Nicolle Wahl

Remembering Desmond Morton, eminent historian and former principal of U of T Mississauga

noreen.rasbach — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 14:56:17 +0000

Remembering Desmond Morton, eminent historian and former principal of U of T Mississauga noreen.rasbach Fri, 09/06/2019 - 10:56

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Desmond Morton "played a critical role in building UTM’s strong ties with our local community, and was a highly respected academic and teacher," says Ian Orchard, acting vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga. "He will be missed”

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Our Community

History

Humanities

U of T Mississauga

Professor Desmond Morton, a respected military historian and former principal of U of T Mississauga, died on Wednesday. He was 81.

“I’m deeply saddened to lose such an important member of the U of T Mississauga community,” says Ian Orchard, acting vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga.

“Des played a critical role in building UTM’s strong ties with our local community, and was a highly respected academic and teacher. He will be missed.”

Born in Calgary in 1937, Morton joined the Canadian army in 1954 as an officer cadet and retired as a captain. He was an honorary colonel of 8 Wing Trenton of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and holds the Canadian Forces Decoration. He is also a graduate of the Collége Militaire Royal de St-Jean, the Royal Military College of Canada, Oxford University (where he was a Rhodes Scholar) and the London School of Economics.

When Morton arrived at Erindale College – now U of T Mississauga – in 1970, he taught Canadian history during the First World War, as well as courses about subjects about nationalism, trade unionism and collective bargaining.

He served a three-year term as Erindale’s vice-principal, humanities and became the vice-principal, academic, under his administrative mentor, Paul Fox. Morton succeeded Fox as principal in 1986, while continuing to write and teach.

Morton believed strongly that the campus should be deeply involved with the local community, and he set about cultivating relationships with those who had reasons to care deeply about its success: Mississauga citizens, politicians and businesses.

It was during Morton’s tenure that the Kaneff Centre, with its large lecture hall and art gallery, as well as classroom and office space, was built. Morton also oversaw the creation of two joint programs with the Sheridan Institute of Advanced Technology and Learning: the theatre and drama program, and the art and art history program.

By the time he left Erindale for other academic opportunities in 1994, he left behind strong community ties and a thriving campus. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996, and served as the founding director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, and as a professor in McGill's history department from 1998 to 2006.

The author of over 40 books on Canadian military, social and political history, Morton was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1985 – the highest Canadian honour a scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences.

Ian Orchard appointed acting vice-president and principal at U of T Mississauga

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 16:48:30 +0000

Ian Orchard appointed acting vice-president and principal at U of T Mississauga

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 09/04/2019 - 12:48

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Our Community

Cell and Systems Biology

Biology

Faculty of Arts & Science

Meric Gertler

U of T Mississauga

Professor Emeritus Ian Orchard, who led the University of Toronto Mississauga from 2002 to 2010, has assumed a one-year appointment as the school’s acting vice-president and principal.

The appointment is effective today and continues to June 30, 2020, but could end sooner if Ulrich Krull, the vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, returns from his short-term medical leave.

Orchard’s appointment, approved by Governing Council, follows Professor Amrita Daniere’s term as acting vice-president and principal. Daniere will return to her role as vice-principal, academic and dean.

“In 2002, when I was first appointed vice-president and principal at UTM, I thought it was the best position at the �ؿ�ζSM. I still believe this,” says Orchard. “UTM has continued to thrive, grow and develop into a significant player in U of T’s tri-campus system. Under the leadership of Ulli Krull and Acting Vice-President and Principal Amrita Daniere, and with support from faculty, staff and students, UTM continues to build its distinctive presence in the western GTA.

“I am humbled to have been invited to share in this journey once again, and look forward to working with the community that is UTM.”

