Conference, exhibit celebrates York research on gender and genre

May 8, 2017

An international conference on May 15 to 17 will celebrate the achievements of York University Professor Marlene Kadar, a noted Canadian feminist studies and life writing scholar whose research interests cluster around issues of gender and genre, with special attention given to trauma and illness studies, archival methodologies and transnational themes in the Americas.

“Lives Outside the Lines: Gender and Genre in the Americas – A Symposium in Honour of Marlene Kadar” takes place on campus, and will explore the multiple lines that gendered lives in the Americas cross, including both physical boundaries and intangible crossings. Organized at the initiative of Kadar’s colleague Eva Karpinski, the conference is dedicated to recognizing the scholarship of Kadar, whose contributions have dramatically changed the field by pushing the conceptual boundaries of what constitutes life writing and expanding its interdisciplinary methods of study.

Focused on diversity and inclusion, this event brings together York community members and the International Auto/Biography Association Chapter of the Americas (IABAA) for three days of graduate student presentations and workshops, panel discussions, invited speakers’ talks, an activist art exhibit and a book launch of Auto/Biography Across the Americas.

Held at the Centre for Feminist Research, the conference is free to attend, and is part of York’s Canada 150 event lineup.

Kadar is a professor in the Departments of Humanities and Gender & Women’s Studies at York. She has published extensively in the field of life writing, especially in relation to traumatic historical events, archival lives and memory studies. Her 1992 essay on life writing as a critical practice is one of the first comprehensive attempts to theorize this genre. She has co-edited four volumes on life writing theory: Tracing the Autobiographical (2005); ARIEL: Life Writing in International Contexts (2008); Photographs, Histories, and Meanings (2009); and Working Memory: Women and Work in World War II (2015). She is the co-editor of Working in Women’s Archives (2001). She is the editor of the Life Writing Series at Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Art exhibit

In addition to poster and digital presentations, the symposium will feature an art exhibit titled Outside the Lines: An art exhibition exploring the blurring genres of gender, body, disability and racialization. The exhibit runs at the Eleanor Winters Gallery, 129 Winters College, York University, from May 15 to 19, and includes an artist talk on May 16 at noon.

Detail from Forming 2, hand printed silkscreen comic by Eli Howey, 2016

Outside the Lines features 10 artists (Yvonne Singer, Naz Rahbar, Martha Newbigging, Lindsay Fisher, JoAnn Purcell, Erin Vincent, Estée Klar, Ellen Bleiwas, Eli Howey, Diana Meredith) who represent the beyond and within of lines through their artistic practices.

This exhibition brings together diverse ways of working with materials to show qualities of living that sit outside mainstream perception and narrative. The artists collaborate with autistic experience to challenge notions of independence and care narratives; explore the daily experiences of living with disability that are uniquely humorous, difficult or lovely; draw queer sexuality and gender through memory fragments; investigate the lived experience of existence with queer and immigrant identity; question the fragmentation of gender, feminism and the body; and challenge the dominant medical and pharmaceutical narratives of experience with cancer.

For more information, visit the conference website at iaba-americas.org.

This exhibition is made possible in part by a grant from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council.

Grad students host successful biological sciences symposium

May 7, 2017

The Association of Graduate Students in the Biological Sciences (AGSBS) at York University, which represents graduate students in the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science, held their 43rd Annual Biology Symposium on April 28.

Titled “From Micro to Macro: An Event Incorporating Multiple Fields of Biology,” the symposium hosted some 70 researchers from York University and the University of Toronto.

Students take part in a morning workshop on R Statistics organized by the first year of the AGSBS

“The AGSBS symposium is a great opportunity for graduate students to highlight their work and meet other local researchers to build connections among labs, universities, and people,” said Alex Filazzola, a PhD student in Science Professor Christopher Lortie’s lab and a member of the symposium committee.

The other members of the organization committee for the symposium included Eleni Fergas from Professor Art Forer’s lab, Amanda Liczner from Professor Sheila Colla’s lab, and Laura Newburn and Tamari Chkuaseli from Professor Andrew White’s lab.

Serious learning aside, there was time for some fun and games. Participants had a chance to take some photos at the symposium photobooth.

