New anti-psychotic nasal spray could ease side effects

CHEMISTRY FOR HEALTH

Sneaking medications past our bodies’ blood-brain barrier has always been tricky. McMaster University chemical engineer Todd Hoare recently teamed up with a group of neuroscientist colleagues to make an antipsychotic nasal spray that does just that. The spray could reduce the drug’s often nasty side effects, including weight gain, diabetes, movement disorders and organ damage.

Read More >>

“Buttergate” puts palm oil supplements on the stand

LEARN

When Calgary-based food writer Julie Van Rosendaal asked followers in a social media post last month whether they too were finding butter was no longer soft at room temperature, her “buttergate” musings went viral. But the questions she raised about butter’s chemistry were perhaps just as intriguing as the media storm she unleashed.

Read More >>

“My STEM Stories” – More than a science communication webinar

EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
BY:

Through the “My STEM Stories” webinar, CWIC created a platform for persons from marginalized groups to share their story about working in STEM. CWIC provided science communication training in order to teach participants how to create a video telling their personal STEM story, and will share the content on a YouTube channel with a target audience of people who are interested in pursuing STEM. It will be a place for students (high school, undergraduate, etc.) to connect with Canadian graduate students through their video story, so that they would understand what a role in STEM is like, and see diverse people filling these positions.

Read More >>

Q&A on teaching with Leah Martin-Visscher, MCIC

CELEBRATE

Leah Martin-Visscher is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at The King’s University, Edmonton and the 2021 winner of the Margaret-Ann Armour Award for Early Career Chemistry Education. Her research with undergraduates explores the use of bacteriophages and antimicrobial peptides for food preservation. CIC News recently asked Martin-Visscher to share some insights from the classroom.

Read More >>

On my career (so far) as a chemist of colour

CAREERS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Science is a series of discoveries made by observing, questioning and evaluating our world. Evelyn Asiedu, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Environment and Climate Change Canada, argues we should use this approach to make the changes necessary to ensure the future of chemistry is more diverse.

Read More >>