A new organization aimed at sharing knowledge and research on how to best teach Math will soon bring Ontario’s Math researchers and teachers closer together. The Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER) and the Mathematics Knowledge Network (MKN) were...
Research & Innovation
Scientists use ‘molecular-Lego’ to take CRISPR gene-editing tool to the next level
A team of researchers at Western University is playing with molecular-Lego by adding an engineered enzyme to the revolutionary new gene-editing tool, CRISPR/Cas9. Their study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that...
Research Creates Buzz for Understanding Intellectual Disability
To many, the common fruit fly is just a pest to be shooed away. For Western University professor Jamie Kramer, however, it’s a perfect model for examining the molecular goings-on behind brain processes like learning and memory. “Amazingly, these processes are very...
Western planetary scientist readies for Mars mission with exciting new surface images
The Mars Camera, officially known as CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System), aboard the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) captured its first high resolution images of the Red Planet last week. The Swiss-led camera worked almost...
Western virologist hopes to test vaccine on 600 HIV-negative subjects next fall
An HIV vaccine (SAV001) developed at Western University can now move on to Phase II human clinical trials. Plans are underway to test it in 600 HIV-negative subjects across North America as early as next fall. The Phase II trial, once approved by government regulatory...
Western study finds culturally relevant mentorship improves Indigenous students’ mental health, academic success
A new study of Indigenous students in southwestern Ontario public schools shows those who received mentorship from a member of their community had better cultural connectedness, improved mental health and higher school credit accumulation than peers who were not...
WHO Collaborating Centre at Western University to address international access to surgical care and anesthesia
Researchers at Western University have been tapped by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be the first official Collaborating Centre to study access to safe surgical and perioperative care on the global stage. In 2016, the 68th World Health Assembly passed...
Asteroid impacts could create habitats for life, suggests Chicxulub crater study
Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life. Around 65 million years ago a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico causing an impact so huge that the blast and...
Book launch for first comprehensive examination of think tanks in Canada
Donald Abelson, one of Canada's leading experts on American politics and U.S. foreign policy, has penned the first comprehensive examination of think tanks in Canada. "Northern Lights: Exploring Canada’s Think Tank Landscape" (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016) is...
International study promotes importance of science communication to graduate students
The Canadian government recently released initial findings from a special committee tasked with exploring ways to enhance global recognition for Canadian research excellence. The committee, led by His Excellency, The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General...
Western and Lawson scientists develop game-changing blood test for concussions
Scientists from Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson Health Research Institute, and Western University have developed a new blood test that identifies with greater than 90 per cent certainty whether or not an adolescent athlete has suffered a...
Western scientists uncover possible genetic basis for self-sacrificing behaviour of worker bees
In a honey bee colony, the queen bee is responsible for laying most of the eggs but she does not otherwise forage for nectar, make honey, defend against intruders, or even provision her own young. Instead, this latter set of behaviours are performed by her worker...