The BMI Bulletin
E-MAIL BMIGSA@gmail.com
INSIDE
Editors’ note ..................................1
Good News Announcemnets ..................2
focus on bmi research ...................3
seminars & Clubs ..........................3
Coming Events…………………… 4
PhD Seminars ...............................5
graduate student info.....................5
Post Doc Info................…...….
5
Get Involved…………....................5
rule reminder .................................6
acknowledgements........................7
ACTIVITIES ABOUND!
Good News!
CIHR Awards
BMIGSA BBQ
Page 2
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14-06-2006 Issue N 22
No-Smoking?
Centre for Research on
Environmental
Microbiology
by Valerie Greco-Stewart
Page 2
Ottawa/Gatineau area are banded together making them 80,
000 students strong. This has allowed for in addition to the
discounted bus passes the power to negotiate better services.
For us over here at RGN the needs are pretty clear to me we
need a reliable 85 (!) and a city bus which covers the current
shuttle route (which costs 160,000$/year). Now to increase
student fees in this manner there must be a vote from the
populace. Some of us (who have been around a long while)
may remember the similar case for the U of O Gym which was
at one time a fee based service before it was rolled into our
tuition at a discount. The pass would likely be implemented the
same year as the light rail opens in 2009 yet the decision to
commit will likely be in the next year, so now is the time for
your input!
This brings me to the topic of tuition and students’
love/hate relationship with it. I often think of McGill as a good
example: an institution with low tuition fees and an international
reputation. To my surprise, I found out that although tuition fees
are frozen at their current low rates, student fees are not and
as a consequence are almost as high as the tuition fees
themselves (interesting loop hole). So universities are not
magically sustaining themselves on next to nothing as their
frozen tuition may indicate. It seems Universities are constantly
trying to find the balance between the costs of being a first
class institution and a competitive tuition fees for prospective
students. When the BMIGSA surveyed students earlier this
year regarding University spending and student satisfaction,
the majority of BMI respondents indicated lower tuition was
their top priority, although students also want (continued p.2)
Editors’ Note
Fiona Frappier, Acting Editor
Our editor-in-chief is in Brazil on
conference followed by a vacation (lucky
girl!). This issue is round two for her
bulletin/council replacement team. We are
still very impressed by Nicole and frankly
aren’t sure we have the stamina to keep
this up which brings me to a reminder from the last issue:
thanks can be sent to Nicole at narbo081@uottawa.ca .
Last Thursday at the BBQ we had a chance to meet
the University’s transportation coordinator Danny Albert at his
booth for the Commuter Challenge. (For those of you who still
want to sign up to the commuter challenge you have until June
16th.) I learned a few interesting facts talking with Danny: Did
you know that Ottawa should be the winner for the commuter
challenge? Over 60% of the population makes environmentally
and fiscally for us poor students, responsible choices of car
pooling, taking the bus, biking or walking at least a few times a
week. U of O students are even better with 83% taking
advantage of these options. Probably not a surprise to anyone
who sees the many cyclists out commuting everyday, Ottawa is
one of the most commuter conscious cities in the country. The
post-secondary institutions of Ottawa are becoming
increasingly aware of this importance and want to appeal to
prospective students by offering a generously discounted bus
pass with the price rolled into tuition. This concept is especially
powerful since the 9 post-secondary institutions of the
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THE BMI Bulletin
CREM has been generating nearly a million dollars per
year in research funding since its inception. This funding
comes from peer-reviewed provincial, national, and
international sources as well as the private sector. Current
projects at CREM include research on mycobacteria and
legionellae in drinking water distribution systems and
biofilms, microbicide susceptibility of human respiratory
coronavirus (a representative for the SARS virus), the fate
of a surrogate of noroviruses on animate and inanimate
surfaces and foods as well as in indoor air, microbicide
inactivation of the spores of Bacillus anthracis and other
sporulating bacteria, the use of denaturing gradient gel
electrophoresis (DGGE) to study the influence of changing
water disinfection practices on the composition of biofilms in
drinking water distribution systems, and UV-light-mediated
disinfection of drinking water. In the past seven years,
CREM’s investigators based in the Faculty of Medicine have
published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, papers in
conference proceedings and book chapters in addition to
delivering more than 125 invited lectures and at least 50
conference presentations.
better services and more scholastic options (love/hate and
so it continues). Lucky for us the newest tuition increase is
only 4% which is in keeping with most universities (tuition
hikes) in this province. Looking for comprehensive info on
tuition in Canada? Check out the Graduate Students’
Association of Canada website http://www.gsac-aedc.ca/.
