Since the 1960s, a number of programs have enabled promising students from developing countries to attend institutions of higher education in the global North with the goal of equipping them to contribute more effectively to development in their own countries. But, how do African scholarship recipients today understand their potential contributions to the development of their home societies? Does this differ among students who study in their home countries, in other African countries, or in the global North?

McGill researchers have discovered, for the first time, the importance of a key epigenetic regulator in the development of the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning, memory and neural stem cells. Epigenetic regulators change the way specific genes function without altering their DNA sequence. By working with mutant mice as models, the research team, led by Prof. Xiang-Jiao Yang, of McGill’s Goodman Cancer Center & Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Center, was able to link the importance of a specific epigenetic regulator known as BRPF1 to the healthy development of a region in the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus.

Two McGill University projects have received grants valued at $500,000 each from the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships program.

The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, McGill University, the Université de Montréal and the Fondation du Dr Julien will establish two chairs in social pediatrics in the community, to be based in the Montreal neighbourhood of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. In a Canadian first, researchers will conduct a long-term study on social pediatrics in the community.  This clinical practice has a proven track record, thanks to its founder, Dr. Gilles Julien, who has been practicing social pediatrics in disadvantaged neighbourhoods for nearly 30 years.