UNews - Alberta Cancer Research Institute

YWCA Lethbridge and District Announces 2011 Women of Distinction

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:07:28 +0000

The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards recognize outstanding women who live and work in Southern Alberta.

This year six women have been selected through a competitive process, and the honorees are chosen from a group of nominations.

Among the recipients this year are several with connections to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony showcases the talent and leadership of women in Southern Alberta. Women honoured have been trail blazers, entrepreneurs, innovators, social advocates, and volunteers.

The 2011 Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony will take place Friday, March 18 starting at 5 p.m. at the Lethbridge Lodge.

The guest speaker is Crystal Flaman, a social entrepreneur, multiple Ironman Triathlete competitor & 100km Ultra-Marathoner and Author.

Please call 403-329-0088 or stop by the YWCA for your tickets ($75 with a $50 tax receipt).

2011 YWCA WOMEN OF DISTINCTION AWARD RECIPIENTS

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk: Community Leader

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk, M.D./Ph.D. was born and raised in Ukraine. Living close to Chernobyl inspired her research into the effects of radiation on living organisms.

She is a medical doctor, cancer researcher and professor in Biological Sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Her work is devoted to uncovering the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer development and using new approaches to cancer prevention, diagnostics and treatment.

Dr Kovalchuk has been invited to give lectures on her work in countries around the world and has received over $8,000,000 in funding from both Canada and the U.S. from granting agencies as diverse as Canadian Foundation of Innovation, Alberta Cancer Research Institute, U.S. Department of Energy Low Dose Radiation program, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Cheryl Dick: Community Commitment

Cheryl is the Chief Executive Officer for Economic Development Lethbridge and is highly respected for her strong and tireless commitment to providing exceptional leadership.

Her academic background, corporate experience and core values combine with her leadership in creating a vibrant organization that treats people equitably, achieves goals, celebrates success and serves society.

Cheryl completed her MBA in Executive Management from Royal Roads ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in 2003 and holds an "Accredited Public Relations" designation from the Canadian Public Relations Society.

Among other community service efforts, she has held volunteer leadership positions with the U of L Senate, Faculty of Management Advisory Committee, and Senate Honorary Degree Committee.

Bonny Greenshields: Social Advocate

Bonny is the owner and operator of Round Street Café, as well as, a wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many people and organizations in the Lethbridge community.

Bonny and her husband Malcolm moved to Lethbridge where she taught Special Education at Winston Churchill high school until 2004.

She found teaching extremely rewarding and values the connections she made during this teaching period. However, Bonny's dream was to own a three story building where she would have a coffee shop on the main floor, residences for international students on the second floor and live on the top floor.

When a property that fit her dream became available, she and Malcolm took a major risk, sold their home to buy the Wallace building on 5 Street South and in December of 2004 opened the doors of the Round Street Café.

Darcie James: YWCA Champion

Darcie was born in Medicine Hat, AB and relocated to Lethbridge with her family in 1969. She was honoured as Winston Churchill High School's top female athlete in 1976, earned her Diploma in Law Enforcement from Lethbridge Community College in 1979 and was one of the first two women constables hired by the Lethbridge City Police in 1980.

In 1996, she became the first woman in the agency to be promoted to Sergeant. In 2002, she completed her baccalaureate degree and in 2003, she earned the distinction of being the first woman in law enforcement in Lethbridge to achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant.

In addition to her career achievements, Darcie has left her mark on her community through volunteer service.

Arleen Albiez: Spirit of Women

Arleen was a Returning Officer for the City of Lethbridge (1950 – 1995), the first female Returning Officer (Lethbridge West) for the Province of Alberta (1972 – 1979) and the first female Federal Returning Officer (Lethbridge) in Canada (1979 – present). She is still the Federal Returning Officer for Lethbridge.

In her many years of being a Returning Officer, recruiting and hiring paid employees for elections, she has always ensured that women were given equal opportunities to work the elections, gain valuable experience, training and confidence. Many of these women have gone on to successful careers.

Arleen has also been a leader and volunteer extraordinaire in many other organizations in Lethbridge and District: The United Way (formerly Community Chest), Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Canadian Cancer Society, Head Start Program, Southland Credit Union, the Red Cross, the Order of Royal Purple of Canada, and the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization.

Kelsey Yule: Young Woman of Distinction 2011.

Kelsey is a young woman who has never let a challenge stop her. She grew up in a small agricultural based community, where independence and a 'hard work' ethic were instilled at a young age. Kelsey entered the beauty industry at age 18, and in two years owned and operated her own successful salon.

This business experience developed and sharpened her skills as a stylist and as a leader in the industry. She is the recipient of many awards and recognitions including: 2008 Alberta Salon/Stylist of the Year for Canada, 2008 Redken Cover Competition Alberta Finalist, 2007 Alberta/BC Salon Team finalist for Canada, Youth Initiative Award Winner and the L'Oreal Professional Runway Finalist.

By thinking outside the box, Kelsey offered cosmetology courses to high school students in remote rural areas of Southern Alberta via video conferencing. Her latest business venture is Purely Inspired Academy of Beauty, a high end school and salon in Lethbridge.

