Matt Cassidy, a second-year student in the School of Business at UPEI, has won the prestigious Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business.

Cassidy is one of only six university students in Atlantic Canada to receive this honour. The award, which is valued at $10,000, recognizes business students who have excelled academically, and demonstrated a commitment to extracurricular and community activities.

“We are very pleased that Matt has been selected to receive the Sobey award. The competition is always very impressive, so it’s a great testament to the calibre of Matt’s achievements,” noted Roberta MacDonald, dean of the School of Business. “He excels in his academic studies, participates in many extracurricular activities, and has demonstrated a commitment to his entrepreneurial ambitions. He is a great role model, and I am certain he will continue to succeed in all his endeavours.”

Cassidy is actively involved with many local organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society, the PEI Young Liberals and the Holy Redeemer Parish Council. He is a familiar face at the School of Business, where he is a second-year representative with the Business Society.

He demonstrates keen interest in entrepreneurial pursuits. For example, while still in high school, he began and ran his own lawn care business. Academically, he has received recognition as the highest-standing student in the first year of the business program and received the Harry W. MacLauchlan Scholarship in entrepreneurial leadership last fall.

“I am delighted to be one of the recipients of the Frank H. Sobey Award, which was named in honour of one of Atlantic Canada’s greatest entrepreneurs,” said Cassidy. “I strongly believe that entrepreneurial excellence and ambition are key to a strong local business community, and this award recognizes that.”

Cassidy will join the other award-winners for a luncheon and special presentation in March, which will be attended by members of the Sobey family and the boards of directors of the Sobey and Empire corporations.

Since the Frank H. Sobey Awards for Excellence in Business Studies were established in 1989, more than $650,000 has been awarded to business students in the four Atlantic provinces.

After almost two decades in animal care, long-time animal lover and humanitarian, Dr. Leland Thomas of Saint John, New Brunswick is trading in his stethoscope for a well deserved retirement.

Leland Thomas has been saving lives of the animal kind for close to 18 years. Vaccinations, examinations and surgeries have filled Thomas' days since he and his wife Janice opened All Creatures Veterinary Hospital in Saint John following Thomas' graduation from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) in 1990.

"I can remember hearing about the possibility of a veterinary school opening in the Maritimes," reflects Thomas, surrounded in his Saint John home by his three dogs and six cats. "I was 34 and working as a mechanic at the time. I was ready for a change and saw veterinary school as an opportunity to do something different. I have always loved animals so the veterinary profession was a good choice for me and has resulted in a very rewarding career."

As a member of AVC’s first graduating class, Thomas has enjoyed a long history with the college. It was this connection and Thomas' desire to honor his clients' pets that led to a very special act of giving over the years.

"When someone loses a pet, they are deeply affected. People spend a lot of time with their pets and develop strong bonds with them," says Thomas. "There is a big change when their pets are no longer around. I wanted to find a way to give comfort to my clients, so I began making donations in memory of their companions to AVC's Companion Animal Trust Fund. It seemed to mean a lot."

AVC's Companion Animal Trust Fund supports work aimed at improving the health of companion animals. Funds provide a means of continuing research on animal diseases and improving facilities and equipment for the Atlantic Veterinary College's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The most recent fund grant was awarded to a research project exploring obesity in dogs and its effects on heart function.

"The Companion Animal Trust Fund is a wonderful way to recognize the special bond people share with their pets," says Dr. Sherri Ihle, a member of AVC's Companion Animal Department and Director of the Fund. "Dr. Thomas and the staff of the All Creatures Veterinary Hospital have been paying tribute to animals through this fund since it started almost 20 years ago. Both his clients and the Atlantic Veterinary College are fortunate to benefit from his compassion and generosity."

Over the course of Thomas' career, his clinic has donated more than $16,000 to the Companion Animal Trust Fund. "I feel the fund is a worthwhile initiative," says Thomas. "We have to rely on each other to support work like this. We can not always depend on government to fund research."

Thomas' retirement plans include long summers on Deer Island, restoring an old sailboat and working with local environmental groups.

