Announced on Aug. 11 by Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne, the contribution comes from the Canada Foundation for Innovation鈥檚 (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) program, a tool designed to invest in state-of-the-art labs and equipment researchers need to turn their visions into reality.

At 91亚色, Professors Ali Asgary, Marcus Brubaker, Solomon Boakye-Yiadom, Liam Butler, Taylor Cleworth, Claire David, Shital Desai, Matthew Keough, Christine Le, Ozzy Mermut, Arturo Orellana, Enamul Prince, Jennifer Pybus and Emilie Roudier will receive funding totalling more than $1.5 million for their infrastructure projects.

鈥�91亚色 is delighted to have 14 academics receive the John R. Evans Leaders Fund,鈥� said Vice-President Research and Innovation Amir Asif. 鈥淭his vital funding helps ensure we attract and retain the very best researchers who are undertaking truly innovative work. From addiction vulnerability to critical data-literacy research, from age-related impairments to advancements in particle physics 鈥� these projects will make positive change for our students, our campuses and our local and global communities.鈥�

The funded projects at 91亚色 are:

Ali Asgary, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
DEXR LAB

CFI JELF award: $100,000

Asgary and DEXR Lab will conduct research and develop extended reality (XR) applications for public safety, public health and disaster-and-emergency management training, education and operations. DEXR Lab will be equipped with the latest XR hardware and software for developing XR applications for areas including structural firefighting, wildfire management, hospital-emergency-and-intensive-care units, first-responders' collision simulation, virus transmission and spread, train derailment and volcano eruption, among others. DEXR Lab will be supported by 91亚色's  (ADERSIM) and will enhance Canada's share in the XR research and market 鈥� putting the country at the forefront of XR applications in the aforementioned areas.

Marcus Brubaker, Lassonde School of Engineering
Generative Modeling for CryoEM, Hyperspectral Imagery and Video

CFI JELF award: $140,000

Brubaker will develop novel artificial intelligence (AI) methods focused on applications where labelled-training data is limited or unavailable. The goal of this research is to enable learning from minimal amounts of data 鈥� dramatically reducing the amount of labelled data required and democratizing access to the technology. The methods developed could allow small companies, not-for-profit organizations or even individuals to effectively apply state-of-the-art AI methods, rather than only being available to large companies (which have either vast amounts of data already available or the resources to collect it). To reach this goal, Brubaker鈥檚 research will explore probabilistic-generative methods with specific applications in hyperspectral image analysis, video analysis and the processing of electron cryomicroscopy data.

Solomon Boakye-Yiadom, Lassonde School of Engineering
Machine Learning and Additive Manufacturing for the Development of Next Generation Materials

CFI JELF award: $140,000

For thousands of years since the advent of bronze, alloy development has involved diluting a single base element with small amounts of other elements. This approach is slow, expensive and requires a lot of effort with minimal increments in required material properties. A new idea where alloys have no single dominant element is gaining traction. These multi-principal element alloys, specifically, High Entropy Alloys (HEA), possess superior properties. Research lead by Boakye-Yiadom, along with Professors Marina Freire-Gormaly and Ruth Urner, will guide in the accelerated discovery and development of advanced HEAs and enhance our ability to detect and minimize defects during metal additive manufacturing. This includes innovative discoveries for advanced materials and process monitoring during manufacturing.

Liam Butler, Lassonde School of Engineering
The Climate-Data-Driven Design (CD3) Facility for Built Infrastructure

CFI JELF award: $140,000

The influence of climatic variations on Canada's vast infrastructure stock, valued at more than $850 billion, is largely ignored in infrastructure design. Variations in temperature, humidity and precipitation, along with increased frequency of extreme events will lead to cyclic factors that influence the behaviour of infrastructure materials. Mitigating these adverse effects starts with being able to reliably measure and to better understand the impact that climate variability has on infrastructure. Butler, along with Professors Usman Khan and Matthew Perras, will establish a unique field laboratory, where robust sensing, advanced AI-based data analytics and innovative infrastructure materials will be developed and validated. The vision is for the CD3 Facility to become Canada's leading research laboratory in climate-data-driven infrastructure design 鈥� providing immediate impact to regulators, asset managers and suppliers, and long-term benefits for all Canadians.

Taylor Cleworth, Faculty of Health
Neuro-mechanics of Balance Deficits During Dynamic Stance

CFI JELF award: $125,000

Falls and resulting injuries are a major health and economic concern for older adults, care providers and Canadians at large. Reducing fall rates can be challenging due to the multi-faceted nature of controlling upright stance. Cleworth will study the sensorimotor mechanisms underlying balance control and investigate possible avenues of treatment for balance deficits. The new infrastructure will provide the foundation for an innovative research program aimed at understanding the complex interaction of biomechanical and cortical mechanisms that contribute to human balance and mobility deficits, and to assess and improve the efficacy of balance-related interventions and fall prevention programs.

Claire David, Faculty of Science
Next generation of neutrino detectors for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE)

CFI JELF award: $125,000

David, along with Professor Deborah Harris, will build a versatile cryogenic test bench to develop a prototype for the next generation of neutrino detectors. This modular system will have the ability to test two modules of the current state-of-the-art technology in the same cryostat 鈥� allowing direct comparison of different alternative readout systems. The modules will be paired with revolutionary electronics for light detection that other Canadian universities are developing. Ultimately, the optimized prototype will serve DUNE, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, an international effort hosted by Fermilab in the United States. This will enable David and Harris, also research scientists at Fermilab and part of the DUNE collaboration, to be at the forefront of detector development in experimental particle physics.

