some responsibility in mitosis as well and we want to see if this protein is playing the role we think it is. If we’re right, this could represent a druggable target for many human cancers.”

Swan has been awarded a $30,000 research grant through the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation’s annual Seeds4Hope program. It will fund his research for the initial year of what he envisions could be a five-year project.

Organ and tissue growth in humans involves two phenomena: cell division and cell growth. Cell division is how cells proliferate. Cell growth is how cells increase in mass, largely through the production of proteins. In healthy development, both of these phenomena are carefully controlled, Swan explained.

“The misregulation of growth and proliferation are two critical hallmarks of cancer,” he said. “Tuberin is a tumour suppressor protein that lies at the heart of cell and tissue growth regulation.”

Fruit flies have cancer genes just like humans do. By experimenting on the tiny insects, Swan hopes to identify how tuberin can be used to design drug therapies for cancer treatment.

“Fruit flies are one of the best model organisms for looking at cell growth and cell division,” he said.

Swan’s project is one of three UWindsor cancer studies being funded by the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation this year. The foundation’s Seeds4Hope program provides start-up funding for locally based cancer research. The goal is to bring together local scientists and physicians to find better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat cancer.

Graduate student Adam Pilon is working on the project. Swan said the funding will allow him to bring another researcher on board. In addition to research outcomes, the project provides hands-on training opportunities for UWindsor students.

—Sarah Sacheli

COVID relief challenge bingo cardMBA students raised about $4,500 for the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation’s COVID-19 Assistance Fund through a unique bingo card appeal.

Student fundraiser exceeds goal for hospital COVID fund

Students in the Odette MBA program topped their own target in a fundraising effort to support the COVID-19 Assistance Fund of the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation.

Ronak Doowd and Isabella Baggio launched a unique campaign last month, creating a bingo card with 16 boxes calling for donations ranging from $1 to $20. They encouraged the 32 members of their class to circulate the cards, soliciting contributions from friends and family.

“The hospital is going through a lot right now, so we wanted to help out as much as we could,” Doowd said.

The foundation’s fund helps the hospital to purchase equipment and supplies urgently needed to deal with the pandemic. The student effort added about $4,500 to the fund, easily besting the original goal of $4,000.

“I think we all know someone who is in the healthcare field or a frontline worker, so if this could support them in any way, we are making a difference and that’s what is important,” said Baggio.

Read more on the hospital’s website.

Young woman consulting laptop computerIf you want to know what students are wondering, check out this list of their top questions and queries.

Students seeking info on range of issues

Campus partners are working to maintain a robust set of Knowledge Base Articles (KBAs).

The team has compiled a weekly digest of the most-referenced KBAs to streamline student-focused questions to ask.UWindsor, supporting consistent communication with current and future students.

These are this week’s five top-referenced KBAs:

Submit common questions to askkba@uwindsor.ca.

detail of embroidery from Redwork: The Emperor of AtlantisProfessor Catherine Heard is seeking to engage people as co-creators in a needlework art project.

Conversation scheduled for Sunday afternoon

An online discussion of the art project Redwork: The Emperor of Atlantis, featuring UWindsor professor Catherine Heard and textile artist Shiemara Hogarth, is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 11. Incorrect information appeared in yesterday’s edition of DailyNews.

Hosted by the Art Gallery of Windsor in collaboration with the Niagara Artists Centre and the Textile Museum of Canada, the event seeks to engage members of the public as co-creators in the sculptural installation work-in-progress, scheduled for exhibition in 2023.

Attendees will have a chance to request a free sewing kit to contribute an embroidered patch. Find details, including registration for the webinar, on the gallery’s website.