New global one health network project will tackle infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance
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Researchers at York University are co-leading a transdiciplinary project that is focused on establishing Canada as a leader in global governance of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
Mary Wiktorowicz
Mary Wiktorowicz and Sean Hillier of York University have been awarded $2 million by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to support the development of the “One Health Network for the Global Governance of Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance (GGRID)” for four years. The project is co-led by York University and the University of Ottawa.
The grant will support building and sustaining a transdisciplinary and inter-sectoral One Health Network originating in Canada and extending globally, complementing and closely integrated with related European efforts.
“We will be successful if we can develop transdisciplinary approaches to global governance, which is only possible by building transdisciplinary teams,” says Hillier, an assistant professor in the School of Health Policy & Management and special adviser to the Dean on Indigenous Resurgence in the Faculty of Health at York University.
Sean Hillier
The teams will consist of researchers and knowledge users with diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including the social sciences and the human, animal and environmental health sciences. They include Co-Investigator Dr. James Orbinski, a medical doctor, humanitarian practitioner, and the director of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, as well as the York Research Chair in Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Science Professor Huaiping Zhu, who will support the mathematical modeling involved in the project.
York University will take leadership in research on global governance of antimicrobial resistance, one of the leading global health challenges of the 21st century. Much of the progress in human health of the last 100 years threatens to come undone as antibiotics become less effective.
Wiktorowicz, professor of Global Health Governance and Policy and an executive committee member of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, reinforces the need for networked approaches.
“As the causes of antimicrobial resistance are complex,” she says, “our strategies to address it need to foster intersectoral policy coordination on a global scale to improve stewardship of this precious resource.”
New Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change created to address world’s most pressing issues
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Environmental change and urbanization represent two of the most critical challenges facing people and the planet. The world’s awareness of the need to develop sustainable solutions is vividly illustrated by the massive global Climate Day of Action protests that took place in September 2019 ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit. The climate action saw youth take to the streets to raise their concerns about environmental degradation, the injustices facing humanity, and the uncertainty of their future.
Universities are uniquely positioned to advance knowledge of and solutions to the issues posed by the climate crisis, degradation of nature and the rapid growth of cities. In response, York University is taking a leadership role to advance teaching and learning, research and scholarship, and multisectoral engagement in environmental and urban realms by bringing together the expertise housed in the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) and the Geography program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies to create a new Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.
Envisioned to be an international leader in critical and innovative urban, environmental and geographical knowledges and skills, the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change will focus on advancing sustainability and justice. In 2019, both the Board of Governors and the Senate of York University approved the proposal for the new faculty, which will formally come into existence on Sept. 1, 2020 with new curricular offerings planned for Sept. 1, 2021.
Rhonda L. Lenton
“Students today are simultaneously faced with a competitive and dynamic global knowledge economy and a series of existential social and environmental challenges. The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change combines the historical excellence of our environmental studies and geography programs with a renewed commitment to innovative teaching, scholarship and experiential learning. This interdisciplinary and collaborative approach will help society tackle its most complex challenges while training the leaders who will put solutions into practice,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton.
Current and future students will have unprecedented opportunities to explore and learn from global thought leaders in geography, urban and environmental studies within a new faculty that fosters interdisciplinary approaches spanning and connecting biophysical sciences, social sciences, and the arts
Alice Hovorka
“The Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change will champion interdisciplinarity through curricular programs and scholarship,” said its inaugural Dean Alice Hovorka. “The new faculty will draw together scholars from geography and environmental studies as well as from across York University, building on existing synergies and encouraging collaboration in teaching, research and engagement activities.”
Field-based and experiential learning opportunities will further enhance students’ understanding of biophysical processes and social issues. Undergraduate students will have opportunities to pursue majors and minors in new programs that include bachelor’s degrees in global geography, urban studies, environmental science, sustainable environmental management, and environmental arts and justice. Masters and PhD programs in Geography and Environmental Studies will offer advanced study and application in these topical areas. Programs will feature hands-on, community-engaged learning locally, for example at York’s Maloca Garden and woodlot sites, regionally through field courses at Bruce Peninsula and within the Greater Toronto Area, and internationally at the York University Las Nubes EcoCampus in Costa Rica. Programs will also highlight work- and research-based placements connecting students with non-governmental organizations, industry, and government partner to help guide their career paths.
