Black Research Network

Going digital to save lives: ��ֱ�� grad student aims to eliminate barriers to health care

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:40:31 +0000

Going digital to save lives: ��ֱ�� grad student aims to eliminate barriers to health care

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 10/07/2024 - 09:40

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Naturinda Emmanuel, a Mastercard Scholar who grew up in Uganda, studies intelligent medicine and electronic medical records at ��ֱ��'s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (supplied image)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Global Lens

Black Research Network

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Africa

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Subheadline

Naturinda Emmanuel, a scholar and entrepreneur, says the digitization of medical records, when coupled with AI, will reduce errors in patient care and help spot public health threats before they occur

Growing up in Uganda, Naturinda Emmanuel aspired to be a medical doctor and health leader who eliminates barriers to health-care access for those in underserved, remote communities.

“I always wanted to address different health-care issues in my country – that is my motivation,” he says. “I want to gain the skills and expertise to strengthen health-care systems to ensure that those who need care can receive it.”

Naturinda (his surname) is now a graduate student at the University of Toronto, where he studies intelligent medicine and electronic medical records in the master of health informatics program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME).

He’s also actively involved with the startup community, having launched a successful, impact-focused enterprise in Uganda and training other entrepreneurs.

Naturinda joined IHPME with the support of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, a global education initiative focused on the next generation of African leaders, and Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative (AHEHC), a partnership between ��ֱ��, the Mastercard Foundation and leading African universities. The AHEHC was established in 2022 to drive primary health-care workforce education, entrepreneurship and innovation across Africa.

This is Naturinda’s second time studying abroad with the Mastercard Foundation. He became the first in his family to study outside the country when he was awarded a scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree in laboratory medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

He later returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic to volunteer in the clinical microbiology and immunology departments at a local hospital. The experience prompted him to think about how to improve systems that were suddenly facing new pressures at already burdened hospitals – namely the continued use of paper records.

Medical records are the building blocks for developing efficient and effective intelligent medicine models, he says, while intelligent medicine refers to the use of machine learning models to process medical data and reduce errors in patient care. Large datasets may also allow medical professionals to spot health patterns – an emerging epidemic, for example – to better prepare for public health threats.

However, low-to-middle-income countries face many barriers to digitizing medical data, including limited access to technology and the absence of standardized data formats. The use of paper records also causes delays in retrieving laboratory results and makes it difficult to understand patients’ medical histories efficiently.

“The digitization of medical records is essential for developing and training predictive models,” Naturinda says. “Unique electronic datasets from these communities provide the more accurate and reliable information needed to account for unique socio-cultural factors and effectively develop models tailored to address those specific challenges.”

Naturinda will work under the guidance of Karim Keshavjee, an assistant professor and director of the master of health informatics program. In addition to intelligent medicine, Naturinda says he also has a key interest in implementation science, or the study of methods to ensure research is translated into policy, programs and startups.

One of Canada’s few professional graduate programs in the field, the master of health informatics program provides students with the skills and strategic vision to take on leadership positions in health-care landscape.

The opportunity to learn industry-specific knowledge from health leaders is what made the program a perfect fit, Naturinda says.

“One of the reasons I chose the MHI program is because it is training us to be leaders, innovators and policymakers. I wanted to seek mentorship from people who were making a big impact in strengthening health-care systems in Canada.”

Public health isn’t the only field where Naturinda is hoping to make an impact. He also wants to help others as an entrepreneur – a journey that’s already well underway.

During his undergrad, he co-founded the Nugget Poultry Farm to help smallholder farmers in western Uganda raise poultry more effectively and improve food access back home. The venture aims to support 1,000 farmers in 20 communities by 2027 and has received a Social Venture Challenge Award from the Mastercard Foundation and the Resolution Project.

Naturinda enhanced his business knowledge through the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University. Now a program coach, he has trained more than 500 entrepreneurs from Africa-based startups addressing various issues in agribusiness, climate change and health care.

Naturinda is eager to tap into ��ֱ��’s network of entrepreneurs and has wasted no time reaching out to various groups, including the Black Founders Network.

“When I train entrepreneurs, I see the impact of them pitching their ventures or winning a grant. It’s the type of impact that I want to see with my research, and bridging those two passions is an ideal step forward,” Naturinda says.

“As I progress at ��ֱ��, I look forward to leveraging opportunities that speak to my background in entrepreneurship, health care and research to make sure that I implement them together.”

