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HEADLINES
Spring 2013 Wall Exchange
The Peter Wall Institute is delighted that Dr. B. Brett Finlay, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor, will give this year's Spring 2013 Wall Exchange lecture, entitled Bugs 'R Us: The Role of Microbes in Health, Disease and Society. To learn more about Dr. Finlay's research, watch this short video. The lecture will be held at the Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville Street, on Tuesday May 21, 2013 at 7:30 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets are free, but must be reserved online here.
The Wall Papers
The Institute is pleased to release the second issue of its magazine,The Wall Papers. Published twice per year in the fall and spring, the magazine showcases the unique, collaborative, interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research conducted by Institute Associates.
This issue's thematic focuses on public health:
Sleep disorders in children
Social media to promote health
Exercise to prevent diabetes
Read it online now.
No Current Research News.
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Judith Butler, The Wall Exchange Spring 2012
A Politics of the Street
Join us for our 2013 International Roundtable public event series.
This September, the Peter Wall Institute is honoured to host Scientific and Academic Knowledge, the biannual University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study (UBIAS) conference, being held September 17-19, 2013.
The Institute's 2011 Annual Report is available online.
Download PDF: 2.7Mb
CALENDAR
The Wall Exchange
Tuesday, May 21, 2013Bugs 'R Us: The Role of Microbes in Disease, Health and Society
Dr. B. Brett Finlay, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and Professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Finlay, award-winning microbiologist, examines how bacteria live in the human body and help maintain good health. The microbiota (also known as the normal flora of the human body) is comprised of thousands of species of microbes. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the role of these organisms in health, impacting on diarrhea, obesity, various bowel diseases, type I diabetes, asthma, and even brain development. In developed countries, we have gone to great lengths to minimize our exposure to microbes, both pathogenic and harmless. The Hygiene Hypothesis suggests that perhaps we have gone too far, as hominids have evolved in a sea of microbes, and actually need exposure to microbes early in life to develop normally. This talk will explore new research on the role of the microbiota in health, mechanisms used by microbes to cause disease, and new approaches to counter infections, including potentially using the microbiota to prevent other diseases.
Location: The Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville Street, Vancouver
Time: 7:30 pm
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Come early to hear the Oscar Hicks jazz sextet!
Tickets are free but must be reserved and are in limited supply. Reserve your ticket online.
International Visiting Research Scholar public talk
Tuesday, May 21, 2013Delay: Friend or Enemy?
Lecture by Dr. Thomas Erneux, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium
Delay problems appear in all scientific disciplines from biology to physics. As soon as there is a mechanical, physiological, or human control, there is a delay because time is needed to observe and react. If the delay is too important, oscillatory responses appear. But a properly used delayed feedback may also stabilize an unstable system. Our understanding of the positive and negative effects of a delay has progressed to the point that oscillatory outputs are used in applications. This presentation will review a series of problems and illustrate the different expectations of the researcher depending on his background.
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: Henry Angus Building, UBC, Room 241, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver
Public Talk
Wednesday, May 29, 2013The Natures of War
Dr. Derek Gregory, award-winning political geographer and Distinguished Professor, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies
Blending poetry and prose and paintings, Dr. Gregory presents ‘nature’ not simply as a terrain over which conflicts rage, but as a medium through which they are conducted. He uses four richly illustrated examples: the ‘slimescapes’ and mud of the Western Front in the First World War, the deserts of Northern Africa during the Second World War, the ‘jungle’ of Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s, and the continuing militarization of the Arctic. In each case, ‘nature’ is presented as a medium that transformed the very nature of the conflict, often treated in military culture as anadversary as dangerous as the human enemy. But not only do these examples have implications for ecological warfare, they also impact directly on the very survival of our planet.
A free event. Space is limited, please register: events.pwias.ubc.ca/special-events
Location: Vancouver Aquarium, Goldcorp Theatre, 845 Avison Way, Vancouver
Time: 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm
Doors open at 6:00 pm. A reception will follow the presentation from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Exploratory Workshop public event
Thursday, June 6, 2013The Puzzles of Human Cooperation
Dr. Robert Boyd, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University
Location: Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC, 6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
A reception will precede the event at 5:00 pm.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Distinguished Scholars in Residence Applications
Saturday, June 1, 2013
International Roundtable Discussion Program
Friday, June 28, 2013
Exploratory Workshops Applications
Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies 6331 Crescent Road Tel: 604.822.4782 Fax: 604.822.4222