Demand for career professionals in environmental and urban realms has outpaced that of the rest of the workforce. Governments around the world are now placing an emphasis on regulation and public policies focused on sustainability and smart cities, requiring that organizations rethink their practices. New positions for environmental, urban planning and sustainability experts are needed, and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change will be uniquely positioned to meet this increased global demand for trained professionals. According to a 2018 Eco Canada Job Posting Trends Report, anticipated job growth leading into 2025 will be seen in careers in natural resource management (15 per cent increase), waste management (15 per cent increase), urban planning and development (13 per cent increase), energy management (12 per cent increase) and environmental health & safety and water quality (seven per cent increase).
Some of the potential career positions available to the inaugural graduating class of 2025 include chief sustainability officers, regulators and analysts; energy entrepreneurs, auditors and consultants; environmental lawyers, advocates and diversity educators; environmental scientists, geoscientists, technicians and specialists; and, urban planners, social service administrators and infrastructure directors.
Lassonde PhD student solves an 18-year-old problem
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Athina Peidou
Lassonde School of Engineering PhD student, Athina Peidou, has solved a problem that has occupied the international scientific community for more than 18 years.
Co-written by her supervisor Professor Spiros Pagiatakis from the Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Peidou’s finding was detailed in the paper “Stripe mystery in GRACE geopotential models revealed” and published in one of the top ranked, peer-reviewed Geoscience Journals, Geophysical Research Letters.
Background on the mystery
Nearly 20 years ago, a satellite mission, called GRACE was launched to monitor mass transfers occurring above or below the Earth’s surface, by measuring the gravity changes caused by phenomena like ice melt, extreme floods, extensive droughts, landslides and even mega-earthquakes.
The gravity field maps derived from GRACE measurements were obscured by very disturbing thick lines sweeping from south to north, partially masking useful information. For almost two decades the origin of these stripes has been unknown, perplexing researchers across the globe.
The mystery solved!
That was until, Peidou under the supervision of Pagiatakis embarked on the first study of its kind to unearth the cause of these stripes. She focused her attention on the physical mechanism responsible for generating the stripes, with the goal to eliminate them entirely at the source while leaving the geophysical signals intact.
The images found on the maps were like that of the stripes found on on old TV sets when you tried to take a photo of the screen. Early TV images were created and transmitted using the same interlacing method.
The team used advanced data analytics and simple physics principles to discover the cause of the stripes. Through their analyses, they found that the stripes originate from the specific pattern of GRACE interlaced orbits that sample the Earth gravitational signal, causing the stripes to show up on the gravity field maps.
Discovering this pattern was very challenging and constitutes a significant breakthrough, which may eventually lead to removing the stripes altogether, providing more fulsome data for researchers.
The key to Peidou’s and Pagiatakis success was searching for the root cause of problem and approaching it from the right angle.
An illustration of the stripes phenomenon
“Instead of trying to get rid of the stripes, we wanted to understand why stripes were present in the first place. If you approach the problem from this perspective, you start noticing the various puzzle pieces and details that lead you in the right direction. It is indeed forensic science.”
“Now that we have a better idea of the nature of the stripe artifact, the next goal is to be able to eliminate it before it shows up in the gravity maps. The elimination of stripes will increase the resolution of the gravity models and it will eventually enhance the geoscience studies that target the monitoring of the water in motion, water resources and water scarcity, ice mass change and sea level change, among others. Knowing the cause of stripes, future space missions can be designed to avoid this artifact at source,” says Peidou.
Climate crisis will affect our health from dwindling bees to food insecurity
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Our overuse of fossil fuels continues to compromise our future.
It seems that every day the media is filled with shocking evidence of climate change: Heat records are being broken in Australia while bush fires ravage the country as never before; Labrador’s permafrost is melting; and ocean levels continue to rise, threatening low-lying islands and coasts.
York University researchers warn us that the climate change crisis is about to become a health crisis.
Bush fires are still active in Australia. York researchers encourage student activism and knowledge sharing to combat climate change.Steven Hoffman
“It’s been called by the World Health Organization the defining public health challenge of our century,” says Steven Hoffman, professor and director of York University’s Global Strategy Lab. “That’s a good assessment of it. What makes it overwhelming is that climate change is both caused by and impacts everything we do in our human civilization.”
York biology professor Dawn Bazely has devoted her 30-year academic career to understanding invasive plant species. Observing how the climate changes is essential to her work.
Dawn Bazely
She says that as climate change warms the globe, northern countries like Canada are seeing plant and insect species for the first time. “Because anywhere there is a warming trend, we’re going to see diseases that dominate tropical and subtropical areas become able to expand into other regions.” That’s why, she adds, we are seeing more West Nile virus (carried by mosquitoes) and Lyme Disease (carried by ticks) in Canada.
