Tuesday, January 18, 2022

President, provost provide update on winter term

"In light of the Omicron wave of COVID-19, and the government’s move to a modified version of Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen we announced a few weeks ago that most teaching, learning and work would happen online until January 27," wrote President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel and Vice-President, Academic & Provost James Rush in a memo circulated to campus yesterday. "We are continuing to monitor the effects of Omicron. We recognize the significant impacts each of you face, directly as a result of the disease, and as a result of the public health measures restricting our daily activities."

"We are in regular contact with local and provincial public health authorities. Our population of students and employees is well protected against severe illness thanks to very high levels of vaccination. Increasing levels of third dose boosters enhance such protection against the Omicron variant. There are some early signals that this wave is at or near its peak. However, the impact on the health system will be significant in the weeks following the peak. Therefore, we need to continue to do our part to limit the pressure on our community and the local health system by continuing to limit in-person contact."

"We know that the uncertainty brought by the latest wave of COVID-19 is disruptive and that many of us are keen to know when we can get back to more in-person learning and working."

"With these issues in mind, we will extend the current remote learning and working arrangements for a short period, but we plan to return to in-person experiences in February. We will return as soon as it is practical to do so based on advice from public health officials. In the meantime, as previously announced, we continue to provide essential in person teaching."

"We commit to giving you notice of our intention to resume in-person activities at least 14 days in advance. This means the earliest we will return to in-person experiences is Monday, February 7. Students not currently in Waterloo region, be sure to make your plans for an arrival by the start of in-person activities."

"We know many of you will have questions about our plan to return to learning and working in person. Please join us on Wednesday, February 2 at 1:30 p.m. for a President’s Forum event. Experts and administrators from across the campus will be on hand to share information on the return to in-person experiences."

To get back to in-person experiences as soon as possible, we need everyone to do their part. There are ways in which you can help flatten the curve and protect yourself against severe illness:

• Get a booster dose as soon as possible, and make sure eligible children are vaccinated as soon as possible. Many more appointments are available now than previously.
  • If you need to book a booster dose you can do so with Health Services and there are many online resources to help you find available shots, such as the Region of Waterloo, Vaccine Ontario or Vaccine Hunters.
  • If you are an international student and you have questions about vaccinations, you can contact ise@uwaterloo.ca.
• Wear a mask that fits well, has multiple layers, and has an effective filter layer. Wherever you go, please always follow the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) recommendations on masks.
• Limit your contact with other people and stay home if you have any symptoms of COVID-19. You can take this self-assessment if you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms.

"If we all do our part now to slow the spread of the Omicron variant and protect the healthcare system, we can get back to in-person learning and working," the president and provost write. "We are both extremely grateful for your patience and understanding as the pandemic continues to cause challenges and frustration for us all."

"We also want to stress how important it will be to look out for one another as we all deal with the consequences of this devastating wave of COVID-19. Nobody wanted to be in this situation; everybody is facing stress. Please do what you can to check in on your friends and colleagues and support one another during this difficult time. We have resources for students and employees who are struggling."

"Please keep watch on your email, our social media channels, and the COVID-19 information website for more help and information."

Synthetic cannabidiol might blunt COVID-19

This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

Synthetic cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound also found in the cannabis plant, appears to prime the innate immune system of cells, potentially offering protection against pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

Researchers found that synthetic cannabidiol (CBD) augments the anti-viral response of cells to three key proteins produced by the SARS-CoV-2 genome – which was, until now, an unknown effect.

The researchers studied these proteins in human kidney cells, both alone and in combination with CBD, as well as the effects of CBD in healthy control cells.

“When cells in the lungs or the digestive tract are infected with a virus, they have an ability to sense and respond, even before the immune system notices a virus is present,” said Robin Duncan, lead investigator and a professor in the University of Waterloo's Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. “They do this by activating innate responses inside of cells, which form the first line of defence. In the case of COVID-19, however, this response isn’t very good, which has contributed to high infection rates.

“With an RNA-type virus, like SARS-CoV-2, cells should activate an innate system that cuts up the viral genome, which also causes infected cells to undergo a process called apoptosis – a sort of controlled cell death that gets rid of infected cells early on. This could stop an infection, or slow its spread in the body or to others. When we combined CBD with these viral proteins, they had a much better ability to activate this system and to activate apoptosis.”

Duncan said what was potentially even more exciting, however, was that in cells that had not been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 proteins, CBD in therapeutic amounts seemed to prime the innate anti-viral system of cells, increasing their readiness to respond to viral infection – and that this happened without activating apoptosis in healthy cells.

Waterloo's postdoctoral fellow Maria Fernandes, who performed the cell studies, said, “This suggests CBD at the right dose could help cells be in a better state of readiness to respond to a virus, but it doesn’t cause a response unless there is a need.”

Duncan said this idea is supported by evidence from users of a high-dose pharmaceutical CBD licensed in the United States for the treatment of rare types of epilepsy. In that study, patients taking prescription high-dose CBD had around a 10-fold lower risk of testing positive for COVID-19.