The event opened with a hands-on workshop led by Filazzola titled “An Introduction to R and Generalized Linear Models,” which aimed to provide tools for novice analysts to more effectively and efficiently analyze their data in R, a free software program for statistical computing. The workshop was open to the public and 26 people attended.

“This was the first year the AGSBS decided to organize a workshop and it was exciting to see such a large interest in R statistics here at York,” said Filazzola.

Following the workshop, York graduate students presented their research at a poster session, and a special dinner event was held that featured a series of keynote speakers, including Professors Brigitte Lavoie, Julie Lefebvre, Marc Johnson and Megan Frederickson from the University of Toronto, and Professor Le Paliulis from Bucknell University.

The symposium was sponsored by the VP Academic and Provost, Department of Biology and Faculties of Science and Graduate Studies at York University, as well as by We Enable Science and Fisher Scientific.

Glacierclean Technologies Inc., an Innovation York supported startup, secures first round of seed funding

May 7, 2017

Focused on developing an affordable, rapid and portable water testing and treatment solutions to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases, Glacierclean Technologies Inc. has raised $50,000 in seed funding to further develop and test its technology, Mobile Water Kit 2.0 (MWK 2.0).

Developed in the laboratory of Professor Sushanta Mitra in the Lassonde School of Engineering, MWK 2.0 is a portable water testing kit that will enable millions of people around the world to test water at the source and determine whether or not it is contaminated. The technology drastically improves on existing technologies, which require water samples to be obtained and tested in a laboratory, both of which require significant time and money.

Mitra says MWK 2.0 is cost effective and enables individuals, municipalities, or industries to test water at the source and receive results within minutes. The technology has the potential to improve the lives of millions, especially in developing countries where water contamination and the resulting outbreak of waterborne diseases is a day-to-day problem. It is equally applicable for rural and Northern communities in Canada and a large number of municipalities across the United States.

Naga Siva Gunda, president and CTO of Glacierclean, is performing test at one of the field locations in Delhi, India

Working with Innovation York over the past two and a half years, Mitra and co-inventor Naga Siva Kumar Gunda, incorporated Glacierclean Technologies Inc. in February 2016, with a view to obtaining investment and taking the development and commercialization of MWK 2.0 to the next level.

“To successfully obtain the first seed investment within ten months of incorporation is very exciting,” says Mitra, “Investment is essential for the completion of our field trials in India, as well as hiring a business development lead for the company”.

Partnerships have been key for the development of MWK 2.0. Glacierclean Technologies is actively working with a number of partners in North America, Europe and Asia, which include Novozymes, Grintex, Development Alternatives, Watermill Express, and ELS. It takes a village to commercialize a technology and Glacierclean is fortunate to have so many strong partnerships and the ongoing intellectual property and business development support from Innovation York, says Mitra.

Weekend wonders abound at Science Rendezvous, May 13

May 7, 2017

On Saturday, May 13, from 10am to 3pm, the Faculty of Science at York University and Main Street Markham are hosting Science Rendezvous. The event is part of a slew of science festivals designed to introduce the public to the wonders of science. Thirty cities across Canada are participating in this annual festival of science.

A York University science student sets up an experiment with two future scientists visiting the 2014 Science Rendezvous festival in Markham

Science Rendezvous is free and offers families and aspiring scientists a wonderful opportunity to spend a day outdoors exploring a variety of science activities. Science Rendezvous gives people of all ages an opportunity to experience science and technology. Visitors to Science Rendezvous get to meet and speak with Canadian scientists from all areas, including biology, space science, physics, chemistry, and more.

A wide variety of activities have been planned, each has an emphasis on hands-on and engaging. York U’s Science Rendezvous event also coincides with the opening day of the 15th annual Markham Farmers Market.

For those curious about science or want to participate in amazing science demonstrations, or perhaps just love to watch science in action, Main Street Markham is the place to be. York University scientists and graduate students will be on site to lead visitors in creative, fun and intriguing experiments.

Some of the activities visitors can enjoy include:

Discovering the Jenga Food Web,
getting a constellation tattoo,
simulating the process of aging,
navigating a maze through your mind,
racing cars,
exploring physics with ferrofluid,
walking on water.

