With the generous support of Merck, Bioscience Education Canada (BEC) is proud to collaborate with the McMaster-Mohawk Bachelor of Technology Partnership to present this free series of bioscience lectures and workshops for high school students. While sessions are designed to make students aware of local research that is related to their science curriculum there is a career awareness component as well. Speakers are asked to describe their own career paths. The host institutions are able to demonstrate their strengths and look on this as a recruitment opportunity, so campus tours might be a possibility by arrangement.

The Lecture and Workshop Series take place on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at in the Engineering Technology Building and the Information Technology Building at McMaster University. Sessions start at 10:00 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m. to allow adequate time for transportation to and from schools within regular school hours. Lunch will not be provided but directions to local cafeterias will be given.

McMaster University Campus Map

Registration:
Registration must be made to Bioscience Education Canada at info@bioscienceeducation.ca or by phone at 416-640-0206. Teachers who apply early will be able to register their classes for 2 lectures and 1 workshop. Once the workshops are fully subscribed, registration for 3 lectures is recommended. Watch the Bioscience Education Canada website for additional offerings or any other changes to the schedule.

Download the Merck, Bioscience Education Canada (BEC) Lecture and Workshop Schedule (pdf)

Supported by:

Dr. Barreto is an internationally-known medical doctor, scientist and business executive who has contributed significantly to the development of lifesaving vaccines around the world. He is the former Vice President of Immunization and Science Policy at Sanofi Pasteur, and continues his work in healthcare, public health and vaccinology as President of Dr. Luis Barreto & Associates. He is a Senior Advisor to the National Research Council of Canada and Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada (AMRIC) at Health Sciences North. He also currently serves on the Boards of Directors and advisory committees of numerous organizations, including Research Canada, March of Dimes Canada, VIDO/InterVac and the Masters of Science in Global Health program at McMaster and Maastricht Universities.

Dr. Barreto has worked passionately to support the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, BEC’s flagship program, since its inception in 1994. For the past decade, he has been Chair of the program’s national judging panel.

Mr. John Gibson serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of E.E.S Financial Services Ltd., Canada’s first and oldest fee-only ‘time based’ personal financial planning company that he founded in 1968. Mr. Gibson has served as a director of a number of private sector and charitable organizations including the Chairman’s Campaign Cabinet for Markham Stouffville Hospital, the Children’s Aid Foundation and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He is also a former President of the Optimist Club (Montreal Chapter). In addition, Mr. Gibson is a director of a TSE-listed company – Enghouse Systems Ltd, a leading global provider of enterprise software solutions serving a variety of vertical markets.

Dr. Barreto and Mr. Gibson join the following distinguished Canadians on the BEC Patrons Council: Dr. Alan Bernstein, Dr. William Cochrane, Dr. John Dirks, Dr. John Evans and Dr. Peter Hackett.

BEC is a non-profit, charitable Canadian science education organization which supports the expansion of Canada’s bioeconomy by educating students, teachers and the public about the economic and social benefits of using biotechnology to create new drugs, foods, fuels and solutions to environmental problems. In addition to the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, BEC offers a number of specialized educational programs in the life sciences across Canada.

For more information, contact:
Rick Levick, Bioscience Education Canada
(416) 640-0206
rick.levick@bioscienceeducation.ca
www.bioscienceeducation.ca

The 1st Lecture and Workshop Series takes place on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at Seneca College (Stephen E. Quinlan Building, #40 on the map) on the campus of York University.

Map to Seneca@York: http://www.senecac.on.ca/campuses/yorklocation.html York Campus Map: http://www.yorku.ca/web/maps/KEELE_Map_Aug_2012.pdf

This lecture and workshop program is being expanded to several institutions across Ontario and on a variety of dates throughout the school year. It is important for teachers to register their classes early. Registration can be made by contacting Bioscience Education Canada at 416-640-0206 or at info@bioscienceeducation.ca.

