Oldest non-marine crab ever – and most complete crab fossil known – identified
A young crustacean locked in amber 100 million years ago is filling a crucial gap in the puzzle of crab evolution, according to a University of Alberta PhD graduate whose work adds to growing evidence that the crab form is an evolutionary darling. “This crab is telling us a very interesting story about the tree…
Placenta in a petri dish is just one innovation that attracts top students and research dollars
Jasmine Nguyen signed up for a tour of Meghan Riddell’s cell biology lab as a first-year undergrad in the Faculty of Science and was immediately hooked. “Meghan pulled a placenta out of what was basically a lasagna dish and it was love at first sight,” said Nguyen, who’s now working on her fourth-year honours thesis…
Clinical Services offers low-cost support and training to students who will be on the front lines of the recovery ahead
It was a scream and a hug in the lobby of a vehicle registry in Camrose, Alta., that showed Larissa Brosinsky the power of positive self-talk. It was 2015 and the psychology grad was working with adults living with developmental disabilities – including a woman in her mid-40s who had dreamed for years of learning…
The program is giving 38 students tools to pursue career goals while caring for themselves
In high school, Imani Murray fell in love with the brain. Next, she set her sights on pursuing her dream career: becoming a neurosurgeon. Now a physiology student in her third year at the University of Alberta, Murray is putting her passion and studies into practice for the first time – and growing in more…
Hoping for some new assignments from the military this fall
As an undergraduate, Kai Keewatin was torn between two passions: graphic design and his long-held dream to join the Canadian Armed Forces. In the second year of his design program at the University of Alberta, he finally enlisted with Lord Strathcona’s Horse in Edmonton, graduating in his military uniform in 2016. He is now a captain…
Immunity problem affects nearly a third of calves worldwide
A University of Alberta dairy researcher is picking up where scientists left off 40 years ago, trying to solve an ongoing problem with calf health. Up to 30 per cent of dairy calves worldwide don’t get enough vital antibodies before birth to ward off the risk of diarrhea caused by E. coli and other bacteria.…
Research shows men are given second chances much more than women
Indira Samarasekera and Martha Piper have been leaders in post-secondary education every step of the way, right up to the presidencies of two of Canada’s top research universities. They explore what they’ve learned in a new book, Nerve: Lessons on Leadership From Two Women Who Went First. Samarasekera made University of Alberta history in 2005 as…
Anemia generates different immune responses in men and women
A University of Alberta-led study shows that when it comes to susceptibility to infections and other health conditions, sex matters. The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, was led by U of A immunologist Shokrollah Elahi. Elahi and his team looked at how anemia – a condition in which a person lacks enough mature red…
Education, computing science, engineering and business also rank among the best programs in the country
The University of Alberta delivers the top nursing education in Canada and has the third best education program, according to Maclean’s 2022 Canadian University Rankings. “I’m so pleased to see our nursing and education programs receive this recognition,” said U of A president Bill Flanagan. “Nurses and teachers are playing a vital role in the battle against COVID-19,…
Mixes agriculture with AI to help ranchers make better business decisions
New University of Alberta research is mixing artificial intelligence with agriculture to help cattle ranchers. An analytic “armchair rancher” mobile app is being developed to help beef producers better manage various aspects of their herds. The smart device application will aid them – by leveraging the masses of data they already collect daily on factors…
Working with a local business and community groups to provide a cabinet full of free menstrual products
Passersby in Edmonton, Alta. ’s Garneau district may have noticed a new mid-sized cabinet covered in colourful stickers, looking like it belongs not on the street but in an office. Those who stop at its location outside Remedy Cafe on 109th Street to look inside are often surprised to realize the unlocked unit is stocked…
Research brings cancer-killing cells to bear against a certain type of colorectal cancer tumour
A University of Alberta researcher has discovered how two signalling molecules recruit immune cells known as killer T cells to a specific type of colon cancer with more favourable patient outcomes. The finding may represent a therapeutic strategy to target other types of cancers. Kristi Baker, assistant professor in the Department of Oncology, examined tumours…
Kirtan Dhunnoo credits the scholarship for giving him incredible experiences and job-ready skills
Even as a student at Edmonton’s Strathcona High School back in 2014, Kirtan Dhunnoo had a keen understanding of the potential for leadership in each of us. “Not only are there leaders by labels, but there are leaders by virtue of their widely different personalities,” he wrote in his application for a Schulich Leader Scholarship.…
Developers working to get it to market
A University of Alberta engineering duo is getting a boost from the university’s newly formed commercialization engine, imYEG, to get a new device for people with breathing challenges to market. Medical devices that assist people who have a low level of oxygen in their blood have evolved from large stationary tanks of compressed oxygen to…
First Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association speaks about what it will take to overcome inequities
On Canada’s newly-declared National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we asked Dr. Alika Lafontaine to take stock of the state of reconciliation in health care. Lafontaine, an anesthesiologist at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie and associate clinical professor in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, was recently chosen as the…
National Overdose Response Service provides safety, dignity and support to drug users anywhere in Canada
