Robert Hache

The event will highlight the research of five 91亚色 scholars, on topics ranging from healthy aged-care in long-term care settings to how human security provided a chart for assessing the impacts of oil and gas development in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. It will also delve into what elite athletes can tell us about maximizing health and changes in long-term care witnessed in Ontario over the years and more.

鈥淭丑别 Healthy Individuals, Healthy Communities and Global Health celebration highlights the range and diversity of health research at 91亚色 and its connections to other disciplines including science and environmental studies research. It also gives a glimpse into the health research taking place on both the Keele and Glendon campuses,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淎ll 91亚色 students, staff and faculty are invited to attend.鈥�

The celebration will take place from 2 to 4pm in the Life Sciences Building Lobby.听The event will feature mini-research byte presentations followed by Q&As from the audience.

Featured presenters will include: Professor Joe Baker of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health; Professor Dawn Bazely of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, who is also the director of the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability; Professor Martin Bunch, associate dean research of the Faculty of Environmental Studies; Professor Tamara Daly of the School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health; and Professor Guy Bernard Proulx, CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health, of the Department of Psychology, Glendon College.

The event will be available for .

Martin Bunch: Ecohealth: Using complexity science to inform an adaptive ecosystem approach to environment and health in informal settlements in Chennai, India
Informal settlements (鈥渟lums鈥� in Asian and United Nations parlance) are characterized by extremely poor living conditions. They are located on marginal and often dangerous sites; lack urban amenities; housing is dense and substandard; residents almost always lack tenure and are subject to eviction; and they are the location of poor, vulnerable and marginalized populations. Unfortunately, attempts to address problems of slums demonstrate that slum settlements are resilient and resistant to change. 聽In May 2004 a Canadian and Indian project team began working with NGOs and two community partners to explore the efficacy of applying an adaptive ecosystem approach, which draws upon complexity theory and resilience thinking, to environment and health in those communities. Bunch will discuss how the perspective of complexity and self-organization helped to understand why these communities can be so perversely resilient, and identify key relationships and processes that should be either undermined or promoted to encourage this social-ecological system to evolve to more desirable configurations.

Tamara Daly

Tamara Daly: Healthy Public Policy for Living and Working in Long-term Care
Daly will discuss how an ethos of care must inform public debate about healthy aged care, drawing on her local and international research in long-term care settings. She will highlight some challenges in long-term care settings and raise questions about how to create healthy care communities that include a focus on the needs of residents, families and workers.

Dawn Bazely

Dawn Bazely: Navigating the waters of transdisciplinarity and interdisciplinary collaboration
Bazely鈥檚 presentation will explore how human security provided a chart for assessing the impacts of oil and gas development in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. 聽She will also discuss how human security has provided a map for supporting local peoples,聽both in Canada聽and elsewhere in the world, who are facing the consequences of climate change. Her presentation will briefly highlight the lessons learned and exported from the IPY GAPS project: International Polar Year, Gas, Arctic Peoples and Security (2006-11).

Joe Baker

Joe Baker: Optimal function and optimal health: What elite athletes can tell us about maximizing health
Elite athletes can inform our understanding of the limits of human potential, which may have particular relevance for older adults. Masters athletes typically show exceptional maintenance of cognitive and physical function compared to the normal aging population and challenge our notions of what older adults are capable of doing.

Guy Proulx

Guy Proulx: 聽The Shifting Borders of Cognitive Aging
The field of cognitive aging is changing rapidly. Half of Canadians born in 2012 can expect to live to 100 years and the hope is that their 鈥渉ealth expectancy鈥� could be as long. The presentation will contrast changes in long term care witnessed in Ontario the last decades and the need for more applied research addressing the wide variability within the normal aging population.

Please .

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After聽eight months of consultation with the community, as well as internal and external research partners, the 91亚色 Senate has unanimously approved the University鈥檚 new strategic research plan, "Building on Strength".