Orchard initially immigrated to Canada in 1977 to work at York University, where he established a federal centre of excellence in neurobiology. He joined U of T in 1982 and served in the following roles: associate dean (sciences) in the Faculty of Arts & Science (1993-97); vice-dean in the Faculty of Arts & Science (1997-98); and vice-provost, students, (1998-2002) before becoming vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga from 2002 to 2010.

“Professor Emeritus Orchard is well known to the �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga community,” says U of T President Meric Gertler. “He is a distinguished biologist who brings a proven track record as a student-focused administrator and extensive knowledge and experience of UTM and of the university as a whole.”

Orchard was instrumental in overseeing U of T Mississauga’s shift from governance by the Faculty of Arts & Science to a division in its own right with a dean, departments and department chairs. During his tenure, enrolment doubled and buildings valued at a total of $250 million were constructed.

In 2010, U of T established the Ian Orchard Student Initiative Fund, supporting university-recognized student groups with inspiring and engaging projects and events that enhance the student experience and foster a sense of campus community.

In 2011, Orchard was named a distinguished university professor, an honour U of T accords to only a small number of faculty. In 2014 he joined the University of Waterloo as vice-president academic and provost, stepping down in 2017.

An expert in insect neurobiology with more than 200 research publications, Orchard earned a Doctor of Science degree (1988), a PhD (1975), and a B.Sc. (1972), all from the University of Birmingham, in England.

#UofTBackToSchool: U of T Mississauga gets ready for significantly larger incoming class

noreen.rasbach — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 16:57:57 +0000

#UofTBackToSchool: U of T Mississauga gets ready for significantly larger incoming class

noreen.rasbach Tue, 09/04/2018 - 12:57

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U of T Mississauga's Instructional Centre: The campus has expanded study spaces for the larger incoming class (photo by Paul Orenstein)

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

City & Culture

Back To School 2018

International Students

U of T Mississauga

Undergraduate Students

The usual back-to-school buzz is a little louder this year at the �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga, as preparations continue for a larger than average incoming class this September.

An additional 600 students – both international and domestic – are expected to join the U of T Mississauga community this month. While this creates a larger incoming class, campus departments are working to ensure that services and resources will be ready.

“Welcoming our new students is one of the most exciting times of the academic year,” says Professor Ulrich Krull, vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga. “We are saying hello to a 10 per cent larger cohort of first-year students than last year, and UTM is ready to provide our usual high standard of academic and student services.”

Robert McNutt was former principal of U of T Mississauga

noreen.rasbach — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 16:49:44 +0000

Robert McNutt was former principal of U of T Mississauga

noreen.rasbach Wed, 06/27/2018 - 12:49

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Professor Emeritus Robert McNutt was principal of �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga from 1995 to 2002

Topic

Robert McNutt, a professor emeritus of geochemistry and former principal of U of T Mississauga, has died.

“Bob McNutt was an outstanding leader, professor and researcher,” says Professor Ulrich Krull, vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga. “He helped to chart a path for success by building on strengths at a time when the campus began to grow rapidly with the double cohort arriving.

"He was known for building relationships, operating by building consensus, and was pivotal in strengthening our relationship with the City of Mississauga. He has left a lasting legacy at UTM setting the stage on which many other projects have been built. A genuine scholar and gentleman, his loss is deeply felt by the UTM community and beyond.”

McNutt had a long and distinguished career as both an academic and administrative leader. A geochemist, he received his bachelor's degree in geology from the University of New Brunswick in 1959 and his PhD in geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He was an expert on the applications of isotope geochemistry to the study of water/rock systems, a topic of ongoing interest in Canada. Over the course of his academic career, he published more than 80 scientific articles.

Robert McNutt (right) with Ulrich Krull (centre), vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, at Krull's installation. Ian Orchard, the former principal, is at left.

Barbara Murck, an associate professor, teaching stream in the department of geography, and director of U of T Mississauga's environment program, has fond memories of McNutt. "I credit Bob with starting UTM on our modern pathway to success, particularly with regard to our very positive relationship with the city," says Murck. "Also a super nice guy, and a geologist on top of everything. He will be missed."

