Indo-Canadian student gives boost to cancer treatment

A Canadian high school student has improved an ineffective experimental cancer therapy with a simple tweak — pairing it with antibiotics — earning accolades from a panel of eminent scientists on Tuesday. Cancer “photothermal therapy” — or PTT — involves injecting a patient with gold nanoparticles. These then accumulate in tumors and, when heated using light, attack the cancer cells.

The idea has shown promise but is not very effective because the cancer cells fight back, producing heat-shock proteins to protect themselves. However, India-born High school student Arjun Nair, 16, showed how an antibiotic (17-AAG) may overcome the defenses cancer cell deploy and make the treatment more effective.

The discovery earned Nair the top prize in the 20th Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, after he spent two years working on his idea at the University of Calgary’s Nanoscience Labs in Alberta.

“Proof-of-concepts were developed and tested in order to demonstrate the viability of PTT,” says Nair. “Moreover, after analyzing the literature a mathematical model was developed to evaluate a theoretical synergetic treatment.”

A total of 208 high school students collaborating on 123 projects, all mentored in professional labs over several months, took part in the annual competition. In addition to a Can$5,000 (US$4,919) award for his discovery, Nair also won a Can$1,000 (US$984) prize for the project with the greatest commercial potential.

Prizes were also awarded for research into how genetic mutations naturally help some HIV patients escape symptoms, how to tailor stem cell treatments for Parkinson’s disease, a potential new therapy to reduce the severity of diabetes, and a possible novel tactic to fight the world’s deadliest brain cancer.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), April 9, 2013

Indian students in Canada more than double in a year

The first Canada-India Education Summit this week in Ottawa is set to boost research and educational ties between the two countries. With Canada reportedly registering more than a two-fold increase in Indian students this year from about 4000 last year, the two-day summit at Carleton University from June 17 will further boost enrolments from India.

Top educationists and researchers from India and Canada will participate in roundtable discussions at the summit to be opened by Ms. Purundeshwari, Indian minister of state for human resources development. Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird will deliver the plenary address.

“It is the first-ever education summit between our two countries. It will lay the path forward to ensure that students and faculty move back and forth easily. Joint research, student exchanges and degree studies in the two countries are on our agenda,” Carleton University President Roseanne O’Reilly Runte told IANS. She said, “Definitely, the number of Indian students coming to Canada will increase as a result of the education summit. We are getting representation from about 15 universities from India.”

Kapil Sibal, minister for human resources development, who was to deliver the keynote address,is not coming. Instead, minister Purundeshwari will now deliver the keynote address. Prominent participants from India include UGC Chairman Ved Prakash, IGNOU Vice Chancellor V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh, Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das, Panjab University Vice Chancellor R.C. Sobti and Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute President Sunaina Singh.

Apart from a session on ‘Dynamics of Higher Education in India and in Canada,’ the two-day summit will have roundtable discussions on ‘Co-tutelle and joint programmes,’ ‘Credit transfer and degree recognition,’ ‘Technology in international teaching,’ ‘Joint research,’ and ‘Designing the path forward.’

The summit is being held jointly by the Indian high commission, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute that promotes educational and research cooperation between India and Canada. As speakers at the just concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here said, the number of students from India coming to Canada is set to rise sharply in the next few years. The education summit is part of the on-going ‘Year of India in Canada’ celebrations.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), June 15, 2011

>Canada promises faster immigration, more student visas

>Just days before Canadian parliamentary elections on May 2, political leaders are wooing Indo-Canadians by promising less waiting time for immigration and more student visas from India. Speaking at a roundtable organized by the Canada- India Foundation (CIF) here, top leaders of the opposition Liberal Party promised a comprehensive relationship with India. They said their party government will take the bilateral ties beyond trade to increase immigration and tourism from India and foster deeper education and research cooperation.

Top Liberal Party leader and Toronto MP Bob Rae reminded Indo-Canadians the role played by his party leader and former prime minister Paul Martin in ushering in G20 to include India and other developing economies for wider consultation on global economic issues. He said Canada should focus on its core competencies in engaging with India and leverage its expertise to continue to push for stronger nuclear ties with India.

Suggesting more visas for Indian students to study in Canada, John McCallum, MP from the Toronto suburb of Markham-Unionville, said Australia was “eating Canada’s lunch” in attracting Indian students and the federal government must usher in friendlier policies on visa and work. Canada currently gets about 3,500 Indian students compared to over 40,000 going to Australia each year.

Rob Oliphant, MP from the Toronto constituency of Don Valley West, said his party had identified Gujarat as a great business destination 20 years ago. He said he was happy that the current Canadian government has recognized the importance of Gujarat by being a partner country at this year’s Vibrant Gujarat Summit. Since Canada still doesn’t have any official presence in Gujarat, he favoured a full consular office in the state.

Oliphant promised that his party government would reduce wait times for the family class immigration category from 11-13 years now to five to six years. He also said his party government would be more careful in addresses sensitive issues like the visit of union minister Kamal Nath here last year which led to protests by Sikh groups for his alleged involvement in the 1984 riots.

Bengali-origin Rana Sarkar, who is contesting for parliament for the first time from the Toronto constituency of Scarborough Rouge River, said that based on past history, his Liberal Party has “the DNA for dealing with India and now there is need for India 2.0 engagement strategy.”

Maria Minna, MP from the Toronto constituency of Beaches-East York, emphasized the need for serious engagement of the Indian diaspora for deepening Canada-India relations. Canada-India Foundation leaders Aditya Jha and Ramesh Chotai, said the Indian diaspora was pleased that the Liberal Party recognizes its role in shaping Canadian policies. Representatives of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, IIT Alumni of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization also quizzed Canadian politicians about India.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), April 27, 2011