Canadian Black Scientists Network screens doc on Black astronauts as part of its advocacy efforts

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:26:07 +0000

Canadian Black Scientists Network screens doc on Black astronauts as part of its advocacy efforts

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 02/21/2024 - 09:26

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Guion “Guy” Bluford became the first African American in space in 1983. His story is showcased in documentary The Space Race, which is being screened by the Canadian Black Scientists Network (photo by NASA CCO Images)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Canadian Black Scientists Network

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Black History Month

��ֱ�� Scarborough

Subheadline

"This is a beautiful, artistic film that gives people a sense of the actual emotions involved in what we’re fighting for"

Maydianne Andrade first watched The Space Race a few months ago while preparing for a post-screening panel – one of countless events she has been involved in as a higher education leader and co-founder of the Canadian Black Scientists Network.

Focused on the little-known stories of Black astronauts, the documentary left an impression on the evolutionary ecologist. So, she decided to watch it a second time.

Now, together with partners across Canada, the Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN) is screening the film in cities across the country as part of its Black History Month programming – including an event Wednesday at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

“A lot of Black communities, including scientists, value the arts and humanities,” says Andrade, University Professor in ��ֱ�� Scarborough’s department of biological sciences. “It’s critical to engage through the arts to help people not just learn about statistics but feel it.”

Following Wednesday’s screening, Andrade – who is also a member of the steering committee for the Black Research Network, one of the university’s institutional strategic initiatives – will be joined by Rene Harrison, a professor of biological sciences at ��ֱ�� Scarborough, to discuss the film and how its themes resonate through today.

CBSN leaders meet at the 2024 Black History Month celebration at the Canadian Museum of History. Left to right: Chinyere Nwafor-Okoli, Trevor Charles and Maydianne Andrade (supplied image)

The Space Race reframes the history of U.S. space exploration through interviews with several pioneers of NASA’s space program – the first Black pilots, engineers and scientists in their journey to become astronauts. Starting in the 1960s civil rights era, the film leads up to the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the racial reckoning that followed.

It includes the story of Ed Dwight, a U.S. Air Force pilot who would have become the first Black astronaut when he was chosen by President John F. Kennedy to join a pilot program at the Edwards Air Force Base. His hopes came to a halt after Kennedy’s 1963 assassination when he wasn’t selected for the NASA program.

In 1983, Guion “Guy” Bluford became the first African American astronaut to go to space.

Andrade says many of the issues raised in the film are still relevant, including the need to better support Black and Indigenous students who are interested in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine) subjects.

“We have data in Canada that shows Black youth are streamed out of STEMM programs. The issues are still current,” Andrade says. “We want to shine a light on things that still need to be fixed and have those conversations.”

Shaping the future of STEMM

Launched in 2020, the CBSN is a national coalition of more than 700 members that works to elevate, connect and celebrate Black Canadians pursuing advanced degrees in STEMM. It advocates for equitable practices in funding and works to enhance the visibility of Black researchers in the field and increase retention of Black youth. That includes providing mentorship and opportunities to realize a career in STEMM through its Youth Science Fair.

CBSN-Youth delegates from Halifax at the Canada-wide science fair in 2023: Silver medalist Joy Akinkunmi (left) and bronze medalist Munir Al-Taher (supplied image)

The film screenings mark the launch of the CBSN’s Regional Nodes, associations of CBSN members and allies across Canada who support local programming and outreach. Regional Nodes are currently located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, with connections in Atlantic Canada through local partners.

“This is a beautiful, artistic film that gives people a sense of the actual emotions involved in what we’re fighting for. It’s about community and support,” Andrade says.

“I want people to understand the joy involved and how much we want to participate in these fields.”

��ֱ�� sociologist explores perceptions of street safety in urban and rural communities

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 16:21:05 +0000

��ֱ�� sociologist explores perceptions of street safety in urban and rural communities

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 01/12/2024 - 11:21

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(photo by Daniel Tadevosyan/Shutterstock)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Institutional Strategic Initiative

Sociology

��ֱ�� Mississauga

Subheadline

With a focus on the Halifax area, Timothy Bryan says his research challenges the notion that cities are dangerous while rural spaces are peaceful and quiet

Crime is often perceived as an urban phenomenon whereas rural life is viewed as more bucolic – but Timothy Bryan is putting these ideas to the test.

An assistant professor in the department of sociology at University of Toronto Mississauga, Bryan analyzes how urban and rural residents perceive and imagine street safety.

“Often, criminological research has assumed certain things about crime. Crime is often perceived as something that happens in urban areas,” says Bryan, whose research revolves around the policing of hate crime and criminal justice reform in Canada.

“What this project wants to do is to disrupt some of those binaries that assume that urban spaces are always spaces of danger and that rural spaces are somehow these peaceful, quiet spaces.”

He is currently focused on the Halifax area, where two recent events have largely shaped the view of public safety. The first is the April 2020 mass shooting that left 22 people dead in rural Nova Scotia, sparking an inquiry into the RCMP’s efforts to keep residents safe.