Parents interested in learning more about science at York University can also meet the staff running the Faculty of Science – Science Engagement Programs as they will be on site during Science Rendezvous.

Visit York University’s scientists at Main Street Markham on May 13 to explore, enjoy, and engage!

For more details, visit http://science.yorku.ca/community-alumni/community-outreach/science-rendezvous/.

Welcome to Brainstorm for May 2017

May 4, 2017

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 May 2017 issue: York’s Douglas Cumming writes a comprehensive article on Brexit, tackling what is arguably the most pressing question: international business and entrepreneurship implications. The SHADD Project led by Historian Paul Lovejoy provides a rare glimpse into lives of those in the slave trade across four continents from 17th to 19th centuries. Research from York University, UHN and Trillium Health Partners underscores the importance of quality communication in an emergency setting and points to policy solutions. English professor, author and poet B.W. Powe published a compelling new book of poetry, Decoding Dust, in 2016 – the launching point for a must-read Brainstorm Q&A. Innovation York’s Cheryl Giblon discusses York as a vital player in Ontario’s high-tech entrepreneurial arena, opening a new accelerator space with IBM Canada in Markham in late 2016.

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.

Brexit analysis paints bleak picture for UK, potential for Canada

May 4, 2017

Blurred motion view over the Millennium footbridge looking towards St. Paul’s Cathedral at sunset

Last year’s Brexit vote − the United Kingdom’s (UK) prospective withdrawal from the European Union (EU) − took the world by surprise and left even the most seasoned economists scratching their heads. The Schulich School of Business’ Douglas Cumming, Ontario Research Chair in Economics and Public Policy, has published a sound overview of this remarkably complex situation.

With funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and data collected immediately after the Brexit vote, Cumming researched the international business and entrepreneurship implications of Brexit, and came to a chilling conclusion for the UK, with some potential for Canada. His work, co-authored with the University of Minnesota’s Shaker Zahra and executed with the help of Schulich’s Sofia Johan, was published in the British Journal of Management (2016).

On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union

“We highlight some of the potentially negative consequences for markets in the UK and around the world that result from barriers to trade and immigration associated with the uncertainty created by Brexit,” says Cumming.

June 23, 2016, the day the world changed

It’s hard to image a single electoral event that would have such a ripple effect. This happened on June 23, 2016, with the Brexit vote. “There’s agreement that Brexit will unleash fundamental changes in the British business environment that will profoundly alter the dynamics of the relationship with the EU, North America and, in fact, the rest of the world,” Cumming states.

Immediate questions arose:

How would such a split be accomplished? What would this new world look like?
What does this mean for the existence of the UK, with Scotland and Northern Ireland indicating that they may be seizing the day to seek independence?
How would this affect the long-standing relationship between the UK and North America?

Study focuses on international business and entrepreneurship implications

In this paper, Cumming reviews the practitioner, policy and academic literature over the first month following the Brexit vote, and focuses on the issues associated with Brexit and international business and trade, multinationals and international entrepreneurship.

“There’s agreement that Brexit will unleash fundamental changes in the British business environment that will profoundly alter the rest of the world.” − Douglas Cumming

The existing literature indicates that North American companies will likely seek to retain their mutually beneficial relationship with the EU, one the world’s largest markets with advanced technologies and a highly skilled and educated labour force.

But predicting how the UK will fare with both the EU and North America is more difficult since, for many years, UK, Canadian and American companies have been collaborators as well as competitors. “Facing uncertainty, some of these multinationals have already expressed concern about declining profit margins causing them to reconsider the attractiveness of the UK as a place of business,” Cumming explains.

International finance could move from London to New York

After Brexit, Cumming explains, some anticipate a declining role for London as a global economic and financial centre – a position that this city has held since the 1980s. Additionally, the EU may enact regulations that limit London’s role, which would prompt financial services companies to relocate, possibly to Germany or the United States (US). New York City seems to be the obvious choice as it’s already a global financial hub.

Interest rates would be low as a result, which would affect exports. “This is coupled with predicted slower growth rates in the UK and EU, which may have ripple effects on North American companies as it increases currency (and political risk) volatility,” Cumming clarifies.