A former McMaster dean of science and faculty member for more than 30 years, McNutt went on to serve as principal of U of T Mississauga (formerly Erindale College) from 1995 to 2002. Under his guidance, U of T Mississauga formulated plans for major transformations of the campus, including increased student enrolment, new buildings and new programs – all of these in times of fiscal restraint and uncertainty. He was especially effective in developing new partnerships and providing leadership to the city and community. Within U of T Mississauga, he led through discussion and consensus.

After his retirement from U of T, he returned to McMaster to serve as acting chair of modern languages and linguistics, acting dean of the DeGroote School of Business, acting dean of the Faculty of Humanities and acting provost. He retired as professor emeritus, and received an honorary degree from McMaster in 2014.

McNutt also served as an adviser to McMaster’s provost to oversee project coordination for that university’s Burlington campus.

Dragonfly enzymes point to how they interact in ecosystem: U of T research

noreen.rasbach — Wed, 23 May 2018 16:52:26 +0000

Dragonfly enzymes point to how they interact in ecosystem: U of T research

noreen.rasbach Wed, 05/23/2018 - 12:52

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A four-spotted skimmer dragonfly (photo courtesy of Shannon McCauley)

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Breaking Research

Biology

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research & Innovation

U of T Mississauga

New research by �ؿ�ζSM scholars reveals that understanding small physiological activities in dragonflies could reveal a deeper understanding of how they interact with other organisms in an ecosystem.

“We often think communities [of dragonflies] are so complex,” says Shannon McCauley, an assistant professor of biology at U of T Mississauga. “It looks like the underlying physiological mechanisms could simplify our understanding of ecological dynamics.”

Dragonflies are common near lakes, streams and ponds where they catch insects like mosquitoes, moths and midges. Although they seek cover in plants and have large eyes with nearly 360-degree vision, they can become prey for birds, fish, spiders, frogs and even other dragonflies. After hatching from an egg, dragonflies live in water as aquatic nymphs, feeding on insects, tadpoles and small fish.

In a paper published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, McCauley and her colleagues, Denon Start, a PhD candidate, and Ben Gilbert, an associate professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, studied 17 species of nymph-stage dragonflies in ponds in and around the Koffler Scientific Reserve, located roughly 60 kilometres north of the downtown U of T campus. .

They determined that in ponds without large fish, they were more likely to find dragonfly nymphs with high activity rates but lower “burst speeds” – a capability to swim explosively away from a potential predator. Alternately, in ponds with large fish, dragonfly nymphs with low activity rates but high burst swimming speeds were more common.

But the team took this a step further. They were able to link high levels of an enzyme called lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh) to high activity rates and high levels of the enzyme arginine kinase (Ak) to fast burst speeds.

The team found that the activity of these two enzymes accounted for more than 80 per cent of the variation in dragonfly community composition.

“It’s a further step down the scale of biology,” says McCauley. “It suggests that we can look at these low levels of biological co-ordination and make predictions about communities."

Davis labs at U of T Mississauga receive $17-million upgrade, part of LIFT project

noreen.rasbach — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:58:04 +0000

Davis labs at U of T Mississauga receive $17-million upgrade, part of LIFT project

noreen.rasbach Thu, 01/25/2018 - 13:58

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Our Community

LIFT

Research & Innovation

U of T Mississauga

A $17-million renovation project has overhauled the infrastructure serving the Davis Building's “wet” scientific laboratories, sweeping away outdated technology and setting the stage for energy-efficient, modern and future-ready lab space.

The funding of the laboratories at U of T Missisauga is part of the Lab Innovation for Toronto (LIFT) project, announced in July of 2016, that will see nearly half of the �ؿ�ζSM's research labs upgraded over two years.

The Davis Building renovations, which affect 63 laboratories and almost 7,000 square metres of space, will benefit up to 95 researchers in both the departments of chemical and physical sciences, and biology.

