Department of Human Genetics Weekly Bulletin Issue No. 56~ Oct 15, 2008

Samar Dib Ph.D. Oral Defence: “Functional analysis of the Myelin Basic Protein gene”

Monday, October 20th at 2:30pm Stewart Biology Room W4/12

Supervisor: Dr. Alan Peterson

External Fellowship Application Deadlines: Fall 2008 Information Sessions: http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/fellowships/publications/workshops

Federal Agencies

CIHR Master's (CGS) (McGill) October 22, 2008Industrial Innovation Scholarship (McGill) Programs provided by FQRNT/FQRSC varies

Other Agencies

Trudeau Foundation Scholarships (McGill) October 22, 2008

SWAAC Graduate Student Award (McGill) (for women)

October 22, 2008

The Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is now calling for nominations for the 2007-2008 Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. For information about this Award and how to submit a nomination, please go to: http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/awards/service/ . Please note that the deadline for nominations is Friday, November 14, 2008. Hello Grad Students and Post-Docs: We are pleased to announce - for the first time ever - Academic Careers Week from October 20-24. Are you...

• Wrapping up your PhD? Wish you were? • Considering doing a Post Doc? • Concerned about your oral defense or where your relationship with

your supervisor is heading? • Wondering how to ace an academic interview and conduct a job

talk? http://caps.mcgill.ca/services/acweek/acweek2008/ SMBD-JEWISH GENERAL HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE MONDAY MEDICAL GRAND ROUNDS OCTOBER 2008 12:30 - 1:30 P.M. BLOCK AMPHITHEATRE ***OCTOBER 27 ADULT STEM AND PROGENITOR CELLS IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: HOPE OR HYPE? Sven Wassmann, MD Associate Professor of Medicine, McGill University Division of Cardiology, SMBD-Jewish General Hospital Contact Person: Dr. David Langleben, Chief, Division of Cardiology, Tel. 340-7531. *This event is sponsored with an educational grant from Merck Frosst - Schering. **This event is sponsored by the JGH Quality Program. Lunch is provided by Sanofi Aventis. ***This event is sponsored with an educational grant from Bristol Myers-Squibb. The Medical Grand Rounds are an accredited group learning activity as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Neal Cody Ph.D. Oral Defence: "Physical and functional evidence in support of candidate chromosome 3p tumour suppressor genes implicated in

epithelial ovarian cancer"

Friday, October 31st at 2:30pm Stewart Biology Room W4/12

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Tonin

Laura Pickell Ph.D. Seminar: "MTHFR and dietary folate: developmental impact and gene

regulation."

Wednesday, November 5th at 2:30pm Stewart Biology Room W4/12

Supervisor: Dr. Rima Rosen

Kathleen Oros Klein Ph.D. Oral Defence:

"A genetic analysis of the French Canadian population in search of evidence in favour of novel breast cancer

susceptibility genes"

Monday, November 17th at 2:30pm Location: TBA

Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Tonin

McGill Book Fair Oct 22 & 23

9:00am-9:00pm Redpath Hall

Invigilation The purpose of this quick note is to let you all know that we have posted the application for the December 2008 invigilation positions at the following link: http://www.mcgill.ca/es/exams/invigilation/application/ Therefore, if you would like to be hired for December exams, please complete the application online. The deadline to apply is Monday, October 20th but we strongly urge you to apply ASAP. Please do not send me your availabilities through e-mail, but rather, apply through the application on the above-mentioned link. Kelly Cassidy Project Coordinator | Coordinatrice de projet Université McGill University Enrolment Services | Gestion de l'effectif étudiant Université McGill University 514.398.2207

Graduate Students: You are invited to attend Learning to Teach: A Professional Development Workshop for Graduate Students, taking place all day on November 8th, 2008. This workshop is open to all graduate students, regardless of whether or not you are currently a Teaching Assistant. Upon completion of the workshop, you will receive a certificate of participation to add to your teacher’s portfolio. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/resources/gsi/workshops/.   This workshop will provide you with valuable tips, including: developing a grading scheme, building a teacher’s portfolio, and designing a course outline. You will come away with many new approaches for engaging the students in your classroom with activities, questions and discussions.  Following presentations from Teaching and Learning Services, the Library, and an interactive panel on “What I wish I had known about teaching when I started…” participants will be able to choose two of the following break‐out sessions:  

• Building your Teaching Dossier  • Engaging Students through Interactive Strategies  • Grading in the Sciences • Grading Papers and Essays • Leading Effective Discussions • Preparing and Delivering Effective Presentations  • Preparing to Teach Your Own Course: Designing the Course 

Outline • Selecting Effective Technologies for Teaching and Learning • Understanding Multiculturalism and Teaching/Learning Practices 

 The workshop will be held on November 8, 2008 in Leacock Room 132. Presentations will begin at 9:00 a.m. but we invite you to arrive early to enjoy refreshments at 8:30.  Registration is required.  For more information and to register: http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/resources/gsi/workshops/  This workshop is brought to you by Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) and Teaching & Learning Services (TLS).  