Sheila Colla warns that a declining bee population will have serious impacts on our health. Colla, assistant professor in York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, has noted significant reductions in the number of bumblebees, native to Canada.
She emphasizes that all bee species are susceptible to changes in weather caused by climate change. An early or late spring, for example, can change the growth of the fruits, vegetables and flowers that bees pollinate. This affects their ability to reproduce. Without bees, we have less food and, thus, fewer sources of nutrition.
Sheila Colla
“A third of our food is pollinated by animals, mostly bees,” Colla explains. She adds that bees pollinate a huge variety of crops and, most importantly, they pollinate foods that are antioxidants, like tomatoes, berries, kale and lettuce.
Unlike honeybees, bumblebees don’t make honey – but they are extremely good pollinators, notes Colla. “You need more than one type of bee to pollinate our crops and for us to have a diet that has variety and lots of vitamins… We clearly need to save all our pollinators.”
For York post-doctoral researcher and documentary filmmaker Mark Terry, the reality of climate change and its damage on living species can be seen, shockingly, at the north and south poles.
When he took a crew to Antarctica to shoot The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning in 2010, he filmed seals blinded by increased ultraviolet rays from the sun and penguins wandering away from their traditional coastal homes into the interior, on a desperate search for food. That’s because their primary food – krill, a crustacean found in Antarctic waters – is dying off due to warmer ocean temperatures.
Mark Terry
Malawi, in southeast Africa, brings the disparity of climate change into sharp focus. It’s one of the poorest countries in the world, with an economy is based on agriculture. Maize – known as corn in North America – is the principal food crop. But the maize crop yield has dropped recently by as much as 34 per cent.
“Maize requires a certain amount of sunlight and precipitation,” says James Orbinski, director of York’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research (DIGHR) and former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). “With climate change, Malawi now has prolonged periods of dryness. The Southern Region of Africa is amid its worst drought in 100 years. The famed Victoria Falls is running at a trickle, and taps are drying up. More than 45 million people are on food assistance because of crop failures. This is due to climate change.”
James Orbinski
Orbinski points to a cruel irony: “The countries and regions that are most affected by climate change are the poorest and least developed regions. They are the least resilient and have the least flexible social, political and infrastructural systems. The irony is that they are the ones least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.”
Is there hope for easing what could be a global health disaster? York researchers are optimistic – if we act now.
Bazely says it begins with sharing knowledge. “How we can equip local people everywhere and academics outside of the global north? How can we make the research and knowledge widely available? I’m very interested in open access and getting taxpayer-funded research out from behind the barriers of the university library systems. So many academics and researchers and people in the Global South just don’t have access to knowledge tucked behind expensive paywalls.”
For Orbinski, the priority is “seeing the symbiotic relationship between our biosphere and human civilizations that defines Planetary Health. It is also developing tools, technologies and policies that help communities adapt the new reality of the health impacts of climate change. We are actively working on these at the DIGHR.”
Hoffman likens the global action we must take on climate change to the action taken to combat pandemics. “Infectious diseases spread across borders. Viruses don’t carry passports. And as a result, if we’re serious about protecting our health from the next pandemic, we need to be thinking and acting globally in exactly the same way as we need to be thinking globally and acting globally about climate change.”
Terry urges us to help young people embrace activism aimed at halting climate change. In his post-doctoral work with the Dahdaleh Institute, Terry is teaching a course geared toward documentary filmmaking and environmental activism. He has also led a team of his own students during a “Fridays for Future” climate strike in Toronto and hosted a group of Indigenous students from Tuktoyaktuk at COP 25 in Madrid in December 2019.
“Students are the ones who will lead us into the reforms needed to maintain a healthy planet. That’s why Greta Thunberg’s work has been so important. She’s done a remarkable job at raising awareness. I believe our goal now, at universities, is to provide students with the knowledge and tools they will need to keep up the fight.”
To learn more about Steven Hoffman, visit his profile page. To read more on Dawn Bazely, see her lab. To read more about Sheila Colla’s research, visit her Faculty profile page. For more on Mark Terry, visit his profile page. To learn more about James Orbinski, see his profile.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
Paul Fraumeni is an award-winning freelance writer, who has specialized in covering university research for more than 20 years. To learn more, visit his website.
Neuroscience research adds key insights on communication between neurons
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Research led by York University investigated the role of protein transport to fine-tune communications between neurons. Understanding how communication between nerve cells is built, maintained and protected over a lifetime is one of the most important questions in the neurosciences.