Shital Desai, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Social and Technological Systems lab

CFI JELF award: $50,000

Efforts to develop technologies for older adults is challenged by changing physical and cognitive abilities of older adults. Assistive technologies should adapt to the needs of older adults without them having to adjust settings, change versions or use hacks. Desai's research will investigate a generation of prompts in emerging technologies for people with dementia. Machine-learning techniques will be employed to learn about the user and make inferences regarding their state while using the technology. The research outcomes will be used to develop adaptive-assistive technology and drive pivotal advancements in the area of interactive design and adaptive technology for older adults. It will lead to development of deployable technologies in non-clinical settings, driving independence and social inclusion in older adults 鈥� advancing Canada's position as a leader in interactive-adaptive technology.

Matthew Keough, Faculty of Health
Center for Research on Addiction Vulnerability in Early Life

CFI JELF award: $50,000

Millions of Canadians struggle with co-occurring alcohol use and emotional disorders (e.g. anxiety) but very little is known about why alcohol use and emotional disorders co-occur so frequently, resulting in a lack of understanding of how to treat them effectively. Keough's innovative experimental research aims to uncover the biopsychosocial risk factors for alcohol use-emotional disorder comorbidity in emerging adulthood (ages 18 to 25). Keough will acquire state-of-the-art equipment for his Center for Research on Addiction Vulnerability in Early Life (CRAVE Lab). Using a simulated-bar-lab environment and innovative technology, his research will have the potential to improve treatments for alcohol use-emotional disorder comorbidity and improve the lives of many Canadians and their families.

Christine Le, Faculty of Science
Infrastructure for the Catalytic Synthesis of Medicinally Relevant Organofluorine Compounds

CFI JELF award: $160,000

Le鈥檚 research seeks to develop more efficient, cost-effective and greener methods for the synthesis of medicinally relevant fluorine-containing compounds. On average it takes 10 years for a newly discovered drug to reach the market due to the complexity of clinical trials, production and approval by government agencies. The synthetic methods targeted in this research will improve the efficiency of drug discovery and synthesis, allowing critical medicines to reach the market sooner. The research objectives and methodologies align with Canada's commitment to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, which include the efficient use of natural resources, the reduction of chemical waste and the development of essential medicines.

Ozzy Mermut, Faculty of Science
Biophotonics Diagnosis, Treatment and Dosimetry in Age-related Disorders and Human Diseases

CFI JELF award: $160,000

Personalized medicine will improve patient outcomes and limit health-care costs facing aging populations and consequent diseases. Globally, one billion people face vision impairment, with age-related macular degeneration affecting 245 million. Mermut鈥檚 research aims to identify tissue-specific biomarkers for early-stage diagnosis of vision disorders and other diseases, advancing the understanding of molecular pathogenesis. Photonic techniques will then be developed for targeted, minimally invasive phototherapy. A tissue model will be engineered, recapitulating natural, diseased tissues to study laser treatments and develop dosimetry that provides molecular information on initiated-cell responses. The ultimate goal is complete eradication of pathogenic cells that lead to debilitating diseases through absolute, precise laser therapy.

Arturo Orellana, Faculty of Science
Organic Synthesis for Development of Therapeutics

CFI JELF award: $107,000

Orellana鈥檚 research program will focus on developing enabling technologies for new therapeutics to address the healthcare needs of a large portion of the Canadian population. This program brings together multidisciplinary teams of experts from industry and academia to target difficult challenges in health care including diseases such as Alzheimer's, ovarian cancer and diabetes. The fundamental-science focus on design, synthesis and characterization of drug-like organic molecules will provide critical know-how to deliver cures for diseases affecting large patient populations, while establishing Canada as a leader in health and science research.

Enamul Prince, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Establishment of the Intelligent Visualization Laboratory

CFI JELF award: $114,726

Prince will establish the Intelligent Visualization Lab with an aim to make analytics more accessible by changing the way we interact with data. A diverse range of people with different levels of skills and backgrounds will perform analysis on large data-sets faster and more effectively through natural and fluid interactions. The lab will significantly improve the ability of professionals 鈥� ranging from data scientists to business analysts, to health-care analysts 鈥� to analyze data and make complex decisions, with the potential to unlock new markets and direct financial benefits for Canadian industry. The lab will also allow students to train for the high-demand fields of AI, data science and analytics.

Jennifer Pybus, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
The Centre for Public AI (CPAI)

CFI JELF award: $69,385

Pybus will establish the Centre for Public AI (CPAI) 鈥� Canada's preeminent centre for the interdisciplinary application of a more grounded, civically driven explainable approach to AI. It aims to foster an understanding of the diverse infrastructures that gather personal data on applications and platforms through the development of tools and participatory workshops. The research conducted will fill an important gap by contributing to a growing field of critical data-literacy studies to examine algorithmic practices impacting the lives of Canadians. New tools will facilitate academic and policy interventions related to algorithmic accountability from the perspective of non-expert users who experience the outcomes of machine-learning technologies.