Additional information about the 2011 Women if distinction is available on their website:
http://www.ywcalethbridge.org/whats-new

2010 faculty research awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:36:52 +0000

External SSHRC Grants
(Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)

Paul Vasey and Martin Lalumiere (Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada) $23,663
Claudia Malacrida is a co-applicant on a $1 million CURA through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta

Independent Foundational Grants

Fangfang Li $4,800
Duane Rockerbie $4,000
Ed Wasiak $3,000
David Gregory $11,780
Malla Stavroula $11,500

CREDO Applications
(Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities)

Kiki Benzon
Robin Bright
Lynn Kennedy
Kevin McGeough
Janice Newberry
Claudia Steinke/Helen Kelley
Wei Xu

CIHR
(Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

Ute Kothe
Igor Kovalchuk
Gerlinde Metz
Paul Vasey
H.-J. Wieden
Kelley Williams-Whitt

AGRI
(Alberta Gaming Research Institute)

Noella Piquette-Tomei, $10,000
Robert Williams, $44,000

Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions
(formerly AHFMR)

Igor Kovalchuk

ARDN
(Alberta Rural Development Network)

Noella Piquette Tomei
Steve Ferzacca

NIH
(National Institutes of Health)

Bruce McNaughton (2 grants awarded by NIH to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Arizona were successfully transferred to the U of L)

Alberta Cancer Research Institute

Roy Golsteyn

Sport Science Association of Alberta

Jennifer Copeland

Alberta Family Wellness Initiative
(Norlien Foundation)

Noella Piquette-Tomei

NSERC CREATE Grant

Phil Teillet, Physics $1.5 Million over 6 years

NSERC Discovery Grants
(Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)

Robert Laird, Biological Sciences (Developing and testing the evolutionary reliability theory of senescence) $24,000
Rene Boere, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Redox-generated free radicals: basic science to nanomaterials) $40,000
Paul Hayes, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Organometallic complexes of new pincer ligands: Structure, reactivity and catalysis) $61,000
Steven Mosimann, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Structure and function of PTP like inositol polyphosphatases) $31,000
Nathan Ng, Mathematics & Computer Science (Prime numbers and L-functions) $15,000
Aaron Gruber, Neuroscience (Dopamine modulation of neural dynamics and behavioral flexibility) $27,000
Brian Kolb, Neuroscience (Brain plasticity and behaviour) $105,000
Artur Luczak, Neuroscience (Neuronal population patterns - studying interactions among hundreds of neurons) $26,000
Deborah Saucier, Neuroscience (Neural and hormonal bases of sex differences in spatial ability) $42,000)
Masami Tatsuno, Neuroscience (Quiescent dependent memory consolidation: memory-trace replay during REM sleep) $23,000
David Euston, Psychology (Neural mechanisms of decision making in frontal cortex) $23,000
Martin Lalumiere, Psychology (The nature and functions of genital sexual arousal) $27,000
Paul Vasey, Psychology (The comparative biopsychology of non-conceptive sexuality) $30,000

NSERC Equipment Grants

Aaron Gruber, Neuroscience $96,373
Rene Boere, Chemistry $22,024

* We are unable to post SSHRC winners at this time as SSHRC has not officially announced its award recipients. They will be published once they are made available.

Curiosity drives young epigenetics scholar

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:55:43 +0000

At a time when most kids were glued to TV shows about talking purple dinosaurs, Kristy Kutanzi was exploring the inner workings of the world around her.

"I have always had a curious mind," she explains. "As a child, I loved to experiment. My parents bought me a book with basic science experiments and explanations for general phenomena – a book that I read from front to back countless times."

Kristy Kutanzi is making a difference with her research focus.

They also bought her a microscope to indulge her fascination with "things too small to be seen by the human eye," says the Grassy Lake, Alta., native.

But it wasn't until she began her undergraduate degree at the U of L and had an opportunity to work in the lab of Dr. Olga Kovalchuk for her honours program, that Kutanzi realized her sights were set on becoming a scientist.

"The practical training that I received in labs during my undergrad was a turning point for me," says Kutanzi. "Dr. Kovalchuk fostered my interest in science and encouraged me to pursue a higher level of education in the field. Undoubtedly, she has provided and continues to provide me with invaluable tools and advice to succeed in my research career."

These days, Kutanzi is well on her way to realizing her ambitions. She's now in the MSc/PhD transfer program, which allows students with research potential to enter the PhD program without defending their master's thesis. She continues to work with Kovalchuk on a project to unravel the epigenetic changes that precede the development of cancer.

While traditionally researchers have studied the genetic influences of cancer, Kutanzi is working to understand the epigenetic factors that "turn on" cancer genes. Through funding from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Prairies-NWT chapter) and the Alberta Cancer Research Institute, Kutanzi is looking at how estrogen may trigger genes that cause breast cancer, the leading cause of death for women 30 to 55 years of age.

Kutanzi's work on the topic has not gone unnoticed and her amazing aptitude for science has earned her high praise. In addition to being an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scholar, Kutanzi recently earned a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years.

The Vanier program, launched by the Government of Canada in 2008, aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students who demonstrate a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies.

The prestigious award is a big boost for Kutanzi's burgeoning career. Not only does the funding allow her to focus on the research, but it allows her to present her results at international scientific conferences. There, she'll develop research collaborations and investigate current and future prospects in her field.

But perhaps most importantly, the award brings recognition to a dangerous disease.

"Receiving the Vanier reflects the merit of my field of research," Kutanzi explains graciously. "It brings national attention to the value of researching breast cancer development, particularly during the early stages when there's a greater chance for us to discover a successful treatment."

UNews - Alberta Cancer Research Institute

YWCA Lethbridge and District Announces 2011 Women of Distinction

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2010 faculty research awards

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Curiosity drives young epigenetics scholar

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