A wealth of health education
Nursing students BJ Ramos, Lauren McKenzie, Karen Riley, Chris Bigelow-Nuttall, Jenny Boothman and Dehab Haile are among UVic's more than 1,000 nursing students. Riley, Bigelow-Nuttall, Boothman (who is a graduate student) and Haile graduate in June 2010.
UVic is at the forefront of medical education, to make sure that our community, and communities farther afield, are served by doctors and nurses trained to the highest standard.
Island Medical Program, the UVic MD undergraduate program delivered in collaboration with UBC, is helping to train the next generation of doctors right here on Vancouver Island, recognizing that most doctors settle in regions where they are trained.
Nursing education at UVic provides an even broader benefit to BC. Over 1,000 students are enrolled in UVic's nursing programs, and this year alone, more than 350 will graduate from UVic's School of Nursing.
These graduates come to UVic from a wide variety of situations. Many are practicing, certified RNs who are seeking to complete their undergraduate degrees. More than 100 of this year's graduates are students from remote communities-including a group of students as far away as Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories-who rely on UVic's award-winning distance education programs to advance their studies and their ability to care for their communities.
After the graduation ceremonies are done this month, many more students will find their way to study at UVic. In addition to students who are already enrolled, another 250 nursing students from partner institutions like Camosun College and colleges in the interior and the north will enter UVic for their third-year studies in January 2011-helping to ensure that Vancouver Island and BC have the best possible care available when it's needed, in our hospitals, clinics and community agencies.
A physicist targets cancer
No single academic area has a monopoly on health research at UVic. In fact, every faculty from science and engineering to fine arts has an active engagement in improving our society's health. Applied theatre programs that explore the experiences of cancer survivors are as much a part of our campus life as the scientists who separate proteins and isolate viruses to better diagnose and provide treatment.
Dr. Andrew Jirasek, a UVic physicist specializing in ionizing radiation, provides an example of UVic-driven innovation in health care delivery.
Anyone who has had radiation therapy for cancer, or has seen relatives or friends go through it, knows how debilitating the side effects can be. Jirasek is working to reduce those side effects by improving the delivery of radiation to different parts of the body.
As a physicist, Jirasek studies how radiation interacts with cells, tissues and tissue-like materials. His goal is to make radiation therapy a more accurate, effective and less debilitating tool for treating cancer patients.
The intent of improved radiation therapies is to maximize damage to cancer cells while minimizing damage to the surrounding healthy cells and, consequently, limiting the side effects.
Jirasek is working with researchers at the BC Cancer Agency's Vancouver Island Centre on a technique to ensure that radiation doses are hitting their intended mark. The technique takes 3D images of irradiated gel dosimeters-jelly-like substances that absorb radiation in the same way as human tissue-to measure the exact amount of radiation being absorbed during treatment.
"The benefit is that treatment plans and doses can be verified more accurately," says Jirasek. "It will allow us to say with more confidence that the dose we think we're giving is actually what the patient is receiving."
A chemical breakthrough for men reaches the market
With the help of UVic's knowledge mobilization and commercialization initiatives, some UVic-developed innovations are now reaching the market, with a speed that could save many lives.
Eight years ago, UVic biochemist Dr. Tom Buckley and Johns Hopkins University oncologist Samuel Denmeade used genetic engineering to transform a naturally occurring protein into a novel means of fighting prostate cancer and enlargement of the prostate (BPH), a condition that affects more than 50 million men worldwide. Dubbed PRX302, the protein targets and destroys prostate cells while leaving surrounding tissues unharmed.
Backed by UVic's Innovation and Development Corporation (IDC) and Johns Hopkins, the scientists patented their invention and Buckley founded Protox Pharmaceuticals-now Protox Therapeutics Inc.-to commercialize PRX302. Protox was the first UVic spinoff to receive a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and recently signed a $75 million commercialization partnership with Kissei Pharmaceutical in Japan, accelerating the global process of bringing this treatment to market.
In the words of one cancer clinician, PRX302 has the potential to "revolutionize" how doctors treat prostate cancer and BPH-not a moment too soon for many.
A wider view of health
Not all health innovations involve nurses or chemicals, however. UVic is a national leader in investigating the conditions which contribute to our society's wellbeing, and is home to seven national research centres specializing in health and wellness, in a range of areas that include aging, addiction, and Aboriginal health.
Gerontologist Dr. Neena Chappell, winner of UVic's Craigdarroch Research Award for Excellence in Communicating Research, studies quality of life for seniors, caregiving, and the health care system as part of UVic's Centre on Aging. The centre is a multidisciplinary research centre partnering with families, health care providers, government and organizations like the World Health Organization to understand and address the needs of seniors.
The Centre for Addictions Research of BC is also hosted at UVic, and has built an international reputation as a centre for research and knowledge on substance abuse, harm reduction and addiction.
From teaching and innovation in health care services to research that contributes to a healthier society, UVic students, faculty and staff are working to improve our world.