posted
October 2012

Multiple Sclerosis research received a $50,000 boost from London philanthropist, Rob Cuddy, to support the work of Dr. Ravi Menon, Medical Biophysics Professor and Robarts Research Institute Scientist, and his team. Dr. Menon’s lab is working to view the central nervous system of MS patients for early diagnosis and monitoring of the disease. Read More  .....

posted
May 2012 

2012 Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research

Robarts Research Institute scientist and Medical Biophysics professor Terry Peters and Psychology professor John Meyer have been awarded the 2012 Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research

This award recognizes Western faculty members with outstanding international reputations for their contributions in research – one of the defining hallmarks of a university.

posted
May 2012

Robarts Research Institute scientist and Medical Biophysics professor, Aaron Fenster, says it's time for Canada to reap the rewards of his research ....

posted
March 2012

Mini-CT Scanner Developed as a Teaching Tool

Jerry Battista, Chair of the Department of Medical Biophysics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Kevin Jordan of the London Regional Cancer Program at London Health Sciences Centre invented the DeskCAT™ Multi-slice CT Scanner as a novel and interactive way to teach CT imaging techniques to a wide range of students. 

posted
March 2012

Brandon Disher, current Medical Biophysics PhD student enrolled in the CAMPEP stream, publishes his first major paper as first author in the prestigious journal, Physics in Medicine and Biology.

posted
January 2012

TWO MBP Faculty - Part of COMP Interactions Top 10 Cited Papers

posted January 2012

SSM&D Graduate Students Make TV News in London

posted
January 2012

Matthew Quinn - MBP MD/PhD Student Receives the Prestigious Vanier Scholarship

Mini CT Scanner Developed as a Teaching Tool

Biophysics professors at Western University have developed a CT (Computed Tomography) scanner small enough to sit on a desk.  Jerry Battista, Chair of the Department of Medical Biophysics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Kevin Jordan of the London Regional Cancer Program at London Health Sciences Centre invented the DeskCAT™ Multi-slice CT Scanner as a novel and interactive way to teach CT imaging techniques to a wide range of students.  DeskCAT is now being manufactured, and distributed to other universities by Modus Medical Devices in London, Ontario.

Clinical CT or CAT (Computed Axial tomography) scanners are large enough to handle a patient and occupy a large room.  The donut-shaped scanner rotates a narrow fan beam of x-rays around the region of the body to be visualized.  The x-rays are then detected and analyzed by a computer to create detailed images of the body part in thin slices, which can be stacked together to form a three-dimensional (3D) image.The DeskCAT scanner was invented out of educational necessity.  “Teaching the basics of a CT scanner is very complicated.  Usually you end up filling a board with equations, and students get lost,” explains Battista.  “It’s hard to get access to a clinical scanner for a more practical explanation because of the heavy clinical workload.  So basically, we miniaturized a CT scanner to bring it into the classroom.”

Rather than using x-rays, the DeskCAT educational scanner uses visible light rays to form multiple views of a transparent specimen.  The mathematical method of reconstructing the 3D picture of the specimen's interior from many views through the object  is identical to that used in the full-scale clinical x-ray system.  “The advantage of using light instead of x-rays for teaching is that the scanner can be brought into the classroom or laboratory without the hazards of x-ray exposure,” adds Battista.  “Another advantage is that students can ‘see the light’ passing through the specimen whereas x-rays are invisible to the human eye. This provides unique insight!” 

Part of the Department of Medical Biophysics at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, PhD students Kimberley Blackwood and Eric Sabondjian are involved in stem cell therapy to address a long term solution for repair of damaged cardiac tissue due to a heart attack.

Tom Appleton is in an combined degree program at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, where students earn their MD and PhD over a seven-year timeframe. His research involves the early identification of osteoarthritis and the identification of new drug targets for prevention.

PhD student, Elizabeth McLachlan researches proteins called connexins, which form 'gap junctions' or groups of channels between two neighboring cells that allow them to communicate through chemical and electrical signals. Her research is aimed at understanding why cancers, including breast tumors, have little or no gap junctional intercellular communication.

Sarah Francis, PhD student in the Graduate Biochemistry Program, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario studies the retinoblastoma (pRB) protein and its effects on cell division and cancer.