A large proportion of the renovations are not immediately obvious, but deal with critical issues such as back-up power, updated electrical power and air handling. But for two large laboratories, run by Professor Angela Lange and Assistant Professor Andrew Beharry, the renovations involved the installation of new facilities such as high-efficiency fume hoods, cell culture rooms, dedicated microscope suites and quarantine rooms.

“Everything is top-of-the-line,” says Brandon Lawrence, assistant director of planning design and construction. “It’s bright, clean and modern. The fume hood system is fully customizable, and saves a lot of energy.” For example, he says, as new faculty are hired, the system can be reconfigured to add additional research spaces within the labs.

In keeping with U of T Mississauga's commitment to sustainability, says Lawrence, the new labs also incorporate energy-efficient LED lighting systems, occupancy sensors and laminated wood materials that are environmentally friendly.

Beharry, who studies anticancer drug resistance and the discovery of new inhibitors for cancer therapy, appreciates the flexibility of the new space.

“Our work involves organic synthesis, biochemistry and cell biology. By having a new lab space, it allows us to do all of those things,” he says. “The lab has all the equipment and resources to carry out our day-to-day research with minimal delays.”

The LIFT project was announced in July of 2016, with nearly $190 million in funding to upgrade nearly half of U of T’s research labs. The university is providing $91.8 million, while the federal and provincial governments are contributing $83.7 million and $14.3 million, respectively, for a total of $189.8 million. The 55 projects are expected to be complete by spring of 2018.

Taking the helm: Ulrich Krull installed as U of T Mississauga's ninth principal

rasbachn — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 19:55:19 +0000

Taking the helm: Ulrich Krull installed as U of T Mississauga's ninth principal

rasbachn Fri, 11/17/2017 - 14:55

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U of T Mississauga Principal Ulrich Krull is robed by student representatives Arjan Banerjee and Salma Fakhry (photo by Steve Frost)

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Our Community

�ؿ�ζSM Mississauga

With pomp, ceremony and a colourful exchange of robes, Professor Ulrich Krull was officially installed Thursday as the ninth principal of �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga, in a ceremony filled with warmth and laughter.

“I had not imagined myself standing here,” said Krull, thanking U of T President Meric Gertler for making it possible for him to serve as principal while still teaching, performing research and serving the community.

“It’s not that I didn’t aspire to this role … but the position intends that the person taking this position should be 100 per cent committed to this position,” he said. “I think you all appreciate that I have always been 110 per cent committed to this campus.”

And while he did not perform his signature fingertip pushups while sporting his principal’s robes, several members of the platform party alluded to Krull’s energy, athletic prowess and skill at judo. Krull thanked former Ontario premier William G. Davis, former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, philanthropist Terrence Donnelly, and gave particular thanks to his family, including his mother, Anneliese, and partner, Carol.

A large procession of academics and VIPs, including Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, were led into the hall by a piper: Professor Emeritus Scott Munro, followed by two gonfaloniers (Andrea Carter and Dale Mullings) and Mark Overton, who carried the gleaming, golden U of T mace.

Back row (left to right): Chris Thompson, Adenike Anjola Salami, Mark Overton, U of T Provost Cheryl Regehr, Andrea Sass-Kortsak, Amrita Daniere, Arjan Banerjee and Salma Fakhry

Front row (left to right): Bonnie Crombie, U of T Chancellor Michael Wilson, University of Mississauga Principal Ulrich Krull, U of T President Meric Gertler (photo by Steve Frost)

After a traditional Indigenous acknowledgment of the land upon which �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga operates by Aboriginal Elder Cat Criger, U of T Provost Cheryl Regehr explained the purpose of an installation and introduced each speaker, beginning with President Gertler. Wearing his ornate blue and silver presidential robe, President Gertler praised Krull’s leadership and commitment to U of T Mississauga, then administered the oath of office and officially invested him as principal, greeted by applause from the audience.