Brexit may have triggered the declining role of London as a financial centre. Pictured is the Millennium footbridge looking towards St. Paul's Cathedral at sunset — Brexit may have triggered the declining role of London as a financial centre

All of this poses a risk for financial stability in both the US and UK. The triple threat of excessively high debt levels, excessively low interest rates and excessively low productivity growth pose a particular risk.

This uncertainty, naturally, creates a conservative environment in which companies would start to think about reducing their investment in long-term activities, such as research and development, technology and other start-ups, which could improve the business climate by introducing innovative ideas that would spur growth.

UK firms will take a hit, experience brain drain

In this scenario, institutions are under considerable strain, if not total upheaval. Paradoxically, these developments will make entrepreneurialism very important in the new, post-Brexit environment. “Politicians, business people and entrepreneurs will have to actively work to reform existing institutions, abandon some of them and create new ones,” says Cumming.

However, he underscores the fact that immigration drives entrepreneurialism. So if legal barriers to immigration are set up in the post-Brexit era, this will hinder economic progress.

Cumming also notes that Brexit is predicted to have dire consequences for new start-ups. This is because funders and investors will be more attracted to EU-based businesses. “The uncertainty created by Brexit is a major consideration in making these decisions; this uncertainty is multifaceted and is expected to persist for years,” Cumming says, suggesting that UK start-ups may want to consider relocating to Canada or the US.

Indeed, Brexit may have triggered a situation where UK entrepreneurs are effectively encouraged to set up shop in the EU or elsewhere. Cumming notes that these changes will not play out well in the long-run in the UK, because they will effectively rob the UK of the technological capabilities of younger companies, the source of growth and job creation.

Cumming suggests that UK start-ups may want to consider relocating to Canada.

To Cumming, the first look at evidence specific to Brexit paints a picture in which UK and continental European firms will both be hurt by Brexit – the UK being the worse for wear compared to their continental counterparts.

UK start-ups may want to consider relocating to Canada, which has created programs that aggressively seek global entrepreneurs with strong STEM skills. Pictured is a panorama of the Toronto skyline at sunset. — UK start-ups may want to consider relocating to Canada, which has created programs that aggressively seek global entrepreneurs with strong STEM skills

UK entrepreneurs may be attracted to Canada’s strong STEM programs

This potential brain drain from the UK could benefit North America. According to Cumming, Canada and the US are eager to attract this talent to spur entrepreneurial activities and fill certain voids in existing companies. In fact, both countries have created programs that aggressively seek global entrepreneurs with strong STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills.

The paper, “International Business and Entrpreneurship Implications of Brexit,” was published in the British Journal of Management (2016). To learn more about Cumming, visit his website. To learn more about the Schulich School of Business, ranked among the leading business school in the world and #1 In Canada, visit the website.

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca

Project offers first-hand narratives of those in slave trade

May 4, 2017

Sargeant Nicholas Said (Mohammed Ali Sa'id) c. 1863, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston — Sargeant Nicholas Said (Mohammed Ali Sa’id) c. 1863, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston

Researchers at York University’s SHADD Biographies Project are on the eve of unveiling a massive database that digs deep into the narrative of African slavery. The project, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) and named after Canadian abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd, is a comprehensive collaborative effort by historians to collect, transcribe and publish the autobiographical testimonies of West Africans from the era of the slave trade, spanning two centuries. In many cases, this information is not available anywhere else.

Available free to the public this summer, the project will provide original material alongside first-hand narratives − collected accounts of those who were born into slavery as well as those who were kidnapped and sold into slavery, uprooted from their families and forced into a trans-Atlantic move.

Project Director Paul Lovejoy, a Distinguished Research Professor at York and formerly Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, joined forces with fellow Historian Sean Kelley from the University of Essex, United Kingdom, and began the project in 2013. With more than 30 books on African history and African diaspora history, Lovejoy’s contribution to this area of scholarship is vast, making him the ideal historian to undertake the project.

“We did this to prove that this history is recoverable and still relevant,” Lovejoy says. “We need to know what happened in the past so we can go on and have a much better future.”

