INSPIRING MINDS | Paige McGarry, MSc candidate, Faculty of Science

Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Paige McGarry
MSc candidate, Faculty of Science

Rapid, Reliable, and Risk-Free Detection of Fentanyl

Canada is in the midst of an opioid crisis: potent drugs like Fentanyl have been responsible for over 42,000 overdoses across the country each year. Canadians are consuming street drugs underhandedly cut with cheap and deadly fillers designed to increase their potency. To combat the increasing number of misrepresented narcotics, drug analysis can be performed at safe consumption sites, alerting users of the presence of dangerous fillers and verifying the chemical composition of each substance before consumption. My research is focused on creating an analytical technique that offers rapid, reliable, and risk-free methods for drug investigation, implementing Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to detect trace amounts of Fentanyl in street drugs. I have designed a highly sensitive SERS method that is calibrated to reveal the molecular fingerprint of Fentanyl in under 5 minutes using arrays of raspberry-shaped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on a glass coverslip as the drug loading platform.

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SSHRC's Storytellers Challenge

SSHRC's Storytellers Challenge supports efforts to disseminate work in the social sciences, arts and humanities and provides opportunities to develop skills for communicating it clearly and effectively. In up to three minutes or 300 words, students are asked to show how social sciences and humanities research funded by SSHRC is affecting our lives, our world and our future for the better.

In 2024, 20 finalists were awarded $3,000 and a chance to travel to Saskatoon to tell their story to a panel of judges at the showcase, with the five winners being awarded an additional $1,000.

We expect the 2025 competition to open the first week of November 2024, with details about awards and deadlines to be confirmed at that time.

We are offering two streams of optional support for submissions to the 2025 Storytellers competition:

Stream 1

In-depth, hands-on training provided by participating in the Storyhouse throughout the fall term.

• The Storyhouse helps craft accessible, engaging narratives to communicate new information with people who can implement, inform or act upon it
• Participation requires a commitment of approximately 2-3 hours weekly for the term.
• Students must be available to attend weekly, one-hour workshops (either 10:30 or 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays)
• Fall term registration deadline is September 23.

Students can register through this form.

Stream 2

A series of workshops focused on how to translate your research for lay audiences, with the possibility of technical video production and editing training and support, depending on numbers.

• Based on interest, these workshops will happen in the latter half of the term.
• Additionally, depending on numbers, students have the chance to receive feedback from the communications team at Western Research.

Students can voice their interest in this stream through our form.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Will Kinchlea, Communications Coordinator, Western Research.

INSPIRING MINDS | Kaitlyn Maddigan, PhD candidate, Faculty of Health Sciences

Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Kaitlyn Maddigan
PhD candidate, Faculty of Health Sciences

Canadian Healthcare Reform is on the Horizon and Advanced Practice Physiotherapy is Rising

Have you ever had an episode of lower back or knee pain that has landed you in various healthcare practitioner’s offices with no clear direction for recovery? If so, you are not alone – 2.5 billion people worldwide are living with conditions that would benefit from rehabilitation and 1.7 billion of them are affected by musculoskeletal (i.e. muscle and joint) pain. Early intervention provided at first contact can meaningfully reduce the prevalence of chronic conditions. Advanced Practice physiotherapy offers an innovative solution to this problem - improving access to high quality care and patient outcomes. I am a physiotherapist; I have witnessed firsthand the struggle of our current medical system to optimally manage musculoskeletal pain. A critical step in implementing change in Canada is standardizing the educational pathway to Advanced Practice for the physiotherapist, as such my research intends to address this gap, ultimately aiming to create opportunity for widespread implementation.

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REGISTER NOW: The BioNext MedTech Innovation Challenge | September 25, 2024

 

Don’t miss this year’s launch of the BioNext Challenge with the first installment “Success Stories”. We’ll hear from some very successful MedTech entrepreneurs and you’ll learn how to get started, what resources are available, and meet people that can help you get to the Grand Finale and win Cash Prizes!

 

Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Location: Robarts Research Institute, 6th Floor

 

REGISTER NOW!

 

Whether you have an idea for a new product, want to address a major healthcare challenge, or are interested in turning ideas into impactful solutions, this event is for you!

