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Professor working to secure source for neutrons Drew Marquardt is helping put UWindsor at the centre of Canada’s resurgence in neutron scattering research. The assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, cross-appointed in the Department of Physics, took over the role of president of the Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS) in November 2020. “This is a thrill for me, but it is also very good positioning for UWindsor, specifically the Faculty of Science,” says Dr. Marquardt. CINS is a not-for-profit, voluntary organization that helps stimulate and facilitate Canadian scientific research using neutron beams, or neutron scattering. Neutron beams are a versatile and irreplaceable research tool for materials research, which includes advanced manufacturing and clean technologies, and promoting health through biomedical and life sciences. “Neutron beams are essential for measuring stress non-destructively, which is often needed to verify reliability in critical structural components, including…
Think Tank to spark health research collaboration WE-Spark Health Institute is hosting its third in a series of virtual Think Tanks, a unique opportunity for researchers, students, and the Windsor-Essex community to ignite ideas and move into research collaborations. The Think Tank will take place Friday, Feb. 5, 1 to 3:30 p.m. and is open to everyone. Click here for more information and to register. The event will begin with an overview of three projects, followed by breakout sessions: New Insights into the Biology of Claudin-low Mammary Cancer Kay Uwe Wagner, Karmanos Cancer Institute Conquering Social Isolation in Windsor-Essex: Together We Can Kathryn Pfaff and Deborah Sattler, UWindsor Faculty of Nursing and Windsor-Essex Compassion Care Community Transition to Adulthood with Type 1 Diabetes in a University Setting Jessica Kichler, UWindsor Department of Psychology The outcomes will focus on moving each project forward and building collaborations across Windsor-Essex. Courtesy: https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/2021-01-15/think-tank-spark-health-research-collaboration
With gratitude and appreciation for our community A holiday message from the WE-SPARK team We can all look back, knowing with great certainty, that 2020 was a test of our courage, determination, and resiliency. In March, Windsor-Essex launched its first health institute, at the same time a world-wide health crisis was at our doorstep. It was something we would have never anticipated, but all of you - healthcare providers, researchers, educators, students, volunteers, and our Windsor-Essex community - quickly stepped up to meet the challenge. We launched our COVID-19 Rapid Response grant call and applications poured in. We were overwhelmed by the home-grown, innovative ideas, awarding over $400,000 in local grants with more than 100 collaborators. Some projects focused on the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of children and healthcare workers. Some dissected best practices to help small businesses overcome crises. Others contributed toward the evolution of the testing process with a portable Lab-on-a-Chip, rapid PCR, environmental…
St. Clair among top research colleges in Canada Peter Wawrow, Director of Applied Research and Development, speaks at an event earlier this year. St. Clair College made the list of Canada's Top 50 Research Colleges in 2020. The annual ranking by Research Infosource Inc., is based on the amount of research grants colleges receive, along with contracts and contributions from third parties. St. Clair came in at number 50, making the list this year for the first time. "I feel honoured that our research efforts have been recognized in Canada's Top 50 Research Colleges," said Peter Wawrow, Director of Applied Research and Development at St. Clair College. "It is validation that the efforts we have made over the past couple of years are now starting to pay off." St. Clair received a total of $702,852 in sponsored research, with almost $487,000 of that in grants and contributions, and more than $216,000 of in-kind support. Wawrow said St. Clair received several small research grants, along with a couple of larger…
UWindsor researchers helping to develop COVID19 immunity test Professor John Trant is working to develop a simple test to determine whether a vaccine has effected immunity to COVID-19. After receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, you will want to know if you have gained immunity to the very contagious and potentially life-threatening virus. UWindsor professor John Trant is working with a biomedical industry partner to develop a simple antibody test that will quickly tell if the vaccine has boosted your immune system enough to create antibodies that will fight off the coronavirus. “With just a few minutes and a drop of blood, we will be able to determine if the vaccine has made you immune to COVID-19,” says Dr. Trant, a chemistry and biochemistry professor. A joint partnership grant of $75,000 from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Ontario Centres of Excellence through their Alliance VIP Partnership for Industry, along with support from the industry partner, Windsor-based biomedical company Audacia Bioscience,…
Windsor-Essex Compassion Care Community program gets major Trillium grant A $750,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Fund will help the Windsor-Essex Compassion Care Community offer support and services to 1,500 people living in isolation because of age or health related issues. The funding was awarded to the Hospice of Windsor & Essex County last November. Hospice serves as the lead sponsor for WECCC programs. New initiatives were officially launched Wednesday at the Life After Fifty centre on McEwan Avenue. The goal is to establish compassionate community supports in 60 neighbourhood environments that will benefit 1,500 people in Windsor and throughout the county. “We want to create a social network around people, a caring compassionate community that will offer the connections that people need,” said WECCC director Deborah Sattler.
Software buy “a game-changer” for local health researchers Acquiring a license for a web-based application to build and manage online research projects is a game-changer, says Lisa Porter, executive director of the WE-Spark Health Institute. The institute purchased Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), used around the world to support clinical and translational research studies. “With the number of collaborative, cross-institutional research projects growing across our region, we needed to have shared tools available to all health research stakeholders to enhance collaboration and reduce redundant systems” Dr. Porter says. “REDCap is a game-changer and puts us on the map with other world-class research institutes.” The app will enable researchers across Windsor-Essex to collect, store, and share de-identified health research data with collaborators under one platform. Its flexibility and customization will allow users to increase the quality of their research data and increase efficiencies in the data lifecycle management. To be granted…
A Team of Volunteers - The Windsor Essex Sewing Force When the COVID-19 pandemic landed on the world with both feet, citizen volunteers immediately launched into action, creating homemade hospital facemasks, caps and gowns to make up the shocking shortfall of personal protective equipment (PPE) in our healthcare system: i.e. medical facemasks, caps, and gowns. For anyone who thinks this involved a few elderly craftspeople setting aside their doilies and Queen Elizabeth commemorative needle-point, think again. The effort, which ultimately became the Windsor-Essex Sewing Force (WESF) more resembles a military operation in its scope, recruitment of personnel and logistical challenges. Among these mask-making volunteers were Rebecca Rudman, Karen Harris (on medical leave since the summer), Kelly Mullen (left the group in mid-May), Patricia Savage, Donna Piche, Jeannie Hopkins, six Windsor-Essex women who put their sewing skills and organizational abilities to work for the community. “We started at the end of March,” Rebecca remembers, “when…
Ontario considers field hospitals for long-term care residents, cites Windsor The staffing crisis at Heron Terrace long-term care home in Windsor during the pandemic’s first wave last spring was so dire that at one point only three employees showed up to care for 140 residents. It took so long — five days — to get residents’ test results that Windsor Regional Hospital began labelling residents as hospital patients to get the results faster. These revelations are contained in a transcript of Windsor Regional’s testimony before Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission on Nov. 19. The transcript was released Monday. The commission released its second interim report Friday. The hospital was asked to testify about using its field hospital in the St. Clair College SportsPlex to care for and cohort long-term care residents infected with the virus. With more than 100 outbreaks in long-term care and retirement homes in Ontario in the last six weeks, including six in Windsor and Essex County, and 300 more deaths, Premier Doug Ford said last week the government…