The Centre for Research on
Environmental Microbiology (CREM)
By Valerie Greco-Stewart
Established in 1998, the Centre for
Research on Environmental Microbiology
(CREM) at the University of Ottawa conducts
research to better understand the fate, behavior, and
transportation of human pathogens in the environment and
their spread through water, food, air, and municipal wastes
as well as animate and inanimate surfaces. Such pathogens
and their environmental spread comprise a significant threat
to human health, particularly in healthcare settings. CREM
also investigates and promotes safer and better means of
interrupting the environmental spread of infectious
diseases.
Dr. Syed A. Sattar is the founding Director of CREM. Its
Associate Director is Dr. Rees Kassen of the Dept. of
Biology of this university and the Director of Research is
Ms. Susan Springthorpe. The 12 Principal Investigators that
are currently members of CREM come from this university’s
departments of BMI, Biology, Earth Sciences and Chemical
Engineering. In addition, CREM has 25 Associates who are
internationally-recognized experts in research, teaching and
regulatory affairs. CREM’s current full-time staff is 18.
To date, the broad range of research conducted at
CREM has helped immensely the fields of microbial
ecology, infection control, and public health. CREM’s work
on microbial pollution of drinking/recreational waters has
made fundamental contributions to the improved
understanding of pathogen survival and transport in the
water environment. Additionally, CREM is the only civilian
lab in Canada with the equipment and expertise to study the
fate of pathogens in air. Such studies in aerobiology have
helped improve our understanding of the seasonality of
disease outbreaks, especially those by viruses, by
elucidating the influence that relative humidity and air
temperature have on airborne pathogens. Further studies at
CREM have generated much original data on the behavior
of human pathogens in several types of foods and this
information has proven invaluable in understanding the
genesis of foodborne outbreaks of infectious disease and in
instituting measures for their prevention. CREM has also
assisted regional, provincial, and federal authorities in
Canada to update and refine their methods and guidelines
for handling and disposal of waste materials and has
established monitoring techniques. Finally, CREM’s
research has made several significant contributions in the
area of microbial control through the use of prevention and
treatment technologies, especially chemical microbicides.
Its work has been highly influential in establishing how
microbicides are assessed; presently, it is a world leader in
this area.
Good News Announcements
CIHR Doctoral Awards
Congratulations go out to Charlene Young of the
Angel lab (Yeah Charlene!) and to Elliott Faller of the
Macpherson lab. Both of these fabulous individuals have
been awarded the CIHR doctoral award under the Infections
and Immunity priority call. Hats off!
CIHR Poster Competitions
The U of O Rocks Again!
The CIHR competition went well this year; we have
a gold level Excellence Award winner! Joel Ross from Dr.
Robin Parks’ lab (at the OHRI) has been recognized as
being among the 11 best posters at this prestigious National
competition. Fantastic! Congratulations are out to you.
For this same competition, CMM student Hossein
Aleyasin from Dr. David Parks’ lab won the silver level
Excellence Award. Congrats are out to you as well.
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THE BMI Bulletin
BMIGSA BBQ!
Focus on BMI Research
Thanks to all who made it out for another
successful BBQ. All profits go towards making your
graduate student experience more enjoyable (like that
volleyball net that grad students can borrow from us free of
charge… email BMIGSA@gmail.com for more details).
Congratulations to the following BMI researchers for
their recent publications:
Antunes TT, Gagnon A, Chen B, Pacini F, Smith TJ,
Sorisky A.
Interleukin-6 release from human abdominal adipose cells is
regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone: effect of
adipocyte differentiation and anatomic depot.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Jun;290(6):E1140-4.