COVID-19 social isolation is one of the main causes of Canada’s overdose epidemic. Each day there are up to 17 overdoses in Canada and two to four in Alberta. The vast majority of overdoses occur when people use alone. Monty Ghosh, a physician and assistant professor at the University of Alberta and the University of…
Public policies can help support better individual choices
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light both weaknesses and opportunities in the way public policies can support children’s long-term health, according to the seventh and final Alberta Nutrition Report Card on Food Environments for Children and Youth, released recently. “Kids eat what’s available to them, what’s affordable and readily accessible,” said principal investigator Kim…
Creating a more inclusive economy
Solving poverty in our communities goes far beyond charities and social agencies. Graduates with business, civic planning, arts and other backgrounds have just as much to contribute as social workers, according to University of Alberta poverty researcher Maria Mayan. “We have great young thinkers within our university who want to make a difference in the world…
Strong partnerships with employers help bring U of A into top 100 globally, top five in Canada
The University of Alberta is ranked among the top 100 post-secondary institutions in the world and top five in Canada when it comes to preparing students for the workforce, according to the latest global ranking of graduate employability. The U of A is listed as 99th globally, 35th in North America and fifth nationally according…
Underpinning it all, like the safety net to a secure supply, will be fossil fuels
The kingdom of Queen Elizabeth I was humming along quite nicely when, around the mid-1500s, Her Majesty caught wind of an environmental crisis in the offing. The forests were disappearing. Wood was the first energy source and had been so for millenniums. But kilns of industry and hearths of homes had been eating up the…
Changing colour of alpine lakes may be a sign of worsening water quality, according to reports
Another casualty of the disappearance of glaciers in the Canadian Rockies is the vanishing of the iconic turquoise of glacier-fed alpine lakes, according to a University of Alberta limnologist who documented the unfortunate change in the latest look at the health of Canada’s mountains. In an essay written for the fourth annual State of the Mountains…
A helpful guide to easing the transition
Kids anxious about heading back to school after a year of pandemic lockdown can best be helped by parents and teachers getting themselves grounded and present, says a University of Alberta education expert. Connecting with how their bodies respond to stress or fear can help adults deal with any stress or trauma children are experiencing,…
Alberta program builds skills to take sustainable energy projects from concept to completion
A new certificate the University of Alberta started offering this fall will help fast-track workers into the province’s rapidly growing renewable energy sector. The Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) Certificate is the first of its kind in Alberta to offer learners the flexibility of online, part-time classes, without admission barriers. It can be completed in as little as…
New materials could harness energy from cellphones or body heat, and improve solar power, geothermal
Extra heat is generated from any form of energy conversion – even with something as green as solar panels. But with up to 72 per cent of it left unused, there’s also great potential to harvest electricity from that waste. A University of Alberta researcher has successfully developed a way to figure out the chemistry…
‘Wind and solar are cost competitive, or cheaper, than any of the conventional energy carriers'
The interest in renewable energy may be growing, but there are still many misconceptions out there. Pierre Mertiny, ’05 PhD, comes across these myths all the time. He’s a mechanical engineer and principal investigator with the University of Alberta’s Future Energy Systems. He’s here to share some facts. Myth 1: The technology isn’t fully developed.…
Discovery that technology is viable moves it closer to becoming part of a low-carbon economy
University of Alberta research is making new strides in discoveries about capturing and storing carbon – while yielding a high-value end product from carbon dioxide. A process that injects the greenhouse gas deep below ground, then circulates it to extract heat and geothermal energy, has proven viable in a feasibility study by U of A…
Vital learning experience – a rite of passage for the past 50 years – reimagined for safety and sustainability
By the time Ben Strelkov started high school, the self-described “city kid” assumed that once he was in the workforce, he’d be confined to an office, doing basically the same thing every workday. His summer job following Grade 10 shattered the illusion. “I spent the whole time in northern Alberta – building trails, helping communities…
Schulich Leaders put their love of technology to work solving problems
Kevin Uzomechine says his fascination with technology began as a youngster transfixed by the brief static blue text on his TV set that read “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” By the time the large blocks of unabashed yellow text had crawled vertically up through the screen to Star Wars’ signature trumpets, the…
Blood transfusions from people who recovered from the disease didn’t help patients improve
Giving severely ill COVID-19 patients a blood transfusion from donors who have already recovered from the virus did not help them improve. In some cases, according to a major Canadian-led clinical trial reporting results in Nature Medicine, it made them sicker. “Convalescent plasma had been found to boost immunity in patients infected with some other viral…
Synthetic data based on records ensures confidentiality
A University of Alberta researcher is developing an inventive solution to a problem plaguing health-care research around the world: how to make data-driven decisions without compromising the privacy of personal medical records. Dean Eurich, professor in the School of Public Health, is academic lead on a project that has successfully created a “synthetic data” set that…