UNews - Indianapolis

High school iGEM group

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:22:21 +0000

A group of Lethbridge and area high school students who want to take NASA technology and use it to help reduce the affects of Type 1 Diabetes recently came away from an international competition with an award for their research presentation -- and will be further recognized by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge with $36,000 worth of scholarships ($1,000 per student).

Six students, members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge 36-person High School iGEM (International Genetically-engineered Machines) team made their first trip to the Indianapolis, IN contest as the only Canadian contingent, and presented their take on how to use an innovative, implantable capsule (developed by NASA to release medication in space) to manage the release of insulin for people with Type 1 Diabetes.

The U of L High School iGEM Team. Back row (from L to R) Yoyo Yao, Erin Kwan, Janelle Veenendaal, Chris Isaac, Dax Law, Devan Carrier, Brianna Carrels, Trisha Bouma. Middle Row (from L to R) Orion Sehn, Branden Black, Marissa Guzzi, Cassandra Logue, Shammamah Hossain, Maya Many Grey Horses, Elaine Bird. Front Row (from L to R) Dawson Meyer, Erin Kelly, Brooke Heatherington, Alycia Amatto, Wesley Mosimann, Katelyn Harder. Missing in photo are Natalia Mitura, Iain Sander, Gerardo Karari Balderas Figueroa, Carissa Kirk, Corbin Chenger, Alli Herauf, Riley Martens, Jared Sparkes, Teddi Reynolds and Marie Cooney.

The group plans to engineer a bacteria that will secrete insulin in response to a person's glucose levels, then house it in the NASA biocapsule (so it is contained and not flowing freely in the bloodstream) where it will safely dispense insulin and could reduce the need for the continuous monitoring, injections and other challenges currently experienced by the hundreds of millions of people worldwide with diabetes.

Bold? Absolutely. Can it be done? That's what the group intends to find out.

That's why the U of L is rewarding them with scholarships – to help them pursue their interest in science and research at the U of L.

The $1,000 scholarship credit per student covers the cost of about two courses, and is available upon their successful application and acceptance to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. The students will be presented with their awards at a brief ceremony that takes place Wednesday, July 11 beginning at 4 p.m. in Anderson Hall, room AH100 (Andy's Place).

"When the iGEM competition expanded to include high school students, the U of L saw an opportunity to follow suit and this year 36 students participated in the program," says Dr. Andy Hakin, the U of L's provost and vice president (academic). "Not only does this provide valuable hands-on learning opportunities, but it also augments the existing Alberta science curriculum. We are happy to be able to extend this world-class program into local high schools, exposing younger students to the unique opportunities available by pursuing a science education."

Team spokesperson Erin Kelly, a recent Catholic Central High School graduate entering fist year at the U of L in the fall, says the group brainstormed ideas with U of L iGEM team members and chemistry and biochemistry researchers that had a combination of what she describes as 'do-ability' and social relevance. They also looked to past iGEM projects for inspiration, since the work created by all iGEM teams worldwide is in the public domain and archived in the interests of conducting innovative research.

"A team at Berkeley created bacteria that could produce haemoglobin (a key component of blood) to function as a new type of red blood cell," says Kelly. "We would like to try this with the cells in the pancreas, which were damaged by the onset of Type 1 Diabetes. Another team from Missouri had figured out how to get the cell to detect glucose, which would let the cell know when there is too much sugar. Once glucose is detected, we could work on secreting insulin."

Kelly says the NASA capsule is a perfect place to house the bacteria, sustain it, and act as a filter to move the insulin from the capsule to the person.

"We would have a lot of work to do before we can get to that stage, because we have to engineer some other steps into the process. We expect that a project like this would be one that could carry through a few years of iGEM teamwork, and could be used by other teams to move their own projects forward."

At the U of L, the iGEM team concept has evolved to a point where the university-level group runs its own funded lab, regularly places in the top levels of international competitions, and has provided a significant boost to undergraduate students who wish to pursue further research at a masters level.

Their ongoing project involves engineering bacteria to recognize – and consume – harmful materials in oilsands tailings ponds.

"We have welcomed high-school researchers to the U of L iGEM group in the past, but to have this large number of interested and engaged students is a really great experience for all of us," says Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, a U of L biochemistry researcher and one of the faculty supervisors for both groups. "The additional support the students are receiving from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the form of scholarships is a great indicator of their achievement, and we look forward to having them join us as students when they begin their university studies. "

STUDENT NAMES, GRADES AND HIGH SCHOOL AFFILIATION

Lethbridge Collegiate Institute

Dax Law 11
Erin Kwan 12
Cassandra Logue 11
Devan Carrier 11
Teddi Reynolds 12
Gerardo Karari Balderas Figueroa 11

Catholic Central High School

Erin Kelly 12
Elaine Bird 11
Corbin Chenger 12
Carissa Kirk 10
Brooke Heatherington 11
Riley Martens 12
Marissa Guzzi 12
Branden Black 11
Katelyn Harder 11
Natalia Mitura 12
Iain Sander 11
Marie Cooney 11
Alycia Amatto 11

Chinook High School

Brianna Carrels 10
Yoyo Yao 11
Chris Isaac 11
Jared Sparkes 11
Maya Many Grey Horses 11
Wesley Mosimann 11
Dawson Meyer 11
Alli Herauf 10

Winston Churchill High School

Shammamah Hossain 11
Orion Sehn 10

Immanuel Christian High School

Janelle Veenendaal 11
Trisha Bouma 11

High school iGEM group to be recognized

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:59:16 +0000

Fresh off an impressive international performance, a group of Lethbridge and area high school students will be recognized by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge today with $36,000 worth of scholarships ($1,000 per student).