Emilie Roudier, Faculty of Health
Microvascular Epigenetics of Physical Activity

CFI JELF award: $80,000 

Roudier's research aims to address how physical activity induces beneficial changes in the vascular epigenome. She will establish a specialized lab to study the interaction between physical activity and the vascular epigenome. Canadians are at high risk of vascular diseases due to unhealthy behaviours. Most researchers focus on finding and averting adverse epigenetic marks correlated with vascular diseases. This lab will take a counterpoint approach 鈥� aiming to define what a healthy vascular epigenome is. The discovery of beneficial epigenetic marks generated by this research will support the discovery of new biomarkers to assess environmental risk to vascular health and test the efficiency of lifestyle or preventive interventions aiming to boost vascular health.

About the Canada Foundation for Innovation

For more than 20 years, the CFI has been giving researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. Fostering a robust innovation system in Canada translates into jobs and new enterprises, better health, cleaner environments and, ultimately, vibrant communities. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in Canada鈥檚 universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions, the CFI also helps to attract and retain the world鈥檚 top talent, to train the next generation of researchers and to support world-class research that strengthens the economy and improves the quality of life for all Canadians.

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鈥淐reating Space: Precarious Status Women Leading Local Pandemic Responses鈥� is a collaborative, two-year project that brings together five organized research units (ORUs) and six researchers representing five 91亚色 Faculties, as well as 10 partners, working on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion to advance a feminist response to the impacts of COVID-19 through systemic change.

The project was awarded $667,609 and aims to centre precarious status women鈥檚 experiences to support self-determination and accelerate systemic change to reduce gender-based violence, promote workplace health and safety and increase economic security.

Associate Vice-President Research Jennifer Hyndman says the successful application was made possible through a groundbreaking collaborative effort. 鈥淪uch collaboration across Faculties, schools, and disciplinary boundaries is unprecedented among the ORUs at 91亚色,鈥� she said.

The community-based project will be led by Professor Luann Good Gingrich (director, Global Labour Research Centre; Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) and Professor Heidi Matthews (Osgoode Hall Law School), the project's co-principal investigators, along with four research directors: Professor Elaine Coburn (director, Centre for Feminist Research; International Studies at Glendon Campus); Professor Deborah McGregor (Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice; Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change/Osgoode Hall Law School); Professor Gertrude Mianda (director, Harriet Tubman Institute; Gender & Women's Studies at Glendon Campus); and Professor Yu-Zhi Joel Ong (director, Sensorium: Centre for Digital Art & Technology; School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design).

鈥淥ur project will take advantage of this unprecedented moment of significant appetite for new ways of thinking and living together that are more just and sustainable,鈥� said Matthews. 鈥淎s devastating as the pandemic has been for women and gender-diverse individuals, particularly those from Indigenous nations and racialized communities, it has also pried open space to dismantle the otherwise rigid status quo structures that work to marginalize these groups.鈥�

鈥淐reating Space鈥� involves five 91亚色 ORUs 鈥� the Centre for Feminist Research, the , the , the , and  鈥� and nine community partners representing female temporary foreign workers, asylum seekers, Indigenous women and undocumented frontline workers: ; .; ; Black Creek Community Health Centre; ; ; ; ; and . The project will also be supported by its international human rights law collaborator, the .

The multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in labour, digital arts, international law and human rights, Indigenous legal traditions and knowledges, feminist and Indigenous methodologies, and migration and Black diaspora studies.

鈥淲e are committed to a collaborative approach that emphasizes relationships and mutual learning, and opening space for creativity and innovation to reimagine the legal and economic systems that create status insecurity for many women in Canada,鈥� said Good Gingrich.

Funding for this project highlights 91亚色's efforts in working to support gender equality during the COVID-19 recovery. Sara Slinn, associate dean research and institutional relations at Osgoode Hall Law School, said "Osgoode is very proud to be involved in this timely and important project."

LA&PS associate dean research and graduate studies, Ravi de Costa, said the grant is a testament to the strength of social science and humanities research at 91亚色 鈥� not only in LA&PS, but across the University. He commended Good Gingrich and Matthews for putting together a "superb" group of researchers from five faculties.

"The research they will do in this project will provide a critical and largely missing understanding of the effects of the pandemic on some of the most marginalized members of society.鈥�

The project will:

• design collective, autonomy-focused, and locally rooted strategies to address economic insecurity, frontline workplace safety and systemic gender-based violence
• launch a new human rights initiative to devise innovative legal arguments that disrupt dominant legal paradigms by supporting Indigenous-led self-determination
• create a participatory, experimental multimedia digital framework to shift the public conversation and accelerate systemic change around gender and status precarity.

Good Gingrich and Matthews say they anticipate cross-Canada impact. Researchers and graduate students contributing to the project will work with partner organizations to build capacity and support mutual knowledge exchange. This work will shape transformative policy, innovative and critical strategies for legal intervention, and change the conversation on a national level.

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The  is part of the NRC鈥檚 , designed to bring the best Canadian and international researchers together to fast-track research and development aimed at specific COVID-19 gaps and challenges as identified by Canada's health experts. 

Heffernan, Inaugural 91亚色 Research Chair (Tier II), Multi-Scale Methods for Evidence-based Health Policy in the Faculty of Science, is leading the study with colleagues James Ooi, the NRC鈥檚 Pandemic Response Challenge program project lead, and M. Sajjad Ghaemi, NRC research officer, both from the NRC-Fields Collaboration Centre. 

