Study suggests need for more consistent protective measures for those on the front lines of wildfires
A study on the health of RCMP officers who were deployed to the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016 has found that their airway function was compromised in the first three months after deployment. An analysis of health data from 218 officers revealed that the small airways in their lungs underwent structural changes after they were…
Artifacts dating back 50,000 years help us better understand human connections
It’s one of the most enduring craft traditions in human history, stretching back 50,000 years: tiny donut-shaped beads made from ostrich eggshells. They reveal the oldest social network ever identified, according to a study by Jennifer Miller. The beads probably originated in eastern Africa and spread west and south through the continent as people traded them…
Pioneering U of A researcher part of international team brought together through $24M grant
When Karim Fouad started his career with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine looking for a way to heal spinal cord injuries, he remembers the enthusiasm that rippled through his discipline as prospects for better treatments began to show real promise. “Spinal cord researchers thought they had found the reason the nerve cells don’t regrow in the…
Understanding drugs and viruses key to being ready for the next pandemic
Understanding exactly how antiviral drugs interact with viruses at a molecular level will be key to developing the broad-spectrum therapies needed to battle against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and get ready to fight the next one, according to a newly published paper in the The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The paper reveals the inner workings of the…
U of A criminology program has highest rate of Indigenous enrolment among all arts programs
Growing up near Lac La Biche, Alta., Shaylee Lyne Desjarlais-Whitford couldn’t help noticing how Indigenous people were treated differently by the justice system. She saw how many close to her on the Kikino Métis Settlement didn’t get fair representation when charged with an offence. “Prosecutors were throwing cases away just to get them done,” she…
Revitalized organization helps entrepreneurs create impact through innovation
The University of Alberta Health Hub and Accelerator has a new name, a new mission and values, and new services to offer innovators and entrepreneurs starting out in the health sector. Located at Enterprise Square in downtown Edmonton, the accelerator is being rebranded the Health Innovation Hub, effective this month. The vision is for the hub…
Going digital is “kind of a life-or-death situation for small businesses”
A group of students led out of the University of Alberta School of Business is helping small businesses get ahead of the pandemic-induced warp-speed retail overhaul that is pushing customers online in droves. The students are at the heart of the new Digital Economy Program (DEP), a free initiative that sees a team of U of…
Partnerships with First Nations needed to overcome systemic racism, researchers say
First Nations patients were less likely to be prioritized for the most urgent treatment than others with the same ultimate diagnosis at emergency departments in Alberta, according to a study published on Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “We were surprised to see differences for things like long bone fractures, which seem pretty obvious. You would expect…
I feel like I know you, but the bombing of flight PS752 has robbed us of the chance of real friendship
I truly wish I had never met you, not this way. It has been rough. You can’t know this, but the first mental image I have of you is this: your two hands, clenched in fists – out of fear perhaps? Your hands, Elnaz, your wedding ring. You were not there when your husband, Javad,…
Indigenous resource management key to ending environmental degradation and loss of culture
When Danika Littlechild was growing up in Maskwacis, Alta., her uncle would pick her up after school and walk her home through the bush to her kôhkom’s (grandmother’s) house. He would show her different plants and fungi along the way, teaching her their names and telling stories about when to harvest and how to use them for…
A study on the health of RCMP officers who were deployed to the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016 has found that their airway function was compromised in the first three months after deployment. An analysis of health data from 218 officers revealed that the small airways in their lungs underwent structural changes after they were…