鈥�91亚色鈥檚 new strategic research plan commits to building research on our strengths and provides a strong aspirational vision for the development and recognition of 91亚色鈥檚 research over the next five years,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation.听 鈥淚 would like to thank the entire 91亚色 community for your positive response to the consultation process and earnest engagement that made such important contributions to the development of the plan.听 We will continue to invest in the growth and development of our research as a foundational part of our efforts to grow our academic reputation as a recognized leading research-intensive university.鈥�

Robert Hach茅

The plan supports the University鈥檚 research vision to better understand the human condition and the world around us and to employ the knowledge gained in the service of society as described in six intersecting themes:

• advancing fundamental discovery and critical knowledge,
• analyzing cultures and mobilizing creativity,
• building healthy lives and communities,
• exploring the frontiers of science and technology,
• forging a just and sustainable world,
• integrating entrepreneurial innovation and the public good.

The plan also articulates five areas of opportunities that complement past accomplishments, new developments, momentum and timing to provide particular opportunities for building research success.听 They include:

• digital cultures,
• engineering research that matters,
• healthy individuals, healthy communities and global health,
• public engagement for a just and sustainable world, and
• scholarship of socially engaged research.

Through this plan, the University is implementing the objectives set out for research in both the University Academic Plan and the Provost鈥檚 2010 white paper, which identify research intensification as a key University goal and recognize research as a core endeavor that broadly enriches the institution. The plan is meant to be a living document, responsive to the University's successes, as well as being sensitive to a rapidly evolving landscape.

Through a strategic combination of broadly based and focused investments over the course of the next five years, 91亚色 will continue its impressive development as a leading Canadian research university whose scholarship enhances our culture and improves society.

To view the full plan, click .

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Despite the devastation of her injury, the experiences and people she has encountered since that fateful night have taught her the importance and richness of giving back to the community. It is a life lesson reinforced by friends such as the late author and activist June Caldwood and 91亚色鈥檚 Chancellor Roy McMurtry.

Now an accomplished author, Toronto Star life writer, internationally recognized advocate for those living with disabilities and creator of the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research, she was on the 91亚色 convocation stage, accompanied by her special skills dog, Bella,聽 to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University.

鈥淵ou have chosen health care, and there is no area more important than that in our society. In a significant way, it defines Canada, and how each of you deals with people under your care will define you as a person,鈥� Turnbull told graduating students of the Faculty of Health during Friday's ceremony.

鈥淎s you commence upon the momentous part of your life, I would like you to consider what kind of legacy you are going to craft for yourself,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have come to firmly believe that one of the great secrets of a satisfying life is actively working to better your community. It is a truism that your impact will be as big or as small as you want it to be.鈥�

Learning the power of kindness, taking a moment to fill out an organ donor card, volunteering and excelling in one's profession are all important ways to better society, said Turnbull.听 "In the nearly 30 years since, I have relied on untold health-care practitioners for the longstanding effects that go with paralysis, and some unexpected medical situations that have sorely tested our good doctors, nurses, health-care professionals and more. I could not carry on my life as I do without some of the people who are exactly where some of you are today, graduates of health studies."

She closed her speech by quoting the American poet Maya Angelou, "I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will not forget how you made them feel."

"As graduates of 91亚色's Faculty of Health, go forth and treat your fellow citizens with respect, dignity and kindness," she said. "Recognize your blessings and give back."

91亚色's Spring Convocation ceremonies are streamed live and then archived online. To view Turnbull's convocation address, visit the Convocation website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The letter was delivered to Zoidl by 91亚色 Vice-President Research & Innovation, Robert Hach茅, Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner and Faculty of Science & Engineering Dean Janusz Kozinski.

Above: from left, Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner; VP Research & Innovation Robert Hach茅; Professor and CRC Georg Zoidl; and Faculty of Science & Engineering Dean Janusz Kozinski

鈥淥n behalf of the 91亚色 research community, I am delighted that Dr. Georg Zoidl鈥檚 research and appointment as Canada Research Chair in Mollecular and Cellular Neuroscience has been acknowledged by Canada鈥檚 Prime Minister through this correspondence,鈥� said Hach茅.听 鈥淧rofessor Zoidl is a highly accomplished, world-class researcher who we look to for leadership in the development of this exciting area of research and 91亚色's broader research agenda.鈥�

Zoidl鈥檚 research examines the functions of nerve cells in the brain and the visual system as a means to understanding overall brain activity in health and disease.听The research explores the communication processes in the brain that contribute to disease-causing conditions. Even small changes in communication between these nerve cells might get amplified over a lifetime and will be at the heart of a wide spectrum of diseases.