鈥淒ifferent vaccines elicit an immune response using different pathways, which affects the level and type of immunity you build,鈥� says Heffernan of the Canadian Centre for Disease Modelling. 鈥淲ith this research, we鈥檙e tracking the activation of the immune response that鈥檚 been excited by vaccines, looking at the generation of antibodies, as well as memory B cells and T cells. Clinical trials can measure the number of antibodies, but they don鈥檛 measure B cells and T cells.鈥� 

To do this, the researchers will combine mathematical models of immunity development (mechanistic models) with machine learning algorithms to better understand the outcomes of immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus after one- and two-dose regimes of adenovirus (AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson), mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) and protein subunit (Novavax) vaccines. They will model the effectiveness and immunity response to the virus, including pathogen mutations and variants, when vaccines doses are given days or weeks apart or, as is the case in Canada currently, four months apart. 

The researchers hope the mechanistic models will enrich the dataset upon which the machine learning framework is trained. By combining new datasets that are being released publicly, this approach can potentially advance the accuracy of the machine learning framework. This will allow the researchers to classify outcomes of vaccinations as emerging evidence becomes available. 

The idea is to uncover the complex interactions between interferon signalling pathways and the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. 

鈥淲hen you model outcomes in antibodies, it鈥檚 important to try to model the development of these memory cells in the background. Antibodies protect you from being infected and if they fail, it鈥檚 the memory cells that give you that activate factor that allows you to have a milder infection,鈥� says Heffernan.

One of the goals of this research is to tailor vaccines to people鈥檚 body chemistry. 鈥淭his is well into the future, but the goal eventually is to develop in-house models for mRNA, adenovirus and protein subunit vaccines that can be used to inform what type of vaccine a person should get depending on the characteristics of their immune system,鈥� says Heffernan.

In the short term, the researchers hope to predict the outcomes in children of various vaccines, even without the results of a clinical trial. Based on the differences in immune response of children versus adults, the idea is to change the machine learning and mechanistic models calibrated for adults so that they fit the characteristics of children.

The modelling can also be expanded in the future to test other types of vaccines for COVID-19, in addition to vaccines for other viruses. 

The data will be provided to public health agencies, such as the Public Health Agency of Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the Canadian Immunization Research Network, and academic researchers to inform vaccine design and policy, and predict safety and efficacy of different vaccine types.

Courtesy of YFile.

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Climate change takes centre stage at 91亚色. Professor Ian Garrett of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design has created a thoroughly original way to approach the subject and raise awareness: Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA), funded by Canada 150, the Arctic Cycle and the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.

CCTA is an ambitious, multi-year project. In 2016-17, it commissioned 50 playwrights to produce short pieces about climate change. This resulted in a series of worldwide readings and performances that ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 17, 2017, to support the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23).

CCTA has not lost momentum since then. In May, it produced an anthology of the 50 plays: Where Is The Hope: An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays. This fall, the group is commissioning the next set of plays for 2019.

鈥淐limate change is an important issue right now because it is perhaps the greatest existential crisis that we face as a civilization, as a species. There is no person who is not touched by climate change,鈥� said Garrett.

Designer, producer, educator and researcher, Garrett is one of North America鈥檚 most esteemed experts on sustainability in the performing arts. He听is the co-founder听and director of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts. He has spoken on arts and the environment at conferences hosted by听Brown University,听Dance/USA, the听Association of Performing Arts Presenters and听Americans for the Arts.

Garrett has been active with the UN conference for quite some time: In 2009 and 2010, he travelled to听听in Copenhagen, Denmark and听听in Cancun, Mexico to document artistic responses to global climate talks.

Last year鈥檚 CCTA contribution to the UN conference was a major endeavour. 鈥淚n 2017, for COP23, we organized over 200 events. Seven out of 10 provinces in Canada, all 50 American states in the U.S. and many other countries had events hosted through theatre groups, through universities presenting readings to stimulate conversation through theatre,鈥� said Garrett.

Cast of one CCTA climate change play that was staged in 2017 at Brandeis University in Massachusetts

Knowledge translation and engagement at heart of effort

CCTA is built around one central question: 鈥淗ow can we inspire people and turn the challenges of climate change into opportunities?鈥� It is all about knowledge translation, ensuring that the messages about climate change are accessible to the public.

鈥淲hile many people might know something about climate change, often times looking at climate models or the data that鈥檚 associated with it may not always be the clearest thing, unless you鈥檙e a climate scientist,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淭heatre becomes a much more accessible place to have these conversations. It makes it human; it makes it something that鈥檚 relatable.鈥�

91亚色 has key role to play

This project engages both 91亚色 alumni as well as current students. For example, at the launch event held at 91亚色 in the fall of 2017, most of the people who were reading were current students, while the playwrights were recent alumni.

As the CCTA project continues to unfold, 91亚色 will continue to serve as a hub for events, performances and symposia, as well as a forum to develop the educational and research foundation for CCTA.

In this way, Garrett鈥檚 international work will further enrich 91亚色鈥檚 theatre program and ensure that this university is leading the charge on climate change. 鈥�91亚色 is unique in that its theatre program is perhaps the only one in the world that has a sustainable focus and has wrapped it around its entire theatre training curriculum,鈥� Garrett explained.