 

Panel Companies:

https://stepsciences.com/  

https://frontlinemedical.ca/

https://tenomix.com/

 

INSPIRING MINDS | Bahareh Kheiri, MSc candidate, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Bahareh Kheiri
MSc candidate, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

Enhancing Study Validity through Simulated Exploration of Missing Data in Pragmatic Trials

In pragmatic trials, addressing missing data is crucial. Our investigation is similar to a detective narrative, where critical evidence disappears.  Our mission?  We analyze various datasets encountering different missing data scenarios, from random to non-random patterns. By simulating different rates of missing data, such as 10% or 20%, we aim to discern their impact on the treatment effect. Crucially, we seek to pinpoint the threshold at which missing data significantly compromises study reliability. Through simulated data analysis, our goal is to identify an optimal threshold, minimizing disruptions to the treatment effect while upholding study integrity. This research will provide valuable insights into the robustness of pragmatic trials in the face of missing data, ultimately enhancing the trustworthiness of real-world evidence. Additionally, by shedding light on the impact of missing data, our findings will contribute to the development of guidelines for conducting pragmatic trials, thus elevating the quality of medical research.

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YOU ARE INVITED! An Afternoon of Allyship | NDTR September 30, 2024

All members of the Western campus community are invited to join us for An Afternoon of Allyship.

DATE:  September 30, 2024
TIME: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Social Science Centre (SSC) Room #2050
Refreshments will be served, including a light lunch available for the first 75 attendees

Learn about how you too can become an ally. Reflect on how allyship can inform and strengthen your roles at Western, for example as students, supervisors, instructors, researchers, committee members, administrators and leaders.

We invite you to attend one or both of the two sessions below:

• First, from 1:00-2:30 pm, archaeologists Lisa Hodgetts and Ed Eastaugh will speak on "Archaeologists as Allies: Supporting Indigenous-led Searches at Former Indian Residential Schools." The work they do with the Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves received a 2024 Governor General's Innovation Award. Following their presentation, there will be an opportunity to see some of the technology that is used in this important work.
• Second, from 2:45-4:00 pm, geographer Katrina Moser will speak on "Allyship is a Journey, not a Destination." The course Connecting for Climate Change Action, a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues, won a 2023 D2L Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

This Afternoon of Allyship is organized by the Faculty of Social Science, with the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Indigenous Studies Program, the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS), and the Social Science Students Council.

WORLDiscoveries is excited to announce the 4th annual IP Strategy Boot Camp!

This intensive program offers participants a unique opportunity to dive into the world of intellectual property and learn how to protect and commercialize their innovations. For more details and to apply, visit WORLDiscoveries.

Application deadline: Friday, October 4, 2024.

APPLY NOW!

REGISTER NOW! Anti-Racism Response Training (ART) | September 25, 2024

CAGS Workshop Series for Graduate Students and Postdocs

Anti-Racism Response Training (ART)

DATE:  Wednesday, September 25, 2024
TIME:  12 noon - 3:00 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION:  Zoom
FEE:  $95 per ticket (no tax)

In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September 2024, CAGS is pleased to offer a new module in the Anti-Racism Response Training (ART) series that will focus on exploring concepts and language. The workshop will be held over Zoom for a three-hour period on Wednesday, 25 September from 12 noon - 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The facilitators will conduct the session in English.

In this important and timely 3-hour workshop, participants will: review key concepts and language used in anti-racism work; explore connections between individual and systemic racism; look at how unconscious bias and stereotypes influence interactions with others; review the meaning and impacts of White privilege and fragility; examine the concept of and responses to micro-aggressions; and survey the racist origins of commonly used language. Participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice a wide range of anti-racism responses, and to share their own experiences if they choose.

CAGS is making a limited number of tickets available to Graduate Students, Postdocs, and other interested individuals from within our community of member institutions. Tickets will be sold for $95.00 CAD (no tax), and will include participation in the three-hour training session and all associated materials. Bundles of pre-paid tickets are available and can be arranged by writing to [email protected]. CAGS is a registered charity, and all ticket proceeds will go towards covering the costs of the workshop series.

Tickets are available to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from CAGS member institutions, and will be sold until the capacity of the workshop has been reached.

Registration closes on Wednesday, September 23 at 9:00 PM (ET).

REGISTER NOW!

We encourage you to share this information among your network of colleagues who may not be on the CAGS email lists.

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