cell phones Archives | Research & Innovation

New partnership embeds 91��ɫ researchers at Southlake Hospital

fmaquito — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

A new research initiative involving a partnership between 91��ɫ and in Newmarket will see feature leading scientists from the University serving as embedded researchers at the hospital.

91��ɫ Professors Chris Ardern, , Paul Ritvo and Lauren Sergio will work on site for one to two days a week with hospital clinicians to foster research collaborations and knowledge exchange, and engage in joint knowledge mobilization efforts.

The partnership will realize important benefits to the research communities at both institutions and for the general public, says 91��ɫ Professor (right), associate vice-president research, science & technology, who led the effort to develop the partnership with Southlake Regional Health Centre.

"The embedded 91��ɫ researchers are senior scientists who will explore and cultivate research collaborations between 91��ɫ and Southlake researchers and clinicians," says Siu. "They will act as 'matchmakers' and brokers and will bring 91��ɫ's research expertise and knowledge to Southlake to facilitate collaboration.

"The partnership will broaden the research capacity for both 91��ɫ researchers and the Southlake clinicians," says Siu. "91��ɫ does not have a Faculty of Medicine or a teaching hospital. As a result,��University researchers do not have the patient access they would like to have. By working with Southlake,��the University is enhancing a collaboration that would benefit both parties."

The embedded University scientists bring to Southlake Regional Health Centre their recognized expertise in biomedical and health research. Southlake is the only community-based hospital in Ontario to offer six regional tertiary programs, including child and adolescent mental health, maternal and child,��cardiac and cancer care.

"We anticipate this to be an outstanding opportunity for both Southlake and 91��ɫ," says , director of research at Southlake.

"Serving some 1.5 million people through our regional programs and providing tertiary level care in many areas, the depth and breadth of programs and services, and the unexplored opportunities for reasearch collaboration between Southlake and 91��ɫ are endless," says Clifford.

"Southlake is interested in strengthening its research in terms of breadth and depth and in fact, Southlake is developing a research institute with a plan to become a teaching hospital with an official affiliation with a Canadian university," says Siu.

91��ɫ is a preferred candidate for this kind of partnership with Southlake, says Siu,��because the two institutions have shared goals and visions, and a willingness to work together.

The partnership offers exceptional training and educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students working in the research teams, says Siu.

In addition, the opportunity presented by the collaboration between the two institutions is consistent with the goal of integrating teaching and research with the world outside the University that was articulated in 91��ɫ's recent .

More about the 91��ɫ-Southlake embedded researchers

Chris Ardern (left) is a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Health. His current research interests include the epidemiology of physical activity, obesity and cardiometabolic risk. His most recent work has focused on the use of risk algorithms, behavioural profiling and trajectory modelling approaches to identify high-risk subgroups for the development of the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease mortality. Arden is currently investigating the role of geospatial analysis to improve the surveillance of cardiovascular disease in 91��ɫ Region, and is a co-investigator on the Pre-diabetes Detection & Physical Activity Intervention and Delivery (PRE-PAID) program, a six-month trial of culturally-preferred physical activity. Ardern will be embedded in Southlake's chronic disease portfolio.

In her research, (right) works on a family of proteins known as nucleoside transporters. These transporters play significant roles in a number of clinical settings because they transport drugs used in cancer and are targets of drugs used in some cardiac care settings. Despite their clinical relevance, Coe, who is a professor of biology in 91��ɫ's Faculty of Science & Engineering, says researchers know very little about how these transporters work and how they differ in terms of their distribution, activity and regulation in individual patients. Using a molecular diagnostics approach, Coe and her team will work with Southlake clinicians from both the cardiac care and oncology portfolios to investigate the transporter profiles in individual patients and correlate these profiles with drug treatments and outcomes. The ultimate goal of this work is to contribute to the efforts to develop more personalized approaches to the treatment of disease.

Paul Ritvo (left) is a behavioural scientist who will serve as the research adviser, physical and mental health liaison and special projects scientist. A professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health, Ritvo’s research interests focus on electronic health interventions that employ cell phones, smartphones and online programs to change health behaviours in diabetics, HIV-positive individuals and individuals with mental health difficulties. Ritvo will work with Southlake clinicians to extend current intervention studies that use Blackberry smartphones and innovative software applications to help patients reduce health risks by way of healthy exercise, diet and improved medication adherence.

