VIU News & Experts: February 29, 2024

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In this issue of VIU news & experts: 

• International Women's Day experts
• Online harms bill commentary
• Helping newcomers to Canada learn English and French
• Disrupting cancer tumour growth

Featured experts

Experts for International Women's Day

Dr. Whitney Wood is VIU’s Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health. She is currently researching pelvic health histories to help address gaps and inequities in care. She is available to answer your questions on women’s history/women’s health/gender and health in general.
 
History Professor Dr. Cheryl Warsh is currently writing a book about Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey. Frances Oldham Kelsey, born on Vancouver Island and one of Canada’s first female pharmacologists, prevented the deadly sedative thalidomide from entering the American market. As a result, she was one of the most famous women in the world in 1962. A pioneering researcher in the field of embryology, she also oversaw the regulation of other drugs that harmed pregnant women and their fetuses, including diethylstilbestrol.

Online harms bill

Heavier sentences, new regulatory bodies and changes to a number of laws are being proposed by the federal government in a new bill aimed at tackling online abuse. Dr. Karen Skardzius, Media Studies Professor, is available to comment on the proposed legislation and potential impacts.

Looking for an expert for another story? Connect with VIU Experts.

VIU news

Helping people achieve second-language fluency

Newcomers to Canada often face challenges in developing fluency in the nation’s official languages and attaining these language skills can have impacts on their future. Dr. Yoichi Mukai, a VIU Modern Languages Studies Professor, is using innovative eye-tracking technology to study the cognitive (mental) effort of native and second language learners to understand and produce speech. He hopes his research will help develop new, objective tools to assist language educators and course material designers. Learn more.

VIU in the news

Disrupting cancer tumour growth 

Advanced imaging technology being developed at VIU could lead to new treatments to disrupt cancer growth and progression. “The goal is to find new ways to help immune cells infiltrate tumours,” says Dr. Kyle Duncan, VIU Chemistry Professor. Read the Globe and Mail story.

Provincial gold medal winners

The VIU Mariners men’s and women’s volleyball teams each won gold at the provincial championships last weekend. Get the full recap from the Nanaimo Bulletin and Nanaimo News Now.

BC Budget 2024

Finance Professor Dr. Charles Schell shares his thoughts on the latest provincial budget on the CKNW 980 Weekends With Rob Fai show.

Happening at VIU

Beyond the wizard's limelight

For seven years, a bespectacled boy wizard with a scar went to a certain wizard school and conquered evil. But this isn’t his story. This is the story of the puffs who happen to be at the school too. The Theatre Department presents the comedy PUFFS, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic as this year’s spring play. PUFFS is the story of Wayne Hopkins and his two best friends. The three young students are trying to make it through their dangerous magic school and avoid attacks by evil wizards. Learn more.

SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Week: March 4 to 8

This is a week of action, awareness and accountability in support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more about the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region, participate in a discussion on liveable cities and much more. View the full schedule. 

Guardians of Land, Life, Seeds and Love

In 2023, Queen Elizabeth Scholar and photographer Kashmir Lesnick-Petrovicz spent three months in South Africa to complete her internship in VIU’s Global Studies program. As a communications intern, she worked for the non-profit Trust for Community Outreach and Education, documenting their work with rural farming communities. Her exhibition in the View Gallery follows her journey through a series of photographs, videography and writing about her experience with TCOE. Check it out until March 15. Learn more.