He is addressing the role of electrical communication in the visual system and the brain using genetically-altered zebra fish; their brains and eyes utilize the basic communication principles found in humans. His research combines high-end imaging tools with careful molecular and cellular manipulations to track how information flows into the brain and eye under healthy and diseased conditions.听The research will foster insight into the molecular and cellular basis of epilepsy and could ultimately lead to improved treatment for vision loss.

鈥淚 am honored to receive this letter from Canada鈥檚 Prime Minister, which recognizes the importance of my research,鈥� said Zoidl. 鈥淚n Canada, securing and preserving quality of life is highly dependent on an individual鈥檚 prolonged and sustained quality of health. With vision loss listed in the top 10 most costly disease groups and approximately 15,500 new epilepsy patients each year, it is important to study the fundamental communication processes in the nervous system from molecules to systems in order to develop preventative health measures.鈥�

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The saying, 鈥渓ooking at things with fresh eyes鈥�, may be more than just a metaphor, according to new studies led by Professor Kari Hoffman of 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Vision Research, which have been published in scholarly journals.

Left: Kari Hoffman

While searching for experiments to use in a research methods course, Hoffman took a fresh look at an old visual perception test and realized it might hold a clue to understanding how we see things and when we remember them. Hoffman says the insight came when she was reviewing results of a flicker-change blindness test, a simple classroom experiment used to show how difficult it is for people to see the difference in two almost identical images or scenes. She realized that what was once a trick of the eye was no longer effective due to her memory of the images.

That led Hoffman and biology graduate student Vivian Chau (right) to develop an experiment that would monitor the eye movement of test subjects as they tried to solve the visual puzzle. What they found was striking: when the viewer remembered the image, the eye movement that indicated the time it took to search and locate the part of the scene that had changed was dramatically reduced compared to when they were viewing it for the first time. This suggested that it was possible to tell when a person was looking at an image for the first time and when they recognized it from memory.

鈥淣ot everyone shows the fast search times, though,鈥� says Hoffman. 鈥淎 participant with amnesia failed to remember the changing objects and his eyes told the story. This participant had suffered damage to his medial temporal lobe, a region which is especially affected in Alzheimer鈥檚 patients and has been associated with memory function in healthy aging,鈥� said Hoffman. 鈥淪o we now have a task to help us study how that brain region functions to support memory formation.鈥�

The study results were published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience ().

After seeing that eye movements could reflect memory, the outcome of brain processing, Hoffman and her lab team wondered if eye movements might also take part in influencing the inputs 鈥� how our brain processes images. In a second study, she and psychology graduate student Adrian Bartlett (right) found that eye movement is also an indication of the brain gearing up to process an image 鈥� a kind of neural 鈥渟mart refresh鈥� that created optimal conditions for seeing.

Hoffman says there is a noticeable change in a subject鈥檚 brain wave patterns when images are viewed with moving eyes as opposed to the more standard experimental method of viewing images with a fixed eye. 鈥淭丑别 neural populations become more synchronized,鈥� she explains, 鈥渢his can make processing an image easier and faster.鈥� 聽They found that the brain has a kind of 鈥渟mart refresh鈥� period when it gets ready to process visual information. If the presentation isn鈥檛 synched to that cycle, the brain is not as good at processing the image.

Designers of learning materials can use this knowledge to create visual presentations that interact with a viewer鈥檚 movements, making the displays more easily processed and therefore more effective. The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience ().

Illustration above shows the path the viewer鈥檚 eyes followed when scanning the photo for the first time and then again the next day

鈥淎lthough scientists often study movement as a separate process from perception and cognition,鈥� Hoffman says, 鈥渙ur results reveal examples of how eye movements are intertwined with perceptual and cognitive processes. In both studies, the eye movements give us a more complete picture of perceptual and memory processes,鈥� Hoffman explains.

