Engineering viruses for new vaccines

from the Waterloo Engineering Alumni Letter

Marc Aucoin is standing at an exciting crossroad, a place where chemical engineering and virology intersect. “I want to get more students excited about how to control biological systems,” says Aucoin, a Waterloo chemical engineering professor.

His interest in biology is specific to viruses because of their ability to take over the control of cells. He believes chemical engineers, with their background in design and process, are well suited to study viruses and their potential uses. Viruses and virus-like products, he says, often need to be mass-produced for use in vaccines. “This reason alone has created a huge amount of interest in producing these viruses,” says Aucoin, also a Waterloo alumnus with a BASc and MASc in chemical engineering.

Aucoin (left) says one of the engineering issues being tackled is how to produce a lot of the virus in the most economical way. This is especially important if vaccines are to be accessible worldwide. “Obviously, you want to get vaccines to as many people as possible and to do this you need to keep costs down. We have to make sure we’re able to produce these products reliably, quickly and at a reasonable cost,” says Aucoin, who joined the Waterloo Engineering faculty in 2007 after receiving his PhD from the Université de Montréal.

One way he is inspiring chemical engineering students to pursue research in this area is through his involvement with the Waterloo International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition (iGEM) team. Aucoin, one of the team’s advisers, recruits students to work as part of the team on their co-op work terms. The competition was founded five years ago by MIT professors and is part of an emerging field known as synthetic biology. While Aucoin’s interest is specific to viruses, teams from around the world create all kinds of living organisms that are designed to perform specific tasks.

“Students have found it to be a phenomenal work term,” says Aucoin. The team now has about five chemical engineering students – in past years it was dominated by students studying biology, mathematics and computer engineering." This year's iGEM Jamboree took place last weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Waterloo team won a bronze medal.

Aucoin was happy to return to campus last year because of the “strong history of biochemical engineering” at Waterloo. He feels the chemical engineering department – with more than a third of the faculty members pursuing bio-related research – is a great place for someone who has always been fascinated with how biology works, especially viruses. ”Viruses are neat little organisms that teeter on the wall between the living and the non-living,” he says. “They’ve survived by making sure that they can infiltrate cells, deliver their genetic payload and replicate themselves.”

Aucoin is currently researching “enveloped viruses,” a group that includes influenza, herpes, HIV and the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The more researchers understand cellular processes the better they can design products like vaccines that can ultimately be used to improve human health, says Aucoin. The more precise their knowledge the safer vaccines will be. “It’s an extremely important field. That’s why there’s a strong drive to advance it.”

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Kielburger kicks off Laurel Centre conference

from a Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship press release

Free the Children’s chief executive director Marc Kielburger (left) will deliver the keynote lecture on Friday at the Laurel Centre’s Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship. Kielburger’s lecture is open to the public and will take place in the University of Waterloo’s Humanities Theatre from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

From Friday to Sunday, the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship presents their second annual conference on social entrepreneurship. The event will bring together students and practitioners of social entrepreneurship for a three-day conference jointly hosted by the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Through a series of workshops, keynote lectures, panel discussions, research presentations, and an exhibition, the conference will explore the advancement of social entrepreneurship both internationally and here at home, featuring the three key themes of health leadership, education, and international development.

The Laurel Centre was founded in late 2007 after the success of the first Waterloo Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, which saw more than 200 people come together from around the world to collaborate on the bridging of the passion for social change together with a business-minded discipline.

Dr. Sue Horton, former VP Academic at Wilfrid Laurier University and current visiting scientist at the Micronutrient Initiative, will deliver the gala keynote address on Saturday in the Festival Room, South Campus Hall, 7:45 – 9 p.m. Other keynote speakers include Professor Frances Westley (right), the JW McConnell Chair in Social Innovation at the University of Waterloo; John Colangeli, CEO of Lutherwood and the Lutherwood Child and Family Foundation; and Carolyn Acker, CEO of Pathways Canada.

“We are pleased to see such an overwhelming interest in social entrepreneurship, and we embrace the opportunity to inform, engage and connect our delegates in such an inspiring field,” says Andrew Dilts, chair of the Laurel Centre. “We find that knowledge of social entrepreneurship techniques is in great demand in today's economic climate, and look forward to helping our delegates work towards positive change in the world.”