Once Krull completed the oath, U of T Mississauga Students' Union president Salma Fakhry and U of T Mississauga's Association of Graduate Students president Arjan Banerjee helped Krull remove his red academic regalia, and don the green, black and gold principal’s robe and cap.

Once the applause subsided, Krull settled back to listen to several speakers congratulate him on his installation, beginning with Crombie, Mississauga's mayor. Wearing her red academic regalia and her municipal chain of office, Crombie quoted Albert Einstein when describing Krull's approach to teaching. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge,” she quoted, and passed on best wishes from city council and staff. “All of Mississauga celebrates with you.”

Associate Professor Andrea Sass-Kortsak brought greetings on behalf of Governing Council, while Professor Amrita Daniere, U of T Mississauga’s vice-principal and dean, gave greetings and congratulations from faculty and staff. Chris Thompson, the president of U of T Mississauga’s Alumni Association, congratulated the campus’s new principal on behalf of its 55,000 alumni.

“This is a very exciting time for UTM and its proud and passionate alumni cohort,” said Thompson. “Professor Krull, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best as you forge a new path for UTM and build on 50 years of success.”

“I am thrilled to welcome such an inspiring leader to this campus,” said Anjeola Salami, representing the student body. “I am sure all undergraduate and graduate students share my feeling that a sense of exciting change and limitless opportunity is in the air.”

U of T Chancellor Michael Wilson closed the ceremony, congratulating Krull for his passion, leadership and vision.

“Clearly, the �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga is in very good hands,” said Wilson. “We are delighted to have Professor Ulli Krull as our principal here."

U of T startup Janpix receives $22 million in funding to advance cancer therapies

rasbachn — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 16:03:13 +0000

U of T startup Janpix receives $22 million in funding to advance cancer therapies

rasbachn Wed, 10/11/2017 - 12:03

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“Our work has the potential to create new drugs to battle aggressive blood, brain and breast cancers, and this support will help to accelerate that research,” says Professor Patrick Gunning (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Our Community

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

�ؿ�ζSM Mississauga

Professor Patrick Gunning, a medicinal chemist whose lab at the �ؿ�ζSM is revolutionizing how cancer-killing drugs are produced, has signed a $22-million investment deal for Janpix, an oncology-focused startup that he co-founded. The investment came from Medicxi, a European venture capital firm.

“We are absolutely delighted that Medicxi has made this visionary investment in technology developed right here at U of T Mississauga,” says Gunning, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Medicinal Chemistry. “Our work has the potential to create new drugs to battle aggressive blood, brain and breast cancers, and this support will help to accelerate that research and get those compounds to the patients who need them.”

Gunning’s laboratory at U of T Mississauga’s Centre for Medicinal Chemistry is developing compounds that attack various forms of cancer. Their efforts are focused on signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs), a group of proteins that regulate several genes linked to multiple hallmarks of cancer, including uncontrolled cell proliferation and cell immortality.

STATs have been identified in numerous human cancers, including breast, blood and brain tumours. In particular, Gunning’s lab is developing ways to inhibit two STAT proteins, STAT3 and STAT5. Janpix, led by CEO Roman Fleck, is focused on bringing a STAT3/STAT5 drug to clinical trials within 18 to 24 months.

“We are excited to continue supporting Janpix and Professor Gunning's work on STAT inhibitors,” says Giovanni Mariggi, a principal at Medicxi and board member of Janpix. “Janpix has made great progress in developing tractable compounds that inhibit these difficult-to-target proteins. The role of STATs in multiple tumour types is supported by vast data and the emerging evidence of their role in tumour immunity adds an extra dimension to the potential impact these new drugs could have on patients.”

