500090 MtA Record_Winter Record 20065.

0 10-02-08 9:10 AM Page 11

StudentSpotlight

By Melissa Lombard

H Honours chemistry student Alasdair Dunlap-Smith
(’10) has had a love for photography for as long as
he can remember. Borrowing his parents’ camera,
he would snap pictures of everything in sight, from
bugs to butterflies and sea creatures to snakes. Now
he has evolved that love of point and shoot into a
whole new realm — astrophotography.
About four years ago, Dunlap-Smith began taking
pictures by moonlight. And something clicked.
Physics professor Dr. Robert Hawkes, who was
integral in getting the Observatory up and running,
has high praise for Dunlap-Smith’s work.
“I am hugely impressed with his talent. One of his
photos is one of the most beautiful astronomical
photos I’ve ever seen. There are people who do
wonderfully artistic work and people who are inter-
ested mostly in the science of it — he does both,”
says Hawkes.

“I had this happy night where I discovered if I
pushed the camera to its limits I could record traces
of the Milky Way,” he recalls. “At that point I knew
absolutely nothing about astronomy.”
That quickly changed in the summer of 2006 when
he captured an image of the Andromeda Galaxy.
He was “hooked.” Dunlap-Smith then began exper-
imenting with photography through his first,
second-hand telescope.
Currently, the bright 20-year-old is working on
“de-bugging” his new and improved telescope and
progressing the quality of his photos. He has no
firm plans for the future, but rest assured wherever
he ends up, he and his camera will be shooting for
the stars.

“That’s when it really got started. I basically spent

every night for a week trying to figure things out. By
the end of it I had taken my first real picture
through a telescope. It was quite nice.”

Two years later, Mount Allison’s Gemini Obser-

vatory opened, enabling Dunlap-Smith to capture a
whole new world. Although his true passion is
being behind the lens, he says another one of his
favourite aspects of the Observatory is being able to
show it to others.

“I get a warm, fuzzy feeling having people visit the

Observatory off the street. It makes sitting in the
dark so worth it when they get to look through the
telescope for the first time.”

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Dr. Rima Azar explores

stress-related disorders
and emotional states

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Research

What doesn’t kill you

makes you stronger

G
By Melissa Lombard
Growing up in the Middle Eastern country of
Lebanon, psychology professor Dr. Rima Azar
experienced turmoil first hand. Witnessing the dis-
tresses of war has helped spawn her research pas-
sion — stress.
Azar came to Canada 20 years ago with her family to
escape the Lebanese Civil War. She went on to com-
plete her PhD at the University of Montreal and
post-doctoral training at the University of Toronto
Health Network.
A relatively new member of the Mount Allison faculty,
Azar’s interest lies mainly in the area of stress-related
disorders and emotional states, such as depression
and anxiety.
“There is always a stress component in my work,”
Azar says.
blood components that signal inflammation and how
this affects fetal development and birth size. Pilot data
will be analyzed by summer 2010.
The larger phase of this project is planned to take
place at prenatal clinics in Moncton, Amherst, and
in Azar’s own Psychobiology of Stress and Health
Lab, which will follow the babies postnatally until
they reach four months. This investigation, pending
external funding, will assess the babies’ stress and
immune functions and eventually, at later ages, will
explore risk factors for cardiovascular diseases
suspected to have been pre-programmed during
pregnancy. This is known as the “fetal programming
hypothesis” of diseases.
“This project is longitudinal, meaning data will be
collected over a long period of time, so it is too soon
to determine anything yet,” says Azar. “Ultimately
though, the goal of this research project is the preven-
tion of heart disease.”

Stress, she says, is completely normal. It is a part of our

everyday lives. As one of her professional inspirations,
endocrinologist Hans Selye says, “stress is life.”

“Basically if we’re not stressed, we’re dead. Simply,

we need to learn how to cope, and to find what
methods work best for us,” she says. “Physiologically,
psychologically, and spiritually we are made to cope
with adversity.”

One of two projects she is currently exploring is a

research project where she will study 30 female
volunteers through pregnancy and delivery. The pilot
project is underway at the Cumberland Regional
Health Care Centre in Amherst, NS, researching
relationships of maternal anxiety, depression, and
conversely, positive moods in pregnant women with

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Coverstory

The sooner. The better.