Project is part of Canada 150 @ 91亚色

CCTA was one of 40 projects that won funding from the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice-President Academic and Provost in 2016 to celebrate Canada鈥檚 150th anniversary. The call for applications invited faculty, staff and students to submit proposals for innovative projects that would explore Canada鈥檚 past and look to its future, while highlighting 91亚色 and Canada 150 themes relating to the environment, diversity and inclusivity, Indigenous people and youth. A total of $400,000 was awarded to 40 projects.

For more on CCTA 2017, visit the . Where Is The Hope: An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays, edited by Bilodeau Chantal, is available at the . To learn more about Garrett, visit his . To read more about Canada 150 @ 91亚色, see the related .

To learn more about Research and Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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Individuals 65 years of age and older often have multiple comorbidities 鈥� that is, secondary diseases that are related to a primary disease. For example, older patients with coronary artery disease may also have diabetes or depression. Simply put, these individuals experience complex and acute health issues.

In health-care facilities, such as hospitals, these vulnerable patients require numerous different professionals to communicate well and work seamlessly together to support them and prevent their decline. This process has been the subject of many research endeavours but, to date, one key expert voice is missing: the nurse鈥檚 perspective.

New research from 91亚色, led by postdoctoral visitor Jeffrey Butler, under the supervision of Faculty of Health Professor Mary Fox and funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, fills this important gap. Through focus groups with nurses, Butler and Fox identified novel approaches in interprofessional (IP) communication to improve the health outcomes of older adults in hospital.

鈥淥ur research offers new insight into nurses鈥� assessments of the usefulness of various modes of communication surrounding care for acutely ill or injured older people,鈥澨齭aid Butler. 鈥淥ur recommendations may inform the implementation of initiatives to improve IP communication more generally.鈥�

The findings were published in Health Communication (2018).

Aging population is pressing policy issue

Given the aging population 鈥� arguably, one of the most important policy issues of our time 鈥� information about high users of hospital services is of great interest and importance.

Statistics are compelling:

• Canada鈥檚 older (65+) population is growing so much so that, by 2036, it is expected to make up 25 per cent of the population 鈥� this, compared to 14 per cent in 2010 (Canadian Medical Association).
• Last year, Canada spent $242 billion on health care, and hospital expenditure comprised a very large share of this (Canadian Institute for Health Information [CIHI]).
• Older adults are frequent users of health-care services, with the system spending more on them than on any other segment of the population (CIHI).
• Health-care costs increase with age: At 65 to 69 years of age, the annual per person cost is $6,298. By age 80+, this number jumps to $20,917 (Canadian Medical Association).

A more complete understanding of high users of health care could lead to both improved health outcomes of this population and a reduction of hospital costs. That鈥檚 why Butler and Fox鈥檚 research is so relevant.

Researchers conducted 13 focus groups with 57 nurses in Ontario

Given nurses鈥� key role in caring for older patients in hospital, Butler realized what could be gained through qualitative research with nurses. In his study, 57 nurses, including registered nurses (RNs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs), working in acute-care hospitals in Ontario participated in 13 focus groups.

Nurses shared knowledge about best ways to communicate

Via this qualitative research, nurses passed on knowledge from their lived experiences. Two categories emerged: direct and indirect communications.

Category 1: Direct, face-to-face communication

Study participants favoured face-to-face communication with other professionals because it provided context for the patient鈥檚 health, on-the-spot elaboration and further explanation or clarification. They emphasized that this was particularly important since older people鈥檚 health status can quickly deteriorate.

鈥淐are promoting older people鈥檚 functioning requires more frequent direct communication than younger patient populations to keep other professionals up to speed regarding older people鈥檚 functional states and prevent further decline,鈥� Butler explained.

Importance of huddles and rounds

Nurses in emergency departments underscored the importance of bedside dialogues, hallway huddles and quick chats at the nurses鈥� station. One RN mentioned the success of five-minute 鈥渟afety huddles鈥� pertaining to falls prevention.

Nurses in medical-surgical units and coronary care units (CCUs) said that they valued IP rounds as great opportunities to share information. (Patient rounds, led by attending physicians, involve several health-care professionals. Here, all parties coordinate care.)

This revealed a weakness in the system: 鈥淥ne recurring criticism was that nurses鈥� presence at IP rounds has been increasingly de-prioritized or eliminated altogether. Many believed that this allows crucial information to fall through the cracks,鈥� said Butler.

Participants also said that more frequent, daily rounds were the most effective way to communicate. (This is not always possible or feasible 鈥� for example, on weekends.)

One RN said: 鈥淒aily rounds 鈥� really heighten your ability to care for the patient.鈥�

Category 2: 听Indirect communication

The study also looked at indirect communication 鈥� for example, computerized information technology (IT) tools that centralize a patient鈥檚 progress and status. This often backfired. 鈥淣umerous participants described portable computers that froze and batteries that did not last,鈥� Butler explained.

Analogue tools seen as useful, cost effective

Rather than advocating IT solutions, the study participants said that simple, low-tech, cost-effective analogue tools, such as bedside whiteboards, were very useful for sharing information in a timely fashion. Hand-written 鈥渟ummary sheets,鈥� housed in patients鈥� files, were cited as beneficial by a few CCU nurses.