Exercising the brain in this way, Hoffman says, may be optimal for neural rewiring or 鈥減lasticity鈥� that leads to better learning, more efficient performance and recovery after loss of function, such as following stroke. 鈥淭his provides support for a more integrative view of brain function 鈥� one in which actions help shape brain performance.鈥�

For more information on the Perception & Plasticity Lab, visit their website.

The studies, which were conducted in collaboration with researchers Jennifer Ryan, Shayna Rosenbaum and Nikos Logothetis, were funded through an NSERC Discovery Grant and an Ontario MRI Early Researcher Award. Hoffman is a professor in psychology & biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health and a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Diploma Program.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色鈥檚 Department of Dance is spearheading an innovative health initiative that sends students into the community to lead weekly dance activity classes for older adults at partner institutions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The program, supported by the Government of Ontario鈥檚 Healthy Communities Fund, focuses on the positive and preventative effects that dance can have for seniors. Drawing on the specialized training the student instructors bring to the project, injury prevention and health promotion are at the core of the program. It features carefully designed movement exercises that build strength, encourage flexibility and full range of motion, proper alignment and coordination, and cardiovascular conditioning.

鈥淭丑别 benefits of dance and music for physical and mental health cannot be overestimated,鈥� says聽Department of Dance听笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤 Mary Jane Warner (right), the project manager. 鈥淏lending fitness and recreation through dance with the opportunity for creative expression is powerful motivation. Fitness strategies like this can help seniors stay active, in their homes and out of hospital beds.鈥�

According to the Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care, the number of seniors in Ontario is expected to double in the next 16 years. In 2009, 18 local hospitals reported that community services such as recreational and exercise classes, along with facilities for the elderly, are hugely insufficient to meet their referral and discharge needs.

91亚色鈥檚 Dance Department launched the project last fall with one-hour weekly dance classes held in the community. Over the course of eight to 10 weeks, more than 190 seniors at 10 facilities across the GTA took part. Three additional locations and five more classes were added last month to accommodate the growing demand from enthusiastic participants.

Current community partners include North 91亚色鈥檚 Bernard Betel Centre, Black Creek Community Health Centre, Downsview Services to Seniors, Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women at two locations in North 91亚色 and one in Woodbridge, North 91亚色 Seniors Centre, Toronto Heliconian Club, St. Clair West Service for Seniors, three Unison Health and Community Services in North 91亚色, and Vaughan Community Health Centre. Feedback from the seniors and student-teachers 鈥� as well as the institutions hosting the sessions 鈥� is overwhelmingly positive.

鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly satisfying when you hear how much these classes mean to the participants. You really feel like you鈥檙e making a difference in people鈥檚 lives,鈥� says project coordinator and research associate April Nakaima. 鈥淥ne woman, a diabetic, was congratulated by her doctor for the drop in her blood sugar; she credited the class for this good outcome. Several other women credited the class with helping them lose inches from their waistlines. Another participant says she found the dance class more beneficial in combating her depression than other programs. Getting responses like this after just eight weeks has been both astounding and deeply gratifying.鈥�

Nakaima, a former research coordinator at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital in Toronto, serves as adviser and guest lecturer to the program. She brings extensive expertise and experience to the project, having previously developed a highly successful dance program for older adults living in government-assisted housing.

The participants are incredibly diverse, and so the project delivery must be too, Nakaima says. 鈥淥ne of the most fascinating aspects is accommodating such a wide range of fitness, mobility, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Some classes are done with people mostly seated. A couple of groups need translators. We even take music requests from the participants.鈥�

Rhea Bowman, one of 16 student teachers, leads seniors in a dance class

Sixteen student teachers from 91亚色鈥檚 Dance Department are taking part in the program, earning course credit for their third-year pedagogy class. With a range of teaching experience under their belts and a targeted orientation program, they bring a solid foundation to their training to lead the dance activity classes. The pedagogy classes prepare them to teach in dance studio settings, recreation and community centres, and the public school system. The course covers teaching participants of all ages and abilities, with a strong emphasis on creative movement as a form appropriate for everyone, including the elderly. There are also courses in kinesiology, conditioning, somatics and injury prevention that prepare the students to work safely with participants.