Funded by the four Atlantic Provinces, the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI is committed to excellence and innovation in education, research, and professional services. The College has graduated more than 1,000 doctors of veterinary medicine, is known around the world for its research capabilities, and is Atlantic Canada's only full service veterinary referral hospital.

For more information on the Companion Animal Trust Fund, visit www.upei.ca/~avc/catf.

Applications are now being accepted for this summer's AVC Vet Camp in July. The only camp of its kind in Canada, AVC Vet Camp offers an educational adventure like no other - learn about anatomy, wildlife medicine and animal behaviour, visit our large- and small-animal hospitals, and take a trip to a working dairy farm. Find out what being a veterinarian is really like! Students must be entering Grade 7, 8 or 9 in the fall to be eligible. Deadline for applications is March 14, 2008. It's the tenth year for AVC Vet Camp, so please join us as we "Paws for Celebration." For more information, visit http://upei.ca/avc/camp/. 

Dr. Alfonso Lopez (DVM, MSc, PhD), a professor within the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI’s Pathology and Microbiology Department and co-ordinator of the College's international programs, was recently awarded the 2007 Innovation in International Education Award by the Canadian Bureau for International Education at a ceremony in Ottawa. The award recognizes outstanding achievement, of national and international magnitude, in the field of international education.

“This award acknowledges Dr. Lopez’s contribution to the internationalization of veterinary medicine, his work with developing countries, and his innovative contributions to international education throughout his 30-year career,” says Dr. Tim Ogilvie, Dean of the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC). “We are extremely proud of Dr. Lopez and feel his recognition is very much deserved.”

Since joining AVC in 1988, Lopez has successfully designed several international education initiatives including two academic mobility projects. The mandate of these projects was to promote and fund international experience and the cultural enrichment of Canadian students, and to facilitate Mexican and American students to experience academic life at AVC. The projects succeeded and became models for other mobility projects at other academic institutions. Also, Dr. Lopez implemented a major project financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Lopez’s contributions to international education also include the establishment of an International Veterinary Medicine Rotation that allows AVC students to receive credit for courses or professional experiences in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia. “In a globalized society, it is essential to create opportunities for our students to travel and learn from other places and cultures,” says Lopez.

Lopez is an advocate for sharing AVC course materials with the world via the Internet. “There is nothing more professionally rewarding to me than knowing students, veterinarians, and specialists in remote areas of the world benefit from what we do for students at AVC,” continues Lopez. “The work done at AVC can advance the quality of education and diagnostic services in developing countries.”

Funded by the four Atlantic Provinces, the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI is committed to excellence and innovation in education, research, and professional services. The College has graduated more than 1,000 doctors of veterinary medicine, is known around the world for its research capabilities, and is Atlantic Canada’s only full-service veterinary referral hospital.

CBIE is a national, bilingual, not-for-profit, membership organization dedicated to the promotion of Canada’s international relations through international education.

Photo:

Dr. Alfonso Lopez accepts the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) Excellence Award from CBIE Board Member Nancy Blain.

The University of Prince Edward Island was recognized for its leadership in research and innovation on Monday, January 21, with the announcement of up to $4.3-million from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency's (ACOA) Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) for major projects focusing on cancer treatment and lobster health.

The funding was announced on Monday, January 21, by Rob Moore, Member of Parliament for Fundy Royal, on behalf of the Honourable Peter MacKay.

"UPEI continues to emphasize innovation and education through ground-breaking research projects such as these," says Dr. Katherine Schultz, Director of UPEI's Office of Research Development. "P.E.I. is an important generator of new knowledge through significant growth in research initiatives and capacity. External research at UPEI has grown by more than 600 per cent in the past ten years."

With this round of funding, UPEI has garnered close to $30-million in AIF support since the fund was established in 2002 for top-quality research projects, including bioactive compounds, marine bioproducts, biomedical research, aquatic health and milk quality research.

A biophotonics research project, led by Dr. Bill Whelan, Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Optics at UPEI, will receive up to $2-million over five years to develop new biomedical imaging and cancer treatment technologies that may lead to improved treatment options for cancer patients.

