Monday, February 26, 2024

What Were You Wearing? art installation runs Tuesday and Wednesday

A message from the Sexual Violence Prevention & Response Office (SVPRO).

The Sexual Violence Prevention & Response Office (SVPRO), in partnership with the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASC) is once again bringing the What Were You Wearing? Survivor Art Installation to UWaterloo. The exhibit is based on student-survivor descriptions of the clothing they were wearing when they experienced sexual violence.

We have been asked, “Do we still need this exhibit at UWaterloo? Do people still victim blame?”

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Survivors are often asked, “what were you wearing?”, implying that what someone is wearing is the cause of their experience of sexual violence.

This myth, along with many others about sexual violence, are used to blame survivors and justify the actions of those who cause harm. Survivors are never to blame. The intent of this exhibit is to bring awareness and attention to the pervasiveness of sexual violence and victim blaming, debunk harmful myths and provide education about preventing sexual violence and supporting survivors.

The “What Were You Wearing?” Art Exhibit was inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, What I was Wearing, and was created at the University of Arkansas in 2013 by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert.

Please visit our UWaterloo rendition of What Were You Wearing? and join us in building consent culture on our campus. You will find us in the SLC multi-purpose room on Tuesday, February 27 and Wednesday, February 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

Everyone is welcome! Engage with the exhibit at your own pace.

Questions can be directed to Stacey Jacobs.

Take a survey to inform branding and illustration guidelines

A message from Creative Studio.

We value your thoughts and insights as we seek to understand perceptions of UWaterloo branding and illustrations. Illustrations are integral to our visual communication, and we're crafting guidelines to ensure consistency and resonance with our community.

Your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated.

Take the survey now

It should take, on average, about 5 minutes to complete. Your input will play a significant role in shaping the future visual identity of the University of Waterloo.

#UWaterlooSpirit #CreativeCommunity #ShareYourThoughts

Researchers are using RNA in a new approach to fight HIV

Society learned about the value of mRNA during the COVID-19 pandemic when we saw scientists and medical professionals harness its power to deliver a vaccine for the virus within a year.

Now, University of Waterloo pharmacy associate professor Emmanuel Ho has developed a novel nanomedicine loaded with genetic material called small interfering RNAs (siRNA) to fight human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using gene therapy. These siRNAs regulate which genes or proteins are turned on or off in our cells and showed a 73 per cent reduction in HIV replication.

“This opens the door for new therapeutics in the fight against HIV,” said Dr. Ho, who is among Waterloo’s researchers and entrepreneurs leading health innovation in Canada.

Autophagy, also known as the body’s recycling process, plays an important role in our body to eliminate microbes such as viruses and bacteria inside cells. HIV is quite smart and produces a protein, Nef, that prevents cells from activating autophagy.

This is the first research to develop a combination nanomedicine that can reactivate autophagy and prevent HIV entry into cells, allowing our body to re-initiate its defence system.

Additionally, HIV has a gene, CCR5, that allows the virus to enter a cell. The siRNAs target both Nef and CCR5 to reduce HIV infection.

This nanomedicine is intended to be applied vaginally to protect against sexual transmission of HIV. As a result, the nanomedicine is designed to be stable without leakage of siRNAs in the acidic vaginal environment but release the siRNA once inside cells.

“Viruses are smart. They produce Nef proteins to prevent autophagy from occurring,” Ho said. “Our process allows our body to fight the viral infection without needing additional drugs,”

Ho confirms that the next steps include further optimizing the process and improving our understanding of how autophagy plays a role in how our cells protect us from viruses.

“We also hope this will shed some light to develop more alternative approaches to effectively reduce antimicrobial resistance,” Ho said.

The study, pH-sensitive dual-preventive siRNA-based nanomicrobicide reactivates autophagy and inhibits HIV infection in vaginal CD4+ cells, was recently published in the Journal of Controlled Release.

Open Education Week coming up and other notes

"The Library is hosting a day of learning in celebration of Open Education Week from March 4 to 8," says a note from the Library. "If you have an interest in open education resources (OER) and what resources and supports are available at Waterloo and beyond, join us at Davis Centre Library on Thursday March 7."

A full list of events and registration can be found on the Library’s event page.

The Centre for Career Development is hosting a Graduate Student Lunch and Learn Ask Me Anything (LLAMA) on Thursday, February 29 in Tatham Centre 2218 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All Master’s and PhD students are welcome to the drop-in style event and are encouraged to bring their lunches and their curiosity about résumés, job searching, interviews or anything career-related for an afternoon with the CCD's graduate Career Advisors. Find out more.

OUA playoff season continues with two upcoming games for the Warriors women's hockey team:

• Warriors Women’s Hockey vs. York – Wednesday, February 28, 7:00 p.m., CIF Arena. OUA Semifinals Game 1. Buy your tickets today! 
• Warriors Women’s Hockey vs. York – Sunday, March 3, 4:00 p.m., CIF Arena. OUA Semifinals Game 3 (if necessary). Buy your tickets today!