Dr. Phil Tibbo (’86) is breaking new ground when it
comes to the detection and treatment of schizophrenia

By Melissa Lombard

P Paranoid delusions. Auditory hallucinations. Lack of moti-

vation. Disorganized thoughts. Those are just a few of the
often debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia — a mental
illness that affects over 33,000 Canadians. Dr. Phil Tibbo
(’86) is on a mission to make sense of the complex world
in which schizophrenia sufferers live.
Research Council staff, research assistants, and a post-doc-
toral research fellow. He currently supervises two graduate
students in Alberta and is in the process of obtaining grad-
uate students in Nova Scotia.

“It’s pretty grandiose to say we’re trying to find a cure. I’m

Tibbo became interested in psychotic disorders during his
third year of psychiatry residency at the University of
Alberta, where he went on to work as a world-renowned
clinical researcher for 18 years.
not sure if that’s possible, but we are working to have a
better understanding and appreciation of the biological
underpinnings of the illness to help us with developing
better treatments.”

“It is one of those things that just fit. I found the complexi-
ties of the illness and the strengths of individuals living with
the illness and their families a motivating force to pursue
this field. There was also a vast area of research available
where a huge impact could be made,” says Tibbo.

He returned to the East Coast in the fall of 2008 to assume

the position of the Dr. Paul Janssen Chair in Psychotic
Disorders, which is affiliated with both the Department of
Psychiatry at Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia’s
Capital District Health Authority.

Tibbo heads up a team of researchers in Halifax, who focus

mainly on early detection and intervention research. The
team is made up of psychiatrists, psychologists, National

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Along with his own projects, Tibbo aims to increase visibil-
ity for psychosis research by not only recruiting new
researchers, but also by stimulating the current established
research community to consider collaborations for psy-
chosis research.
“My primary program involves brain neuroimaging
research. My main emphasis is magnetic resonance spec-
troscopy, which is similar to an MRI scan, though goes a
step further by investigating various neurochemicals in spe-
cific brain regions. Although I am also involved in collabo-
rative projects that include genetic, cognitive, outcome, and
pathways to care research.”
All of these initiatives work towards Tibbo’s overall focus of
early detection and intervention — vital considerations
when it comes to schizophrenia.
“The community has to be educated around the signs and
symptoms of schizophrenia despite the stigmas around it.
The sooner we diagnose, the better the outcome.”
Tibbo says schizophrenic symptoms can be controlled and
patients can lead a normal lifestyle. However, there are
people who are severely affected to the point of not being
able to work or function in ‘regular society.’ That is why, he
says, early identification and treatment are key.
“We know that we can affect symptom and functional out-
comes best if the person is diagnosed and treated within the
first five years of onset.”
Mary Lou Crowley, President and CEO of the Mental
Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, believes that part-
nering with Tibbo has made great inroads for mental
illness in the province.
“Mental illness is more prevalent now than it has ever been.
We can only move forward and bring mental illness up
from the dark cellars. Dr. Tibbo and his work, along with
the vision of our Foundation, have really brought aware-
ness to the community like never before,” says Crowley.
“The slogan of the Mental Health Foundation is ‘changing
the way people think’ and with Dr. Tibbo’s help, we are
certainly doing this.”
14 | WINTER 2010 RECORD
“
Dr. Tibbo and
his work …
have really
brought
awareness
to the
community
like never
”
before.
Tibbo also believes in the power of this partnership and
the work the Mental Health Foundation has done to
change perceptions.
“We are doing our best with schizophrenia stigma although
unfortunately things like movies, which have never por-
trayed schizophrenia in a positive light, have propagated the
stigma. The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia has
been very active in community education to decrease this
stigma and promote good mental health in general.”
Soon after his inception as Chair, Tibbo founded the Nova
Scotia Psychosis Research Unit, which is a multi-discipli-
nary research team, encompassing areas like pharmacology,
genetics, public health, health science, and general science,
along with community stakeholders. This collaborative
group fosters a unique research environment and seeks
funding nationally and internationally.
With Dr. Tibbo’s research ramping up and awareness and
acceptance of mental illness on the rise, schizophrenia suf-
ferers face a brighter future than they may have ever
thought possible. And according to Tibbo, early detection
— the first sign that “something is just not right” — is at the
heart of it all.
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Helping kids excel

Harvard researcher Nonie Lesaux (’99) is honoured
by U.S. President Barack Obama

“
Failure at
school is a
societal issue
with real health
and economic

”
ramifications.

