Brainstorm, a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcases research and innovation at York University. It offers compelling and accessible, feature-length stories about the world-leading and policy-relevant work of York’s academics and researchers across all disciplines and faculties, and encompasses both pure and applied research.
In the October 2017 issue of Brainstorm: Canada Research Chair and York Professor Christopher Kyriakides studies the Syrian refugee crisis and sheds light on European culture where newcomers are viewed as existential threats. An NSERC-funded project, where patients with Parkinson’s participated in three-month dance classes, has led to the patients’ improvements in balance and gait speed. The Scientific Director of VISTA, Doug Crawford, discovers how the brain remembers visual targets relative to other visible landmarks, which could help those with brain damage. A team of researchers at York undertakes a study that offers solutions for police encounters with a vulnerable group: children and youth seeking help for mental health. Communications Studies Professor Derek Hrynyshyn publishes a book that challenges mainstream thought about social media and sees this new tool as something that reinforces inequity.
Launched in January 2017, Brainstorm is produced out of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs; overseen by Megan Mueller, manager, Research Communications; and edited by Jenny Pitt-Clark, the YFile editor.