Lauren Sergio (right) is a neuroscientist working in 91��ɫ's Sherman Health Science Research Centre. Her current research projects examine the effects of age, sex, neurological disease and past head injuries (of athletes versus non-athletes) on the brain's control of complex movement. In her role with Southlake Regional Health Centre, Sergio will be an embedded researcher in the chronic disease, emergency medicine and surgical portfolios. She works with a wide range of adult populations, including professional hockey players and Alzheimer's disease patients. Her findings have implications for neurological disease diagnosis and rehabilitation and for understanding the fundamental brain mechanisms for movement control. She is using cognitive-motor integration research to test if new instrumentation developed in her laboratory can differentiate between types of dementia. She is also researching the long-term effects of concussion in young athletes. Sergio is a member of the .

The embedded researcher program at Southlake Regional Health Centre is an example of the collaboration between the Faculty of Science & Engineering and the Faculty of Health at 91��ɫ and is part of an ongoing commitment by the Faculties' deans to work together.

For more information on 91��ɫ's partnerships with regional hospitals, see YFile,��April 17, 2009 and April 21, 2009.

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Teaching and education: How to reach the iPod generation in school

fmaquito — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Janet Murphy, project manager for the at 91��ɫ, participated in a panel at Canada 3.0 this week on learning in a digital society.

The covered Murphy's remarks at the event in an article published May 12:

The younger generations are living their lives with iPods blaring in their ears and a cellphone glued to their hand. So when they head into the classroom, it's no wonder their minds begin to wander when their teacher starts writing on the blackboard.

Learning in today's digital society was just one of the issues tackled during this week's Canada 3.0 forum, held at the Stratford Rotary Complex Monday and Tuesday.

“We’re in an old-school way of thinking and we have some work to do around that teaching culture,” said Janet Murphy, project manager for the program at 91��ɫ and the 91��ɫ Region District School Board.

She noted most schools ban cellphones, which are the “most powerful computing devices” we possess. She was quick to point out teachers and faculty are prepared to shift, but face a number of impediments along the way.

The ABEL program works with both public and private sectors to help transform learning and connect people together. She noted that young people don’t view technology as technology – it is only the older generations who see it that way. “This really is an opportunity like no other,” she said, of digital learning, calling every day a “learning day”.

The complete article is available on the .

ABEL supports the effective use of new and existing information communications technologies to encourage innovation, and provides educators and researchers with pedagogical support, technological assistance, the use of collaborative and innovative applications and tools.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ professor studying how mobile devices like a BlackBerry can help manage your weight

fmaquito — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

For 91��ɫ researcher and health psychologist Paul Ritvo, a professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science in the Faculty of Health, the has potential to help manage chronic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, wrote the Toronto Star April 18:

Ritvo has pioneered a study, currently underway, that hopes to explore how mobile technologies such as BlackBerrys can be used as a way of reinforcing good health habits by facilitating ongoing feedback.

Harvey Skinner, the dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health and a colleague of Ritvo’s, says “motivational drift” can make it difficult for people to continue with healthy behavioural changes. “We start off with good intentions, maybe initiate a change, say an exercise program, and then days later, weeks later, months later, we start encountering some challenges in keeping to our goal and in keeping to the routine.”

The key, Skinner suggests, is ongoing feedback, and mobile technologies are a tool with the capacity to provide that kind of around-the-clock communication between a patient and a health provider.

According to Ritvo, the goal of the “engaged health coaching program” is to make the patients, who are part of a community that reports high rates of diabetes, to “really feel there’s somebody who is very concerned about your health, and is giving you the best information you can get at the times when you most need it.”

In the long run, this kind of care has the potential to reduce the strain on the health-care system.

“I see this as the first step of trying to apply it to a whole range of health problems, including depression, for example, where there wouldn’t be a physical problem, but there would be ways where people could alter their lifestyles so as to support their moods,” says Ritvo.