Initially focusing on prostate cancer, the project will see the development of laser thermal therapy and optoacoustic imaging technologies that use light and sound to destroy solid tumours and monitor treatment effectiveness. Equipment designed through the project will supplement existing cancer therapies and diagnostic medical devices.

The project will also enhance P.E.I.' s capacity for the development and manufacture of biomedical instruments. Private sector partners include Seno Medical Instruments in San Antonio, Texas, and Fiber Connections in Summerside, P.E.I.

The Atlantic Veterinary College's Lobster Science Centre will receive up to $2.3-million over five years for a research project that aims to develop a greater understanding of the life cycle of the lobster, including health, moulting and reproduction. The project will focus on the wild lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia and the Northumberland Strait.

This project is significant because of the economic importance of the Atlantic Canada lobster fishery, estimated at $1-billion annually. The southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishery makes about 40 per cent of total lobster landings in Atlantic Canada.

"We are delighted that UPEI and AVC have once again been successful in attracting AIF funding with these two important research projects," says Schultz.

Photo #1: Dr. Bill Whelan

Photo #2: Dr. Jean Lavallée, Dr. Spencer Greenwood and Dr. Andrea Battison

The PEI Health Research Institute’s (PEI HRI) Café Scientifique, postponed due to a major snow storm in December, will be held on Thursday, January 31, from 3-5 p.m., at the Culinary Institute of Canada, Room 246.

Members of the public are invited to attend this free event, which will explore ways to improve the health of Canadian youth through discussion and debate.

Dr. Colleen MacQuarrie, of the UPEI Department of Psychology, will give a presentation called “Inviting pregnant adolescents into tobacco research: How can we improve our reach into the community?” And Dr. Jennifer Taylor, of the UPEI Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, will give a presentation called “Beyond Hotdogs and Potato Chips: Do school nutrition policies work?”

Sponsored by the federal Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Café Scientifiques offer insight into health-related issues of interest to the general public, and in turn provoke questions and provide answers. This is the first time that a Café Scientifique has been held on P.E.I.

Located at UPEI, the PEI HRI supports, promotes and enhances quality research related to human health on Prince Edward Island, contributing to the health of Islanders and Canadians, and to the economy of P.E.I.

For more information, contact Jennifer Jelley, PEI Health Research Institute, at (902) 894-2812 or peihri@upei.ca.

The University of Prince Edward Island celebrates diversity and multiculturalism during its seventh annual International Development Week from February 4 to 8.

The week begins on Monday, February 4, with two showings of the award-winning 1997 Iranian movie, Children of Heaven, the first at 1:30 p.m. in Room 211 in the Robertson Library and the second at 4 p.m. in Room 104 of the K.C. Irving Building. A discussion hosted by University 100 and psychology students will follow.

On Wednesday, February 6, students will discuss global issues affecting children and possibilities for youth action during a student symposium on global change in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre’s McMillan Hall. Participants will include high school and first-year UPEI students, with education students as facilitators.

Nigel Fisher, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, will give the keynote address at the symposium. Fisher has considerable experience in advocacy for the protection of civilians, especially children, in zones of conflict, and has worked extensively in basic education and child development. He worked with UNICEF for over 20 years in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as at UNICEF headquarters in New York.

Diana Youdell, special advisor to the Director General of the Afghanistan Task Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, will give a talk called “Canada … Making a Difference in Afghanistan” on Thursday, February 7, at 10 a.m. in the Atlantic Veterinary College’s Lecture Theatre C. Her presentation will be followed by a question and answer period.

Youdell recently returned from Afghanistan where she served as Head of Development Programs for CIDA from August 2006 to September 2007. She is currently on temporary assignment from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Under her guidance, more than $100 million of CIDA funds was disbursed to support national programs run by the Afghanistan government, including microfinance, sustainable livelihood, gender equality and girls’ education.

The week wraps up on Friday, February 8, with the annual UPEI International Development Scholarship Luncheon at the Rodd Royalty Inn, starting at noon. Nigel Fisher will be the guest speaker at this event.