Duncan points out that CBD does not cause a high, the way THC does, making it more widely useful.

The study, “Effect of cannabidiol on apoptosis and cellular interferon and interferon-stimulated gene responses to the SARS-CoV-2 genes ORF8, ORF10 and M protein,” is co-authored by Duncan, Fernandes, John Zewen Chan, Chia Chun Joey Hung and Michelle Tomczewski. A pre-peer-reviewed version is published on BioRxiv.org, and is under review in the journal Life Sciences.

The researchers said the discovery of this study is not meant to replace practices that are known to work in reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as masking, vaccination and other measures recommended by health experts.

Winter 2022 Equitable Recruitment and Selection Trainings for faculty

A message from the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism.

The Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism, and the FAUW Equity Committee have partnered in the development of a live and interactive version of the Equitable Recruitment and Selection Training. These workshops will encompass reviewing standard terms, designing equity-centered recruitment and selection practices, and discussing accountability frameworks for equitable recruitment, selection, and retention.

This training is intended for University of Waterloo faculty hiring selection committee members and is being offered on the following dates:

• Friday January 21, 10:00 a.m. to  12:00 noon
• Friday February 18, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
• Friday March 18, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Explore the toolkit, register for a virtual training, and learn more about the University of Waterloo’s commitment to employment equity through the Equitable Faculty Recruitment and Selection webpage.

Student digital storytelling workshop takes on food insecurity

A message from Campus Wellness.

Black, Indigenous, and other racialized students are invited to explore their experience with food and food (in)security through digital storytelling in the Elevating Voices of Food Insecurity online workshop.

Hosted by University of Waterloo, University of Guelph, and University of British Columbia, the workshop will explore the role of race, systemic racism, and colonialism in both the food system and the food movement, as well as BIPOC activism and leadership, and movements for black and indigenous food sovereignty. Students will have the opportunity to create their own 2-4 minute digital story that envisions the future of food on campus. Each student will also receive a $400 stipend from their university to support their participation. The stipend recognizes the knowledge and experience each student brings to the workshop and is designed to reduce financial barriers to participation. Applications are due by January 31, 2022.

Learn more on the Wellness Collaborative website.

Notes as we dig out from the snowdrifts

How about that snow, eh?

With a rare campus closure behind us, here's a sampling of what's happening in the coming days.

The next talk in the CrySP Speaker Series on Privacy series will take place tomorrow and feature Sarah Lamdan from CUNY School of Law, entitled "Data Analytics Companies in Academia."

"In the transition from industrial to informational capitalism, much of our lived experience has gone from physical to digital, including information services and access," says the talk's abstract. "As publishers, library vendors, and other informational service providers have gone online, their business models have transitioned from analog services to data-based services, moving from information providers to data analytics companies. These companies have taken over multiple information markets, including ones where our personal data is sold. Information providers like Elsevier, Lexis law, ProQuest, and other companies that make up our research infrastructure are finding new ways to extract and monetize people's personal data. This talk will trace the transition of publishers and other information providers to data analytics firms, and discuss the impact of this transition on information access and privacy."

Sarah Lamdan is a professor at CUNY School of Law. She also has a master's degree in library science and legal information management and a law certificate in environmental law. Her research focuses on information law and policy. When she's not teaching, she works on data justice projects across the spectrum from open government to personal privacy. She researches and writes about information access, surveillance & privacy, and informational capitalism. She's writing a book about data analytics companies called Data Cartels (Stanford University Press). Sarah is also a SPARC Senior Fellow, a member of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, an IOI council member and also works with immigration groups on government surveillance issues.

Professor Lamdan teaches administrative law, environmental law, open government law, and data privacy courses. She also teaches legal research and writing.

The event takes place on Wednesday, January 19 at 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. This event is cohosted by the Librarians' and Archivists' Association of the University of Waterloo.

The next SouthWestern Ontario Research Data Centre (SWORDC) seminar is scheduled for Friday, January 21.

Child & youth mental health need, service use & resource allocation: Analyses using 2014 Ontario Child Health Study data linkages will feature Dr. Laura Duncan, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience at McMaster University.

Dr. Laura Duncan has a PhD in Health Research Methodology and prior to her faculty appointment, she was Research Coordinator for the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study. Her primary area of research is psychiatric epidemiology, in the areas of measurement and assessment of child and youth mental health, mental health service use, targeting and resource allocation. Her work aims to generate evidence and measurement tools that support taking a population health approach to the assessment of child and youth mental health need and the provision of services to address these needs.

"The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS) is a unique data set with linkages to school-based survey data, administrative health and education data," says the talk's abstract. "This presentation: 1) outlines the unique design and data features of the OCHS and examples of research questions that can be addressed; 2) presents study findings on child and youth mental health need, service use and resource allocation with a focus on analyses using linked data; and 3) presents new findings comparing disorder prevalence estimation between administrative health data and OCHS survey data."

If you are not already registered to receive the SWORDC newsletter, please register to receive a reminder and the link to the virtual room. The event takes place Friday, January 21 at 1:00 p.m.