The other event was increased scrutiny of street checks that disproportionally targeted African Nova Scotian residents. A March 2019 study by Scot Wortley, a professor at ��ֱ��’s Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, showed that Black residents were six times more likely to be street checked in the Halifax area compared to white residents.

Bryan travelled to Halifax last year to interview residents about their feelings on street safety and policing. He was supported by an IGNITE grant from the Black Research Network, a ��ֱ�� institutional strategic initiative.

“On the back of these two events, what I found was that many residents were rethinking their relationship with police,” Bryan says, adding many had previously reported a positive relationship with police or had no negative relationships with police.

“But recent events actually started to have residents think differently about whether police were capable of keeping them safe, whether police wanted to keep them safe, or whether the presence of police was even a sign of safety.”

The Wortley report ultimately made 53 recommendations focused on street checks, data collection and police-community relations. In October 2019, street checks were permanently banned in Nova Scotia.

Another element of Bryan’s project will use a combination of participant-produced drawings of street scenes and interviews to address questions about street safety and how police contribute to these perceptions.

He says the exercise not only helps him gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of urban and rural spaces, it also asks participants to explain what they would change to make their neighbourhoods safer.

“I’m hoping that the images not only provide a method of getting at the data and people’s responses,” he says, “but become a kind of artifact in themselves as a kind of snapshot of how it is that people are coming to understand where they live, how they live and perhaps what they want changed about the areas within it.”

He is currently completing about 40 interviews with participants in Halifax and developing those responses into an academic publication. He hopes to present preliminary findings at research conferences.

PhD project explores how Afro-Peruvian women shaped Lima through music and performance

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 18:47:54 +0000

PhD project explores how Afro-Peruvian women shaped Lima through music and performance

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 12/14/2023 - 13:47

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Roxana Escobar Ñañez traveled to Lima to interview Afro-Peruvian singers and performers as part of her dissertation (supplied image)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Global Lens

Black Research Network

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

The research spotlights criollo music, which emerged in Afro-Peruvian spaces and eventually made its way to the rest of Lima

Growing up in an Afro-Peruvian family in Peru’s capital Lima, Roxana Escobar Ñañez was always surrounded by music.

A PhD student in the department of geography & planning in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts & Science, Escobar Ñañez says Lima’s cultural identity owes much to the songs and performances of Afro-Peruvian women since the early 1900s – but their contribution is often overlooked or reduced to showbusiness.

“Music as a staple of Afro-Peruvian identity, particularly in Lima, is something that I believe has been reduced to a stereotypical characteristic of the Black population of Peru,” says Escobar Ñañez, whose research explores the centrality of Afro-Peruvian women’s music and performance in Lima’s cultural identity.

“It’s not something that is seen as a way that we have constructed the nation and the development of urban life.”

Escobar Ñañez’s PhD dissertation spotlights criollo music, which is traditional to working-class neighbourhoods populated by people of Black, Indigenous, Japanese and European heritage.

As part of her research, she travelled to Lima to interview performers and document the role of Afro-Peruvian women singers and performers in shaping the city. Her project is supported by the 2022 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship Program and the 2022 IDRC International Doctoral Research Award, which support doctoral students across Canada in pursuing international field work.

So far, Escobar Ñañez has interviewed 25 singers, the oldest being an 85-year-old performer still active in the circuit. She found that older performers act as gatekeepers of traditional criollo music, while the younger generation also taps into other genres like jazz, blues and salsa.

“The younger generation sing and dance differently… and turn to digital methods to make new sounds, whereas the older generation are very specific about what they sing and how,” says Escobar Ñañez, who is supervised by Associate Professors Tamara Walker of the department of history and Matthew Farrish of the department of geography & planning.

While criollo music was born in domestic spaces that characterized Afro-Peruvian life, it eventually made its way to the rest of Lima, says Escobar Ñañez, with immersive spaces to listen to criollo music – and some of the city’s world-renowned performers – remaining a core element in Lima’s tourism sector.

As she visited venues and house parties to study criollo music, Escobar Ñañez documented cultural experiences as well as conversations between musicians with memories and knowledge that dated back to the early 1900s.

While interviewees shared stories of encountering racism and misogyny, there was also widespread expression of pride in their work. “As Afro-Peruvian women, they carry the pride of the music,” Escobar Ñañez says.

Escobar Ñañez’s interviewees included performers like Marina Retto, the Lopez sisters and Rosita Guzman. Many consistently highlighted the importance of honouring the beauty and the complexity of seminal criollo performers like Felipe Pinglo Alva and Manuel Acosta Ojeda.

As part of her PhD research, Escobar Ñañez is producing a podcast using her interview material. The goal of the podcast – which is supported by the Graduate Fellowship Program in Critical Digital Humanities – is to preserve and celebrate Lima’s history by merging traditional practices like oral history with digital methods.