Under the supervision of Professor Georg Zoidl, graduate student Cherie Brown undertook this ground-breaking research, the findings of which were published in the journal Cells (September, 2019).
This research looks at a phenomenon known as plasticity, which refers to the ability of neurons to change and control how they communicate with each other
Zoidl, who is in both the Faculties of Health and Science, is the Canada Research Chair for Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. He is also an associate member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) and a member of the Centre for Vision Research. His research program aims to clarify how cells of the eye and the brain communicate through specialized cell junctions and how changes in this process can lead to impairment of vision, learning and memory.
Georg Zoidl
The research team included scientists from Albert Einstein College (New York) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the National Institutes of Health (US).
Brown and Zoidl sat down with Brainstorm to discuss this article and the importance of this work.
Q: Please describe for our readers the chief goals of your work.
CB: My work addresses fundamental cell biology, more specifically neurobiology. We are trying to understand how cells communicate. We’re looking deeper into a process called plasticity, which means that the neurons can regulate or control how they communicate with each other.
Q: What were the objectives of this recent study published in Cells?
CB: We were trying to fill a major knowledge gap about the mechanisms of neuronal communication. To close this gap, we have been looking at important steps in the life cycle of a critical protein. Specifically, we have filled the time it spends between two bookends, that is after it is born and before it is helping to exchange information between nerve cells. This is where transport comes into play. My major goal is looking at how this protein is transported to influence plasticity.
Q: What is the role of protein?
CB: The protein I am studying is connexin-36. What it does is form a tube or tunnel, called a gap junction channel, between two cells. The channel allows for the neurons to communicate with each other by letting small molecules easily pass through.
Q: How did you go about the study?
CB: We used cutting-edge imaging technology. Essentially, I tagged my protein connexin-36 with a fluorescent probe for visualization. We used high-power microscopy techniques to look at where the protein is in the cell and where it’s going.
GZ: Microscopy allows us to track the proteins. Because they are fluorescent, they will look like little dots on a cell. We can track where they start their life and where they end their life; over time, you can really resolve everything from birth to death of these proteins.
Q: What were your key findings?
CB: We found that connexin-36 interacts with what’s known as microtubules – a major transport highway of cells. We determined where microtubules bind on the connexin 36 protein, and that this interaction is influencing the ability of neurons to communicate with each other. Essentially, when we have less connexin-36 protein transported to its endpoint to form the gap junction channel, we know that means less communication is possible. More protein transported leads to more communication between paired neurons.
Q: Did anything surprise you about this finding?
CB: Yes, we found out that the specific region where microtubules and connexin 36 interact with each other is very fragile. Manipulating that binding region will nearly eliminate the interaction between these two proteins and as a consequence, connexin 36 won’t transport properly. Even just a small change in this binding region is very detrimental to the overall function of connexin-36 in the cell.
Brown is studying the protein called connexin-36, which forms a tube or tunnel between two cells, allowing the neurons to communicate with each other
Q: What kind of an impact will this new knowledge have?
CB: We are performing fundamental neurobiology, with the hopes of updating what we know about neuron communication. This is significant when we think of higher order processes of the nervous system, like vision. We are trying to explain this on a cellular level.
Q: How could this research be applied? Is there a disease or condition that this research could help?
CB: When you think of neurodegeneration, anything that affects communication between neurons, this research could play a role. I like to use the examples of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases.
Q: How has York supported your research?
GZ: Look at the building [Life Sciences]. York University is providing the platform, the infrastructure to perform cutting-edge, fundamental neurobiology.
Q: York values its graduate students. They play a key role at the University. Could you tell us about your PhD student Cherie Brown?
GZ: Cherie is one of our stars. She is a perfect example of women in STEM. She has been invited to speak at international conferences and has received two major awards in the last two years. The most recent was the IGJC Star Award this year. She is almost finished her PhD and already got job offers.
To read the article, visit the website. To learn more about Zoidl, visit his profile or his Faculty profile page in Health.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Reaction to Panama Papers: Social media can give rise to accountability
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The Panama Papers blew the lid off international offshore investing by the rich and powerful. These 11.5 million documents, created and maintained by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, detailed financial and attorney-client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities (Source: Wikipedia). This laid bare the tax avoidance and evasion, and wealth accumulation activities of the super rich as far back as the 1970s. The Papers were officially released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016, but they had been leaked by an anonymous source a year earlier.