“It is exciting to see such investment, which will translate academic concepts into practical applications,” says Ulrich Krull, U of T Mississauga’s vice-president and principal. “These innovations in chemistry that have been pioneered at UTM will potentially support a better quality of life, and perhaps even save lives, for many patients in Canada and around the world.”

“Professor Patrick Gunning’s scientific advancements have united an entire community,” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie says. “Professor Gunning’s work, coupled with UTM’s rapid growth, is proof that Mississauga Council’s unprecedented 10-year, $10-million grant to support UTM and help faculty reach higher, is working.”

“Professor Gunning and his peers from UTM are important partners ensuring Mississauga maintains and expands its competitive advantage, and sound reputation, in the important life sciences industry,” says Crombie. “Mississauga is Canada’s second-largest life sciences cluster by employment, home to over 430 life science companies employing over 22,000 people. Over the last 10 years, our life sciences talent base has grown by 25 per cent.”

Targeting chronic pain: U of T researcher identifies potential way to reduce pain

ullahnor — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 17:32:26 +0000

Targeting chronic pain: U of T researcher identifies potential way to reduce pain

ullahnor Tue, 08/08/2017 - 13:32

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One in five Canadians suffer from chronic pain. Loren Martin, a U of T Mississauga behavioural neuroscientist, has helped identify a molecule that researchers say could be responsible for chronic pain (photo by threephin via Flickr)

Nicolle Wahl

Author legacy

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

A molecule responsible for activating the body’s pain receptors has been identified by a U of T neuroscientist and an international team of researchers, offering hope to people suffering from chronic pain worldwide.

Despite the prevalence of chronic pain, the current options for pain relief are limited to opioids, which carry the possibility of addiction, overdoses and unpleasant side effects.

Loren Martin, an assistant professor of psychology at the �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga, collaborated with colleagues from McGill University and the University of North Carolina and found that inhibiting one of the body’s proteins, known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), lessens the pain associated with nerve injury and inflammation in mice. Genetic mutations of EGFR were also linked to the development of head and jaw pain in people.

The researchers also found that one particular molecule, epiregulin, is implicated in EGFR-related chronic pain – those who had chronic pain had higher than normal levels of epiregulin.

They plan to explore the therapeutic potential of controlling epiregulin, since simply inhibiting the EGFR receptor has side effects of its own that may cause reluctance to use drugs that rely on this approach.

“By normalizing the body’s levels of epiregulin, we may be able to reduce sensitivity to pain and improve the quality of life for chronic pain sufferers,” said Martin, the study's lead author.

Their study appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation this month.

Martin first became interested in pursuing this line of inquiry when he noted that cancer patients who were prescribed EGFR-inhibiting drugs reported a lessening of pain after taking the medication.

“The association of this receptor with small-cell lung cancer is well known, but we demonstrate that inhibition of this receptor is not unique to those suffering from cancer,” Martin said. “Instead, this receptor appears to be associated with general pain processing.”

A study done by his collaborators analyzed about 3,000 people and discovered that those who developed a particular type of chronic facial pain had a mutation in the EGFR receptor and in the gene coding for epiregulin. In the current study, an analysis of three human pain cohorts linked the epiregulin/EGFR pathway to chronic pain.

Martin then replicated those results in mice by inducing conditions that are accompanied by chronic pain and measuring the epiregulin levels in their blood.

“When we blocked the EGFR receptor with the inhibitors currently available, it reversed chronic pain in mice,” he said.

The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation and the Canadian Pain Society.

Why your teen stays up late, you sleep poorly: new research confirms 'sentinel theory'

krisha — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 23:33:08 +0000

Why your teen stays up late, you sleep poorly: new research confirms 'sentinel theory'

krisha Tue, 07/11/2017 - 19:33

Cutline

Study says differing sleep schedules between the young and old may be an evolutionary survival tool (photo by Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images)

Nicolle Wahl

Author legacy

Nicolle Wahl

Topic

Global Lens

U of T Mississauga

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

Study of hunter-gatherer sleep patterns shed light on ancestral behaviour

Humans today demonstrate sleep patterns inherited from their hunter-gatherer ancestors, says new research by David Samson, an assistant professor of anthropology at the �ؿ�ζSM Mississauga.