The students, who want to take NASA Space Biosciences technology and use it to help reduce the affects of Type 1 Diabetes, recently came away from an international competition with an award for their research presentation. Six students from the 36-person ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge High School iGEM (International Genetically-engineered Machines) team made their first trip to the Indianapolis, IN contest as the only Canadian contingent, and presented their take on how to use an innovative, implantable capsule (developed by NASA Space Biosciences to release medication in space) to manage the release of insulin for people with Type 1 Diabetes.

The group plans to engineer a bacteria that will secrete insulin in response to a person's glucose levels, then house it in the NASA biocapsule (so it is contained and not flowing freely in the bloodstream) where it will safely dispense insulin and could reduce the need for the continuous monitoring, injections and other challenges currently experienced by the hundreds of millions of people worldwide affected by diabetes.

Bold? Absolutely. Can it be done? That's what the group intends to find out.

That's why the U of L is rewarding them with scholarships – to help them pursue their interest in science and research at the U of L. The $1,000 scholarship credit per student covers the cost of about two courses, and is available upon their successful application and acceptance to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

The students will be presented with their awards at a brief ceremony that takes place Wednesday, July 11 beginning at 4 p.m. in Anderson Hall, room AH100 ( Andy's Place).

U of L iGEM team a Regional finalist

trevor.kenney — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:19:06 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team achieved finalist status at the 2011 Americas Regional Jamboree in Indianapolis, Ind. recently, advancing to the World Championship Jamboree, Nov. 5-7 in Cambridge, Mass.

The U of L iGEM team, led by Dr. HJ Wieden, was one of four schools that achieved finalists status, along with Brown-Stanford, Yale ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and the eventual Regional champion, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Washington. Using primarily undergraduate students to compete against a field of mainly masters and doctoral level students, speaks well to the excellence of the U of L team.

Already recognized as one of the top 10 per cent of iGEM teams in the world, the U of L team will now turn its focus to the World Championship Jamboree to be held at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge next month.

To check out the U of L's results from Regionals, follow this link.

Campus Kudos

trevor.kenney — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:08:34 +0000

Dr. Ed Jurkowski (Music) and Dr. Deanna Oye (Music) co-presented a paper in July entitled, Interpreting the Music of György Kurtág, at the annual meeting of the International Musicological Society in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Dr. David Townsend (Education) and Dr. Pamela Adams (Education) released their book, The Essential Equation, A Handbook for School Improvement. Through case studies, research and best-practice information, the book is designed to help educators learn more about school improvement and the challenges facing educators today.

David Barrus has been accepted as the first MFA Dramatic Arts student and is specializing in scenic design for theatre, which also makes him the first recipient of the John Farwell Memorial Award.

Don Gill (Art) and dancer Sarah Williams (formerly of La La La Human Steps) are featured in a collaborative video-installation exhibition, The New Flâneurs: Contemporary Urban Practice and the Picturesque, running Sept. 5 through Dec. 13 in the RBC New Works Gallery in the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton.

Soprano Audrina Poepping-Steciw (BMus '09) placed first in the Provincial National Voice Class in the Kiwanis Music Festival in Edmonton this spring and represented Alberta in the National Class at the competition in Saskatoon in August.

Dr. Arlan Schultz (Music) returned from a summer residency at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts at UC San Diego in La Jolla, California. Schultz was engaged in research at CRCA's large-speaker array audio spatialization lab.

James Graham's (New Media) installation, Unforgivable, used many commonly available commercial products – and specifically those of the French cosmetic giant L'Oreal – to draw connections back to their French fascist and anti-Semitic origins. Displayed in the SAAG storefront gallery during August, the exhibition examined the troubled history of Vichy, France.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will receive a 2009 Allied Arts Council Award for Excellence (AACE) at the Mayor's Luncheon for Business and the Arts on Sept. 10.

Michael Campbell's (Art) exhibition, Field Recordings of Icebergs Melting, toured over the summer to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ont. and then to the Esplanade Gallery in Medicine Hat. A version of this exhibition appeared at the Nanaimo Art Gallery in June.

Dana Inkster (New Media) has received generous support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for her new production, Ladies of the Saturday Night, a short documentary about lives lived in the sex trade in Alberta boomtowns. The production is slated for completion by fall 2010.

The Contemporary Works Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. David Renter (Music) and including ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and community musicians performed at the first incarnation of the Medicine Hat Jazz Festival in Lethbridge in June. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ musicians included student Brad Brouwer, Ryan Heseltine (BMus/Ed '04), Don Robb (former U of L Jazz Ensemble conductor), Nick Sullivan (Music) and Ed Wasiak (Music Education)

Bobbi-Lee Copeland (BA '05), who has been working as an adult literacy instructor for the Lillooet Area Library Association, has been accepted to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Indigenous Education Master's Program.

Dr. David Renter (Music) has been invited to participate in the 2009 Chiayi City International Band Festival in Chiayi City, Taiwan in December 2009. Renter will perform with an Afro-Cuban Jazz group from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Andrew Staniland (BMus '00, Great Distinction) who completed his PhD in composition at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto in 2008, went on to win the grand prize in CBC's National Evolution Composers Competition in March 2009. Staniland has accepted a tenure-track appointment in composition at Memorial ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Newfoundland, starting in January 2010.

UNews - Indianapolis

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