The Panama Papers revealed the tax evasion and wealth accumulation activities of the super rich as far back as the 1970s
Schulich School of Business Professor Dean Neu wondered about global reaction and accountability. What happens when this kind of information is made public? To answer this, he led a study, in collaboration with Schulich Professor and Big Data expert Gregory Saxton, and an academic from the Haskayne School of Business (University of Calgary), that focused on Twitter reaction. They found that there were different styles of response and that certain styles were more likely to elicit an audience reaction, especially if the Tweet sender were a journalist.
Their work also says something about the role of academics. “Our research implies that publicly minded academics can facilitate social accountability by helping to make previously private financial information public, and by cultivating sympathetic individuals in the media and in organizations that are active on social media,” Neu explains.
From left: Dean Neu and Gregory Saxton
The research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, was published in Critical Perspectives on Accounting (2019), under the title: “Twitter and social accountability: Reactions to the Panama Papers.”
Key assumption: social media can be used to spark positive social change
The potential for social media to spread news, to disseminate information, is almost limitless. Unlike newspapers and traditional news outlets, this democratic tool can open a dialogue and elicit an audience reaction that can facilitate social accountability. This has the potential to enact positive social change.
This was a key assumption for Neu and Saxton, which they sought to prove in the study.
The methodology of this research involved studying Spanish-language Twitter reaction to the news. The publication of the Panama Papers incited a frenzy of Spanish-language Twitter activity: including 113,000 + Spanish language Tweets in the subsequent fourteen days, Neu explains. “The sheer number of highly visible politicians and personalities from Spanish-speaking countries mentioned in the Panama Papers encouraged us to focus on Spanish-language tweets,” he says.
The second step was to analyze the impact that a corporately controlled public space of appearance, such as Twitter, had on the emergence of social accountability conversations. Next, the researchers examined behaviour of those who were Tweeting, liking and re-Tweeting to gauge reaction.
The Panama Papers were officially released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in 2016, but they had been leaked by an anonymous source a year earlier
The researchers noted some interesting patterns:
Social position encouraged social actors to speak in certain ways. Increased levels of corruption in the speaker’s country was associated with expression of outrage.
The proximity of the involved visible personalities was, in certain cases, associated with certain speaking patterns, especially if the personality was highly visible.
Speaking patterns were learned as participants become more embedded in the social media machine. Over time, participants become more machine-like in that their outrage was removed from the repertoire of responses.
The length constraints of Twitter produced responses that were either emotive or reasoned.
Academics have pivotal role to play as does social media
Broadly speaking – as Neu and Saxton’s research is rich and comprehensive – this work showed that there was a Twitter reaction to the Panama Papers, and that there were different styles of response, and that certain styles were more likely to elicit an audience reaction, especially if the tweeter was a journalist or organization.
Neu elaborates on how this research implies that academics, scholars and researchers can facilitate social accountability by helping to make previously private financial information public. “By educating or encouraging sympathetic individuals in the media and in organizations that are active on social media, social accountability could be achieved,” he says.
Can social media really lead to social change? Yes, Neu believes, the publication of this financial information, coupled with a vibrant public discussion, had an impact. “Indeed, the publication incited a social media reaction which may have helped to engender the resignation of Iceland’s Prime Minister, the arrest of a Pakistani Minister, and the initiation of legislative processes in a variety of other countries,” says Neu, quoting ICIJ (2019).
To read the article, “Twitter and social accountability,” visit the website. To learn more about Neu, visit faculty profile page. To learn more about Saxton, visit his faculty profile page.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Study finds immigrants more likely to have inadequate palliative care
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Palliative or end-of-life care is aimed at enhancing quality of life and reducing suffering for those with life-limiting illnesses. School of Nursing Professor Lisa Seto Nielsen led a scoping review, which synthesized research evidence, in collaboration with Ryerson University, Sunnybrook Hospital and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. They discovered that undocumented immigrants were more likely to have delayed access to and inadequate palliative care.
“Although Canadians are proud of their universal health care system, it’s a misnomer because it isn’t universal. It is, some may say, discriminatory. While it implies that all healthcare services are available to everyone, free of charge, that’s not the case for undocumented immigrants, or individuals without legal status in Canada,” she says. “If palliative care is a human right, then it’s imperative that policies are put in place to better serve this vulnerable population at end-of-life,” she adds.
Up to 40 million undocumented immigrants suffer restricted healthcare. This is a world-wide issue.