Lee KK, de Repentigny Y, Saulnier R, Rippstein P,
Macklin WB, Kothary R.Dominant-negative beta1 integrin
mice have region-specific myelin defects accompanied by
alterations in MAPK activity.
Glia. 2006 Jun;53(8):836-44.
Ungureanu NH, Cloutier M, Lewis SM, de Silva N, Blais
JD, Bell JC, Holcik M.
Internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation of Apaf-1,
but not XIAP, is regulated during UV-induced cell death.
J Biol Chem. 2006 Jun 2;281(22):15155-63. Epub 2006 Apr
4.
Ramirez-Arcos, S., Chin-Yee, I., Hume, H., Fearon, M.,
Goldman, M., Eckert, K., Martincic, I., Peters, G. and
Richardson, S..
A fatal septic shock case associated with transfusiontransmitted Serratia marcescens. Transfusion. (2006)
46:679-681.
Lazzaro MA, Pepin D, Pescador N, Murphy BD,
Vanderhyden BC, Picketts DJ.
The ISWI protein SNF2L regulates steroidogenic acute
regulatory protein (StAR) expression during terminal
differentiation of ovarian granulosa cells.
Mol Endocrinol. 2006 Jun 1
Here’s Charlene Young from
the Angel lab with our next
generation (or a few down
the line) scientist and council
member… (isn’t she cute?
Charlene I mean… ☺)
Danny at the Commuter
Challenge table with Dixie from
the Lee lab.
And many satisfied students…
Seminars & Clubs
BMIGSA help forum is up and running
The BMIGSA has set up a forum for all BMI graduate
students to use. Post messages there when looking for
equipment, looking for some technical help. We would also
need a few people with specialized experience in areas like
confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and any other field you
can think of to act as moderators. (I do mostly cell cultures
and flow cytometry, with a little qPCR and cloning, so my
focus is really narrow.) All you need is a few minutes a
week to glance at the boards and offer up your advice if
needed. Let us know if you’re interested at
BMIGSA@gmail.com.
OHRI SEMINAR SERIES
Presenting from the 3rd floor ORCC, rm 3.102,. Video
conferenced to the Loeb Research Centre, Conference
room #3.
June 16th, 2006, 12:00-13:00
Dr. James T. Rutka, The Hospital for Sick Children,
Toronto, ON
“Astrocytoma invasiveness: Molecular mechanisms at the
leading edge”
June 21st 2006, 10:30-11:30
Alice N. Davy PhD; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center
“Ephrin signaling in mouse development”
Check it out at www.createforum.com/phpbb/bmigsa.html
and let us know what you think at BMIGSA@gmail.com.
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THE BMI Bulletin
MOLECULAR MEDICINE SEMINARS
OSIB/BMI SEMINARS
Presenting from the 3rd floor ORCC, rm 3.102,. Video
conferenced to the Loeb Research Centre, Conference
room #3.
June 20th, 2006, Room 2113, RGN 4:00pm
Dr. Richard Rachubinski, University of Alberta
“Sharing the wealth: peroxisome inheritance in budding
yeast”
June 20th, 2:00 PM
Brian Wilhelm, Postdoctoral Research Associate,
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
“Microarray based approaches for investigating
transcriptional regulation in fission yeast”
The RNA Club
The RNA Club is a gathering of researchers with
common interest in various aspects of RNA biology, (i.e.
splicing, translation, RNA binding proteins, RNA viruses
etc). The Club meets every second week to present and
discuss latest data from participating laboratories in a
'"work-in-progress" format. The goal of the RNA Club is to
bring together researchers with common interest, to allow
graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to interact and
talk about their projects with their peers, and to identify and
foster collaborations among different research groups within
the University of Ottawa.