Students are invited to attend the entire conference for $40; the cost for community delegates is $100. Students interested in only attending the Kielburger address at 7 p.m. on Friday may do so for $6; the community price is $15. For more information or to register, visit www.laurelcentre.ca.

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Why get the flu shot? Here's why

Every winter, the whole UW community is given the chance to be immunized against influenza (flu). And every winter many people, especially students, turn down the opportunity. Dr. Barbara Schumacher, medical director of UW Health Services, says that young, healthy people may, if they’re lucky, shrug off a bout of flu, but they may also pass it on to individuals in their families or residences or neighbourhoods who could become quite ill – for example, those with respiratory problems or immune systems weakened by cancer treatment. The very young and the elderly are also more likely to suffer complications that could lead to a spell in hospital or even death. “So, in getting the flu shot you are protecting not just yourself, but more vulnerable people as well,” Schumacher says.

What about the belief that the flu shot can give you the flu? “Absolutely not true. The flu vaccine is not made of a live virus, but from a component of the virus that alerts the immune system and creates a defensive response. People sometimes confuse winter colds with the flu, but they are quite different viruses.”

Some people do get the flu after having a flu shot — it depends partly on how well scientists were able to predict the strains of flu most likely to be prevalent in the coming season, partly on an individual’s general health. But most do not experience any symptoms; or if they do, it’s usually a milder version of the flu that lasts a shorter time. And, although full protection fades after about a year, a “memory” of the protection remains in the body and will provide some protection from similar strains of flu for many years.

The flu shot clinic for all UW students, staff, faculty, and family members, continues today and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Student Life Centre multipurpose room.

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Students out and about, and other notes

Waterloo Unlimited, UW’s distinctive pre-university enrichment program, is hosting 48 local and out-of-town Grade 12 high school students this week as part of a three-day Roadmap to Research. From Thursday to Saturday, visiting students will learn how to read an academic paper, discuss published research papers with the authors, examine grad student research presentations, ask undergrads how they are affected by the research done at Waterloo, and explore research laboratories. The program also includes a Knowledge Integration Seminar Series, and the UW Drama production of Julius Caesar, prefaced by a talk by the play’s director. For a glimpse of Waterloo Unlimited in action, click on this video link.

Diana Denton (right), director of Communication, Leadership and Social Innovation at UW will lead a group of speech communication students to the National Communication Association's 94th annual convention being held this year in San Diego, California, November 20-24. The students will observe, network, and participate. This year, in addition to faculty presentations during the conference, several students will take on active roles in two panel discussions – "Community Engaged Learning" and "Transformative Learning and Leadership." A recent UW graduate, Steve Ryder, will perform excerpts of his paper, "An Inquiry Concerning the Disjunction between Public and Private Self."

This reminder from Information Systems and Technology and Organizational & Human Development that spaces are still available for the Skills for the Electronic Workplace (SEW) workshops in November and December. Details and registration form are in the online brochure. Hard copies of the brochure are available upon request. Or check the IST/SEW website.

There are still a few spots left in the QPR for Suicide Prevention open session on Monday, November 17, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. in MC 4068. To register, e-mail lnesbitt@uwaterloo.ca or call extension 33528.

This note about copy paper from Procurement and Contract Services: "Spicers is the University’s key supplier for paper and those who order Tidal Multi-Purpose will find that they are substituting Repro Brite, unless it is noted at the time of order there can be no substitutions. Tidal paper is in short supply due to a decrease in production from the paper mills. Repro has a 30% post consumer recycled content and is now significantly cheaper than Tidal. Please consider making the switch."

Career Services is asking faculty members to take part in a survey on their programs and services. (Students and alumni will be invited by email to participate later this month.) "Surveys completed by November 30 will be entered into a draw to win a 32GB iPod Touch or one of 10 UW Shop gift certificates which can be used to purchase a wide selection of UW crested clothing or accessories (value $50 each). . . .While Career Services is part of the larger department of Co-operative Education & Career Services, please consider only Career Services as you complete this survey. . . .Your responses will be kept strictly confidential. We will not contact you about your responses to this survey but we will contact you if you win one of the draw prizes. Your information will never be sold to a third party. . . . This survey will take approximately 5 to 10 minutes to complete." Faculty members, please visit this link.

CPA staff

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