The findings of this research, funded by York University, were published in the article, “A Scoping Review of Undocumented Immigrants and Palliative Care: Implications for the Canadian Context,” in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (2019).
Lisa Seto Nielsen
Seto Nielsen, an associate in the York Centre for Asian Research, is an expert in this area. Her doctoral dissertation explored the palliative home care experiences of Chinese immigrants with advanced cancer in Toronto. Her current research focuses on palliative care, home care, death and dying, vulnerable groups, racialized immigrants and the healthcare system.
Restricted healthcare: a widespread issue among undocumented groups
The healthcare of undocumented groups is precarious to non-existent, and this is a world-wide problem. Up to 40 million undocumented immigrants suffer restricted healthcare on a global scale, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Canada accepted almost 300,000 immigrants and refugees in 2016 (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2018). While most enter the country legally some overstay their provisional visa, as in the case of temporary workers or international students. They lost their legal status and, with this, became undocumented immigrants.
Researchers sifted through numerous databases
The research team led by Seto Nielsen decided to do a scoping review. This kind of review synthesizes research evidence and groups together existing literature in a given field in terms of its nature, features and volume.
The key stages for this work were:
Identify the research question: The end-of-life care experiences of undocumented immigrants.
Identify the relevant studies: Here, the researchers combed through databases including CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), Medline, ProQuest, Scopus and Social Science Abstracts. They also looked through databases such as the Canadian Health Research Collection, Canadian Public Policy Collection, Health Reports (Statistics Canada) and PHRED (Public Health Research, Education and Development). Search terms included “uninsured care,” “palliative care,” “undocumented immigrants” and “terminally ill.”
Study selection: Studies were selected for consideration and possible inclusion if their titles and abstracts appeared to address undocumented immigrants and end-of-life care.
Charting the data: The team looked at the type of source, such as a case study; the purpose; the methods; and the findings of the studies.
Collating, summarizing and reporting the results.
In the end, a total of six articles met inclusion criteria. This, alone, would indicate that palliative care for immigrants is an under-researched field of study.
Seto Nielsen says it is imperative to open a dialogue on policy so that undocumented immigrants can have access to palliative care and a dignified death
Key findings: Inadequacy of palliative care and barriers to this care
In studying the six articles, Seto Nielsen and her team found that undocumented immigrants were more likely to have delayed access to and inadequate palliative care. This is a fundamental gap in funding.
Barriers to palliative care included lack of advanced care planning, lack of health insurance, poverty, fear of deportation and limited English ability.
Research provides impetus for policy-makers to create pathways at institutional and national levels
Seto Nielsen hopes that this work will provide evidence for creating new policies that acknowledge the presence of undocumented immigrants and the need for palliative care. “Policy needs to be informed by data. In turn, it needs to create pathways to care, at the institutional level, and develop a national plan to address funding healthcare for this population,” she says.
She believes that it is imperative to open a dialogue on formal policy and funding to create pathways for providing care to non-citizens so that they can have access to palliative end-of-life care and a dignified death.
Seto Nielsen presses for more research that would include undocumented immigrants as participants to gain their perspective on experiences, such as satisfaction of care, continuity of care, collaborative relationships between patients and providers, and unmet needs.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Onus of interpreting Indigenous contexts rests squarely on interpreter
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Heritage interpreters are educators in places like zoos, parks and museums. Given that they are often steeped in the Western academy in settler-colonial imperialism, how could they accurately interpret Indigenous material/information, contexts and themes? This is a major ethical challenge.
Chance Finegan
PhD Chance Finegan, a recent graduate from the Faculty of Environmental Studies (supervised by Professor Ravi de Costa), argues that interpreters cannot do this without having an appreciation for the differences between Western and Indigenous knowledge, engaging in critical self-reflection and committing to interpreting Indigenous themes in a manner that serves Indigenous interests.
In an article published in the Journal of Heritage Tourism (May 2019), Finegan, now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toronto, emphasizes that this responsibility rests on the interpreter.
“In places that lack readily apparent Indigenous links, such as Point Peele National Park, it means ensuring that the interpreter is not un/knowingly contributing to the settler-colonial state’s attempted erasure of Indigenous people and culture,” he explains.
Importantly, Finegan, an Ontario Trillium Scholar during his tenure at York, has concrete suggestions for change.
Interpreters in powerful role as “meaning-makers”
Research and academia reflect their historic environment – imperialism and colonialism – and they have traditionally reinforced this hegemony.