Research offers communication tips for administrators and practitioners

In summary, this new research makes three key findings:

1. Direct face-to-face communication, huddles in the hallway etc. are successful ways to communicate, given the vulnerability of this population.
2. Nurses鈥� attendance in IP rounds and the frequency of the rounds (daily) are key to positive health outcomes.
3. Low-tech modes of communication, such as summary sheets and whiteboards, could improve communication and, in turn, lead to better health outcomes.

These findings could help to guide future communication strategies across numerous health-care contexts 鈥� not just hospitals, and not only in the care of older patients.

To read the Health Communication article, visit the . To learn more about Butler, visit the 91亚色 Centre for Aging Research and Education (YU-Care) . For more on Fox, see the or her .

To learn more about Research and Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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The Museum of Dreams is an original and deeply compelling hub for exploring dream life and its social and political significance.听鈥淲e collect and creatively work with dreams from the historical record and provide a platform for collaborative storytelling projects,鈥� the website reads.

91亚色 Faculty of Education Professor Aparna Mishra Tarc has contributed to this endeavour, curated by Professor Sharon Sliwinski of Western University and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Tim Hetherington Trust, Western University, the Freud Museum London and Centre de la Roseraie. Her contribution, 鈥淎 Child is Dreaming鈥� (2017), is an illustrated essay about children who have been traumatized by war and how this trauma plays out in dreams.

Tarc explains the importance of dreaming in a child鈥檚 world: 鈥淐hildren鈥檚 dreams universally relay and prophesize a dire message about their uneasy relation to adults and the external world and their fears that both might present them with harm.鈥�

Images and prose work seamlessly together, create tremendous impact

Tarc鈥檚 essay centres largely around the work of Swedish photographer and photo activist Magnus Wennman, whose images are embedded into the essay. She analyzes and articulates, in prose, what Wennman has put on film.

鈥淎 Child is Dreaming鈥� is a success on two levels:

1. It perfectly encapsulates the museum鈥檚 idea of dreams as 鈥渁 springboard for articulating the things we have trouble expressing, the stories we struggle to voice.鈥�
2. It illustrates how superbly crafted prose combined with images 鈥� children鈥檚 drawings about war, embedded films and photographs 鈥� can work together as a seamless, cohesive and new piece of art that鈥檚 greater than the sum of its parts, and that holds within it tremendous potency and impact.

鈥淭iny acts of history鈥� offer glimpse into war from a child鈥檚 eyes

鈥淎 Child is Dreaming鈥� opens with a nine-year-old girl, the subject of Wennman鈥檚 short film听Fatima鈥檚 Drawings. Fatima is a Syrian child who has been repeatedly awoken by overhead nighttime bombing that has left her sleepless and fearful in waking life. The film illustrates the young girl鈥檚 way of expressing her fears through visual testimony 鈥� drawing.

鈥淭hrough no fault of their own, these ordinary children are born and raised in hostile conditions of adult carnage and cruelty,鈥� Tarc explains.

Fatima鈥檚 story is one of violent exile. With her mother and her two siblings, she fled from the Syrian city of Idlib. Following several years in a Lebanese refugee camp, described as unbearable, they travelled to Libya where they boarded an overcrowded boat 鈥� a rubber dingy with a sail 鈥� seeking to flee their situation and find a new and permanent home.

On this journey, a woman gave birth to a stillborn child and the baby was thrown overboard. 鈥淚 watched as two men threw the baby into the sea,鈥� Fatima says. This becomes both the subject of her dreams, although she makes no implicit connection, and her drawings.

鈥淭hough we cannot see it, Fatima is a child indelibly marked by the violence of war. Yet, one symbolic activity of childhood betrays the horror of Fatima鈥檚 inner life 鈥� the act of drawing,鈥� Tarc explains.

She believes the girl鈥檚 dream silently accuses. 鈥淭he nightmare holds adults accountable without ever directly accusing anyone of wrongdoing,鈥� Tarc writes. She also believes that Fatima鈥檚 statement, 鈥淚t was not good,鈥� uttered three times in the short film, holds power; it 鈥渃onveys a great deal about deadly history, war, and its irreparable effects on a childhood, on existence, on a people, on a world.鈥�

Work provides shocking glimpses of unlivable conditions

Tarc also considers the breadth of Wennman鈥檚 work, and his works prior to Fatima鈥檚 story. For example, his photo essay 鈥淲here the Children Sleep,鈥� features startling images of children searching for sleep during wartime. Tarc aptly describes these images as 鈥渟hocking glimpses of the unlivable conditions of people fleeing homelands鈥� and 鈥渂are family life in times of societal ruin.鈥�

She homes in on one image from Wennman鈥檚 photo essay: 鈥淢aha,鈥� a five-year-old girl who, with her family, fled their village outside Mosul, Iraq, in fear of ISIS. In the photograph, Maha lays on a dirty mattress in the overcrowded transit centre in a refugee camp.听鈥淚 do not dream and I鈥檓 not afraid of anything anymore,鈥� she says, demonstrating an unusual fortitude, although her eyes betray the depth of her losses.

鈥淎mir鈥� is another image from Wennman鈥檚 series. He is a 20-month-old boy, born a refugee. His mother believes he was听traumatized in the womb, since he has never spoken a single word. 鈥淭amam,鈥� a five-year-old girl in Azraq, Jordan, is afraid of her pillow 鈥� the aftermath of nighttime air raids.

Project designed to spur international community to action

Tarc hopes that her work will motivate the world community, and international citizens, to collectively act in the interests of children and more readily protect children in war zones.