June 20th, 2:30 PM
Josette-Renée Landry, Research Associate Cambridge
University, Dept. of Haematology
“Transcriptional regulation of LMO2, a critical regulator of
blood stem cell development”
June 23rd, 2:00 PM
Wei Chen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for
Stem Cells, Department of Biomedical science, University of
Sheffield
“Developing Stem Cell-based Therapies for Deafness:
Isolation and Expansion of Human Auditory Stem Cells”
The next meeting is on Wednesday June 21st, 2006, 4pm in
the CHEO RI 154
Presenter: From the Copeland lab
Title: “TBA”
BMI DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS
For more information please contact Dr. Martin Holcik email: martin@mgcheo.med.uottawa.ca
Roger Guindon Hall- Amphitheatre A 4:30pm
Coming Events
June 15, 2006 TBC
Faculty of Medicine Career Day for Graduate Students
The University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine is
organizing a career day for graduate students. It’s being
held on June 22nd in the RGN amphitheatre A. It’s a great
opportunity to find out what’s out there after we leave the U
of O “nest”. It’s being held from 9am to 12pm, with a
June 29th, 2006 Room 2021, 3:30 pm
Sasmita Mishra, Student Research Seminar
"Role of antiapoptotic genes (c-IAP1 and c-IAP2) in
LPS/TNF- a induced resistance to HIV-Vpr mediated
apoptosis in human monocytic cells"
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THE BMI Bulletin
The objective of the R&D Program is to help fulfil the
Canadian Blood Services vision of providing a safe, secure,
cost-effective and accessible supply of blood, blood
products and their alternatives.
The awards are offered to highly qualified candidates to
initiate or continue training in the field of blood transfusion
science.
The application deadline is July 31, 2006. For more
information, contact Elaine Konecny by email at
elaine.konecny@bloodservices.ca or check the website:
www.bloodservices.ca
Check out the June edition of the GSAED E-Bulletin:
http://www.uottawa.ca/gsaed/bulletin/index.html
networking lunch provided after. For more information on
this event, contact Valerie Beck at vbeck@uottawa.ca.
The 2nd Annual Symposium "Progress in Systems
Biology"
The Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology is pleased to
invite you to register for the 2nd annual Symposium
"Progress in Systems Biology". The symposium will be held
on November 9th and 10th in the auditorium facility of the
National Research Council, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa.
The purpose of the 2006 OISB Symposium is to
promote systems biology and to discuss the latest
developments. Invited lecturers include local, national and
international speakers who will be discussing recent
research and current challenges surrounding proteomics,
genomics, bioinformatics and biological applications.
Tuition fee are going up for the next scholastic year.
Read all about it at the following link
http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news_detailse.php?nid=899
The registration fee includes admittance to all
presentations, posters and vendor booths, as well as lunch
and coffee breaks on both days. We are accepting 200
attendees on a first come, first serve basis. Please submit
your complete registration form as soon as possible to
guarantee your spot.
Post Doc Info
We will be holding regular meetings once a month - the
second Tuesday of every month at 3:30pm. If you have a
concern or issue that you wish us to address, come out and
meet your fellow PDFs.
Registration information is available on our website,
http://www.oisb.ca
Get Involved!!
The symposium agenda and hotel information will be sent
when available.
The University of Ottawa Interdisciplinary Conference is
actively recruiting enthusiastic student academics looking to
get involved in the planning and organization of this
conference. You are invited to join the discussion, which
will shape the future of interdisciplinarity at the University of
Ottawa.
The University of Ottawa Task Force on
Interdisciplinarity wants your feedback on its draft
recommendations on the key issues to be addressed at the
conference - including governance, budget, research
recognition, faculty career paths and student life - that face
our interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs,
research centers and institutes.
When: June 12, 8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Where: Tabaret Hall,
Room 083
For more information please see the website
http://www.oisb.ca or contact Dr. Daniel Figeys, Director
Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology (progess@uottawa.ca)
PhD Seminars
The BMI Bulletin Committee is always seeking creative
and energetic Grad Students or Post Docs from the
department to participate on in the creation of The BMI
Bulletin through contribution of articles, ideas and/or
feedback.
If you’re interested or would like more
information please contact the BMI Bulletin Editorial
Committee:
E-mail: BMIGSA@gmail.com
Grad Student Info
CBS Graduate Fellowship Program 2006-06-14
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THE BMI Bulletin
The BMI Graduate Student Association
(BMIGSA) is ALWAYS looking for new and energetic
individuals to represent the graduate student population, to
help plan social events and to provide new insight and ideas
to the group.