Some students are planning to teach dance in community settings or within the school system. Others bring a particular interest in dance therapy or rehabilitation, looking to serve clients with special needs, such as the elderly or people recovering from illness or injury.

鈥楾he experience has been amazing,鈥� says fourth-year dance major Rhea Bowman, who is teaching her second group of predominately Spanish-speaking participants at the Black Creek Community Health Centre. 鈥淲e dance to Spanish, soca and calypso music, and some of the ladies have taught me more intricate Spanish dance steps. They are teaching me Spanish words too!

鈥淚 feel very passionate about fitness for older adults after seeing how beneficial this dance class is for them,鈥� says Bowman. 鈥淚 would love to continue to do this work after the year is done.鈥�

Bowman鈥檚 classmate, Candace Calarco, who is teaching at the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women located near 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus, is equally enthusiastic. 鈥淪o far, this placement has been a totally positive and exciting experience,鈥� she says. 鈥淲orking with seniors has really expanded my knowledge about movement and the human body, and how to teach a group with a wide range of physical abilities.鈥�

The student teachers come together each week to share their experiences and strategies on solving the challenges they encounter in the course of their teaching. Input is also invited from the participating seniors and community partners. This ongoing feedback loop strengthens the experience for everyone involved.

鈥淭丑别 student teachers from 91亚色鈥檚 Dance Department are professional, knowledgeable instructors who address the physical exercise needs of our clients while taking their medical conditions into consideration,鈥� says Rukhsana Naheed Cheema, the seniors coordinator at the Elspeth Heyworth satellite location in Vaughan鈥檚 Blue Willow Activity Centre. 鈥淭丑别 pleasant personalities of these skilled instructors add to the seniors鈥� love for the program. It has not only improved their health, but their mood and spirits as well. They hope it can go on forever.鈥�

Plans are in the works to create a dedicated course to keep the program running in the future.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Zoidl, a professor at 91亚色 since July 1 in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, and the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and a member of 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Vision Research, is examining the functions of nerve cells in the brain and the visual system as a means to understanding overall brain activity in health and disease.听聽

Left: Georg Zoidl

As a Tier 1 CRC, Zoidl will receive $1.4 million over seven years.听The CRC is part of a package of CRC appointments announced recently at the University of Guelph by聽Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state (Science and Technology).

鈥淥ur government is investing in the people and ideas that will keep Canada at the forefront of the global economy,鈥� said Goodyear. 鈥淭丑别 Canada Research Chairs are helping to develop, attract and retain the world鈥檚 top researchers here in our country.鈥�

In all, the government announced an investment of $203.9 million to fund the appointment of 253 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 56 Canadian degree-granting postsecondary institutions.

鈥淚 am delighted that Professor Georg Zoidl has joined 91亚色 as the Canada Research Chair in Molecular and聽Cellular Neuroscience,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation at 91亚色.听鈥淭hrough the CRC program, 91亚色 is building on its research strengths and enhancing opportunities for graduate training.鈥�

Zoidl's research explores the communication processes in the brain that contribute to disease-causing conditions. Even small changes in communication between these nerve cells might get amplified over a lifetime and will be at the heart of a wide spectrum of diseases.听

Zoidl is addressing the role of electrical communication in the visual system and the brain using genetically altered zebrafish, which have a brain and eyes utilizing the basic communication principles found in humans.听He uses聽high-end imaging tools with careful molecular and cellular manipulations to track how information flows into the living brain or eye under health and disease conditions, with a focus on epilepsy and ischemia. His research will foster insight into the molecular and cellular basis of epilepsy and could ultimately lead to improved treatment for stroke.听聽

Zoidl came to 91亚色 from the Faculty of Medical Science at Ruhr-University Bochum in Bochum, Germany.

For more information, visit the website.