Members of the public are invited to take part in the week’s activities. All events are free except the luncheon, which costs $30 per person or $270 for a table of 10. People may also sponsor a UPEI international student to attend the luncheon. Proceeds from the fundraising luncheon go toward an international student scholarship at UPEI. For information and tickets, please contact Beverly Gerg at (902) 894-2842 or bgerg@upei.ca by February 1, 2008.

In conjunction with International Development Week, an exhibition called International EXPOsure 2008 will be held on February 5 and 6 in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre’s concourse. The expo will include informative displays about the many cultures that are part of the UPEI community.

Canadian horse-owners will have access to an innovative technology that enhances the healing of equine tendon and ligament injuries, thanks to a new partnership between UK-based VetCell Bioscience Ltd and the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island.

The two organizations have entered into a partnership establishing the Atlantic Veterinary College as the Canadian centre for the introduction of VetCell’s equine stem cell therapy technology. VetCell’s technology involves extracting stem cells from an injured horse’s healthy tissue, multiplying those cells in the laboratory, and re-injecting the cells into the soft tissue wound of that horse to improve healing rates and reduce re-injury.

VetCell’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr. David Mountford, says that the company’s technology is currently in use in some of the world’s leading equestrian countries, including the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Holland, the United States and Japan. “We’ve been very particular about the expertise of the partners we’ve chosen in each country where we are currently active,” says Mountford. “The technical expertise and the equine focus that the Atlantic Veterinary College has demonstrated make them our obvious choice in Canada.”

Dr. Laurie McDuffee, an equine surgeon, associate professor and researcher at the Atlantic Veterinary College, will lead the Atlantic Veterinary College laboratory in delivering this new leading-edge equine health service. Dr. McDuffee has ten years experience in regenerative medicine and cell therapies for horses.

“The Atlantic Veterinary College is very excited to be the Canadian leader in the introduction of this technology,” says Dr. McDuffee. “We are eager to provide a new tool to treat horses’ injuries right now. Our laboratory also has an ongoing research program in cell-based therapies and is exploring further collaborations with VetCell in the research and development of cell-based therapies for bone fracture healing and treatments for companion animals.”

VetCell and the Atlantic Veterinary College are currently offering this equine health service to selected veterinary clinics in Canada. To-date, ten horses have been treated and it is expected that the service will be widely available to veterinarians and horse owners from across Canada by May 2008.

VetCell’s stem cell technology will be made available to veterinary clinics across Canada through training sessions delivered by Drs. McDuffee and Mountford. The first session is scheduled to take place at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on March 5, 2008. A second session will be delivered in Ontario on March 7, 2008. Additional sessions are being planned across Canada.

The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI is committed to excellence and innovation in education, research, and professional services. The college is known around the world for its outstanding educational programs, aggressive research agenda, and being home to more than a dozen centres of expertise that range from veterinary epidemiological research to aquatic health. The Atlantic Veterinary College’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital is the only full service referral hospital in Atlantic Canada.

VetCell BioScience Limited is a leading provider of stem cell technology to the world of animal health. VetCell was founded to investigate and develop the veterinary use of stem cell technologies. The company was formed in London, UK in partnership with the Royal Veterinary College and the Institute for Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science. VetCell is committed to working with top veterinary research establishments across the world to improve and expand the range of species and conditions treated using regenerative medicine.

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For further information, please contact:
Charlotte McCardle or Trina Paquet, External Relations
Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI
(902) 566-0533 / cmccardle@upei.ca

David Mountford, Chief Operating Officer
VetCell Bioscience Ltd
+44 207 691 2062 / info@vetcell.com / www.vetcell.com

Dr. R. Bruce Craig, a history professor at the University of Prince Edward Island, is using his expertise in espionage to unlock Cold War secrets.

His knowledge of Cold War history will be used to petition the federal court in New York City for the release of grand jury records from the 1951 indictment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were accused of running a spy ring that passed American atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. They were convicted of spying and executed in 1953.

The National Security Archive, along with several leading US historical associations, filed the petition to unseal the Rosenberg grand jury records on January 31. Supported by extensive declarations from Craig and other experts, the petition describes the trial as a defining moment in the Cold War, and argues that 57 years later, scholarly and public interest in these transcripts far outweigh any remaining privacy or national security interests in continued secrecy.

