Otis Vacratsis receives CIHR funding for research on neuromuscular diseases

Posted Nov. 14, 2008: Professor Otis Vacratsis, an associate professor in Chemistry & Biochemistry who was born and raised in Windsor, has received a three-year $243,000 grant from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to study the molecular origins of myotubuluar myopathy and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Dr. Vacratsis' group will be attempting to isolate and sequence the proteins that are associated with these neuromuscular diseases, in the hopes that their work may lead to future successful pharmaceutical treatments or therapies. For more information, see the Windsor Star Article on Dr. Vacratsis, and click here to visit his webpage.

Undergraduate Summer Research Assistantships

Attention all undergraduate students!

Apr. 23: Undergrad research information session

Feb. 3: Deadline for USRA applications.

Are you interested in summer research? Then please take note of the important dates and information below:

1. The Undergraduate Research information session will take place on Friday January 23 from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. in 186 Essex Hall. Pizza and pop will be served! Please attend this session to meet the professors and see what undergrad research opportunities are available for:

• Fourth year honors projects, 2009-2010 (59-410)
• Summer research opportunities
• Outstanding scholars

2. NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Assistantships (USRAs) are due in the chemistry office on Tues. Feb. 3, 2009. You must hand in the NSERC application, the Chem/Biochem form, and an official transcript.

Click here to visit the website for all official links, forms and information.

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON: There is a Christmas luncheon on Thursday, December 11 from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. in the chemistry conference room. Tickets are $5.00 and must be purchased before Friday, December 5 from either Kim or Marlene in the Chemistry office. Food will include: Pasta, chicken, another meat, salad, rolls, and a few vegetarian dishes, as well as pop and dessert. Please notify Kim or Marlene asap, and purchase your tickets by Dec. 9! All students, faculty and staff are welcome!

Christmas Party

The Grad Chem Club is presenting this year's Christmas party upstairs at the Rock Bottom Pub (3236 Sandwich St.) on Friday Dec. 5, 2008 at 6 p.m. Some free food and drinks will be provided. It is not necessary to purchase tickets to this year's party. There will be a cash bar and people will have the option to order their own food. There may or may not be a golden shovel awarded. For more information, contact rossini@uwindsor.ca.

The CBA presents a Multicultural Show!

The Chemistry & Biochemistry Association (CBA) of undergraduate students is presenting its Annual Multicultural Show, which is a fundraiser for the Canadian World Education Foundation.  This event takes place on Saturday, November 15 from 4-7 p.m. in the Ambassador Auditorium, and features an international menu of food, dancing and entertainment.  For more information, email cba@uwindsor.ca.

Congratulations to our graduates

This Saturday, October 25th is the convocation ceremony.   We will be hosting a bar-b-q in front of Essex Hall starting around 12 pm for our graduating students.  Everyone is welcome to come and congratulate the graduates.  Food is free, but we do need some help setting up.  Please let Marlene or Michelle know if you are attending.

This year the graduates are:
Mira Beshai (Thadani), Greg Welch (Stephan), Peter Siedlakowski (Pandey), Katrina McGonigal (Pandey), Danijela Domazet (Pandey), Joel Tang (Schurko), Jenny McCahill (Stephan), Aaron Steevensz (Taylor), Osamah Al-Homaidan (Stephan) and Tony Rao (Antonelli).

Important notice: calendar and course adjustments

Oct. 5, 2008 - Important notice: The strike is over! All classes resume Monday Oct. 6, 2008. Some laboratories will start off on Monday; consult individual course pages, contact professors, or the laboratory coordinators for more information. Click here for general guidelines for the remainder of the semester. Each course may have a unique interpretation of these guidelines, pending discussions with faculty and students.

MOOT Seminar Series

To celebrate the long tradition of magnetic resonance at the University of Windsor, and to highlight the forthcoming he 21st annual MOOT NMR Mini-Symposium, a series of seminars take place leading up to the meeting, featuring:

• Sept. 5, 2008 - Joel Tang, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Windsor. Title: "Ultra-Wideline Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and its Application in Characterizing Inorganic and Organometallic Complexes"
• Sept. 12, 2008 - Paul Ellis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richmond, WA. Title: "Investigating the Metal Binding Sites in Zinc and Magnesium Metalloproteins Utilizing Low Temperature Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy. "
• Sept. 26, 2008 - Michele Auger, Department de Chimie, Universite Laval. Title: "Title: Deciphering the secrets of novel antimicrobial agents and spider silk: A solid-state NMR investigation"
• October 3, 2008 - Paul Hazendonk, Department of Chemistry, University of Lethbridge.
• October 4-5, 2008 - 21st MOOT NMR Mini-Symposium

All seminars are at 3:00 p.m. in 186 Essex Hall.

MOOT XXI NMR Mini-Symposium - October 4-5, 2008

The 21st MOOT NMR Symposium is taking place at the University of Windsor on October 4-5, 2008. For more information, please visit the MOOT 21 NMR website, at
http://www.mootnmr.org/

International cancer project draws praise

On August 20-21, 2008, Dr. Siyaram Pandey hosted a delegation of Indian scientists from Bangalore’s St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences. They are collaborating on research projects focusing on improved treatments for cancer. Specifically, Dr. Pandey's research focuses on a natural product called pancratistatin. For more information on this story click here.

Congratulations to NSERC scholarship winners!

Congratulations to all of our NSERC scholarship winners! Meghan Doster, CGSD; Cory Widdifield, CGSD; Colleen Mailloux, CGSM; Aaron Rossini, PGSD; Stephen Geier, PGSD; Olena Kis, PGSM; Greg Welch, PDF. Meghan Doster, who works in the laboratory of Sam Johnson, was one of the Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients - to read more about her work, click here!