“If we ignore racism, then we’re doomed to continue to live in a racist society that will continue to find ways to reinvent racism.” – Paul Lovejoy

Project offers verbatim voices of those enslaved

The SHADD Project is a massive undertaking by sheer numbers alone. In his seminal 1989 article, “The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa” in the Journal of African History 30, Lovejoy estimated that 11,863,000 slaves were shipped across the Atlantic from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Diagram of a slave ship (1831), provided by The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record http://www.slaveryimages.org/, compiled by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite, and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Unlike other biography-based databases, the SHADD Project focuses only on individuals who were born in West Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and the emphasis is on testimony – the genuine, verbatim voices of Africans, some translated from French, Portuguese and African languages. This also includes Arabic documents written by African Muslim slaves in diaspora living in Brazil, Jamaica and elsewhere.

“There’s no substitute for understanding the details of an individual’s life.” – Paul Lovejoy

How did researchers approach this massive task?

Lovejoy’s information-gathering methods were diverse. Some stories were found wholesale. Some were pieced together from historical records. Some information was gained from court records and emancipation papers.

When studying any kind of history and in particular the history of slavery or racism, Lovejoy emphasizes the value of a first-hand story: “There’s no substitute for understanding the details of an individual’s life,” Lovejoy underscores.

Muhammad Kaba Saghanughu (c. 1757-1845), Spice Grove, Jamaica. Kitab al-Salat (c. 1820)

He also stresses that while slavery is usually seen as something that results in a person’s social death or something in which a people’s past is denied (through renaming) and effectively ignored, these records prove the contrary. “Despite this attempt to silence people and their past, we do know a lot about individuals in slavery, what they suffered during slavery,” says Lovejoy.

In his own words: Ofodobendo Wooma, renamed Andrew the Moor

For example, as a boy living on the west coast of Africa around Nigeria, Ofodobendo Wooma was enslaved. His remarkable story in chronicled in the SHADD project (abridged for the purpose of this article).

I, Andrew the Moor, was born in Iboland, in the unknown part of Africa. My name is Ofodobendo Wooma. My father died when I was about 8 years old, and my brother took me to live with him. He borrowed 2 goats from a man for 2 years and gave me to him as security. [That man] sold me to another after a year’s time. For a short time I was often bought and sold again, and came from one nation to another. […] I was taken into a vessel with a number of others whose language I did not understand. That made me very sad until I came across a girl from my region who comforted me very much. The first 3 or 4 days they gave me nothing to drink and nothing to eat except pork, which in my country it is forbidden to eat; whoever eats pork, the others hate and shun him as a very wicked man. We were brought to the coast of Guinea; the girl and I kept together there and awaited what was going to happen to us. […] One morning we were terribly frightened because we saw 2 white people coming toward us. We though sure they were devils who wanted to take us, because we had never before seen a white man and never in our lives heard that such men existed. One of them, the captain of a ship, signaled us that we should follow him, which we did with great apprehension and were brought to a ship. We were brought to Antigua where I was sold with some 30 others to a captain from N York, who sold me in N York [to a man] who named me York. That was the year 1741, and at that time I was about 12 years old.

Need to learn from history, otherwise, it repeats

The goal of this database is to facilitate a new and deeper understanding of history. Lovejoy believes that we can’t just see slavery as a horrific crime against humanity that everyone wants to forget. “If we ignore and forget it, then we’re doomed to continue to live in a racist society that will continue to find ways to reinvent racism,” he explains.

This message seems particularly timely given today’s global political climate.

For more information, visit the SHADD website and SHADD collection. To hear a related 2013 podcast, visit the African Online Digital Library. For media coverage, visit USA Today. The above-mentioned article by Lovejoy, “The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature,” was published in the Journal of African History 30 (1989). The original source of the extracted SHADD story: Daniel B. Thorp, “Chattel with a Soul: The Autobiography of a Moravian Slave,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 112:3 (July 1988), 447-451.