This press for change is beautifully articulated in the end of 鈥淎 Child is Dreaming:鈥�

"Part of our responsibility as adults is to tend to the inner lives of children whose dreams of a peaceful, war-free existence are shattered by the memory of dropped bombs and dead babies. Built from the tiny acts of history, Fatima鈥檚 dream exceeds the personal work of mourning. The child鈥檚 dream-work enters social and political life as a plea to attend to our primal fears of being dropped out of human existence before and after the bombs fall. We need all of our human creativity, all our dreams鈥攇ood and bad鈥攖o put history back into the picture."

To read and view 鈥淎 Child is Dreaming,鈥� go to the . To learn more about the Museum of Dreams, visit the . For more information on Tarc, visit her .

To learn more about Research and Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

The post Haunting and evocative project examines wartime childhood trauma appeared first on Research & Innovation.

For seven years, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professor Annie Bunting has been working on a ground-breaking project, 鈥淐onjugal Slavery in War (CSiW): Partnerships for the study of enslavement, marriage and masculinities.鈥� This venture seeks to document cases of forced marriage in conflict situations in Africa, to place this data in historical context and to impact the international prosecution of crimes against humanity as well as local reparations programs for survivors of violence.

Bunting has awarded a progression of major funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to support this work; she won a Partnership Development Grant (2011-2015), then a Partnership Grant (2015-2020).

Pressing themes have now emerged from this work, as well as gaps in knowledge, such as men鈥檚 experiences of being ordered to be violent and children鈥檚 experiences of being stigmatized for being born as the result of sexual violence.

鈥淭his project will strengthen an individual鈥檚 and an organization's capacity to prevent violence and advance understanding of the use of conjugal slavery as a tool of war through evidence-based research,鈥� Bunting explains.

91亚色鈥檚 Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Unit is working with the project organizers to help them spread the word about this vital project.

Interdisciplinary team includes 10 partners, 25 collaborators across 10 countries

Bunting鈥檚 project has grown exponentially and attracted, to date, 10 partners and 25 collaborators and graduate students across ten countries. High-profile partners include Solidarit茅 F茅minine pour la paix et le d茅veloppement Int茅gral (SOFEPADI), PLAN International, the Liu Institute for Global Issues, and the Harriet Tubman Institute.

This interdisciplinary team of researchers and partners explores the social and legal meaning of conjugal slavery or servile marriage during war, and the implications of this gender violence in post-conflict situations. Through archival, qualitative and legal research, this project examines the experiences of women and men who were subject to or participated in enslavement in the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Uganda.

More specifically, since monitoring the prosecution of gender violence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the partners have been working in Sierra Leone, Uganda and DRC to track the developments of international criminal law, national laws and local reparations programs. Bunting and her colleagues submitted a brief on forced marriage as a crime against humanity to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in 2016.

Project offers 250 powerful interviews with survivors

In addition to legal monitoring, the researchers have gathered over 250 interviews with survivors of abduction and forced marriage. In February 2018, CSiW coproduced 鈥淟ife of the Law,鈥� a four-part podcast in a series on Uganda by Gladys Oroma. This follows the lives of Beatrice Ocwee and Samuel Akena, two of the thousands of children who were abducted in northern Uganda and held captive by LRA rebels from the 1980s to 2008. This podcast series was downloaded almost 80,000 times across 60 countries throughout the two months of the series in 2018.

Equally compelling material includes powerful advocacy documentaries, such as:

• 鈥淭hey Slept with Me,鈥� by the Refugee Law Project, which features an interview with a father of seven who was attacked and raped by government soldiers in northern Uganda;
• 鈥淧arenting the Missing,鈥� also by the Refugee Law Project, which contains an interview with a mother whose only daughter was captured by the Lord鈥檚 Resistance Army (LRA, the rebel group in Uganda) and has never returned; and
• 鈥淚 am not who they think I am,鈥� by the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), which features an interview with a young Ugandan woman, born as the result of sexual violence, who sees herself as a burden to society. This video, provided below with permission from ICTJ, also contains interviews with mothers, abducted and raped, who were rejected by their community when they beat the odds and returned from captivity.

CSiW has been gaining attention. CBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Current鈥� recently aired an interview with one of the project鈥檚 collaborators, Grace Acan from Uganda.

Themes brought to the fore, important knowledge gaps identified

Several key themes have emerged from this research, which need further attention and study. The team aims to fill the following gaps in knowledge:

• Research on men鈥檚 experiences of forced marriage 鈥� this includes being ordered to be violent;
• The post-conflict impact of stigma on children born as the result of sexual violence;
• Research on the relationship between wartime violence and existing and historical gender norms; and
• The ongoing debates about the effectiveness of the tribunals and commissions, including government and international reparations programs.

Knowledge Mobilization Unit helps project team connect with global audience

For the past three years, Bunting and Project Coordinator V茅ronique Bourget, have worked closely with 91亚色鈥檚 KMb Unit. Michael Johnny, manager of the KMb Unit, explains: 鈥淥ur team presented to the project鈥檚 partners on KMb principles and recommended activities for the project team to consider.听We sought to engage and help connect the research and research findings with global audiences.鈥�

One key planning tool was the creation of a five-year plan for KMb.