Craig, who is the author of Treasonable Doubt: The Harry Dexter White Spy Case, published by the University Press of Kansas, has considerable experience in petitioning grand jury records that pertain to espionage, on the Rosenberg case and several others.

'I spent the good part of this last year preparing the lead historical declaration that was just filed with the National Security Archive petition to force open these grand jury records and I'm very excited about the current prospect of unsealing the Rosenberg records," stated Craig. "A victory in court not only would strike a blow against government secrecy, but the grand jury records we'd get access to would clarify much that remains divisive and unknown about this controversial trial."

Grand jury minutes are not generally made public and are supposed to remain secret in perpetuity. However, one of Craig's previous court filings, "Craig v. USA," set the precedent that makes it possible for historians to gain access when it can be clearly established that the historical values outweigh the need for continued secrecy. In the late 1990s Craig was the lead petitioner in another case that resulted in the unsealing of the Alger Hiss espionage case grand jury records.

Craig and his fellow petitioners believe they have made a strong case for the release of the Rosenberg records. In the words of one such petitioner, New York Times reporter Sam Roberts, "Few cases in American jurisprudence have stirred emotions, generated debate in and out of government and the judicial system, and have had as enduring and divisive a political impact as the prosecution of the Rosenbergs."

Before moving to Prince Edward Island, Bruce Craig represented the historical and archival communities on Capitol Hill for seven years. He served as Executive Director of the National Coalition for History in Washington DC, and his efforts were directly responsible for the public release of the records of the notorious House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Dr. Janet Bryanton, Associate Professor with the UPEI School of Nursing, is passionate about nursing.

For her passion, she received a national nursing award from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Health Minister Tony Clement at the official launch of the Centennial Year of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) in Toronto on February 1.

Dr. Bryanton is one of 14 extraordinary and diverse Canadian nurse leaders from across Canada who received a CNA Nurse to Know Centennial Achievement Award for their contributions to the health system and the health of Canadians during the ceremony.

Prime Minister Harper praised the over 270,000 registered nurses in Canada for their essential work on the front line of health care, and in research, advocacy, innovation, health policy development and education.

'CNA's nurses are setting national standards for our public health system, increasing patient safety, enabling technology, and ultimately improving access for all Canadians to get the care they need at the right time, in the right place. Our nurses are collaborators and leaders who have made a tremendous difference in the lives of all Canadians,' said the Prime Minister.

A native of P.E.I., Dr. Bryanton has been a nurse and a nurse educator for over 30 years. After graduating from the University of New Brunswick's nursing program in 1977, she worked for a year in the maternity unit of Charlottetown's now-closed Prince Edward IslandHospital. She moved on to the Prince Edward Island School of Nursing and spent the next 15 years instilling her passion for nursing in her students.

Her love for education inspired her to further her own credentials; she became a certified perinatal nurse in 2000 - the same year she began teaching at the University of Prince Edward Island's School of Nursing. And she received her PhD from McGill University in 2007.

At UPEI, she teaches third-year students in the nursing degree program. She teaches them about the importance of making parents feel as good as possible about themselves and their parenting skills. 'If they (parents) feel confident, their baby will benefit,' she says.

In addition to her teaching and research responsibilities, Dr. Bryanton sits on CNA's perinatal certification exam committee and has been closely involved with the Association of Registered Nurses of Prince Edward Island, having chaired its board of examiners for 13 years. Currently, she is a member of the PEI Breastfeeding Coalition, a provincial working group dedicated to promoting breastfeeding in PEI.

Dr. Marlene Smadu, president of the CNA, and associate dean of Nursing at the UniversitySaskatchewan, acknowledged the nurses recognized at the launch for applying their nursing education and skills to advance many important areas in the health system, and called on young Canadians to consider nursing as a career choice.

At the event, the CNA launched its new centennial website, www.CNA100.ca, outlining a number of activities throughout 2008 which will celebrate the centennial and commemorate the achievements of registered nurses to date.

Photo (left to right): Minister of Health, Tony Clement; Marlene Smadu, president of the Canadian Nurses Association, Janet Bryanton; and Prime Minister Stephen Harper