Tue., February 9, 2010
Communication breakdown: what happens to nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease
A new study from The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro - at McGill University is the first to discover a molecular link between Parkinson’s disease and defects in the ability of nerve cells to communicate. The study, published in the prestigious journal Molecular Cell and selected as Editor’s Choice in the prominent journal Science, provides new insight into the... Read more
Fri., February 5, 2010
Youth who self-identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual at higher suicide risk
Same-sex sexual attraction and behaviour less critical than self-identity
Thu., February 4, 2010
Green Team
We need food. We need fuel. The Green Crop Network is working on ways we can have both. (Hold the greenhouse gases.)
Outside the Music Box
At a collaborative laboratory called BRAMS, scientists from five Canadian universities are unlocking the mysteries of the brain through music and sound.
From Green Revolution To Evergreen Solutions
If you can’t eat it, it’s not food: Growing crops is one thing, but the real trick is getting those crops from field to market with minimal spoilage. Learn about bioresource engineering professor Vijaya Raghavan’s decades-long effort to bring post-harvest innovations to Indian farms.
Here's To World Health
Laurette Dubé’s career as a nutritionist seems so distant that she calls it “a former life.” Since then she has completed an MBA in Finance, a master’s of professional studies in marketing and a PhD in consumer psychology. She joined the Desautels Faculty of Management as a consumer psychologist in 1995, focusing her research on “non-rational” aspects of decision-making and behavior.
Sweating the small stuff
The third edition of the Junior Nanotech Network, to be held in 2010, promises to continue the student exchange’s tradition of cutting-edge research.
...And Social Justice For All
The McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building is taking rights-based community practices out of the social work textbooks and putting them to work in the streets of Israel, Palestine and Jordan.
Missing DNA tied to obesity
McGill University study could lead to personalized medicine to treat morbid obesity with genetic cause.
Wed., February 3, 2010
Some morbidly obese people are missing genes, new research shows
A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to research published today in Nature.
New accreditation for the Research Ethics Committee of St Mary’s Hospital Center
The Research Ethics Committee of SMHC will now be able to approve projects involving minors and incompetent adults
Tue., February 2, 2010
The Dangers of Drinking
Bertrand Russell once described drunkenness as “temporary suicide,” a phrase that might turn out to be more literally true than the great philosopher knew. Heavy drinkers of beer and spirits face a much higher risk of developing cancer than the population at large, according to a recent study published in the journal Cancer Detection and Prevention by researchers from McGill and elsewhere.
Good Ethics for Good Science
The accelerated world of medical research promises new diagnostic tools and treatments for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and even cancer. These advances, however, raise a daunting array of ethical issues. Enter Bartha Maria Knoppers, the recently appointed director of McGill’s new Centre of Genomics and Policy.
Casualties of Conflict
We hear increasingly about the difficulties of veterans trying to return to ordinary life after a stint in the military. Associate professor of social work Myriam Denov is involved with a group of former soldiers whose re-entry into society is nothing short of miraculous.
Home of the Cosmic Rays
Scientists long tried to figure out why some spots on Earth had more radioactive air than others. It wasn’t until 1912, when Victor Hess took an electrometer skyward in a balloon, that it became clear the extra radiation was coming, not from inside the Earth, but from above it. Way above it. But where exactly did these “cosmic rays,” as physicist Robert Millikan dubbed them, come from?
Outer Space's Gravest Hits
Devastating space junk collisions are becoming more and more frequent, and that’s bad news for owners of the $18 billion worth of commercial satellites, not to mention other spacecraft, currently orbiting the Earth.
Neuroscience Notes
McGill’s long history of neuroscience innovation began a new chapter of collaboration with the inception of a partnership with the University of Oxford. The two universities are building a framework for neuroscience research, teaching, joint grant bids, student exchanges and faculty crossappointments.
Balzan for Milner
Brenda Milner needs a bigger mantelpiece. On November 20, 2009, in a ceremony held in Berne, Switzerland, the legendary Montreal Neurological Institute researcher received the International Balzan Prize, yet another entry on her long list of prestigious accolades.
Gold-en Hall of Fame
Dr. Phil Gold made Canadian medical history in 1965—and now it’s official. Forty-five years after he and his colleague Dr. Samuel Freedman discovered the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)—which, as the first clinically useful human tumour marker, revolutionized the diagnosis and management of cancer—Gold is being inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
A Space Junk Odyssey
Humans are getting good at reaching outer space. But, like on Earth, we’re lousy at cleaning up after ourselves up there. Law professor Ram Jakhu is helping tame this growing otherworldly problem—before it’s too late.
Royal Society Honours
At ceremonies held in Ottawa on November 28 and 29, 2009, the Royal Society of Canada recognized the achievements of four McGill researchers.
Of Health Care and Earthquakes
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is funding nine new Strategic Research Networks that support the research priority areas identified in the Government of Canada’s Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy. Two of these initiatives are based at McGill: the Healthcare Support through Information Technology Enhancements (hSITE) and the Canadian Seismic Research Network.
Stargazer Wins Prix du Québec
Vicky Kaspi had to divert her gaze from the heavens long enough to shake some hands and collect some more hardware. McGill’s Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology and Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics was awarded a 2009 Prix du Québec, the highest honour conferred by the provincial government.
Mon., February 1, 2010
Deep freeze doesn’t faze woodsmen
By Neale McDevitt This past Saturday, a frigid day tailor made for burrowing deep inside a pile of downy duvets and watching movies, dozens of lumberjacks and Jills from Canada and the U.S. thumbed their frostbitten noses at the elements to compete in the 50th Annual Woodsmen Competition at Mac Campus. With the wind chill driving temperatures [...]
Double agent: glial cells can protect or kill neurons, vision
Scientists have identified a double agent in the eye that, once triggered, can morph from neuron protector to neuron killer. The discovery has significant health implications since the neurons killed through this process results in vision loss and blindness.