E-mail: BMIGSA@yahoo.com or BMIGSA@gmail.com
E-mail: faisal.d.arif@gmail.com
LOOKING TO GET INVOLVED?
GSAED is ALWAYS looking for Graduate
Students who are interested in sitting on various
GSAED committees. Any interested parties
should contact the specific committee via the
listed e-mail addresses above.
The Café Nostalgica Committee/Le comité du Café
Nostalgica
Rizwana Alamgir (Président / Chair) - VP Services / V.-p.
Rule Reminder
aux services
E-mail: raarif@gmail.com
TDM Bus Ticket Program – Summer 2006
The Academic Committee/Le comité des affaires
académiques
Marc Doumit (Président / Chair) - VP Internes / V.-p. aux
affaires internes
E-mail: marcdoumit@yahoo.com
Because the shuttle service is not operational in June,
July and August, Community Life Service piloted a program
last summer where OC Transpo bus tickets were distributed
to Graduate Students. This year, the program will once
again be administered, but under the management of the
Parking and Traffic Division, Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) program.
The By-Laws and Constitution Committee/Le comité
des règlements et de la constitution
Julia Morris (Président / Chair) – President / Présidente
E-mail: jmorr031@uottawa.ca
Starting May 26th, free OC Transpo bus tickets will be
available to University of Ottawa Graduate Students who
need to commute to and from Main Campus and Smyth
Road Campus in order to attend classes, seminars,
academic meetings, lab work or for access to the library,
sports and research facilities.
The Student Issues Action Committee/Le comité
d'action des affaires étudiantes
Julia Morris (Président / Chair) – President / Présidente
E-mail: jmorr031@uottawa.ca
The Bulletin Editorial Committee/Le comité de rédaction
du Bulletin
Lianne Pelletier (Président / Chair) - VP Communications /
V.-p. aux communications
E-mail: liannep@canada.com
•
•
The Capital Building Fund Committee/Le comité du
fonds d'investissement
Faisal Arif (Président / Chair) - VP Finance / V.-p. aux
finances
•
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This program will officially begin on May 29th, 2006
and will end on August 25th, 2006. Graduate
Students may pick-up OC Transpo tickets on May
26th, 2006.
This program is provided to University of Ottawa
Graduate Students only, upon presentation of a
valid Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
(FGPS) Graduate Student Card.
Graduate Students that do not have a sticker on
THE BMI Bulletin
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•
•
their student card must first obtain one form the
GSAED office, at 601 Cumberland Street or
Infoservice and the Faculty of Graduate and
Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS). To obtain a card,
students must show proof of registration.
There will be two distribution points:
Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
1.
Main campus:
Parking and Traffic Office
100 Thomas-More, room 102
2.
Smyth Road Campus:
Roger-Guindon Hall
Room 2032
Students will be issued a maximum of 20 tickets (2
sheets) per week. Stolen or loss tickets will not be
replaced by the TDM Bus Ticket Program.
In order to receive tickets, Graduate Students must
confirm the reason for which they need to
commute and sign a form at the distribution point.
I agree to abide by the existing TDM Bus Ticket
Program regulations and accept full responsibility for
the use of the free OC Transpo bus tickets received.
Student name:
Student number:
Faculty/Department:
THE BMI Bulletin
Acting Editor-in-Chief:
Fiona Frappier (ffrappier@ohri.ca)
Assistant Editor
Andréane Chénier (achenier@ohri.ca)
Support:
Nicole Trudel
Carol Ann Kelly
Graduate Students who fraudulently use tickets (selling
tickets or not using them for their intended purpose, etc) will
no longer be allowed in the program and may face
disciplinary action.
Columnist:
Valerie Greco-Stewart
Contributors:
Dr. Jackie Vanderluit
By participating in this program, the University of
Ottawa is not responsible for any loss, damages or injuries
that may occur while commuting with OC Transpo.
THE BMI Bulletin
University of Ottawa
Faculty of Medicine, Dept. OF BMI
451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, On. K1H 8M5
BMIGSA@gmail.com.
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