In addition to the contributions of Black women to the popularity of criollo music, Escobar Ñañez’s research also delves into where Black life is present in Lima and the role of Blackness in constructing the city.

She points out the Afro-Peruvian community shaped the city’s infrastructure through everyday activities as far back as the 1700s. “Lima relied on the urban infrastructure of Black bodies, which became time and space — from the Afro-Peruvian women walking through neighbourhoods in the morning and singing that they had bread and coffee to the last song at night saying it was time for bed,” Escobar Ñañez says.

“If you take away these activities, you wouldn’t have the urban life that we have now.”

Escobar Ñañez is now working on a paper about how to conduct field work involving Black women in Latin America – and the role that sound can play in the process.

“When we study populations that clearly demonstrate different ways of existing, including sounds and conversations is one way of research that I want to continue developing.”

Architecture graduate finds inspiration for community-building in mentorship and representation

siddiq22 — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 19:45:39 +0000

Architecture graduate finds inspiration for community-building in mentorship and representation

siddiq22 Mon, 06/12/2023 - 15:45

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New graduate Zanira Ali plans to continue mentoring other young people as she pursues an architecture career rooted in community engagement (supplied image)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Convocation 2023

Community

Graduate Students

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Mentorship

Subheadline

'I want to be that person for someone': When Zanira Ali didn't see role models in her field, she decided to lead by example

Zanira Ali chose the University of Toronto to pursue her master’s studies in architecture because it was a place that she could explore her community-based approach to the field.

“I enjoy the community engagement aspect of architecture. I want to understand and hear from communities about how they interact with public spaces,” Ali says.

Ali is graduating with a master’s degree from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, determined to continue work that fuses advocacy for communities and architecture. Most importantly, she has her sights on making her mark – and impact – in mentorship within the field.

As a graduate, Ali was a mentee with the nonprofit Black Architects and Interior Design Association (BAIDA), where she was paired with a mentor from Diamond Schmitt Architects. The program gave her a chance to enhance her portfolio and ask questions about the field.

During her time at ��ֱ��, Ali became heavily involved in mentoring students interested in a career in architecture through the faculty. For her, it was important that students saw representation in the field.

“Growing up, it was difficult for me to find mentors – I didn’t see anyone or know of someone who looked like me and studied architecture. I want to be that person for someone who is interested in the field.” Ali says.

Ali volunteered with Somali Scholars, an organization that provides mentorship for Somali youth and undergraduates. She was also a mentor with the Building Black Success Through Design (BBSD) program, a 12-week workshop series which offers weekly sessions for Black high school students interested in architecture to be mentored by Daniels Faculty students.

Ali’s thesis project demonstrated how funds could be redistributed to create neighbourhoods full of opportunity for communities that rely on public housing (photo submitted by Zanira Ali)

The program’s theme this year was "building for belonging." Mentees made sketches and models to envision how to restructure public spaces in Toronto neighbourhoods and understand equity in architecture – a value that is the foundation of Ali’s work.

For her thesis project, presented in April, Ali explored how the architecture of prisons contributes to oppression. When she considered her thesis topic, Ali knew that she wanted to shine a light on the social aspects in architecture not typically highlighted in the field, which led her to base her project on the critique of design.

“It’s about critiquing the spaces of confinement and control that are designed by architects. These are spaces that specifically affect racialized, Black and Indigenous communities in Canada,” Ali says.

For example, the Toronto South Detention Centre cost $700 million to build – money that could instead go toward community services to build vibrant neighbourhoods and housing, Ali explains. Using this as a source of inspiration, she developed a project titled “The $69-Million Block” for her thesis presentation.

Ali designed a model neighbourhood featuring 20 row houses and services such as a school, community centre, library and a park to demonstrate how funds could be redistributed to create neighbourhoods full of opportunity for communities that rely on public housing.

“By using those numbers, I was able to add up to $69 million to create this community block. This demonstrates how one detention centre could build nine of these community blocks – and that’s how we should be allocating the funds.”

By exemplifying how funding can be streamed to strengthen communities, Ali built a case as to why prison reform is needed to break the cycle of overrepresentation of minority groups in Toronto’s incarceration system.

After convocation, Ali plans to seek out opportunities to further her passion for social justice, equity and architecture and will continue her role as a mentor with Somali Scholars and the BBSD program.

Ali says mentoring has given her an opportunity to learn from others, and also help youth from underrepresented groups succeed – something she wants to continue throughout her career.

“I’d like to use my experience here to further my interest in community engagement," she says.

"I’d also like to continue my thesis in the field and use architectural tools to explore the injustices in the realm of architecture and public spaces.”

Ali's advice for incoming students is to remember that personal connections are just as important as academics – and it’s important to find the balance in both.

