UBC News Digest

The UBC News Digest is a weekly summary of news stories about UBC people, research, learning, community, and internationalization initiatives. News Digest past issues are also available on-line.

May 21, 2004

• UBC Experts Study Illness Caused by Drinking Water
• New Web-Based Learning Tools Earn Innovation Awards
• UBC Women of Distinction
• UBC Prof Plugs Young Professionals Into Community

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UBC Experts Study Illness Caused by Drinking Water

Scientists at UBC are about to put endemic, or generally prevalent, gastrointestinal illness resulting from contaminated drinking water into the spotlight. Dr. Judy Isaac Renton, of the BC Centre for Disease Control and UBC’s Centre for Health and Environment Research, has just received $300,000 from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to quantify the incidence of illness caused by drinking water and to investigate the raft of environmental factors that may be the root cause of the problem.

Gastrointestinal illness is usually caused by microbes, from either human or animal waste, that find their way into the water supply. Using the Township of Langley as the location of the study, the research team will investigate all of the environmental factors that could potentially cause contamination of the water supply. These include the nature of the water source, whether it is a private well or a municipal source; how their water was treated; sewage disposal methods used, septic systems vs. municipal systems; the type of land use, agricultural, residential or industrial; soil geology; and weather conditions.

Endemic gastrointestinal disease may account for between one-third and one-half of infectious disease cases in B.C. and Canada. The study will give a more accurate understanding than ever before of the extent of the problem and the environmental factors that can influence drinking water quality. It will also help identify prevention initiatives.

For more information, contact Celine Horner, Communications Coordinator for the UBC Centre for Health and Environment Research, at 604-827-5622.

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New Web-Based Learning Tools Earn Innovation Awards

Dr. Ric Arseneau spent two years of hard work and twelve months of unpaid leave to develop WEB eVAL, a technological framework for medical education evaluation. Head of medical informatics at St. Paul’s Hospital, and an associate professor at UBC, Arseneau’s efforts have won him a BC Innovation in Educational Technology award for Leadership. His software program has been adopted by twelve medical schools in Canada and is being reviewed by medical schools in the U.S. It provides support for medical administration and evaluation of medical educators, residents and undergraduate medical students.

UBC assistant professor Teresa Dobson, and instructional designer Jeff Miller, won the innovation award for a course for the UBC Master of Educational Technology program entitled Text Technologies: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing. The course employs blogs, wikis and web authoring tools to facilitate the creation of an online community space by an international cohort of distance learners.

The innovation awards recognize post-secondary educators who test, implement, and use educational technologies to enhance teaching and learning. The awards presentation is on June 1st, 2004, at 11:30 at the Spring Workshop on Educational Technologies being held at the University of the Fraser Valley (AbbotsfordCampus). For more information, please visit: http://www.cedar.kwantlen.ca/etug.

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UBC Women of Distinction

Two UBC students have been nominated for YWCA Women of Distinction Awards in the category of Young Trail Builders. Monica Rucki, a third-year integrated engineering student and co-president of the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, was nominated for showing initiative and innovation in her efforts to improve the lives of others in Canada and in East Timor. The work of Rucki and Engineers Without Borders was the topic of a recent story in UBC Reports. (http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2004/04feb05/engineers.html)

Also nominated in the same category is Carly Buchanan, a student who launched the UBC chapter of Best Buddies, a group that fosters friendships among students and those with intellectual disabilities.

Other members of the UBC community nominated for Women of Distinction Awards this year are Lynn Stothers, a surgeon and assistant professor who is the first woman to graduate and practice as a urologist in B.C., and Ariane Coury, a sessional lecturer in the department of psychology whose landmark research on the effects of anti-depressants has been documented in 25 papers.

Award winners will be announced on June 10 at a gala dinner at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina. For tickets and additional information, call 604.257.0362 or visit www.ywcavan.org/wod.

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UBC Prof Plugs Young Professionals Into Community

UBC pharmacy professor Leela John has found an innovative way to help young professionals network -- and feel good about it. As co-president of the Guava Club, she organizes after-hour volunteer events that make a difference for disadvantaged groups in Vancouver.

Dr. John, along with Co-President Michael Samson, decided to form the Guava Club in order to remove the barriers to volunteering often faced by working people. By organizing volunteer opportunities in the evenings and weekends, the Guava Club allows young professionals to volunteer for a variety of organizations and make a difference. “You can connect with your community, network and meet other professionals, and have a good time,” says Dr. John.

Past volunteer events have included building houses for Habitat for Humanity, serving meals to homeless people and cleaning up a campsite for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

For more information visit the Guava Club’s website at www.guavaclub.com.

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