Teaching Experience Opportunity for Graduate Students:  These two young women contacted Dr. Ryan (and possibly other faculty members) If you are looking to add some teaching/mentoring experience to your c.v. this could be a good opportunity.  My name is Sabrina Nolan, and my friend Jessica Lu and I are e‐mailing you regarding our science fair project. The field you work in has inspired us and we hope to be able to share our project with you. We will we trying to use a certain restriction enzyme, we are not yet sure which one on human samples from our family, in order to cut the DNA at the spot where we will be able to notice the difference amongst a family in order to build a family tree. Our wish is to be able to construct a family tree with this. In order to, we must read the DNA and unfortunately there aren’t the tools for this in our school’s lab. We have everything we need for this project. The motivation, the ideas, the knowledge. The only thing we’re missing is the lab. If you could so kindly grant us access to the lab you use, or refer us to someone that could, we would be so appreciative.  Yours truly,  Sabrina Nolan snolan@thestudy.qc.ca  Jessica Lu jlu@thestudy.qc.ca  The Study School‐Grade eight 

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN GENETICS

VISITING SPEAKER

Alexandre Montpetit, PhD Assistant Scientific Director

McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre

Dr. Montpetit did his undergrad at the department of biochemistry of the Universite de Montreal (class of '96). He received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2002, also from the Universite de Montreal, for his work on the genetics of acute lymphoblastic leukemia under Dr. Daniel Sinnett (at Ste-Justine Hospital). From 2002 to 2005, he did post-doctoral work under Dr. Tom Hudson at the Montreal Genome Centre (which became the McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre in 2003) where he leaded large-scale genomic projects, mostly association studies for various complex traits and the Canadian portion of the HapMap project. In 2006, he became the Centre's genotyping lab director and also the assistant scientific director.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

3:30 pm

Title "Genomics in the post-HapMap era"

The completion of the Haplotype Map in 2005 has revolutionized the genomics field, in a way similar to what the completion of the Human Genome Sequence had done five years earlier. As an example, the knowledge of the underlying haplotype structure of the human population and the increase in the multiplexing capacity of the genotyping technologies have both changed the way association studies are now performed. The genomics field is now moving forward and new applications are emerging using the knowledge gained by these studies. In my presentation, I will highlight this by describing the genomic approaches used and the results obtained from recent projects on three rare disorders: Mental retardation, MEDNIK (a systemic disease observed in a few families from the Bas-St-Laurent region) and Huntington's disease.

Location

Stewart Biology Building, Room W4/12 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Montreal, October 8, 2008

McGill again ranks among world’s top universities

Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings made public For the fifth year in a row, McGill University in Montreal has been named one of the Top 25 universities in the world by the prestigious Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings. McGill’s placing in the 2008 rankings was again the highest of any Canadian university. McGill’s rank of 20th this year maintains the university in the top echelons of higher learning worldwide and demonstrates continued, steady progress. McGill has placed 21st, 24th, 21st, 12th and now 20th over the last five years. An examination of THE-QS rankings shows that moderate swings up and down can occur, depending upon a variety of factors. Examining a school’s position over a period of several years, however, gives a clear picture of its standing. By that measurement, McGill’s performance has been unquestionably impressive. “It is gratifying to see McGill has once again been recognized as one of the very best universities in the world,” said McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum. “It is important to remember that there are nearly 10,000 universities worldwide, so even to be included on the THE-QS list of 604 is a remarkable achievement. “It is also important to note,” Prof. Munroe-Blum continued, “that McGill’s high ranking is achieved despite the dramatic funding differential between us and the schools with which we are compared. “But today let us celebrate what put us here. That we have managed to maintain our impressive standing in spite of this critical funding situation is testament to the dedication of our world-class faculty and staff and their ability to attract competitively allocated research support. It is also a tribute to our outstanding students and alumni. McGill’s strategic approach to sustaining academic excellence and to applying and managing our resources and our record of progressive governance has also played a role in our consistently high standing in these important measurements.” QS Quacquarelli Symonds is a leading global career and education network, which, in collaboration with Times Higher Education, a comprehensive website devoted to higher education jobs, news and resources for university professionals, produces these respected annual rankings of the top universities. This ranking is a composite indicator that integrates peer review and opinion with quantitative data. Forty per cent of the total score is based on academic peer review. Another 20 per cent is awarded for research excellence and impact as measured by citations. A further 10 per cent is derived from a survey of active graduate recruiters for major employers, who respond to questions about institutions from which they prefer to hire. A university's staff-to-student

ratio – a classic gauge of a commitment to teaching – is also worth 20 per cent. Finally, the survey allots five percentage points for number of faculty who come from other countries and a further five for percentage of international students. This year more academics (6,354 compared with 5,101 in 2007) and more employers (2,339 vs. 1,482) responded to the surveys than ever before. “These rankings use an unprecedented amount of data to deliver the most accurate measure available of the world’s best universities, and of the strength of different nations’ university systems,” said Ann Mroz, editor of THE. “They are important for governments wanting to gauge the progress of their education systems, and are used in planning by universities across the world.” As part of the rankings a number of sub rankings are also published. McGill placed 10th in the world this year in the Life Sciences category. “This very encouraging ranking comes only days after we officially opened our new Life Sciences Complex,” Prof. Munroe-Blum said. “That project, the largest in McGill’s history, realized through generous private, government and institutional support, will keep McGill at the forefront of biomedical research and result in benefits to humankind everywhere.” McGill, founded in 1821, attracts students from 160 countries around the world. Almost half of McGill students claim a first language other than English – including 6,000 francophones – with more than 6,200 international students making up almost 20 per cent of the student body. Graduate students make up nearly 22 per cent of our student population. On the Web: http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings Contact: Douglas Sweet Director, Media Relations Office McGill University 514-398-6752 514-294-7269 (cell) douglas.sweet@mcgill.ca Julie Fortier Associate Director, Media Relations Office McGill University 514-398-6751 514-884-1587 (cell) julie.c.fortier@mcgill.ca