“Join a club or association to connect with different people," she says.

"Be open to trying new things – even though it may seem hard at first, especially in your first year. It will be worth it in the end.”

��ֱ�� researchers use solar-powered tech to improve rainwater harvesting in Mexico

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 12:14:56 +0000

��ֱ�� researchers use solar-powered tech to improve rainwater harvesting in Mexico

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 04/19/2023 - 08:14

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��ֱ�� Engineering researchers are investigating how treatment with solar-powered UV illumination can improve water quality in rainwater harvesting systems such as this one in San Juan Tlacotenco, Mexico (photo by Mistelle Haughton)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Graduate Students

A team of University of Toronto researchers is shining a light on the use of solar-powered ultra-violet (UV) LEDs to treat harvested rainwater in Mexico.

Mistelle Haughton (submitted photo)

Master’s student Mistelle Haughton and PhD candidate Karlye Wong, both in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, are among just a handful of researchers focusing on the benefits of UV LEDs for water harvesting systems.

The students are currently conducting an extensive systematic review of the literature to map out all the lessons learned in previous case studies that use UV for the disinfection of rainwater.

“We’ve only found about 30 papers that come close to what we’re implementing – and out of those papers, not many focus on LEDs,” Haughton says.

UV light can inactivate waterborne pathogens in at wavelengths between 140 and 280 nanometres. The amount of time that light shines on a surface is called the dose. Commercially available UV units typically provide the recommended 40 millijoules per square centimetre dose of UV light to be effective against bacteria, protozoa and most viruses.

“The microbes will absorb the UV light and as the DNA and RNA absorb the UV, the DNA and RNA become damaged – effectively inactivating the organism, which means that they can’t reproduce and can no longer spread diseases,” Haughton says.

Typically, UV systems used for water treatment employ mercury lamps. UV LEDs, by contrast, offer a smaller footprint, are low maintenance and feature remote start or stop with the integration of flow sensors, which can potentially lead to longer lifespans.

Under the supervision of Ron Hofmann, a professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering, Haughton and Wong are exploring the use of UV LEDs for the treatment of rainwater in the field as well as conducting pilot studies that use solar power to supply energy to treatment units.

“We’re some of the first people to be implementing LED systems in the field,” says Haughton, a member of the Drinking Water Research Group in ��ֱ��’s department of civil and mineral engineering.

Haughton is building a solar-powered UV disinfection pilot system that can be implemented with UV devices in the field. The waterproof system, which looks like a small black box, can be attached to a UV device and solar panels. The device then runs electricity towards the supply of UV LEDs.

The system can help supplement the electrical requirements of the UV systems, which need a reliable energy supply to ensure proper operation. The system could also function as a safe alternative to water treatment chemicals like chlorine, which are often disposed improperly and a poor fit for peri-urban communities – the area that transitions between rural and urban communities

The team’s field work takes place in San Juan Tlacotenco, about an hour outside of Mexico City. Haughton says locals currently alternate seasonally between chlorinated municipal water and harvested rainwater. Residents also rely on bottled water for drinking, which can cost households between $60 to $100 per month.

“When someone has to chemically dose their water supply, they often do it intermittently and there are a lot of aversions to use of chlorine,” Haughton says.

Rainwater harvesting systems are typically seen in rural or peri-urban areas, which may lack access to centralized water supply systems. Harvesting systems often have a first-flush device, a contraption used to reduce the contaminants associated with the first rainfall.

The team has so far implemented one unit in the field and hope to increase that number to 10 in upcoming months. They are also conducting water quality testing for E. coli and total coliform, a basic test for bacterial contamination of water, to monitor the efficiency of the units.

The students are also exploring the use of molecular testing methods to detect pathogens in the water.

“While we know UVs are very good at inactivating bacterial pathogens, we need to ensure there are no pathogens in the rainwater systems that UV is not good at killing,” Haughton says.

“Higher life-form organisms, like worms, require a lot higher dose of UV light and intensity to inactivate these organisms.”

To ensure that implementation is successful, the team is adopting an interdisciplinary approach to not only focus on the technical integration of the units but also on education and user perception.

Over the next two years, the team will monitor the UV units in the field. In the short term, they will be testing the pilot system and develop the preliminary test plan with hopes that this research can continue to evolve.

“I hope this technology can help increase access to clean drinking water for the people who need it the most,” Haughton says.

Waiting to inhale: ��ֱ�� researcher explores the link between cannabis laws and racial injustice

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 19:35:29 +0000

Waiting to inhale: ��ֱ�� researcher explores the link between cannabis laws and racial injustice

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 04/13/2023 - 15:35

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(Photo by Brian Summers)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Cannabis

Crime

��ֱ�� Mississauga

A new co-authored book by Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, an associate professor in the department of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, examines how harsh cannabis laws have contributed to racial injustice – and how to repair the communities most affected.

Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice illuminates how the war on drugs has disproportionally impacted Black and Indigenous communities in the United States through the stories of people who are on the front lines of advocacy.

The book, which came out this week, was written with entrepreneur and cannabis industry leader Tahira Rehmatullah. Both authors are scheduled to take part in a launch event at Massey College on April 19.

“The book really provides an overview of how drug law enforcement and the policing of drugs, especially cannabis, has been used to target Black, Indigenous and other racialized populations,” Owusu-Bempah says.

“We talk about the huge impact that this has had – not only on these individuals, but their families and their communities.”

In the 1970s, a U.S. government-led campaign – known as “the war on drugs” – was established to stop illegal drug distribution and use. In Canada, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney initiated a national drug strategy in July 1982.

But the criminalization of drug use and its history of systemically targeting racialized communities runs deeper.

In the U.S., The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made the possession or transfer of cannabis illegal. According to the University of Pennsylvania, a trillion dollars have been spent enforcing drug policy since 1971. By contrast, about a billion dollars have been spent in Canada. Meanwhile, cannabis legalization in Canada and globally is a multibillion-dollar industry.

While discussions and political campaigns about cannabis legalization have largely focused on the positive societal and economic factors, it has in most cases failed to acknowledge the injustices of the war on drugs.

Waiting to Inhale personalizes the need for criminal justice reform in the U.S. through interviews with people who have served unjust cannabis convictions. Some are now dedicated to advancing cannabis amnesty, including Evelyn LeChapelle of Oakland, Calif., who was convicted in 2013 as a young mother. She spent 87 months in prison after a 2013 arrest for a small role in a cannabis distribution operation – despite having no previous criminal record. LaChapelle was released in 2018 and is now a social justice advocate and entrepreneur who offers employment to those with a similar story.

The book also tells the story of Michael Thompson, who in received a prison sentence of 42 to 60 years for selling three pounds of cannabis to a friend – and police informant – in Michigan in 1994. Thompson was incarcerated for 25 years until the recreational use of cannabis became legal in the state in 2018. He was the longest-serving, non-violent offender in Michigan’s history.

“When we look at the harsh penalties associated with the simple possession of cannabis in many U.S. states, they are much more consequential than other more serious crimes like financial fraud or even violent offenses,” Owusu-Bempah says.

Canada and cannabis

While Waiting to Inhale focuses on the decriminalization of cannabis in the U.S, there are many parallels with Canada – a conversation Owusu-Bempah is leading.

Owusu-Bempah is a member of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy’s steering committee. Established to help reform Canada’s criminal justice system, the committee stems from a 2019 commitment from the federal government to address anti-Black racism and the over-representation of Black Canadians in federal prisons.

The criminalization of cannabis in Canada can be traced to the 1920s when a moral panic was cultivated around its use, targeting Black and Indigenous populations. After a change in drug laws during the Mulroney administration, Black Ontarians experienced increased placement in the province’s correctional facilities. According to a 2021 report, one in 15 young Black men in Ontario has experienced jail time, compared to nearly one in 70 young white men.

Before legalization, Canadian youth had amongst the highest rates of cannabis use globally yet marginalized people are still most likely to be arrested for cannabis possession and use, Owusu-Bempah says.

Moving forward

In their book, Owusu-Bempah and Rehmatullah identify key action items to overturn racist policies and rebuild communities affected by cannabis criminalization.

Owusu-Bempah says clearing the records of the convicted remains vital in reconciliation since opens avenues for employment. He adds that redistributing tax revenue generated from legal cannabis sales to reinvest in and revitalize neighbourhoods is also important.

He would also like to see the legal industry create employment opportunities for people with cannabis convictions or other drug offences.

“What we want to see is space within this legal industry for those people who've been targeted by the war on drugs,” Owusu-Bempah says. “The billions of dollars spent on police, courts and corrections were not spent on schools, hospitals, community centres and community health-care centres within those neighbourhoods. We highlight these possibilities [in the book].

"At the most basic level, the criminal records of people who've been convicted of activities that are now no longer illegal should be cleared.”

With support of Connaught award, ��ֱ�� researchers to tackle health disparities in Black communities

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:34:07 +0000

With support of Connaught award, ��ֱ�� researchers to tackle health disparities in Black communities

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 03/14/2023 - 13:34

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Notisha Massaquoi, an assistant professor at ��ֱ�� Scarborough, will lead a large tri-campus project focused on Black health equity research (submitted photo)

Don Campbell

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Connaught Fund

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Health

Research & Innovation

��ֱ�� Scarborough

A new research project supported by the University of Toronto’s Connaught Fund and developed in collaboration with the Black Research Network (BRN) will bring together experts from across the university to address Canada’s racial health gap.