Watch for details of a BEC Lecture and Workshop event near you. Information for the Seneca event and future events can be found on the Bioscience Education Canada website http://bioscienceeducation.ca)

Specific sessions for the October 23rd event are provided below. What has not been included, but can be arranged, are a limited number of tours by small groups. Possible tours include one of Seneca College labs and the new Life Sciences Building at York University.

We ask teachers to register their classes for 2 lectures and 1 laboratory workshop. Note that space is limited in the “Forensic Science Bootcamp” and that computer workshops are for Grade 12 students only.

You and your students are invited to the eighth annual Gairdner Foundation Lectures at York University on Wednesday, October 24, 10 am to 11:30 am. This exclusive event is for teachers and senior-level science students from a select group of schools. The Gairdner Lectures provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you and your students to hear from cutting-edge scientists describing their outstanding achievements.

This year, we are pleased to welcome:
Dr. Michael Rosbash, 2012 Gairdner International Award Recipient
PhD Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
“Circadian rhythms: Molecules, neurons and circuits”

and
Dr. Cheryl Arrowsmith, Senior Scientist, Ontario Cancer Institute
Member of the Gairdner Medical Review Panel
“Seeing is believing: what do biomolecules look like?”

The Lectures at York are presented jointly by the Gairdner Foundation and York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering (FSE). The Faculty of Science & Engineering is one of Canada’s leading teaching and research institutions – providing innovative and interdisciplinary programs to more than 4,000 undergraduate and 400 graduate students in a variety of pure and applied programs, including the areas of Life Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineering.

Please book early as this is a popular event and space is limited. To reserve your spot in advance or for more information, please contact Kate Duncan at 416-736-2100 x 40010 or kduncan@yorku.ca. We look forward to welcoming you and your students to campus for this prestigious and engaging event.

Warm regards,
Kate Duncan
On Campus Programs, Office of Recruitment
York University

Eighth annual Gairdner Foundation Lectures at York University (pdf)

Many people don’t know this, but I got my bachelor’s degree in science at McMaster University. I thought about being a surgeon. My mother is still disappointed. She often jokes, “At my age, I need a doctor — what am I going to do with a Premier?”

There’s no question that Janelle Tam’s parents are tremendously proud. She’s a 16-year old science whiz, badminton player, musician and debater from Waterloo Collegiate. As students head back to the classroom today, I hope you’ll take a moment to watch her inspiring story. She’s making discoveries that are grabbing the attention of renowned biotech researchers — and she is the winner of the prestigious Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge. Her findings have the potential to change how we fight disease and the signs of aging using nano-particles from trees.

Janelle’s commitment and the hard work of all our students reaffirms my belief that there is no higher priority than education. It’s the single most important investment we can make in our future. We owe it to students like Janelle to give them their best possible start so they can go on to do exciting things that improve quality of life for all of us. More than that, providing a great education to our children is how we build a stronger society. It’s how we bring up engaged citizens who care for one another. It’s how we build a productive workforce that supports a strong economy.

So to all our students and teachers, best wishes for a great year.

Why not donate it to the Bioscience Education Canada Lab Tools for Schools program!

We are collecting surplus laboratory equipment in good working order or requiring minor repair – to create traveling biotechnology toolkits for high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. The kits will expose students to the techniques of DNA isolation, restriction enzyme digestion and gel electrophoresis.

Here are the components we are looking for:

• Micropipettors – 0.5 – 10 ul, 10 – 100 ul, 100-1000 ul
• Agarose gel electrophoresis systems and power packs
• Microcentrifuges
• Glassware- bottles, beakers, flasks
• Racks – for test tubes and microcentrifuge tubes
• Squeeze bottles

We will also accept other relevant pieces of equipment such as UV boxes, PCR machines, cold transport boxes, mini-centrifuges, protein electrophoresis apparatuses, etc.

The toolkits will be stocked with consumables such as DNA ladder, restriction enzymes, dyes, and buffers. To support the ongoing equipment of these kits we will gladly accept cash donations, and in turn provide charitable tax receipts for your contribution.

