Features

Meet the College Ones: small classes, field trips, lively debates

Author: 
Gavin Au-Yeung
Picture: 
photo of Professor Urbanic and Vic One students

They’re known as the College Ones – and they offer undergraduates at the largest university in Canada the chance to spend part of their first year studying in a small class, getting to know professors and classmates, and taking part in field trips.

Posted Monday, September 17, 2012

From the research lab to the operating room

Sub-title: 
Medical device clears regulatory hurdle in the United States
Author: 
Jennifer Lanthier
Picture: 
photo of Professor Paul Santerre and BioFlo PICC

What began in the Dentistry lab of Professor Paul Santerre more than a decade ago is now Interface Biologics Inc. (IBI) - a privately-held company poised to transform the market for medical devices in the United States.

Through its licensing partner, AngioDynamics, IBI has just cleared a major regulatory hurdle that will allow a medical device using its polymer-based additives to be used in the United States.

Posted Monday, September 17, 2012

TIFF and U of T's Munk School talk global film

Author: 
Sean Willett
Picture: 
TIFF and Munk partnership

The Toronto International Film Festival is bringing together the worlds of film and education by partnering with the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs on the Contemporary World Speakers series.

This initiative pairs five films in the Contemporary World Cinema programme with expert scholars from the Munk School.

Posted Friday, September 14, 2012

CIBC Run for the Cure at U of T

Sub-title: 
A morning jog that can save a life
Author: 
Gavin Au-Yeung
Picture: 
photo of Scott Mabury addressing Run for the Cure volunteers

There’s never been a better reason to grab your old pair of sneakers: on September 30, you can join thousands of runners at the University of Toronto for the Canadian Breast Cancer CIBC Run for the Cure.

“One in nine women (is) diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime,” says Sandra Palmaro, CEO of Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Ontario. “There is still so much more for us to learn and it is critical that we continue to invest in innovative and relevant research each and every year.”  

Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2012

West Nile Virus returns: a Q & A with Dr. David Fisman

Author: 
Paul Fraumeni
Picture: 
photo of a mosquito

In 2002, much of North America became acquainted with an infection that few people had heard of: West Nile Virus. Governments and public health offices launched massive awareness programs to get people to take up practices that would help to avoid the virus. It seemed to work – until this summer.

Posted Monday, September 10, 2012

Adjusting to university life: help for first-year students

Author: 
Gavin Au-Yeung
Picture: 
photo of students at frosh week

The freedom and independence of university life can be exhilarating yet daunting for students after the organized structure of high school.

But for students feeling overwhelmed, there’s help. And it starts before classes.

Moving Forward is a summer transition program offered at St. George for students with learning disabilities that seeks to help them overcome such challenges managing workload, producing university quality work and adjusting to student life.

Posted Friday, September 7, 2012

Deconstructing the nature documentary

Author: 
Kurt Kleiner
Picture: 
photo of Michael Allder on film site

Filmmaker Michael Allder has travelled the globe to document the natural world, and for more than a decade was executive producer of The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. But despite all of his experience, he expects to learn something himself from the public lectures he will be giving at U of T Scarborough this fall.

“I think it’s a fascinating opportunity,” he says. “For 13 or 14 years at the CBC I managed 20 films a year. I didn’t have the time to deconstruct them. The main focus was to make the best film you can.”

Posted Thursday, September 6, 2012

Will a computer save your life someday?

Sub-title: 
Fritz Roth is using bioinformatics to untangle genetic data
Author: 
Patchen Barss
Picture: 
Fritz Roth

Some scientists call them “ridiculograms.” Others use the term “hairballs.”

They are scientific diagrams that contain important information, but that are so complex that no human being could decipher their secrets.

Hairballs often turn up in the field of genetics, especially among researchers who study genetic interactions. The human genome has between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. That’s complicated enough, but many hereditary characteristics are caused not by a single gene, but by two, or 20 or 200 mutations conspiring together.

Posted Tuesday, September 4, 2012

How do political parties influence you?

Sub-title: 
And how does Chris Cochrane figure that out?
Author: 
Paul Fraumeni
Picture: 
Political science professor Chris Cochrane believes computers are changing the w

When U.S. President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage on May 9 of this year, the Twitterverse went into overdrive. Social media analysts reported that Twitter saw 1.6 million #gaymarriage tweets immediately after Obama’s announcement. The pace peaked at 7,347 tweets per minute that afternoon.

That’s a lot of talk about an issue that could well have a tangible impact on the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign.

Posted Friday, August 31, 2012

U of T atmospheric physicist discusses ozone, climate change and the Quadrennial Ozone Symposium

Author: 
Jennifer Lanthier
Picture: 
The 2011 Canadian Arctic ACE validation campaign team at PEARL

As leading international scientists gather in Toronto to discuss new findings on ozone and climate change for the 22nd Quadrennial Ozone Symposium, U of T News spoke with Professor Kimberly Strong about her research, the Arctic ozone hole and atmospheric research at U of T.

Tell us a bit about your research – why is it so important to take ground-based, balloon-borne and satellite measurements of the atmosphere?

Posted Wednesday, August 29, 2012
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