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Titled "Living in 91亚色 Region: Our Community Check-up", the report presents context indicators for 12 issue areas and summarizes the opinions of more than 1,000聽91亚色 Region residents who attended focus groups and completed an online survey between March and June 2011. The project is part of a national initiative covering 22 Canadian communities.

The report聽provides baseline indicators and resident perceptions of how well the region's communities are faring in key quality of life areas such as learning, health, housing and the environment.听It聽emphasizes the聽importance of connections in an聽area encompassing some聽1,756 square kilometres of rural, forested and urban landscape and concludes that聽91亚色 Region is a healthy community.

鈥�91亚色 has been pleased to be part of this important project in 91亚色 Region,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation at 91亚色. 鈥淭his report will provide a baseline against which our knowledge mobilization and social innovation initiatives can be measured. We will now have the ability to describe the difference that research is making in the lives of our local communities.鈥�

Staff from 91亚色's KMb Unit聽served聽on the project steering committee to support the strategic and operational objectives of the report.听David Dewitt, former assistant vice-president research, served as the University's representative on the聽project's leadership council,聽which provided strategic oversight around the development, rollout and sustainability of the project.听91亚色 alumna Marie Murnaghan (PhD '10) contributed to the project by seeking and analyzing data in the聽12 indicator areas.

鈥淭his report, based on research and data as well as the experiences and voices of 91亚色 Region residents, holds great potential in mobilizing action around the human services provision,鈥� said Michael Johnny, 91亚色's聽knowledge mobilization聽manager.听鈥淭丑别 KMb Unit at 91亚色 will continue to work with leaders and decision makers, using this report, to help support informed decision making on important issues to all residents of 91亚色 Region.鈥�

The report found that聽91亚色 Region聽residents聽have great pride in their communities, whether they are聽long-time residents or newcomers,聽but聽years of sustained growth 鈥� and the prospect of much more to come in the future 鈥� have created pressures in two key areas that require聽urgent attention.

The first area, subtitled Getting Around, highlights that聽infrastructure and services 鈥� and most importantly public transit 鈥� must keep pace with growth so people are able to move conveniently and efficiently within 91亚色 Region and connect to neighbouring communities.

The second priority, subtitled Housing, asserts that there be more聽affordable choices and supports for people in emergency situations.

To these two priority issues the report adds a third that speaks of the need to build awareness and to better communicate 91亚色 Region鈥檚 existing strengths. The issue, subtitled聽Navigating Existing Resources, highlights the importance of ensuring that people know what聽services and programs already exist in the region聽and how to access them.

The Living in 91亚色 Region Vital Signs report is part of聽the Vital Signs national聽initiative comprised of聽annual community check-ups that are conducted by 22 community foundations across Canada to聽measure the vitality of聽communities.听The project received funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The full report can be downloaded from the 飞别产蝉颈迟别.听

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Blow by Blow: The Second Annual Donald Sanderson Memorial Symposium on Sport Concussion聽is open to the public 鈥� athletes, coaches, parents,聽researchers and anyone interested in the聽physical and psychological impact head injuries can have on individuals and their families.

91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science will host the two-hour evening event, which will bring sports medicine and brain researchers together with athletes to discuss an injury that continues to impair the careers and health of both amateur and professional athletes 鈭� most recently, hockey champion Sidney Crosby.

The symposium is held in honour of Donald Sanderson, the 91亚色 kinesiology student and promising hockey player who died Jan. 2, 2009 as a result of a head injury during a Whitby Dunlops game.听

聽聽聽聽 Right: Matt Dunigan

"Educating our student athletes about head injuries is critical,鈥� says Cindy Hughes, manager of the Gorman/Shore Sport Injury Clinic in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who helped organize the symposium. 鈥淭丑别y need to understand the importance of reporting a possible concussion right away so they can receive the proper care."

, a game analyst with TSN since 1996, played football for 14 years on five Canadian teams and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He retired from football in 1996 after suffering at least a dozen diagnosed concussions, and continues to struggle with the long-term effects of those concussions. He will speak about the post-concussive symptoms he has experienced since retirement and the effect of concussion on himself and his family, as well as the importance of reporting concussion and taking it seriously. A champion of research on sport concussion, Dunigan announced last spring that upon his death his brain will be donated to Toronto鈥檚 Krembil Neuroscience Centre.

