eContact
A newsletter for staff of the University of Dundee
Friday 10 February 2012
CONTENTS
- Professor Andrew Morris appointed Chief Scientist
- Principal's blog
- Ambassador to Afghanistan returns to Dundee for lecture
- Olympic celebrations on campus
- Dundee Civic Design Award
- Eritrean graduation for students
- Support for randomised prescribing policy
- International design workshop at DJCAD to focus on V&A at Dundee
- New treatment for tropical disease
- Video art on show at DJCAD
- CECHR symposium
- New entrance for Matthew Building
- Research grants news online
- What's On
- Contributing to eContact
1. Professor Andrew Morris appointed Chief Scientist
Professor Andrew Morris, co-Director of the Medical Research Institute at the School of Medicine, and an internationally renowned expert in diabetes and health informatics, has been appointed the new Chief Scientist for Scotland.
He succeeds Professor Sir John Savill in the post of Chief Scientist.
Professor Morris said, "I am delighted and honoured to be joining the Chief Scientist Office at the Scottish Government, and look forward to working with colleagues to take forward the important agenda of health research. There are great opportunities to translate our outstanding NHS and University research capabilities into improved patient care and economic growth across Scotland."
2. Principal's blog
The latest blog post by the Principal - 'Lighting up the economic gloom' - can be viewed at: http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/principal/.
3. Ambassador to Afghanistan returns to Dundee for lecture
Sir William Patey, UK Ambassador to Afghanistan will return to his Alma Mater later this month to take part in this year's Arts and Humanities Research Institute series of lectures.
Sir William, who graduated with a degree in modern history from the University in 1975, will deliver a lecture entitled Afghanistan: Success of Failure? at the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre on 17 February at 6.15pm.
The event is free.
4. Olympic celebrations on campus
Dundee Celebrations 2012, a one-day event bringing the cultural and sporting aspects of this year's Olympics to the University, has been granted the prestigious London 2012 Inspire Mark.
The event on Thursday 8 March will take place throughout the University campus. It aims to turn the spotlight on the values of the 2012 Games outside of competition, such as participation, team work, community spirit, good sportsmanship, hard work and dedication.
The event will showcase different cultures from Olympic and Paralympic participating countries. Alongside a cultural showcase there will be an opportunity for students and staff to try their hand at a variety of Olympic and Paralympic sports including a blind football penalty shoot out, rowing, sitting volleyball, tug of war and touch rugby 7's.
The event aims to increase awareness of the Paralympic sports as well as encouraging participation and friendly competition.
Sophie Warburton, President of Dundee Sports Union, said, "We are honoured that our event has been recognised by the Inspire mark. We see this as an opportunity to promote the rich cultural identities and the immense physical challenges that participation in the Games entails."
Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said, "Dundee Celebrations 2012 is encouraging students to fulfil their potential. I am proud that with the help of partners such as the University of Dundee we are delivering our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation in sport and culture."
Dundee Celebrations takes place between 10am and 6pm on 8 March. It is open to the public and free for all ages.
5. Dundee Civic Design Award
Two Town and Regional Planning Students from the University have been announced as the joint winners of the Dundee Civic Design Award.
Laura Loudon and Fiona Thompson share the prize after impressing judges with their vision for the regeneration of the Whitfield area of the city. The competition forms part of their third-year coursework, and challenged them to develop plans to improve and enhance the vitality of the estate.
The competition brief required them to submit plans for a housing development around a proposed 'Life Services' building that will make the area attractive and integrated and a safe place to live.
Laura and Fiona will each receive £100 in prize money. Joint runners-up Alexandra Motoi and Andrew Marshall were awarded £50 each.
Module tutor Dr Deepak Gopinath congratulated all four students on their work saying, "The superb quality of posters reflect hard work and commitment of students in their studies and more importantly brings out a genuine desire in improving the quality of spaces in Dundee."
The annual award sees the local authority and university work together on a project to inspire the imaginations of planners of the future to come up with ideas and solutions for urban living.