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca

Quality text messaging by nurses and doctors linked to patient survival

May 4, 2017

Senior woman lying in icu

In medical emergencies, time is of the essence. So is the quality of communication. A team of researchers from York University, University Health Network (UHN) and Trillium Health Partners studied text messages sent between nurses and physicians in deteriorating internal medicine patients requiring escalation to intensive care unit (ICU) to identify issues in failures to rescue. Looking at records from 2012 to 2014 at the Toronto General Hospital, the team found that message quality was positively linked to survival.

This new research, published this spring in the International Journal of Medical Informatics, provides policy-makers and hospital administrators with much-needed evidence to directly affect patient outcomes. It highlights the need for a standardized and responsive text-based communication system.

Researchers wanted to learn about the quality of the text messages between doctors and nurse, and if this were related to patient death. — Researchers wanted to learn about the quality of the text messages between doctors and nurse, and if this were related to patient death

This research will help inform future policy initiatives and new approaches for hospital administrators.

“Communication about critically ill patients could be improved. There appear to be significant gaps in the quality of messages, their responses and delays in rapid response team (RRT) activation,” wrote lead author Hannah Wong (Assistant Professor in York’s Faculty of Health) and colleagues.

Wong, a PhD in Industrial Engineering, utilizes statistical regression modeling techniques, in conjunction with system dynamics computer simulation, to study problems important to clinicians, health care managers and policy-makers. The goal is to guide the better design of policies to improve appropriateness and quality of care.

Text-based communications more effective than traditional pagers

Text-based communication is gaining popularity in the hospital sector and has been shown to be more efficient than traditional pagers. Since 2011, the Toronto General Hospital, part of UHN, has been using secure electronic text messaging.

Additionally, frameworks such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) are highly recommended tools to improve communication between nurses and physicians and have been found to reduce unexpected deaths.

“Communication about critically ill patients could be improved. There appear to be significant gaps in the quality of messages, their responses and delays.” – Hannah Wong

Study findings fill major void

Within this text-based context, the research team found that little is known about the communication between nurses and physicians about critically ill, or deteriorating, patients.

More specifically, the researchers wanted to know the following:

How many patients had a text message communicating deterioration?
What was the quality of the message?
Was message quality related to death?

Researchers studied 236 ICU admissions from internal medicine

The team reviewed all 236 admissions from General Internal Medicine (GIM) to ICU between January 1, 2012 and August 31, 2014. The majority of patients (160 patients representing 68 per cent) either did not have a critical text message that met calling criteria for RRT activation in the 48 hours prior to ICU transfer or already had RRT activation prior to a text message.

A critical message is defined as one that involves respiratory distress, oxygen saturation or an abnormal level of oxygen in the blood, an elevated heart rate or blood pressure, or a severe change in mental status.

The remaining 76 patients had a critical message. All critical messages in the 48-hour period prior to ICU transfer were analyzed for RRT calling criteria, time to RRT activation, message quality, presence of vitals, and the quality and timeliness of physician response.

Table: Examples of critical messages and responses
Legend: RR = respiratory rate; NP = nasal prongs; bpm = beats per minute; BP = blood pressure; pt = patient; NS = normal saline; TM = tracheostomy mask; A&O = alert and oriented; ABG = arterial blood gas; CCRT = critical care response team (rapid response team)
Critical message from nurse	Response from doctor
pt has increased RR. desaturating to 88% will put him on 2L NP. he is also tachy after transferring from chair to bed at 125bpm. his BP at 1700 was 83/49. Pls come and assess pt thnx.	Will assess shortly Please give 500cc NS bolus over 1 h
Hi, pt noted to have fever 39.4, tachy at 108, 02 sat 88% on 32%TM, changed to 50% TM o2 sat improved 93%. Please assess. Thanks	Thanks
Hi, Pt more confused compared to yesterday, A&Ox1, not responding to questions appropriately or not responding at all. please assess, thanks	Thanks
Hi, critical lab value returned for ABG, PCO2 = 99, pH = 7.22, Bicarb = 40, thanks	Will call CCRT now

Researchers found that message quality was positively correlated with in-hospital survival

Study findings point to areas for improvement

The key findings reveal some shortcomings in the system:

In only 40 per cent of cases was text messaging used to relay critical information about patient deterioration.
Message quality, specifically, the number of vital signs and SBAR elements, was poor: Only 45 per cent of messages contained two or more vitals, and only 3 per cent of messages contained SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendations).
There was a median delay of nine hours from critical message to RRT activation in patients where RRT was activated after a critical message was sent.
Physicians responded to critical messages quickly, but response quality was poor with nearly a quarter of responses only acknowledging receipt.

