Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Battle of Waterloo at 200

Two hundred years ago today Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo.

Napoleon's Waterloo, in this case, was a small village in what is now Belgium near the normally serene valley where his army of 74,000 soldiers was defeated by a combined force of 68,000 Anglo-Allied led by the Duke of Wellington and 70,000 Prussian troops led by Marshal Gebhard von Blücher.

This decisive battle spelled the end of Napoleon's rule and the French First Empire.

"While the fate of Napoleon and his Empire had already been decided in October 1813 at the Battle of Leipzig, it is the Battle of Waterloo that has become embedded in the popular imagination," writes Douglas Peers, dean of the Faculty of Arts and a history professor whose research interests include the British Empire and Britain since 1750. "Cities, towns, streets, squares and even a mountain are named after this iconic battle on every continent."

Also, a university in southwestern Ontario. You may have heard of it.

The University of Waterloo's first provost, Tom Brzustowski, used to tell a story about how he was representing Waterloo at a conference in France, when a French delegate approached him, peered at his name tag, and exclaimed "Why would anybody name a university after such a great defeat?"

According to Peers, the historic resonance of the battle can be attributed to multiple factors: the cult-like fascination of Napoleon, the heroic recasting of Wellington, but also to the very real and tangible experience of the battlefield shortly after the event.

"Close enough to major population centres across western Europe, within days artists, writers, tourists, and scavengers had descended on the battlefield where some 50,000 soldiers had died and lay in heaps – the battlefield being small by modern standards," Peers writes. "Captured in print and in paint, and preserved in the dentures fashioned from teeth pulled from the corpses (known in the 19^th century as Waterloo teeth – these teeth were taken from Waterloo by the barrel load), arguably the Battle of Waterloo was more deeply seared into the public consciousness than had any battle before." 

As you may have guessed, Waterloo, both the city and the county (now regional municipality) and nearby Wellington County gained their names from this battle. As an article in the Waterloo Region Record published last week notes, "There are Wellington streets in Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener, Fergus, Stratford, Hamilton and Paris. There's event a Blücher street in Kitchener - you'll find it a few blocks from the intersection of Duke and Wellington."

Beyond the name, there are several references to the battle built into this University's history and culture.

The phrase "Battle of Waterloo" has long been used locally to refer to University and high school-level football games and other competitive sporting events.

The University's heraldic shield, adopted in 1961, with gold, black and white in abundance, bears many symbols identified with the historic confrontation.

The three red lions rampant, signifying strength and courage, are a direct reference to the battle. Wellington's coat of arms feature a red lion rampant on a gold field. 

(Rampant in this case refers to the position of the lion's body and limbs.)

While we're on the subject, it has been noted that the German and other European settlers of this area are commemorated in all four colours of the shield. Gebhard von Blücher, the Prussian general whose armies contributed significantly to Wellington's victory, is represented by the black and white chevron, as the Prussian colours were also black and white.

The original Waterloo, which at the time was annexed to the French Republic, is now located in a French-speaking region of Belgium and the colours of Belgium are red, black and gold. 

To commemorate the 200^th anniversary, 5,000 re-enactors, 300 horses and 100 cannons will be employed in a massive re-enactment near Waterloo, Belgium over the next three days (Pictured above is a photo taken at the 190^th anniversary re-enactment). The events will be livestreamed.

Local observances of the battle included a research symposium at the Waterloo Region Museum back in March.

Waterloo's Faculty of Arts is in the early phases of organizing an interdisciplinary panel discussion event to commemorate the battle, tentatively scheduled for October of this year.

Avocados may hold the answer to beating leukemia

This article was originally published on the Waterloo News site.

Paul Spagnuolo (Credit: Light Imaging/University of Waterloo)

Rich, creamy, nutritious and now cancer fighting. New research reveals that molecules derived from avocados could be effective in treating a form of cancer.

School of Pharmacy Professor Paul Spagnuolo from the Faculty of Science has discovered a lipid in avocados that combats acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by targeting the root of the disease – leukemia stem cells. Worldwide, there are few drug treatments available to patients that target leukemia stem cells.

AML is a devastating disease and proves fatal within five years for 90 per cent of seniors over age 65. Spagnuolo’s new avocado-derived drug could one day significantly increase life expectancy and quality of life for AML patients.

“The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease,” said Spagnuolo. “The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it’s the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse. We’ve performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed.”

Spagnuolo’s research was published this week in Cancer Research, a top-ten oncology journal. Through partnership with the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) he has also filed a patent application for the use of the compound, named avocatin B, to treat AML.

“It’s an exciting time for our lab. With the help of CCRM we are now pursuing commercial partnership that would take avocatin B into clinical trials,” said Professor Spagnuolo. “Not only does avocatin B eliminate the source of AML, but its targeted, selective effects make it less toxic to the body, too.”

The drug is still years away from becoming approved for use in oncology clinics, but Spagnuolo is already performing experiments to prepare the drug for a Phase I clinical trial. This is the first round of trials where people diagnosed with AML could have access to the drug.

Spagnuolo’s research has been featured in The Waterloo Region Record, Time Magazine, and MarketWired, among others. Watch the @UWPharmacy Twitter feed for updates on forthcoming TV interviews.

WCMS hits the 500-site milestone and other notes

"There are now 500 live sites in the Waterloo Content Management System (WCMS), the University’s centrally supported website creation and maintenance tool," reports IST. "Thank you to all of the website maintainers on campus who have played a role in getting these sites live in the system. It’s been our pleasure working with you!"

"Special thanks go out to the co-op students who have helped to migrate and test the websites for quality assurance, and provide support through email and the Drop-in Labs - we couldn't have done it without you!"

The Faculty of Science is hosting a recognition reception in honour of Terry McMahon’s service as Dean of the Faculty of Science tomorrow from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the University Club. McMahon, a Waterloo chemistry professor since 1984, became dean in 2007 and served two terms. McMahon's term as dean ends June 30. His successor is Robert Lemieux. 

The 2^nd Annual University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) Golf Tournament is back and scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 16 at Foxwood Country Club. The shotgun start is at 4:00 p.m. UWSA members will pay $45 and non-members will pay $50. Register today for the event.