In their paper, published in the latest issue of Proceedings B, Samson and his colleagues from Duke University, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, are the first researchers to confirm that the 1966 “sentinel theory” is applicable to humans. The theory suggests that among group-dwelling animals, there should be mechanisms that ensure various members of the group are awake at almost all times, in order to protect others who are in more vulnerable states (such as being asleep).

In other words, due to natural variation in sleep timing, members of the group serve as sentinels, alert to potential dangers, such as attacks from other hostile groups or animals.

“This hypothesis has never been tested in humans before,” says Samson.

Researchers travelled to rural Tanzania to study the sleep patterns of the hunter-gatherer Hadza tribe (photo courtesy of David Samson)

The research is making headlines around the world.

Read The Guardian

Although most human sleep research to date has taken place in laboratories under artificial conditions, Samson and his colleagues took their equipment and tests to rural Tanzania, where the hunter-gatherer Hadza tribe “lives in the same savannah grasslands that our ancestors had to overcome to adapt,” Samson says. With very little – if any – aid from industrially-produced equipment or tools, the Hadza hunt and gather on foot using bows, digging sticks and axes.

“It’s the best current window into our evolution,” says Samson (pictured below).

Using actigraphs, which are Fitbit-like, wrist-worn devices that measure light and activity, the researchers discovered that among the 33 men and women studied, there were only 18 minutes out of 13,000 total minutes that everyone in the group was asleep. In addition, they found that 40 per cent of the group was awake at any given time.

The researchers also determined that variation in chronotype – defined as the individual propensity to sleep at a particular time during a 24-hour period – was driven by age. While the younger Hadza tended to be “owls” who stayed up late – relatively standard during the courtship and mating years – the elders tended toward “lark” behavior, waking early and perhaps sleeping poorly.

“Researchers have theorized that one of the reasons grandparents live so long past their reproductive years is that their function is to take care of grandchildren,” Samson says. “Our hypothesis is that their lark behaviour and shorter sleep times serve a function: the elders serve as sentinels at the times of day when others are sleeping. Therefore, it’s important to have people of all ages in any population.”

Additionally, the researchers have discovered the Hadza to be characterized by flexible sleep patterns, demonstrated by their ability to respond to different ecological, social and technological factors influencing sleep throughout a 24-hour period. This behaviour is similar to that found in Western populations. For example, people in North America adjust sleeping in a new environment, such as a hotel room, by shifting to a greater reliance on sleep in one brain hemisphere and increasing the other hemisphere’s sensitivity to deviant stimuli such as noise or light.

Samson also notes that it may not be as necessary to view sleep variation with the concern it receives in Western societies.

“While we tend to look at every deviation from the normal sleep pattern as a problem, it may just be part of human variation,” he says. “We are seeking to fill in a piece of the evolutionary puzzle.”

Nicolle Wahl

Remembering Desmond Morton, eminent historian and former principal of U of T Mississauga

Ian Orchard appointed acting vice-president and principal at U of T Mississauga

#UofTBackToSchool: U of T Mississauga gets ready for significantly larger incoming class

Read more about Back To School 2018

Robert McNutt was former principal of U of T Mississauga

Dragonfly enzymes point to how they interact in ecosystem: U of T research

Davis labs at U of T Mississauga receive $17-million upgrade, part of LIFT project

Read more about the LIFT project

Taking the helm: Ulrich Krull installed as U of T Mississauga's ninth principal

U of T startup Janpix receives $22 million in funding to advance cancer therapies

Targeting chronic pain: U of T researcher identifies potential way to reduce pain

Why your teen stays up late, you sleep poorly: new research confirms 'sentinel theory'

Read The Guardian