Please contact us at <info@bioscienceeducation.ca> or 416-640-0206 to donate your equipment and arrange for pick up/shipping, or to make a contribution to the program.

We look forward to hearing from you!

TORONTO, ON, May 1, 2012 – After months of preparation, research and collaboration with top university mentors, an elite group of 13 high school whiz kids from across the country will be in Ottawa May 7-8 competing for Canada’s ultimate student biotech science prizes in the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC).

The National SBCC Awards ceremony will be held Tuesday May 8, 1 pm EDT, at the National Research Council Headquarters, Ottawa, with The Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources Skills Development Canada as keynote speaker.

In total, judges chose nine cutting-edge biotechnology research projects from 192 projects presented by almost 250 high school and CEGEP students across Canada. Now in its 19th year, the SBCC gives young scientists access to university labs and academic mentors, encouraging the pursuit of future studies and careers in the country’s fast-growing biotechnology sector.

“Each year, we are impressed by the students’ innovative approaches to a wide variety of biotechnology challenges in health care, agriculture, food production and the environment,” said Rick Levick, Executive Director, Bioscience Education Canada, “The Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada offers them the opportunity to advance their ideas with the support of mentors, a unique feature of this program. It’s our aspiration that this collaboration between industry, government and education will stimulate commercialisation in the biotechnology industry.”

This year’s regional finalists:
• British Columbia: Miranda Wang, 18, and Jeanny Yao, 17, both Grade 12, Magee Secondary School, Vancouver, identified soil bacteria from the Fraser River estuary that naturally break down phthalates, a fossil fuel-based additive found in some plastics. View the project profile.

• Alberta: Nikola Viktorov and Andy Le, 16, Grade 11, from Old Scona Academic High School, Edmonton, lit a potential path to the development of drugs that more effectively target diseased cells, creating a tool to help monitor the death of cells in lymphoma cancer. View the project profile.

• Saskatchewan: Rui (REE) Song, 17, Grade 11, from Walter Murray Collegiate, Saskatoon, developed new scientific insights into the potential creation of a more nutritious lentil. View the project profile.

• Manitoba: Ella Thomson, 16, Grade 11, Balmoral Hall School, Winnipeg, genetically modified a common soil bacteria to produce 36% more volume of the bio-ingredient used to make eco-friendly plastic. View the project profile.

• South Western Ontario: Janelle Tam, 16, Grade 12, from Waterloo Collegiate Institute discovered that a versatile nano-particle in trees is a powerful anti-aging, health-promoting antioxidant – better in some respects than vitamin C or E. View the project profile.

• Greater Toronto: Alexander Tigert and Zelun (Daniel) Zhang, both 17, Grade 12, Northern Secondary School, used genetically-modified Baker’s yeast to create a novel environment for testing the effects drug treatments for depression and anxiety. View the project profile.

• Eastern Ontario: Romina Hassanzadeh, 17, Grade 12, All Saints Catholic High School, Kanata, puzzled out a new insight into the workings of a cancer-fighting drug, a discovery that could one day impact medical approaches to cancer treatment. View the project profile.

• Quebec: Nivatha Balendra, 16, Grade 11, from Royal West Academy, Montreal, found Isopropanol to be the better alcohol to use in hand sanitizers because it kills more bacteria and fewer skin cells than ethanol, the more common ingredient in such products. View the project profile.

• Atlantic Region: Jared Trask, 17 and Kaitlyn Stockley, 16, Grade 11 students at Holy Spirit High School, Conception Bay West, NF, used a centrifuge, chemicals and high frequency sound waves to extract a bio-fuel oil from local-obtained cold environment algae. View the project profile.

The project finalists will be judged Monday May 7 at the Ottawa headquarters of the National Research Council by a panel of pre-eminent Canadian scientists:

Dr. Luis Barreto (Chief Judge), Senior Advisor Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, and ex-Vice President, Immunization and Science Policy, Sanofi Pasteur Limited;
Dr. Jim Richards, Director General, Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada;
Dr. Alain Beaudet, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research;
Dr. Ron Pearlman, Associate Scientific Director, The Gairdner Foundation; and
Dr. Alison Symington, Vice President, Outreach, Ontario Genomics Institute.

