Congratulations to former Bowdish lab undergraduate student Charles Yin on his week of accomplishments – publishing his paper on one of his undergraduate projects and winning a prestigious CIHR Vanier Scholarship for his MD/PhD work at UWO.
Congrats Charles!
Click here to hear Dawn’s interview with Radio Canada on our recent paper on the role of the microbiome in age-associated inflammtion…
We’re thrilled that our publication was featured as an editorial in Cell Host & Microbe. Read Drs Erin S. Keebaugh and William W. Ja’s excellent editorial here…..
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Congratulations to Kyle on his wedding. A great time was had by all!
Bowdish lab members past and present (Dessi Loukov, Avee Naidoo, Pat Schenky & Dawn Bowdish) celebrate Kyle’s wedding. Success!
Sara is learning how macrophage receptors move through membranes using high resolution microscopy. Her beautiful work was featured in Decembers bulletin. Congratulations Sara!
For the full bulletin, see here.
Thank you for your interest but all summer positions and thesis positions for 2017/18 are now filled.
On average, everyone takes an astonishing 22,000 breaths per day – something we’re not conscious of doing. And, although breathing is fundamental to life, lung research doesn’t get the attention it truly needs.
November is Lung Month, the perfect time to reinforce and remind Canadians how important it is to #TakeABreather. To capture attention, invite participation and help raise donations for lung research, The Lung Association is launching interactive pop-up parks across Canada.
Joseph Neale is a “Breathing Ambassador” who survived lung cancer when he was only 20 years old. Despite having surgery he got his voice back and is hoping to win a “Grammy for Lung Cancer Research”. Together we answered questions at the #TakeABreather pop-up park at Sherway Gardens. Stories like his remind me that I need to be the best scientist that I can be to make the discoveries that will improve the lives of those living with lung disease.
Highlight’s of the kick off were livestreamed on Breathing as One’s Facebook Page – be sure to check them out!
It was such an honour to hear Joseph’s story of overcoming lung cancer and to share what the research community is working on. We all agreed – more money for lung research!
Remember, everything shared with #takeabreather is being curated at breathingasone.ca – take a look and make your contribution today!
Don’t forget, there are three ways that you can get involved:
VISIT THE POP-UP PARK
Nuno Lourenço (Balanced Heart Being) led us through a yoga practice at the pop-up park.
media with #takeabreather
SHARE #TAKEABREATHER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
It was great to meet the health and wellness bloggers who supported the #TakeABreather event! Darlene Anderson (The New Girl), Cory Lee (The Fashion Set), Joseph Neale (Take a Breather & Breathing as One Ambassador), Dr. Dawn Bowdish (Board Member), Marybeth DeSantos (Life in Rouge)
SPREAD THE WORD
It’s time Canadians stop taking our breath for granted. Through Breathing as One and the #TakeABreather campaign, together, we can lead the conversation, and radically change the way we think about breathing.
See article with full links here.
Mac in Five
Lessons from the oldest of the old.
5 Weeks • 5 Professors • 5 Lessons • 5 Minutes a day
Course: Healthy Aging • Lesson #1 of 5
Would you rather live a long life in poor health or a short life in good health? For most of us this seems to be the trade-off but for the select few who become “supercentenarians” (those living to > 110), they seem to have the best of both worlds. Intriguingly, these oldest of the old are usually of sound mind and physically active until their death, and avoid many of conditions or diseases that almost seem to be an inevitable part of old age such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders or dementia. Most of us aspire to an old age like the supercentenarians, which is active and healthy but when ill-health makes its inevitable appearance, the decline is rapid but brief. So how do they do it? Genetics seems to play a role, but there is no magic gene that makes us live longer, nor is there a particular diet, exercise or pill that ensures that you’ll live into the next century. Interestingly, we’ve recently learned that having a healthy immune system may be necessary for long and healthy life.
One of the most provocative studies of the role of the immune system in longevity comes from the study of Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper who was, briefly, the oldest woman in the world. She died of cancer at 115 and donated her body to science. She was remarkable in many regards but from an immunological perspective, she was exceptional because at the time of her death her circulating white blood cells came from only two hematopoietic stem cell clones, as opposed to the thousands or tens of thousands one would expect in a younger adult. Since a diverse repertoire of white blood cells is required to repair damaged tissues and seek out potentially cancerous cells, this loss of stem cells may, ultimately, have caused her death. The oldest old have another interesting immunological feature – low levels of inflammation, which seem to help them resist chronic inflammatory diseases like cardiovascular disease and dementia for longer.
So what can those of us who have not won the genetic lottery do to live long, healthy lives? Although there are some pre-clinical trials in mice and epidemiological data in humans that suggest it will be one day be possible to extend the years of healthy living by taking a pill, we are not there yet. Instead, we can lower our inflammation and extend the years we live in good health by exercising, eating well, maintaining a healthy body weight, and having a robust social network. We may not have what it takes to be a supercentenarian, but we can make the years that we have be the very best that they can be.
Suggested article for further learning: New Scientist