The project, which will receive $250,000 through the inaugural Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers, will support Black health equity research across ��ֱ��’s three campuses.

“We have researchers across ��ֱ�� doing excellent work, but much of it is being done in silos,” says Notisha Massaquoi, an assistant professor in the department of health and society at ��ֱ�� Scarborough and member of the BRN who will lead the project.

“We’re taking an interdisciplinary approach by focusing on the social determinants of health and then coming up with positive solutions to change health outcomes in Black communities.”

The project will involve a collaboration among 13 ��ֱ�� researchers who are looking at the social determinants of health, which are the personal, social, economic and environmental factors that affect individual and population health. Massaquoi says some of the research areas will include looking at access to quality education, the social economy and poverty alleviation, as well as post-homicide support services.

More importantly, the project will look at creating tangible solutions.

“The hope is that we can start moving away from doing research that tells us over and over again that we have higher rates of illness and move towards finding solutions for these health disparities,” says Massaquoi, who launched the Black Health Equity Lab at ��ֱ�� Scarborough in 2022.

“If Black women have higher rates of breast cancer, what programs or educational campaigns can we develop to address the issue? We want to use the research process to mobilize and provide solutions to these disparities that we know exist.”

Massaquoi says that in addition to developing a coherent research agenda, the researchers will also develop a framework for working collaboratively with Black communities and community organizations. The project will also leverage the expertise of Black researchers across ��ֱ�� by co-ordinating efforts and prioritizing research objectives, while also increasing success in research funding through external grants.

The project includes a significant training element, especially for young and emerging researchers, by offering students a chance to work on large research projects focused on Black health.

“It’ll be the first time there will be a large-scale conversation between ��ֱ�� researchers and the Black community on the future of Black health research. I’m really excited about the possibilities that will come from this project,” Massaquoi says.

In addition to this award, the BRN is providing support to projects by Janelle Joseph, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, and to Brice Lionel Batomen Kuimi, an assistant professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. The BRN is an Institutional Strategic Initiative launched in October 2021 to promote Black research excellence.

The Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers is supported by the Connaught Fund – the largest internal university research funding program in Canada. Established 50 years ago through the sale of Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, the fund has since provided more than $182.3 million to ��ֱ�� scholars through a range of funding programs that support the university research community across all disciplines and career stages.

��ֱ�� grad student tracks 70 years of snow and ice data in the High Arctic

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 14:53:13 +0000

��ֱ�� grad student tracks 70 years of snow and ice data in the High Arctic

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/08/2023 - 09:53

Cutline

Brianna Lane, a master's student at ��ֱ�� Mississauga, is developing an accessible method to monitor lake ice and snow levels in the High Arctic amid a changing climate (photo courtesy of Brianna Lane)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Our Community

Black Research Network

Arctic

Climate Change

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

��ֱ�� Mississauga

Brianna Lane, a second-year master’s student studying physical geography at the University of Toronto Mississauga, is developing an accessible method for snow and ice data quantification using ground-based trail cameras in the Central Canadian High Arctic – making vital research underway easier for experts to assess.

Working with Laura Brown, an associate professor in ��ֱ�� Mississauga’s department of geography, geomatics and environment, Lane is monitoring lake ice and snow in the Central Canadian High Arctic in Nunavut.

Her research will provide insight into the historical changes in the region when compared with climate data from 1953 to the present day.

“If the air temperatures are getting warmer, then we will expect that the lake ice duration is shrinking – so less time that the lakes are staying frozen,” Lane says. “If it’s staying the same, that may just be an indication that nothing has changed in the area.”

Lane is one of five recipients of the 2022 Black Graduate Scholar Award in Geography and Planning. The initiative, a partnership between the Black Research Network and the university’s tri-campus Graduate Geography and Planning, recognizes the exceptional academic and professional achievements of Black graduate students.

Lane is conducting research on five lakes: Hunting Camp Lake in the Nanuit Itillinga National Wildlife Area; Resolute Lake, Small Lake, Plateau Lake and North Lake near the community of Resolute/Qausuittuq, Nunavut.

The lakes – each about one-square-kilometer – are located near the town of Resolute, one of Canada’s northernmost communities. Typically, the lakes are used by local communities for fishing and, when frozen, transportation.

In the Central Canadian High Arctic, lakes stay frozen for up to a 10-month period from September to June.

Students install a ground-based camera near Resolute, Nunavut (photo courtesy of Brianna Lane)

The ground-based cameras Lane is using allow researchers to determine how much of the lake is snow, ice or water. The cameras take pictures twice daily, which allows Lane to monitor when lake ice forms and melts, including the spatial distribution of the snow and the ice. Rather than manually reviewing images from the trail cameras, the method digitizes data. A Shallow Water Ice Profiler (SWIP) is also used to measure lake ice.