The judge’s panel also includes Toronto’s Marshall Zhang, 18, the 2011 national SBCC first prize winner, now a Grade 12 student at Richmond Hill Collegiate. Last year he used a Canadian supercomputer to discover a potential new treatment for cystic fibrosis. He continues part-time research at Toronto Sick Kid’s hospital and begins studies at Harvard this fall.

In addition to their regional competition winnings, Canada’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place national winners will receive $5,000, $4,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively, with $500 prizes for honorable mention. A special $1,000 prize is awarded to the project deemed by the judges to have the greatest commercial value. The top two single person projects advance to the Sanofi-sponsored International BioGENEius Challenge to be held in Boston June 18 in conjunction with the BIO Annual International Convention.

“Sanofi founded the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada because we believe that advancing the potential of our youth to develop the next big breakthrough in science will not only benefit the life sciences industry but Canada as a whole. We have a great pool of talent in this country and it is with initiatives like these that we inspire young students to pursue careers in science and biotechnology,” said Mark Lievonen, President, Sanofi Pasteur Limited.

About the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC)
The Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC) is a national, biotechnology research competition that encourages high school and CEGEP students to pursue future studies and careers in the exciting field of biotechnology. Coordinated by Bioscience Education Canada since its beginning in 1994, the initiative is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur Limited, Sanofi Canada, Genome Canada, the National Research Council Canada/ Conseil national de recherches Canada (NRC-CNRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (CIHR-IRSC) and the Government of Canada’s Youth Awareness Program. Canada’s respected Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada has inspired counterpart competitions in the USA and Australia.

Media Contacts:
Terry COLLINS
tc@tca.tc
Tel: 416-878-8712; 416-538-8712

Marnie IVANICH
CASACOM Toronto
mivanich@casacom.ca
Tel: 416-944-2145

Martine VENNE
CASACOM Montréal
mvenne@casacom.ca
Tel: 514-286-2145 ext 228

Bioscience Education Canada once again is offering a free lecture and workshop series for high school students. Teachers are asked to register their classes for 2 lectures and 1 workshop. Registration must be made to Bioscience Education Canada at info@bioscienceeducation.ca or by phone at 416-640-0206.

In addition to lectures and “wet lab” workshops delivered by the Faculty of Seneca College there are computer workshops subject to restrictions.

• On April 26th, the two bioinformatics workshops, “Surfing the Human Genome”, is restricted to Grade 12 students because the content is very curriculum specific.
• On April 25th, the computer workshops titled “Explore the Science through Game Based Learning “ delivered by Spongelab are an educational video game competition. The capacity for each of the 4 sessions is 40 students. Each school is restricted to the participation of 10 of its students but students are competing as individuals.

After teachers have registered their classes for the lectures and workshops they can register up to 10 students for the competition for FREE before the event at www.spongelab.com but only after the school has been registered for the lectures and workshops.

The $100 million scholarship initiative, donated by business leader and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, was created to help secure the future economic competitiveness of Canada and its leaders are among the next pioneers of global scientific research and innovation.

Each high school in Canada has the opportunity to nominate one student for a four-year Schulich Leader Scholarship valued at $60,000. Twenty Canadian recipients will be chosen in 2012. The deadline for schools to submit for this year is January 13, 2012.

Schulich Leader Scholarships Overview Letter (pdf)

More Information and Application

In this Issue:

• Sanofi Aventis BioTalent Challenge Changes Its name
• SBCC (Greater Toronto Area) April 17-19, 2012, competition location to be determined, award ceremony at MaRS.
• Bioscience Lectures and Workshops
• Green Mining Experience at McMaster
• Ontario Genomics Institute “Genomics Teaching Prize”
• Gowlings Biotech Essay Contest on “Canada’s Top Biotechnology Story of the Year”
• Bioscience Education Canada (BEC)

Bioscience Education Canada Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 1, Fall, 2011