Consultations with the KMb Unit have also led to the creation of a four-part podcast series to engage audiences around important issues. Additionally, Bunting and her project team are developing plans to exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg this fall.

To learn more about Bunting, visit her . For more information on CSiW, visit the . To watch the videos, see . To listen to the Uganda podcast, visit the . 听To read the brief on forced marriage as a crime against humanity, visit the . To see 鈥淟ife of the Law,鈥� visit the . To watch 鈥淭he Current鈥� interview with Acan, visit the

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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The Homeless Hub, the research arm of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) at 91亚色, is knowledge mobilization at its best. This organization undertakes trail-blazing research that informs policy and affects meaningful change. Most recently, the Homeless Hub released a report, Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada: A Proposal for Action (2017), published by COH Press in partnership with A Way Home Canada, and funded by the Home Depot Canada Foundation鈥檚 Orange Door Project.

Using freshly mined data from Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey (2016), researchers led by President and CEO of Homeless Hub/COH and 91亚色 Faculty of Education Professor Stephen Gaetz shed new light on this pressing issue. Capturing the experiences of 1,103 homeless young people in 42 different communities in nine provinces and Nunavut, the survey offers the first national portrait of Canada鈥檚 population of homeless youth. Its breadth allowed the researchers to gain previously unattainable information, expose some unsettling facts and provide sound policy recommendations.

This report paints a new and vivid picture of youth homelessness that underscores a connection to the child welfare system, with an emphasis on the transition from care. Thirty per cent of surveyed youth see this transition as directly impacting their current situation of homelessness, and 57 per cent of youth who 鈥渁ged out鈥� of care would have appreciated continued support, if it were available.

鈥淐hild protection legislation and practice haven鈥檛 kept pace with current social and economic changes that make it much more difficult for people in their teens and twenties to live independently,鈥� says Gaetz.

This is Gaetz鈥檚 lifework. In fact, in 2016, he was appointed to the Order of Canada for his leadership in providing evidence-based research to policy makers and practitioners in the movement to prevent and reduce homelessness in Canada.

Few organizations are better set up than the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Homeless Hub to make policy suggestions in this area. A core belief is that research can, and should, contribute to solutions to homelessness. Launched in 2007, the Hub was created to address the need for a single place to find pan-Canadian homelessness information.听A decade later, it has become an indispensable resource where service providers, researchers, government representatives, students and members of the public can access and share research, stories and best practices.

Report provides new window on vulnerability

In addition to the facts around transition from care, Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada brought to light some troubling realities about the vulnerabilities of homeless youth, such as:

• Fifty-seven per cent of homelessness youth was involved with child protection services. (Homeless youth are 193 times more likely than members of the public to have been involved with the child welfare system.)
• Sixty-three per cent of homeless youth experienced childhood trauma, abuse and/or neglect.
• Indigenous youth make up seven per cent of all young Canadians, yet they constitute 50 per cent of those involved in child protection services.
• Youth facing disadvantages of poverty, racism and homophobia are more likely to experience both child welfare involvement and homelessness. (LGBTQ2S+, transgender and gender non-binary youth are more likely than their cisgender and straight counterparts to have had child welfare involvement.)

Report highlights four key areas of concern

Systemic failures drive both youth homelessness and child welfare involvement, according to the report, which explores four areas of concern:

1. Housing instability including being removed from the family home at a young age and living in foster care.
2. The link between homelessness and difficult transitions from child welfare services (e.g., aging out of care). Such transitions are also correlated with poverty, lack of educational achievement, comparatively high rates of unemployment and involvement in corrections.
3. Youth with early experiences of homelessness, especially before the age of 16. These youths are more likely to be involved with child protection services, which suggests that preventing homelessness among this group should be a policy priority.
4. Inequity and marginalization (e.g., racism, homophobia, transphobia). This contributes to the overrepresentation of children and families of particular races and ethnicities.

Policy recommendations for governments at all levels

The report makes recommendations to the federal, provincial and territorial government as well as to Child Protection Services and Workers. 鈥淭hese entities must consider the policies, programs, interventions and investments in this brief that can contribute to more successful transitions from care for young people,鈥� says Gaetz.

Recommendations at the federal level include revisiting its homelessness strategy to ensure that prevention is a top priority. Provincial-level recommendations include implementing an After Care guarantee so young people have support until they reach 25 years of age; and a focused strategy to support Indigenous, LGBTQ2S+, gender non-binary and racialized youth.

Recommendations in Child Protection Services include:

• Ensuring that all young people who transition from care are provided with housing options and necessary supports to enable them to fully transition to adulthood in a safe and planned way.
• Aiding young people in accessing mental health and addictions supports, and implementing resilience-building policy and practice for young people in care, knowing that this leads to successful transitions from care.
• Facilitating a way for young people in care to provide feedback, and employing an assessment tool to assist in determining homelessness/flight risk.
• Providing additional training for case workers to meet the needs of adolescents and young adults in care; and ensuring that case workers have appropriate caseloads.

This proactive investment in youth would pay off, according to Gaetz. 鈥淔or every $1 spent on establishing best practices and early intervention, there is a $5.60 return on investment,鈥� he explains.

To learn more about the report, visit the and/or its coverage in the . For more information on the Homeless Hub/COH, which is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), visit the . To read about Gaetz鈥檚 appointment to the Order of Canada, see the . For more information on Gaetz, visit his .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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