Daily News

May 3, 2004

McMaster University researchers have developed a better way for both the public and healthcare professionals to seek valid medical information on the Internet. The group, . . .

May 3, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/cities2opt.jpg” caption=”Virtual Cities Web site”]Faculty and students in the multimedia program at McMaster University had the chance to experience working on a large . . .

May 3, 2004

Canada's Man in Motion, Rick Hansen, took his first tour of McMaster's Centre for Health Promotion and Rehabilitation on Friday. Hansen spent about 45 minutes meeting some of the people who use the exercise rehabilitation facility on a regular basis. Kinesiology professors Neil McCartney and Audrey Hicks hosted the informal tour which included demonstrations of the various pieces of equipment used in rehabilitation training. Members of the MacWheelers, numerous volunteers and other researchers who are involved in the centre were also on hand to talk to Hansen. The Centre for Health Promotion and Rehabilitation, established in 2000, is home to a group of multidisciplinary researchers who study the effects of exercise on the well-being of seniors and various patient populations. The centre has a pioneering robotic device called a Lokomat - the only one in Canada - designed for gait retraining in persons with spinal cord injuries. The centre is also one of the few locations in North America that incorporates body weight support treadmill training in the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries and other movement disorders. Hansen received an honorary doctorate from McMaster University in 1999.

April 30, 2004

Long-term care and care of the elderly  cited among the top health related concerns for Canadians  will be explored at the sixth annual Carl Moore Lecture in Primary Care on May 5. Michael Gordon, vice-president of medical services and head of geriatrics and internal medicine at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, will present this year's lecture, hosted by McMaster's Department of Family Medicine. He will speak on Humanity in Long Term Care  Ethical, Clinical and Social Challenges', and will address several dimensions of the topic, including: the long term care system, the decision to choose long term care, and geriatrics and long term care as a career. Gordon is also head of the division of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital, and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. He has published widely on health and aging and is a regular contributor and commentator on the joys and problems of the elderly for various TV programs and radio shows. His books include Old enough to feel Better - A Medical Guide For Seniors and An Ounce Of Prevention - The Canadian Guide To Healthy And Successful Retirement. He is co-author of Parenting your Parents, and a new edition of the Encyclopedia of Health & Aging.

April 29, 2004

Shamir Mehta's innovative research at McMaster University has earned him a national and international reputation as a highly respected researcher in the treatment of acute coronary heart disease. Now, Mehta, a cardiologist with the department of medicine at McMaster, has been recognized for the large impact he has had on patients and the practice of medicine by being named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. The Top 40 Under 40 program, now in its ninth year, was established to recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadians under the age of 40. Recipients of the award represent Canada's best and brightest. "Dr. Mehta represents McMaster's premier candidate for this prestigious award," says John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences. "I believe that Dr. Mehta is an ideal candidate because he is a "triple threat," having made major contributions in patient care, research, and education." Mehta is one of a small number of physicians who performs complex and lifesaving interventional cardiac procedures. These procedures are minimally invasive, yet have profound health impacts. The techniques used by Mehta bring together major advances in diagnosis, anticoagulation, and technology.

April 29, 2004

Down corridors, workers install lighting; in classrooms, they place rows upon rows of seating, they carpet floors and plaster the walls, and put the finishing touches on doors and windows. These are the final details going into the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL), the 300,000-square-foot building to the north side of the McMaster Health Sciences Centre. With approximately 100 construction workers toiling away each day, the building is getting closer to completion. It is expected that MDCL will be ready for the move-in of researchers, staff and faculty over the next few months and it will be ready for classes late this summer. Amid the dust and the sound of drills and hammers, the sign of an innovative facility peaks through. A light shines down from a skylight, floor to ceiling windows stretch down long corridors and state-of-the-art lecture theatres and classrooms begin to exhibit the state of the art. (Click here for a slideshow) "This is going to be a wonderful space for students, researchers, faculty and staff," says John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the faculty of health sciences. "It's going to house state-of-the-art infrastructure, meaning there will be many amenities, from audio visual to the Internet. It will have everything a student needs. I'm really enthusiastic about what is going to happen when students start using the building this summer and fall."