In this context, it’s important to understand the power of heritage interpreters. They are more than mere communicators, passively transmitting information. Instead, they are the stewards of the story; the “meaning-makers” and “people with the power to give credence to certain knowledge,” in Finegan’s words, when they present public programs or design exhibits.
Their role is vital because their work shapes public opinion. “Interpretation is a profound exercise in power,” Finegan states.
Focus on interpreters working in national parks
How did Finegan approach this vast topic? As part of this research, he undertook a literature review, which sums up existing thought in a particular area.
He also focused specifically on heritage interpreters employed by settler-colonial park agencies (e.g. the U.S. National Park Service or Parks Canada). While writing the article, he examined and then provided an overview of interpretation training and a discussion of the differences between Western and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Finegan’s objectives were three-fold:
To focus on the role of research in protected area heritage interpretation;
To create space for thinking about interpretation as an exercise of power that uses information to mold public perceptions; and
To highlight the intersection between the politics of knowledge creation, settler-colonialism and protected area heritage interpretation in Indigenous contexts.
Examples illustrate ethnocentrism
Finegan’s research brings to light some compelling cases that illustrate the parks’ failures to present Indigenous history. Two cases are profiled below.
Case 1: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, near Portland, Oregon
Congress created the park in 1948, but it was not until the early 2000s when staff began interpreting Lower Chinookan heritage. The second photo (below right) depicts the partial reconstruction of the Indigenous labourers’ village at this site. “Until the arrival of Superintendent Tracy Fortmann, this was a blackberry tangle and park interpretation focused on the white settlers within the main fort,” Finegan explains.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Credit: Chance Finegan
Case 2: Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming
This is held sacred by multiple Northern Plains Tribes and occupies disputed Indigenous territory. While the park does attempt to interpret Indigenous heritage, rock climbing is still allowed on the monolith – Finegan notes that this is akin to climbing St. Peter’s Basilica for sport. “Notice the American flag – a visual manifestation of settler claims to Sioux territory,” he adds.
Devil’s Tower. Credit: U.S. National Park Service
Suggestions for change
Going forward, Finegan suggests two broad approaches: First, interpreters need to improve how they work with Indigenous communities. He suggests that they could incorporate Indigenous knowledge in their work. The community which holds that knowledge must have a substantial and substantive role in the entire interpretive process – including how its knowledge is used. This underscores the fact that interpreters need to be listening to what Indigenous people say about research in their communities, for interpreters are consumers and communicators of research.
Second, interpretation needs to foster a culture of self-reflection. “Such a culture is currently lacking in the field and is urgently needed,” he emphasizes. In a key passage, he elaborates:
“How one learns what one interprets is equally as important as the methods for interpreting this knowledge and measuring success in delivering content. In settler-colonial societies, where protected areas preserve state heritage, the intersection of power, knowledge and race need to be understood by heritage interpreters.”
Finegan suggests that interpreters, in seeking to bridge the gap between Indigenous and Western knowledge or walk along the Western-Indigenous boundary, should ask themselves:
Am I being a good steward of Indigenous culture, history and perspectives?
Am I working with a specific community and seeking to reveal a particularly sensitive issue/topic? If so, do I have the community’s assent to do so?
How will my interpretation meaningfully help in the remediation of centuries of colonialism?
Why have I, the interpreter, chosen to tell this story, to give this program, and/or to forge this visitor-resource connection?
Finegan emphasizes that for interpreters, understanding how their job fits into broader historical and political contexts (i.e. colonization) is a part of proficiency. He is hopeful that there is a way to go forward if interpreters become more self-critical and seek genuine engagement with Indigenous communities.
To read the article, “The interpreter as researcher: ethical heritage interpretation in Indigenous contexts,” visit the website.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca
Two cutting-edge projects on AI-and-human interaction awarded major grants
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Two York University projects led by Lassonde School of Engineering Professors Michael Jenkin (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and Jinjun Shan (Earth and Space Science and Engineering) were awarded funding from the Department of National Defence’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program under Innovation Networks in October 2019. York’s securing two of the six grants from the IDEaS Program speaks to the University’s leadership in this area.
Each contribution is worth close to $1.5 million. Adding the support of other funders, these two projects are, collectively, worth $5 million.
“The technological, social and economic benefits of these two projects are profound. The discoveries from these projects will have a lasting impact on Canadian society by training highly qualified personnel over a range of technical skills,” said Professor Rui Wang, interim vice-president research & innovation at York University.