6. Eritrean graduation for students
A total of 52 students in nursing and healthcare management at the University have celebrated their academic success with a graduation ceremony in Eritrea.
The number of Dundee alumni in Eritrea now stands at 152, with all of the graduates in positions where they are able to make sustainable change to healthcare.
"Eritrea faces many challenges but it has made significant improvements in healthcare and is now one of the few countries to be on target to meet the Millennium Development Goals," said Professor Margaret Smith, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
"The Schools of Nursing and Midwifery and of Education have had a unique opportunity to be part of this transformation since 2004. It is wonderful to see the direct impact our graduates are having in Eritrea."
An honorary degree was awarded to Dr Andom Ogbamarian, the Director General of Research and Human Development in Eritrea's Ministry of Health. He has been instrumental in the transformation of health services in the country, developing national strategies for communicable diseases and now in the education and development of the health professional workforce.
The graduation celebrations in Asmara were attended by Professor Smith, and Mr Mike Naulty, Associate Dean in the School of Education.
7. Support for randomised prescribing policy
Studies of the effectiveness and safety of prescription medicines in Scotland that randomise prescribing policy in different GP practices are broadly supported by the general public, a survey carried out for the University has found.
The survey showed that 97% of the general public participants agreed that the NHS has a duty to determine the safety and effectiveness of the medicines its doctors prescribe. A majority were willing to participate in studies which would make changes to their prescription medicines and use subsequent follow-up medical data to measure effectiveness and safety.
There was, however, a spread of opinion among GPs on the use of such studies, largely related to concerns about the workload involved - 45% were in favour of the studies, 19% were undecided and 36% not in favour.
Findings of the study have been published by the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
The survey was commissioned by the Medicines Monitoring Unit (MEMO) at the University of Dundee and carried out by mruk research as part of the Scottish Consumer Omnibus.
8. International design workshop at DJCAD to focus on V&A at Dundee
An international workshop focusing on creativity in local enterprise, with specific reference to the V&A at Dundee project, will take place at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) next week.
The Group for International Design Education (GIDE) is an international research consortium of which DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, is a member. GIDE brings together higher education design institutions across the EU in order to enrich the experience of students and researchers across the areas of industrial/interaction design, interior architecture, and art and design interdisciplinary practice.
The creative focus for GIDE Dundee 2012 is inspired by the V&A Dundee project, and the building designed by Kengo Kuma. The workshop takes place at DJCAD from Monday 13th to Friday 17th February, while the parallel GIDE International Exhibition will be open to the public at reception area of the University of Dundee's Dalhousie Building for the duration of the event.
The exhibition will feature 49 presentation banners created by the seven GIDE partner institutions from the UK, Italy, Belguim, Switzerland, Germany and Slovenia on the shared design theme of 'Creativity for Local Enterprises'.
Andy Milligan, director of the Interior Environmental Design course at DJCAD, said he was excited to be hosting the event, which would prove an invaluable experience for the students involved.
'During GIDE Dundee 2012, twelve international student teams will develop creative responses to a wide range of cultural organisations, research groups and trusts in and around Dundee - such as DCA, Fleet Collective, Hospitalfield House, ArtWorks Trigger research project, Dundee Rep & Creative Campus amongst others. The aim is to playfully interpret the 'Design in Action' ethos within the new V&A Dundee site,' said Andy.
More information about GIDE Dundee 2012 is available at http://gidedundee.wordpress.com
9. New treatment for tropical disease
Researchers at the University have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.
The disease is the second biggest killer in Africa, Asia and Latin America after malaria, and affects 500,000 people, killing about 50-60,000 patients per year. Current drug treatments for the disease are unsatisfactory for reasons such as high cost, drug resistance or the need for hospitalisation.
Fexinidazole is already in phase 1 clinical trials for a related disease - African sleeping sickness - but a research team at Dundee including Dr Susan Wyllie, Professor Alan Fairlamb and colleagues has identified it as having potential in treating leishmaniasis.
Their research has been published by the journal Science Translational Medicine, and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
"Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected disease of poverty which causes huge problems across Africa, Asia and Latin America, killing tens of thousands of people every year," said Professor Fairlamb.
