Aims to help people find credible information online
The problem with combatting the misinformation swirling around COVID-19 is, according to University of Alberta health law professor Timothy Caulfield, that all fronts the fight takes place on are of equal importance. “For a long time there has been this tolerance of pseudoscience and misinformation,” said Caulfield. “But there are recent studies that show once people believe…
Brown bears that rub against trees more often tend to have more offspring and more mates
Brown bears that are more inclined to grate and rub against trees have more offspring and more mates, according to a University of Alberta study. The results suggest there might be a fitness component to the poorly understood behaviour. “As far as we know, all bears do this dance, rubbing their back up against the…
A University of Alberta virology lab has uncovered how an oral antiviral drug works to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in findings published May 10 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of the Covid-19 virus. The researchers demonstrated the underlying mechanism of action by which the antiviral drug molnupiravir changes the viral genome, a…
U of A computing scientist Rich Sutton honoured by world’s oldest national scientific institution
Rich Sutton, a University of Alberta computing science professor, a fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), and one of the founders of modern computational reinforcement learning, has been elected as a fellow of the venerable Royal Society, the world’s oldest national scientific institution. Sutton, who joined the U of A’s Faculty…
Helps cancer patients who also face heart damage due to their treatment
Ask Paul Guenard how he’s doing, and he’ll tell you, “Not bad for a guy who’s supposed to be dead!” While he laughs as he says it, Guenard did indeed face death six years ago when he underwent a stem cell transplant to treat mantle cell lymphoma. Afterwards, he said, he felt so weak he…
Examining links to urinary tract infections, blood infections and meningitis
A strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria is not only surviving, it’s thriving in wastewater treatment plants, according to recent research from a University of Alberta-led team that’s now working to understand their potentially harmful impact on human health. Most E. coli are destroyed by chlorine, oxygenation and other treatments in sewage plants. But…
Better mental wellness among health-care workers benefits patient care
A University of Alberta nursing researcher is tackling a paradox that affects not only the mental health of health-care providers but also the quality of patient care they deliver during the COVID-19 pandemic. Susan Sommerfeldt, assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing, has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for two…
Undermining staff, students and faculty members who experience it
Racism is often too easily shrugged off as someone being “overly sensitive” or “misunderstanding” what was done or said. It’s that invisibility that makes systemic racism against Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour so difficult to dislodge at the institutional level in post-secondary schools – and so undermining of staff, students and faculty…
First BCRC-Hays Chair in Beef Production Systems at the U of A to play a key role in building a more sustainable and competitive industry
Gleise M. Silva grew up in Recife, Brazil, a city perched on the turquoise edge of the Atlantic, home to lush forests, stunning beaches and 17th-century architecture. And yet, while living and studying in the “Brazilian Venice,” Silva found herself overwhelmingly drawn towards a subject she would never encounter in her hometown. “I was 100…
Alerts ER doctors of potential for misdiagnosing patients treated for cyanide poisoning
During his fourth year as a medical laboratory science student at the University of Alberta, Steven Dang embarked on a project at the Misericordia Hospital laboratory to help improve the treatment of patients rescued from house fires. Patients who arrive at hospitals from house fires are often treated for cyanide poisoning due to the toxic…