“Ground-based cameras provide a way for us to consistently monitor the lakes,” Lane says. “The field sites we are looking at are inaccessible and hard to get to. A lot of recent research is using satellite imagery, but the lakes that I’m looking at are small and it’s hard to distinguish what is happening on the lakes because the resolution isn’t great.”

There are two vital periods that Lane is measuring – the freeze-up and break-up of a lake. Lane explains that lake features such as size and depth determine the freeze-up period, while the break-up period happens when temperatures rise above 0 C and is also controlled by lake features.

With a surface area of 540 square kilometers, Lake Hazen, the High Arctic’s largest freshwater ecosystem and the world’s biggest High Arctic lake is rapidly responding to climate changes – experiencing warming and shorter lake ice coverage over the last 10 years.

Lane says there haven’t been dramatic changes at her research sites so far, but noted she is still sorting through data.

“In the past few years, there haven’t been any drastic changes,” she says. “We aren’t seeing that the timing is changing dramatically, which over a long period of time is what we expect with climate change and the warming temperatures.”

A new understanding of brain functionality may help treat those with memory impairment

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:16:07 +0000

A new understanding of brain functionality may help treat those with memory impairment

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 01/05/2023 - 13:16

Cutline

(Photo by Robina Weermeijer/Unsplash)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Breaking Research

Black Research Network

Faculty of Arts & Science

Psychology

Research & Innovation

New research from the University of Toronto is providing valuable insight into how the brain works to retain memory – and it could help treat patients with memory impairment.

Alexander Barnett, an assistant professor in the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and a team of researchers have found that a vital part of the brain that helps retain memory – the hippocampus – may have more dynamic interactions with the rest of the brain than previously thought.

That’s particularly the case when it comes to event boundaries – the start and end of a memory.

“At event boundaries, the hippocampus actually peaks in activity reliably,” Barnett says. “What’s even more remarkable is at those moments, what we see is that the hippocampus is communicating with other regions of the brain.

“And the more it communicates with those regions, the better people’s memory is for the events that just happened, and it’s really specific to these event-boundary time points.”

A collaborative study between Barnett and researchers from the University of California, Davis, have found that the hippocampus’s increased activity at event boundaries may play a key role in better identifying exactly when those with memory impairments experience difficulty.

The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped bundle of neurons located deep within the brain’s temporal lobe. With the help of signals from other neurons in the brain, the hippocampus is essential to forming long-term episodic memory – but, for those with memory impairment, tends to be disconnected from other areas of the brain.

Previously, researchers believed that the hippocampus had to continuously receive information from the rest of the brain to make new memories. This left the relationship between the hippocampus and the neocortex – the part of the brain that processes cognition, emotion and sensory perception – overlooked.

“The hippocampus needs to get information fed into it in order to do its job. When it’s disconnected, it’s almost like it’s not getting the information that it needs in order to lay down new memories,” Barnett says.

Barnett’s research focuses on how alterations in network communication impact populations with memory impairment. He uses functional MRI to scan brain activity and combines this research with new theories from cognitive psychology to understand short-term and long-term memory.

To gain a deeper understanding of connectivity between the hippocampus and neocortical regions, Barnett and the researchers from the University of California, Davis tested two groups. Each watched the same 15-minute cartoon. One group was told to indicate when they felt a meaningful event had ended and when another had begun by clicking a button – essentially marking event boundaries.

Meanwhile, the second group watched the same cartoon minus any instructions, while being scanned with MRI.

Researchers found that both groups indicated the same event boundaries throughout the movie. The MRI scans of the second group indicated that the hippocampus increased in activity at event boundaries.

To test memory, researchers have typically used techniques such as asking patients to memorize and recite a list of words. But the approach may have been insufficient.

Barnett explains that episodic memory, or the memory of everyday events, helps our brains know what to expect in certain situations such as going out for dinner. It was believed that the hippocampus was always working with the rest of the brain to store episodic memories. But the new study suggests the hippocampus only needs to encode memories when new events occur.

“It would be unnecessary for the hippocampus to be constantly encoding new information all the time, rather than just these special opportune moments where the hippocampus needs to communicate to form these new memories,” Barnett says.

Findings from this study may help researchers determine behavioural interventions to help increase patient attention at event boundaries. This in turn could help reduce memory impairment, Barnett says.

“One question is: Do we do this all the time or do we try to focus on these very particular moments when we think new events are being laid down into long-term memory?” he says.

“By understanding how the brain functions normally, maybe we can use that to help boost memory in populations that are having memory difficulties.”

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��ֱ�� grad student tracks 70 years of snow and ice data in the High Arctic