"The current treatments are far from ideal and we need to find better, cheaper and more easily delivered drugs to tackle the disease. Our research suggests that fexinidazole has strong potential to do that.
"This has been a great team effort and I would like to acknowledge the dedication and enthusiasm of the biologists, chemists and pharmacologists involved in this discovery."
10. Video art on show at DJCAD
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) is hosting a major international exhibition of video art.
'RECORD>AGAIN!' opened last weeks at Centrespace, Visual Research Centre, in Dundee Contemporary Arts. It forms the second phase of '40yearsvideoart.de', a project that seeks to preserve, restore and disseminate one of the most influential art forms of the 20th century.
The exhibition features more than 40 outstanding video pieces made between 1968 and 2008, including many works that have not been seen for decades. Highlights include a rare work by Ulrike Rosenbach with her partner at the time, Klaus vom Bruch, the boxing match from 1972 that Joseph Beuys participated in at the documenta 5, and the first video synthesizer collages by Walter Schröder-Limmer.
DJCAD Curator Sophia Hao said the exhibition offered a rare opportunity to see key moments in the evolution of video art, and that it fitted with the objectives of the 'REWIND: Artists' Video in the 70s & 80s' research project at DJCAD.
"We are delighted to be the only venue in the UK to host this unique exhibition of significant Video Art works from Germany, which resonates with the ethos of REWIND at DJCAD," she said.
The exhibition is supported by the Goethe-Institut, Glasgow, and will be open to the public between 12-4.30pm each day until 4th March. A screening event will also take place on 15th February.
More information is available at www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad/exhibitions/exhibitions/record-again
11. CECHR symposium
Biofuels of the future, new approaches to tackling some of the problems created by climate change, and an examination of Scotland's climate through early church records were all on the agenda at the second annual symposium of the University's Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience.
The event at the West Park Conference Centre earlier this month brought together the research strands of CECHR and featured contributions from academics and students.
CECHR is a joint research venture between the University and the James Hutton Institute examining environmental change and how society can react to it.
Key themes explored at the symposium were food Futures, health futures, energy futures and water futures. It brings together researchers from many different disciplines including plant sciences and ecosystems, environmental research, geography, law, engineering, life sciences and other areas.
"The issue of how we react to the effects of environmental change is a huge one and it needs to be addressed through a wide variety of expertise," said John Rowan, Director of CECHR.
For more on CECHR see: www.dundee.ac.uk/centres/cechr/
12. New entrance for Matthew Building
Work has begun on construction of a new feature entrance to the Matthew Building, which houses Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the School of the Environment.
The new entrance is part of a major refurbishment which will present a well-lit, glass-fronted structure extending towards the street and providing a welcoming and modern first impression for visitors.
This is the latest stage of the £2.8million first phase of a refurbishment which will provide leading-edge teaching and research facilities for the college. Work is scheduled to be completed in June.
Professor Tom Inns, Dean of DJCAD, said, "This project demonstrates the University's significant commitment to art and design teaching and research in the city of Dundee. It will raise the profile of DJCAD as the city moves towards the realisation of the V&A at Dundee vision."
The refurbishment of DJCAD reflects changes in academic activity and student numbers over the years. Some works have already taken place, including the installation of a new roof along the rear of the Crawford Building and building a new electricity sub station.
Significant internal work has also been undertaken with the re-designation of facilities to create enhanced studio, learning and teaching space.
13. Research grants information available online
Details of research grants awarded are available on the web at: www.dundee.ac.uk/research/main/fact-file/20070523141349/.
14. What's On?
Find out what's happening around the University at www.dundee.ac.uk/externalrelations/whatson/.
15. Contributing to eContact
The next edition of eContact will be issued on Friday 24 February. Submissions should be emailed to
econtact@dundee.ac.uk by midday on Wednesday 22 February 2012.
Please include 'item for eContact' in subject heads for all contributions.
There is a 100-200 word limit for items and staff are advised to provide a contact email or website for more information.
Contributors must be University staff or students unless in exceptional circumstances.
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