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Featurestory
By Tracy Bell
W
When asked if grade school has changed much in the past
20 years, Dr. Nonie Lesaux (’99) can’t hide her disappoint-
ment. “No, unfortunately it hasn’t,” she says. “The kids are
still great — still coming up with lots of innovative ideas
and approaches to problems. But the setting doesn’t seem
to be evolving. The classes are large, and the teaching
method is still ‘stand and deliver.’”
And she would know. The Harvard University professor
and researcher has spent her career studying elementary
and middle school children’s learning in urban schools
across the United States.
The problem, she says, with the current format is that it
does not encourage dialogue, debate, and collaboration. As
a result, children’s language and reading skills, particularly
in under-resourced settings, are not up to par. She says if
at-risk students are to thrive, they need to be encouraged to
think and talk, and that is just not happening.
Lesaux is out to change that. She is working with educa-
tors and policy makers to develop an interactive and
engaging model of reading instruction to improve
learning outcomes. And her cutting-edge research is
gaining widespread acclaim. In January Lesaux received
the Presidential Early Career Award from U.S. President
Barack Obama. She was one of only two young
researchers in the country to receive the honour in the
Department of Education category.
Lesaux spoke with Mount Allison about the award, her
research, and the experience of working at one of the most
prestigious universities in the world. Here are excerpts
from that conversation:
Q: How did you react when you got the award call?
NL: I didn’t think about it much until a couple days later
when the hand-written notes started pouring in — the
President of Harvard, the Governor of Massachusetts, the
Department of Education in Washington. Then I realized
that it was a big deal.
Q: Give me the Coles Notes synopsis of your research.
NL: Last year we ran an evaluation in the San Diego school
district, which has a high number of very low-performing
schools and a linguistically and culturally diverse student
population. We worked with randomly-assigned teachers
at 14 middle schools (grades six to eight) on a program
developed to increase literacy rates. We had educators real-
ly focus on language and reading comprehension of con-
troversial topics and big ideas that are relevant to children’s
lives. What we needed to do was “hook” these students
with ideas and learning opportunities that were provoca-
tive, stimulating — worth talking and thinking about — as
a way to develop writing and language skills. We are wrap-
ping up our evaluation now, but the early findings look
good.
Q: Your research is being credited with breaking new
ground in literacy development.
NL: It is, for a few different reasons. First, we are pushing
the field forward by analyzing the older reader. The second
difference is that we are trying to understand where lin-
guistic diversity comes into play and to design better learn-
ing environments to promote language and cognition. We
do this by shedding light on the differences that exist in the
learning outcomes of immigrants and children of immi-
grants. Thirdly, we are developing innovative approaches
to instruction to engage students and, more importantly,
to boost their skills.
Q: What is the big picture goal?
NL: Improving children’s health and well being. Failure at
school is a societal issue with real health and economic
ramifications. We owe it to our kids to give them the best
shot at academics as a gateway to success. It’s not about get-
ting a degree; it’s about obtaining the skills, technological
proficiency, and aptitude to thrive in a knowledge-based
economy. It is about literacy. We are creating compelling
data to say to policy makers that a more interactive yet
challenging approach to teaching works, and encouraging
them to implement it in the school systems.
Q: What is the most exciting part of your research?
NL: Seeing kids engaged and excited about learning and
overcoming their weaknesses is the best part of the job. But
I’ve also had the opportunity to mentor a number of
undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doc-
toral fellows — individuals who have gone on to really
great careers where they, too, are advancing our economy’s
knowledge base. And that, I think, is equally rewarding.
Q: Tell me about the experience at Harvard.
NL: This place is full of cutting-edge ideas, technology,
resources, and initiative. The knowledge developed at
Harvard and the ways in which ideas are generated and
brokered is really exciting. Students and faculty are from all
over the world, all of them with interesting and varied
backgrounds and experience.
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Dr. Natasha Turner

The doctor is in

“
In 2009, she
published
Canada!s #1
best-selling
health and

”
lifestyle book.

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