April 28, 2004

McMaster's Department of Family Medicine is helping raise awareness of the importance of regular blood pressure monitoring. A recently launched "Community Hypertension Awareness Program" (CHAP) is 'closing the loop' between health promotion activities in the community, and clinical care by family doctors. Steady attendance at the CHAP' blood pressure sessions reveals that many older adults are interested in having their blood pressure measured and their cardiovascular risk factors recorded and sent to their family doctor, according to Janusz Kaczorowski, research director in the Department of Family Medicine. To date, more than 600 Grimsby-area residents have attended sessions for blood pressure monitoring and cardiovascular risk assessment in local pharmacies.

April 28, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/artwork.jpg” caption=”Artwork by Ruth-Esther Johnson”]What is beauty? Artist Ruth-Esther Johnson, one of McMaster University's graduating studio arts students, presents an exploration of answers . . .

April 27, 2004

Nine McMaster research projects have received more than $1 million in the latest round of the Canada Foundation for Innovation's New Opportunities Fund (NOF). The funding will allow new and talented researchers to conduct their research in world-class facilities. To date, 85 McMaster projects have received a total $14,477,113 from the NOF. Thirty-three Canadian institutions across the country received $29.9 million under this program to help them attract and retain 164 high-caliber researchers in 145 projects. NOF enables eligible universities to provide research infrastructure for newly-recruited faculty members, in their first full-time academic appointment in Canadian degree-granting institutions, so that these researchers can undertake leading-edge research. The fund also enables institutions to recruit new faculty members in the areas of research identified as priorities in their strategic research plans.

April 27, 2004

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/luncheon2.jpg” caption=”Luncheon Series speakers”]McMaster University and Halton Region have formed a unique alliance to inspire and motivate members of the business community. The . . .

April 26, 2004

More than 2,900 students will move out of residence April 25 to 29, with almost 2,723 of these moving out between Tuesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 29. Student residences on-campus officially close on Thursday, April 29. It will be busy on the roadways near the residences in both the north and west quads, particularly during the peak periods between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. University staff who travel the roadway and/or park in Zone 2 opposite McKay Hall, the Commons Building and Woodstock Hall will find this area particularly busy over the next few days. To avoid the bustle of cars pulling in and out of the parking spots and the general increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic in this area, staff are encouraged to park in Zone 2 south of the tennis courts for the next few days.

April 23, 2004

The McMaster community is advised that a McMaster student was recently diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB). The part-time student is now receiving medical attention. The student does not live on campus. TB is not easily spread and those at greater risk must have had close, day-to-day contact with the student. Hamilton's Public Health and Community Services Department will be sending a letter to anyone who may have had possible direct contact with the student and will advise them to visit their family doctor for a tuberculin skin test now and in three months to determine if infection occurred. The testing procedure is a precaution as there is a low risk that others have contracted the disease.

April 23, 2004

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will hold training camp at McMaster University, May 22 to June 6. The Hamilton Tiger-Cat players and staff will be staying at . . .

April 22, 2004

McMaster's Environmental Steering Committee has set in action an environmental plan that will examine ecological issues at McMaster, such as solid waste, air quality and energy use. "The Environmental Steering Committee's work over the past year has largely focused on the establishment of an appropriate framework to assess current performance and measure future development in various environmental issues," says Linda Axford, university planner and member of the committee. In developing an Environmental Action Plan, the committee explored a Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) -- a model that has been implemented at other university campuses to set specific targets for continuous improvement. "While the CSAF defines very specific indicators to measure sustainable development, such indicators require research and adjustment to suit McMaster's needs," Axford says.

