Thursday, March 5, 2020

Workshop will explore strategies for success for early-career researchers

A message from the Office of Research.

Learn how to develop a dynamic research strategy by attending “Planning your research trajectory: Strategies for success” for early career researchers (in the first three years of a tenure-track appointment) on Monday, April 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Please register to attend.

Hosted by the Office of Research, this session will focus on research planning and funding strategies. The workshop will help researchers understand how to develop a strategic research trajectory and manage research funding. Some of the topics that will be covered include:

• grant writing strategies
• climbing the research funding ladder
• knowledge mobilization
• research partnerships, intellectual property and commercialization
• student training and mentorship
• responsible research and ethics clearance
• financial administration of research funds and research communications.

#RethinkPharmacists: Specialty care providers in hospitals

About #RethinkPharmacists: Each March Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM) celebrates the contributions that pharmacists make to our health care system. This month, the School of Pharmacy is showcasing how our alumni go beyond dispensing pills and play a pivotal role in the health of Canadians.

When you think of a pharmacist, you probably don’t picture Nehal Patel. The alumnus from the School of Pharmacy works at Canada’s first and only transplant specialty pharmacy in Canada. Instead of working behind a counter, Nehal supports Canada’s largest solid organ transplant centre at Toronto General Hospital.

“It is a difficult journey for patients and their families both pre- and post-transplant, and I am grateful to be a part of that journey with them,” she says. “I see patients transition from an inpatient to outpatient and connecting with them really highlights the impact and difference organ donation has made to their life.”

Toronto General’s Multi-Organ Transplant Program performs over 500 kidney, lung, liver, heart, pancreas and intestine transplants every year and provides follow-up care to over 5,000 recipients. Nehal collaborates with a team of health care providers to support patients, providing medication expertise and counselling, and she’s constantly educating herself on the latest best practices in transplant medicine.

Read more about what drew Nehal to this unique speciality.

Grimm lecture examines works of Hannah Arendt

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies 2020 Grimm Lecture event is happening on March 19 at 7:00 p.m. The lecture, entitled "Thinking Itself is Dangerous: Reading Hannah Arendt Now." discusses what Hannah Arendt's life and work can teach us about our present political moment. Arendt scholar, Samantha Rose Hill, will talk about renewed interest in Hannah Arendt's work, and why we should be reading Arendt to better understand the politics of today.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the rise of illiberalism world-wide, many have turned to the work of Hannah Arendt, a twentieth-century German Jewish political thinker, to understand our contemporary political moment. Since 2016, Arendt’s 1951 The Origins of Totalitarianism has been selling at record numbers. Nearly 600 pages long, Origins distils the various elements of totalitarianism, like the collapse between truth and fiction, the breakdown of the rule of law, the privatization of public goods, the decline of the nation-state, the rise of mass homelessness, rootlessness, loneliness, and the need for solitude.

How can Arendt’s work in Origins and one of her other masterpieces, The Human Condition from 1958, help us understand our contemporary political moment? How have our political conditions changed in the 21st century? How has digital media technology transformed social relations? Is it possible to stop and think about what we are doing today? Hannah Arendt’s work is not a roadmap into the future, but it can help us orient ourselves to the present political crises and, perhaps in the process, teach us to love the world. 

This event is presented in cooperation with the departments of Philosophy and Germanic & Slavic Studies at the University of Waterloo, and the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Visit the event page to register and find out more.

Waste management lunch and learn and other notes

Are you passionate about waste diversion? Would you like to learn more about how the University is managing its waste? Then come out to to the upcoming Lunch and Learn on March 19 for a free lunch and a presentation given by Plant Operations and Waste Connections about all things waste-related on campus. The event takes place in EV3 room 1408 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Reserve your spot online.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "myth vs. fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace.

Myth:

Breakfast isn’t important and takes too much time.

Fact:

About 50 per cent of Canadians find it’s challenging to eat right and nearly 20 per cent skip breakfast altogether. While there is no “once-size-fits-all” evidence to tell us exactly what and when we should eat, including a balanced breakfast may improve energy and concentration and can prevent those mid-morning hunger pangs that draw us like a magnet to the closest coffee shop or vending machine. Canadian breakfast staples, like many ready-to-eat cereals, toaster waffles, donuts, muffins and other baked goods, are low in dietary fibre and nutrients and contain a lot of added sugar, which benefits neither our brain nor our overall health. 

Why not try an easy and tasty breakfast you can prepare the night before? This make-ahead recipe is not only quick but adaptable and contains a balance of nutrients to keep you fueled throughout a busy morning. 

Basic overnight oats: Combine 1/3 cup uncooked rolled oats with ½ cup milk or soy beverage, ¼ cup Greek yogurt, 1 ½ tsp chia seeds, 1 to 2 tsp maple syrup or honey and ½ cup of fruit. If you don’t have chia seeds, increase the rolled oats to ½ cup. The best part of this recipe is tailoring it to suit your own taste with “add-ins.” Some suggestions: a spoonful of any nut or seed butter, sliced almonds, chopped walnuts, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, any dried, fresh or frozen fruit. You can also change the taste by adding cinnamon, vanilla extract, unsweetened cocoa powder or other flavorings. 

Check out the breakfast ideas on Canada’s Food Guide recipe index, including Savoury Broccoli and Cheese Muffins.