Both Lassonde projects involve human and AI or robot interaction, and advance key technologies
Jenkin’s winning project: Developing trust among soldiers, civilians and robots
The first project is led by Jenkin, a core member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) and a member of the Centre for Innovation in Computing at Lassonde and the Centre for Vision Research at York. Professors James Elder (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and Debra Pepler (Department of Psychology), also at York, are Co-investigators. Industrial partners include CrossWing Inc, CloudConstable Inc. and Kaypot Inc.
Michael Jenkin
It is worth noting that although the investment from the IDEaS program in this project is $1.48 million over three years, the total project is anticipated to cost $2.3 million over three years.
The objective of this project, titled “SENTRYNET: Developing trust between soldiers, civilians and robots,” is to explore the development of methodologies and technologies that will enable autonomous robots to interact with the public and respond to situations in a manner that maintains control and security of the local environment.
Key outcomes of this project will be:
To develop sensing for human-robot interaction to detect human visitors and identify potential threats by creating person detection and recognition algorithms, and sensor positioning strategies to enable the robot to act as a human guard;
To develop technology to monitor visitors to a facility to better characterize their behaviour during engagement of trust;
To develop technology to enhance human-robot interaction to support audio interaction and avatar-based interaction with the public; and
To develop operational mechanisms, sensing and communications strategies to engender trust between human security personnel and robots deployed in the field.
“This project will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of autonomous systems related to trust and barriers to adoption. It would also train personnel over a wide range of technical skills including computer vision, robotics and human behaviour,” said Jenkin.
Shan’s winning project: Human-machine cooperation with autonomous systems
Jinjun Shan
The second project is led by Shan, and York Professor Robert Allison (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) is a Co-investigator. The total amount of this project is $2.45 million, with $1.49 million being funded from the IDEaS program. Industrial collaborators include Imagine 4D, Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM) and C3 Human Factors Consulting Inc.
The objective of this project, titled “Effective human-machine cooperation with intelligent adaptive autonomous systems,” is to advance key technologies in the area of autonomous systems including intelligent adaptive systems, automated task execution, high-precision navigation and control of autonomous systems and effective human-machine interactions.
The key outcomes will be:
To improve the accuracy of real-time predictive models for operator stress and fatigue;
To generate a dataset for validating human-automation trust models;
To investigate the use of realistic immersive environments as a means to improve situational awareness, reduce fatigue and maintain calibrated human-automation trust levels; and
To develop high-precision navigation strategies for autonomous systems for path planning, collision and obstacle avoidance with minimal human overseer input.
Shan’s drone lab: Spacecraft Dynamics Control and Navigation Laboratory (SDCNLab)
“This project will provide a platform for autonomous systems related research in multiple science and engineering disciplines, and provide solutions to trust model development and validation, operator state monitoring, human-machine interaction, high-accuracy navigation and artificial intelligence,” said Shan.
IDEaS program provides creative thinkers with structure and support
The Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program is an investment of $1.6 billion over 20 years aimed at meeting the demands of today’s complex global defence and security environment. The program enables Canada to deliver the capabilities needed for a strong and agile military by providing financial support to foster innovation through contracts, contribution agreements and grants. The IDEaS program helps innovators by supporting analysis, funding research, and developing processes that facilitate access to knowledge. It will also support testing, integration, adoption, and acquisition of creative solutions for Canada’s defence and security communities.
For more information on IDEaS, visit the website. To learn more about Jenkin, visit his Faculty profile page. To learn more about Shan, visit his website. To see a video of Shan’s SDCNLab, visit the website. To read a related YFile story about Shan’s drone lab, visit the website.
Welcome to the February 2020 issue of ‘Brainstorm’
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“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.
Neuroscience research adds key insights on communication between neurons Understanding communication between nerve cells in the brain is one of the primary aims of neuroscience. Cutting-edge research led by a PhD student at York University, and championed by the Canada Research Chair in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, could one day help us to better understand Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases. Read full story.
Study finds immigrants more likely to have inadequate palliative care
Research that focused on end-of-life care for undocumented immigrants found that this group experienced insufficient care. The researchers press for policy change that embodies the spirit behind Canada’s universal health care system by better serving this vulnerable population. Read full story.
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, senior manager, research communications; and edited by Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor.
Can social media really lead to social change? Yes, Neu believes, the publication of this financial information, coupled with a vibrant public discussion, had an impact. “Indeed, the publication incited a social media reaction which may have helped to engender the resignation of Iceland’s Prime Minister, the arrest of a Pakistani Minister, and the initiation of legislative processes in a variety of other countries,” says Neu, quoting ICIJ (2019).