Dahna Sanderson, who established the Donald Sanderson Memorial Trust Fund in memory of her son, will also speak during the symposium. A sports mom and fan for 20 years, she coached professional figure skating and is passionate about sports and sports safety.听

is a primary care sport medicine specialist, certified in family and sports medicine in Canada and the US. Currently practising in Burlington, he has been a junior hockey team physician for the past decade in Canada and the US. He is a research chair of the Hockey Neurotrauma and Concussion Initiative Research Committee and is primary investigator of the Hockey Concussion Education Project.听

Lauren Sergio is a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health. A neuroscientist, she studies the effects of age, sex, neurological disease, head injury and experience (茅lite versus non-茅lite athletes) on the brain鈥檚 control of complex movement. She works with a wide range of adults, from NHL draft prospects to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease patients, using behavioural and brain imaging techniques.听

Left: Lauren Sergio

Roy McMurtry, 91亚色 chancellor and former chair and chief executive officer of the Canadian Football League, will deliver opening remarks. Award-winning CBC sports reporter Teddy Katz will MC the event.听

The symposium takes place in the Price Family Cinema, Accolade East Building, from 7 to 9pm. Admission is free, but registration is required. To register and for more information on speakers, visit the symposium website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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This spring, Raphael聽released a second updated and expanded edition featuring the聽latest figures on poverty, and聽a new, hefty chapter critiquing all federal and provincial anti-poverty programs.听And he clarified, in the final chapter, what people can do to stem聽growing poverty in Canada, the fourth wealthiest nation on the planet. Rob Rainer, executive director of Canada Without Poverty, wrote the foreword.听

鈥淵ou are holding in your hands the single most valuable reference on poverty in Canada, a book whose dog-eared copy sits prominently on the bookshelf in my office,鈥� Rainer began, referring to the first edition of Poverty and Policy in Canada (see YFile, May 15, 2007). Valuable, he stressed, for its breadth, its provocative questions, its lists of resources 鈥� and because of the person behind this work.听

Raphael, notes Rainer, 鈥渉as encyclopedic knowledge about poverty in Canada. He has developed this from making the study of poverty central to his life鈥檚 work. But unlike some academics who are content to study and publish鈥aphael goes beyond publishing to be a scholar (uncommonly) determined to be and unafraid of speaking truth to power."

Raphael wrote the original book聽to meet a need for a textbook in a third-year course he聽teaches聽on poverty and health in聽91亚色's School of Health聽Policy & Management.听

The book聽explores the links between poverty,聽policy, health and quality of life for Canadians.听Raphael argues, writes聽Rainer,聽that聽unless Canadian governments take steps to reduce the inequities between the rich and poor, "we can expect poverty and its devastating impact and cost to be a virtually permanent fixture of our society."

In the book鈥檚 new chapter, "Anti-Poverty Strategies and Programs", Raphael assesses 鈥渁 bewildering array鈥� of more than 70 so-called anti-poverty programs, from swimming lessons and drop-in centres, to housing and health services, and concludes that most, however well-intended, lack impact. Quebec and Newfoundland offer more effective programs than the other provinces, says Raphael, but poverty can only be eliminated by raising the minimum wage, offering benefits to temporary and part-time workers, and raising social assistance and disability benefits to health-sustaining levels, among other things.听Making it easier for Canadians to form unions is also very important, says Raphael.

Left: Dennis Raphael

What is the future of poverty in Canada, asks Raphael in his final chapter. That depends on the will and influence of political parties to introduce poverty-reducing policies, such as the proposed national child-care program, he argues. 鈥淐onservative dominance should lead to little if any decline in child poverty rates and 鈥� due to greater implementation of market-oriented rather than equity-based policies 鈥� may increase these rates,鈥� he says. Finally, he says, voting for聽left-leaning parties that advocate social reform would go a long way towards reducing poverty in Canada.

Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life is published by .听

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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