Study findings showed that message quality was poor: Only 45 per cent of messages contained two or more vitals.

This research will help inform future policy initiatives and new approaches for hospital administrators. “Educational and continuous improvement efforts in the adoption and optimization of text messaging capabilities within clinical messaging systems could improve rapid response and the quality of communication from nurses and physicians,” says Wong.

The article, “An analysis of messages sent between nurses and physicians in deteriorating internal medicine patients to help identify issues in failures to rescue,” was published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics (April 2017). To learn about this research, visit the website.

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca

Faculty of Science appoints new Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in Chemistry

May 3, 2017

Continuing the legacy of a research chair launched nearly 30 years ago, the Faculty of Science has recruited and appointed Professor Cora Young as the new Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in Chemistry starting this July. The Rogers Chair was created as an endowment fund with a donation from Mary Rogers in 1988, in memory of her late husband, Guy Warwick Rogers, to support faculty research in the Department of Chemistry.

“The Department of Chemistry at York University has led atmospheric chemistry research in Canada for over thirty years and has had a major impact on the field,” says Young. “I am excited to become a part of this legacy by bringing my research program to York and taking up the Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in Chemistry.”

Young, who has held a faculty position at Memorial University of Newfoundland since 2012, conducts research on environmental chemistry, using state-of-the-science analytical techniques to characterize chemicals, their sources, and their fates in the environment. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, where she focused on the atmospheric chemistry of polyfluorinated compounds and their role as long-lived greenhouse gases and sources of persistent compounds to the environment. She then went on to complete a postdoctoral position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States and the University of Colorado, where she measured reactive atmospheric trace gases and determined their impact on the oxidative potential of the atmosphere. Young has received the Colorado Governor’s Award for High‐Impact Research and has previously held awards from NSERC at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral level.

“We are delighted to recruit a scientist of Professor Young’s caliber as the next holder of the Rogers Chair,” says the Dean of the Faculty of Science Ray Jayawardhana. “Her wide-ranging research program will strengthen our Chemistry department further, and will be of great interest to our graduate and undergraduate students.”

President announces appointment of a new vice-president finance & administration

May 3, 2017

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri issues the following announcement:

I am very pleased to announce that the Board of Governors has approved the appointment of York University’s next Vice-President Finance and Administration. Following a national search, and upon the recommendation of a six-member selection committee, Carol McAulay has been appointed Vice-President Finance and Administration for a five-year term, commencing October 30, 2017.

Carol McAulay is an experienced university executive with a reputation for aligning resources and activities with strategic direction, delivering results and building responsive administrative organizations to support the institution’s academic mission. She currently serves as the Vice-President Administration at Laurentian University, a role she has held since 2011. In this role, she is responsible for the areas of finance, human resources, equity and diversity, safety and security, information technology, campus services and business operations. In addition, she has had the executive responsibility for the development of the new McEwen School of Architecture, located in Sudbury’s downtown, and for the first major modernization of the Laurentian campus since it was founded in the 1960s.

Previously, she was the Associate Director of Education for the Simcoe County District School Board, where she oversaw administrative functions for the Board including finance, facilities, human resources and information technology. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Superintendent of Business for the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, where she was responsible for system planning, financial services, facility services and human resources.

A former Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Western Ontario, Carol previously served as President of the University of Guelph Central Student Association and as Treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Students. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) degree from the University of Guelph, a Master’s of Catholic Thought from St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo, and is a Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

Trudy Pound-Curtis will serve as Interim Vice-President Finance and Administration until October 29, 2017. We appreciate Trudy’s willingness to undertake this important interim leadership role.

We look forward to welcoming Carol to York University, and to her leadership as the Vice-President Finance and Administration in strengthening and building on the success of the University and the broader community we serve. I know she will enjoy the support of colleagues across the University in working collaboratively to advance our strategic priorities and to champion York’s academic mission, vision and values.

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