The complete article is available on the .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Video and audio: 91��ɫ researchers on coffee wars, security threats, and conflict in the Congo

fmaquito — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

, professor of marketing in the , appeared on on March 10 to talk about Tim Hortons' and McDonald's branding struggle to own the branding market.

McDonald's is giving away free coffee, while Tim Hortons' Roll Up The Rim To Win campaign is in full throttle. Which company is winning the coffee war? What does it bring to the bottom line? And, which brand tastes better?

The on BNN's Web site.

Robert Latham, associate professor of Political Science and director of 91��ɫ’s Centre for International & Security Studies, and Qasim Farah, a 91��ɫ graduate student in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, spoke about the possible recruiting of young Canadian Somalis by Al Shahab, an organization that has been added to the government’s list of terrorist organizations, on CBC Radio’s “” March 10. The audio clip is available on .

Barbo Ciakudia, an international studies student at Glendon College and an organizer of 91��ɫ's How Much Do You Know About the D. R. Congo? conference, was interviewed on Metro Morning about the relationship between coltan, a metallic ore used to manufacture electronics, such as cell phones and computers, and the Congo's decades-long conflict. Both the interview and the conference took place on March 11. The segment runs over seven minutes and is available on CBC's "" Web site.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Are seniors losing out in the cellphone market?

fmaquito — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000

In February, Barbara Crow will meet with her mother-in-law’s quilting bunch in Peterborough, her mother’s synagogue friends in Toronto and a group of retirees in Duncan, British Columbia. She and co-researcher Kim Sawchuk of Concordia University want to know whether and how seniors use cellphones.

Right: Barbara Crow

“Many senior citizens use these mobile technologies, yet they are completely absent from any discussion on their use,” says Crow (BA Hons. ’84, MA ’86, PhD ’94), a communications and women’s studies professor and now associate dean of research for 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Seventy-two per cent of Canadians have access to cellphones, and wireless carriers offer coverage to more than 99 per cent of Canadians. More than a phone, it is increasingly versatile – the communications device of choice for sending text messages, taking photos, surfing the Internet, listening to music, playing games and updating a calendar.

The industry markets almost exclusively to youth and middle-aged professionals. And researchers studying cellphone use have also focused on the young and upwardly mobile.

Left: Kim Sawchuk

Crow and (PhD ’86, PhD ’91) have begun preliminary research to find out if, how and why seniors are using mobile technologies. “We both have aging parents and we’ve been watching how cellphones are changing everyday lives,” says Crow. They have received a three-year standard grant totalling $103,903 to complete this research by 2011.

“Kim and I argue that individuals over 60 are soon going to make up a larger proportion of the population than youth,” says Crow, who has been studying digital technologies and their social, cultural, political and economic impact since the early 1980s.

“So many government services are online,” says Crow. Yet many older people, especially impoverished women, have no way to access those services. “Do we think because people can’t afford them, they shouldn’t have access to them?” The question is, “How can we ensure their needs are going to be served?”

Compared to other countries,��information and communication technology services in Canada – including cellphone and Internet – cost more and deliver less, says Crow. A 2009 by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society ranked Canada in the bottom third among 30 countries for speed and cost.

If these new communications devices are so critical and costs are high, who is being penalized? Those on lower incomes, including the elderly, suggest Crow and Sawchuk.

“With our research, we’ll be able to say to government, here’s a list of things you should think about when designing public services,” says Crow, who, believe it or not, doesn’t own a cellphone.

“This is about making a group who can provide us with wisdom and reflection a part of significant changes that are happening,” says Crow.

This research could lead to other projects. For Crow and Sawchuk, the growing popularity of cellphones raises questions around communications policy: What portion of the spectrum of airwaves used to transmit digital signals should be public and not commercial? How do we address privacy issues? Cellphones work best in urban areas, but should the government ensure rural and remote parts of Canada also have access?

Crow and Sawchuk are also co-directors of the , which supports interdisciplinary research into wireless communications and mobile technology. They are co-editors, along with 91��ɫ Professor Michael Longford, of The Wireless Spectrum: The Politics, Practices, and Poetics of Mobile Media, to be published by the University of Toronto Press this year.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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