April 21, 2004

As spring approaches the buds will bloom, the sun will get warmer, and inevitably students will move out. With move-out comes unwanted, yet reusable, household goods. In 2001, the McMaster Students Union Environment Committee organized an event called Dump & Run to decrease the number of reusable items that are sent to the dump by the campus community during the student move-out in April and May. In 2004, the Environmental Committee has been renamed to MACgreen, and the Dump & Run has become Swap-O-Rama. During Swap-O-Rama, which runs from Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25, students and residents in the areas surrounding McMaster University are encouraged to put out reusable items that they no longer use that could benefit someone else. Other students and residents are then encouraged to prowl the streets of West Hamilton, taking items that they need. "The Swap-O-Rama provides a method of exchanging and passing on potentially useful old things that students and residents no longer want," explains Justin Grenier, events co-ordinator for MACgreen. "People can put out everything from furniture to utensils. The only requirement is that items have to be able to be used again."

April 21, 2004

Power is currently being restored to sections of McMaster University that were without electricity this afternoon. All evening exams on Wednesday, April 21 will proceed as usual. Stay tuned to the Daily News for details.

April 20, 2004

A botanical atrium at the front of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL) will enhance campus and five endowed chairs will recruit and retain outstanding scholars. These were just two of the items approved by McMaster's Board of Governors last week, during a special meeting in the Psychology Building. Prior to a tour of the newly renovated facilities, the Board celebrated the significance of a $105-million donation from Michael G. DeGroote to McMaster, by approving the construction of an atrium that will be added to the front of MDCL. The atrium, to be constructed at the east of the front entrance, will include botanical features and a "floating meeting room" at the third-floor level. "The atrium is spectacular," said Board member Edward Minich. "It will really set off University Ave. and give the building a sense of an open, welcome area. It will open up the whole campus." The approximately $4-million "winter garden atrium" will be funded from the Michael G. DeGroote donation.

April 19, 2004

Hendrik Poinar, assistant professor in anthropology, holds two prehistoric fossils. One, long and slender, is a 30,000-year-old cave bear tooth. It holds valuable information that gives important clues about when bears migrated from Europe, how diverse they were prior to their extinction and how they're related to polar bears, black bears, and brown bears, as we know them today. The other fossil, a small round lump with holes throughout, is much more interesting to Poinar. It provides valuable anthropological information, offering clues to where humans lived, how diverse they were, what they ate, and their interrelatedness. It's a piece of human feces, 9,000 years old, from Southwest Texas. "People often think the bear tooth is so much more interesting because it's a piece of this huge creature they can only imagine," says Poinar, holding it up to his mouth to demonstrate the grandeur of the prehistoric beast. "But in this single remnant of human feces we were able to learn so much more about human diet, disease, migrations, and the local environment and climate at the time of the peoples."

April 16, 2004

You could say Shano Mohan is somewhat an international man of mystery. He has had three citizenships, has lived in nine countries, and has adjusted to a new environment almost every second year of his life. And on the threshold of leading a massive student body, the 24-year-old, who also plays waterpolo, basketball and volleyball, seems unfettered. The recent political science graduate has been on student council at nearly every school he's attended, leading up to his current position of vice-president administration of the McMaster Students Union. It is only by a hair that Mohan is preparing to take over the role of MSU president May 1. He won the election by a mere vote and only after three recounts was he certain the position was his. "The three recounts all resulted in one vote, which is obviously the slimmest margin you can possibly win by. It was sort of disheartening, because I had felt like I won but there was a very strong possibility that it could be taken away from me."

April 15, 2004

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was at McMaster Wednesday to announce a $500-million investment into the automotive sector. Coined the Automotive Investment Strategy, it is designed to strengthen the industry's competitiveness and train highly skilled workers for the next generation of innovation in Ontario's largest manufacturing sector. The funds are earmarked to partner with industry for advanced skills training, improved environmental and energy technologies, public infrastructure and investments in research and innovation. Following a tour of some of the University's leading-edge research facilities in the John Hodgins Engineering Building, McGuinty made the announcement in the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute.