What: MEDTalks: Stroke in women and the research gap
Who: Kelowna-based neurologist Dr. Diana Kim, UBC Associate Professor Dr. Brodie Sakakibara and UBC Okanagan postdoctoral fellow Dr. Elise Wiley
When: Thursday, November 13, from 7 to 8 pm
Venue: UBC Clinical Academic Campus in Kelowna General Hospital, 2312 Pandosy Street. Virtual option also available.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, a woman in Canada has a stroke every 17 minutes. Adding to this statistic is that women tend to have worse health outcomes after a stroke than men, and are often at a disadvantage in their recovery.

On Thursday, November 13, the public is invited to learn about stroke risk factors, treatment and new research from health experts at a special MEDTalks, presented by the UBC Southern Medical Program. At this session, three health specialists—Drs. Diana Kim, Brodie Sakakibara and Elise Wiley—will discuss the research gap when it comes to female stroke survivors.

Dr. Diana Kim, a neurologist with fellowship training in stroke at Kelowna General Hospital, is also a clinical assistant professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine. She completed her medical school and neurology residency training at UBC and her cerebrovascular fellowship through the University of Calgary Stroke Program. She is a clinical educator and promotes stroke research in the Okanagan.

Dr. Brodie Sakakibara is a UBC associate professor and a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada New Investigator. He leads the Okanagan Stroke Research Lab at the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management. His mission is improving the recovery of people who have experienced a stroke, and help them manage their long-term health and wellbeing. His work specifically focuses on chronic disease self-management and telerehabilitation for stroke recovery and secondary prevention.

Dr. Elise Wiley is a postdoctoral fellow at UBCO’s Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management. Her research focuses on improving access to rehabilitation and recovery for women with stroke. Dr. Wiley completed her PhD in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.

MEDTalks is a health education lecture series exploring current and emerging trends in medicine. Hosted by the Southern Medical Program at UBC Okanagan, it features researchers and health professionals sharing their insights and expertise. The event is free and open to the public, with in-person and virtual options available, but registration is required.

To register or find out more, visit: smp.med.ubc.ca/community-engagement/medtalks

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A technique used for the long-term preservation of human and animal remains is now being tested on one of Canada’s most iconic building materials—the Western red cedar.

Plastination, originally designed to embalm the dead, is now being used to improve the functionality and durability of advanced composite materials.

A team from UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering has been experimenting with the technique and previously published a study that examined the plastination of bamboo to create a strong and durable composite building material.

The researchers have taken that work one step further, and in their latest study demonstrated the technique can also be used on Western red cedar to make it stronger and protect the wood from water damage and decay. The study was published in the journal Materials.

“Western red cedar is prized for its abundance and renewability, though its tendency to absorb moisture is a major drawback,” says doctoral student Olivia Margoto, a researcher with UBC’s Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute. “By applying plastination, we’re preserving the wood’s structure from the inside out—maintaining its strength while dramatically improving its resistance to water.”

Plastination is a new method for managing moisture in wood by replacing water in the cellular structure with a silicone compound to create a durable, hydrophobic barrier that resists swelling, rotting and cracking.

Unlike conventional wood protection treatments—which typically rely on surface coatings, bulk impregnation or chemical treatments—plastination offers a fundamentally different approach by first dehydrating the wood using acetone and infusing it with a compatible polymer.

This replaces water within the cells and preserves the anatomical architecture previously occupied by moisture, explains study supervisor Dr. Abbas Milani, Professor in the School of Engineering. Most importantly, the treatment does not compromise tensile strength and tends to improve the material’s flexibility.

“Plastination offers a powerful alternative to traditional wood preservatives, which often rely on toxic chemicals or short-lived coatings,” adds Dr. Milani. “This technique could extend the lifespan of natural wood products significantly, without sacrificing environmental performance.”

In their recent work, the researchers used advanced imaging and spectroscopy tools to confirm that the silicone deeply saturated the cedar’s microscopic channels, reducing water absorption by nearly 60 per cent and increasing surface hydrophobicity by more than 45 per cent.

They found that Western red cedar performed better than their earlier work on bamboo, likely because of the very different microstructure of these two natural materials. Western red cedar is a softwood composed of long, thin cells with microstructural dimensions up to seven times smaller than those of bamboo.

The research is supported by industrial partner NetZero Enterprises Inc., a Penticton-based company with a number of global sustainability projects underway. The company is collaborating on three projects with UBC researchers, and holds the Canadian and American patents on the plastination technique.

Other researchers on this project include Netzero Enterprises CEO Grant Bogyo and UBCO students Madisyn Szypula and Victor Yang.

This process shows significant moisture resistance in Western red cedar, which is encouraging for North American construction applications. Future work will explore ways to scale up the method, recover and reuse solvents, and substitute bio-based polymers for silicone to further reduce environmental impact.

“Nature has already given us incredible materials,” Margoto adds. “Our job is to make them last longer in a safe, sustainable and economical way.”

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It’s a plot device beloved by science fiction: our entire universe might be a simulation running on some advanced civilization’s supercomputer.

But new research from UBC Okanagan has mathematically proven this isn’t just unlikely—it’s impossible.

Dr. Mir Faizal, Adjunct Professor with UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, and his international colleagues, Drs. Lawrence M. Krauss, Arshid Shabir and Francesco Marino have shown that the fundamental nature of reality operates in a way that no computer could ever simulate.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics, go beyond simply suggesting that we’re not living in a simulated world like The Matrix. They prove something far more profound: the universe is built on a type of understanding that exists beyond the reach of any algorithm.

“It has been suggested that the universe could be simulated. If such a simulation were possible, the simulated universe could itself give rise to life, which in turn might create its own simulation. This recursive possibility makes it seem highly unlikely that our universe is the original one, rather than a simulation nested within another simulation,” says Dr. Faizal. “This idea was once thought to lie beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. However, our recent research has demonstrated that it can, in fact, be scientifically addressed.”

The research hinges on a fascinating property of reality itself. Modern physics has moved far beyond Newton’s tangible “stuff” bouncing around in space. Einstein’s theory of relativity replaced Newtonian mechanics. Quantum mechanics transformed our understanding again. Today’s cutting-edge theory—quantum gravity—suggests that even space and time aren’t fundamental. They emerge from something deeper: pure information.

This information exists in what physicists call a Platonic realm—a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience. It’s from this realm that space and time themselves emerge.

Here’s where it gets interesting. The team demonstrated that even this information-based foundation cannot fully describe reality using computation alone. They used powerful mathematical theorems—including Gödel’s incompleteness theorem—to prove that a complete and consistent description of everything requires what they call “non-algorithmic understanding.”

Think of it this way. A computer follows recipes, step by step, no matter how complex. But some truths can only be grasped through non-algorithmic understanding—understanding that doesn’t follow from any sequence of logical steps. These “Gödelian truths” are real, yet impossible to prove through computation.

Here’s a basic example using the statement, “This true statement is not provable.” If it were provable, it would be false, making logic inconsistent. If it’s not provable, then it’s true, but that makes any system trying to prove it incomplete. Either way, pure computation fails.

“We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity,” says Dr. Faizal. “Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone. Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself.”

Since the computational rules in the Platonic realm could, in principle, resemble those of a computer simulation, couldn’t that realm itself be simulated?

No, say the researchers. Their work reveals something deeper.

“Drawing on mathematical theorems related to incompleteness and indefinability, we demonstrate that a fully consistent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone,” Dr. Faizal explains. “It requires non-algorithmic understanding, which by definition is beyond algorithmic computation and therefore cannot be simulated. Hence, this universe cannot be a simulation.”

Co-author Dr. Lawrence M. Krauss says this research has profound implications.

“The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they generate them. It has long been hoped, however, that a truly fundamental theory of everything could eventually describe all physical phenomena through computations grounded in these laws. Yet we have demonstrated that this is not possible. A complete and consistent description of reality requires something deeper—a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding.”

The team’s conclusion is clear and marks an important scientific achievement, says Dr. Faizal.

“Any simulation is inherently algorithmic—it must follow programmed rules,” he says. “But since the fundamental level of reality is based on non-algorithmic understanding, the universe cannot be, and could never be, a simulation.”

The simulation hypothesis was long considered untestable, relegated to philosophy and even science fiction, rather than science. This research brings it firmly into the domain of mathematics and physics, and provides a definitive answer.

The post UBCO study debunks the idea that the universe is a computer simulation appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

It’s a plot device beloved by science fiction: our entire universe might be a simulation running on some advanced civilization’s supercomputer.

But new research from UBC Okanagan has mathematically proven this isn’t just unlikely—it’s impossible.

Dr. Mir Faizal, Adjunct Professor with UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, and his international colleagues, Drs. Lawrence M. Krauss, Arshid Shabir and Francesco Marino have shown that the fundamental nature of reality operates in a way that no computer could ever simulate.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics, go beyond simply suggesting that we’re not living in a simulated world like The Matrix. They prove something far more profound: the universe is built on a type of understanding that exists beyond the reach of any algorithm.

“It has been suggested that the universe could be simulated. If such a simulation were possible, the simulated universe could itself give rise to life, which in turn might create its own simulation. This recursive possibility makes it seem highly unlikely that our universe is the original one, rather than a simulation nested within another simulation,” says Dr. Faizal. “This idea was once thought to lie beyond the reach of scientific inquiry. However, our recent research has demonstrated that it can, in fact, be scientifically addressed.”

The research hinges on a fascinating property of reality itself. Modern physics has moved far beyond Newton’s tangible “stuff” bouncing around in space. Einstein’s theory of relativity replaced Newtonian mechanics. Quantum mechanics transformed our understanding again. Today’s cutting-edge theory—quantum gravity—suggests that even space and time aren’t fundamental. They emerge from something deeper: pure information.

This information exists in what physicists call a Platonic realm—a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience. It’s from this realm that space and time themselves emerge.

Here’s where it gets interesting. The team demonstrated that even this information-based foundation cannot fully describe reality using computation alone. They used powerful mathematical theorems—including Gödel’s incompleteness theorem—to prove that a complete and consistent description of everything requires what they call “non-algorithmic understanding.”

Think of it this way. A computer follows recipes, step by step, no matter how complex. But some truths can only be grasped through non-algorithmic understanding—understanding that doesn’t follow from any sequence of logical steps. These “Gödelian truths” are real, yet impossible to prove through computation.

Here’s a basic example using the statement, “This true statement is not provable.” If it were provable, it would be false, making logic inconsistent. If it’s not provable, then it’s true, but that makes any system trying to prove it incomplete. Either way, pure computation fails.

“We have demonstrated that it is impossible to describe all aspects of physical reality using a computational theory of quantum gravity,” says Dr. Faizal. “Therefore, no physically complete and consistent theory of everything can be derived from computation alone. Rather, it requires a non-algorithmic understanding, which is more fundamental than the computational laws of quantum gravity and therefore more fundamental than spacetime itself.”

Since the computational rules in the Platonic realm could, in principle, resemble those of a computer simulation, couldn’t that realm itself be simulated?

No, say the researchers. Their work reveals something deeper.

“Drawing on mathematical theorems related to incompleteness and indefinability, we demonstrate that a fully consistent and complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone,” Dr. Faizal explains. “It requires non-algorithmic understanding, which by definition is beyond algorithmic computation and therefore cannot be simulated. Hence, this universe cannot be a simulation.”

Co-author Dr. Lawrence M. Krauss says this research has profound implications.

“The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they generate them. It has long been hoped, however, that a truly fundamental theory of everything could eventually describe all physical phenomena through computations grounded in these laws. Yet we have demonstrated that this is not possible. A complete and consistent description of reality requires something deeper—a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding.”

The team’s conclusion is clear and marks an important scientific achievement, says Dr. Faizal.

“Any simulation is inherently algorithmic—it must follow programmed rules,” he says. “But since the fundamental level of reality is based on non-algorithmic understanding, the universe cannot be, and could never be, a simulation.”

The simulation hypothesis was long considered untestable, relegated to philosophy and even science fiction, rather than science. This research brings it firmly into the domain of mathematics and physics, and provides a definitive answer.

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A team of UBC Okanagan students has shown that recycling rubble from destroyed buildings can help Ukraine rebuild its roads when the war eventually ends.

As part of their year-end capstone project, six School of Engineering students worked on an initiative called “Rebuilding Ukraine.” They partnered with Dr. Kate Woodman and Iryna Storozhuk, the founding members of Okanagan 4 Ukraine, and four Ukrainian engineers to test the idea of using rubble from destroyed buildings to rebuild roads.

Dr. Woodman reached out to numerous Canadian universities and organizations— including the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, the Canadian Ukrainian Foundation and Engineers without Borders—to find groups willing to help the country.

“Of the more than 25 engineering faculties I wrote to, many said this was a new idea—finding ways to support a country during an active war,” says Dr. Woodman. “I’m glad the UBCO team took it on. This project shows how Canadian universities can contribute to humanitarian engineering and post-conflict resilience while giving students valuable international experience.”

The six students—Alexa Hum, Alexander Marcuzzi, Arman Hajiabdolmajid, Hans Nicolajsen Suarez, Jacques Aritanto and Yugandher Ghugare—worked with faculty advisors Drs. Dimitry Sediako, Jonathan Holzman, Suliman Gargoum and Gordon Lovegrove. They explored using the ruins of buildings to create the right type of concrete strong enough to rebuild the road network.

Arman Hajiabdolmajid, who is finishing his studies at UBCO this year, explains that the team designed a strong, reliable concrete mix that can be used as a solid and reliable road surface to rebuild the country’s existing but heavily damaged transportation infrastructure.

“Due to the ongoing war there are large amounts of waste material in the form of rubble and debris and, if not put to use, will end up in landfills and eventually overwhelm the country’s waste system,” says Hajiabdolmajid. “By recycling the concrete rubble as a replacement for aggregate, a major component in concrete, we can put this rubble to good use rather than discarding it.”

He adds that recycling rubble also helps reduce the need to extract the traditional fine and coarse aggregate from riverbeds and quarries as the recycled concrete proves to be a suitable substitution.

“As rebuilding begins, demand for materials will increase, potentially depleting local reserves. This could lead to costly imports as substitutes,” he adds. “And the country’s waste system is not designed to process the amount of waste material produced from this war.”

A typical concrete mix consists of cement, fine aggregate or sand, gravel or coarse aggregate, water and additives that enhance the final product. To reuse rubble from Ukraine, the debris must be crushed into fine sand. This involves gathering and transporting the damaged concrete to a processing site where materials like metal, plastic, glass and wood are removed and disposed of properly.

In the UBCO lab, the students gathered concrete waste from past experiments to create a solution that included the highest volume of recycled fine aggregate while still meeting strength requirements. They used compression testing to monitor the concrete’s strength after seven, 14 and 28 days.

Although concrete roads are not common in Ukraine, the team chose concrete over asphalt because it has a longer lifespan. Reusing rubble also supports some United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and makes the mix more environmentally friendly. The students created a sustainable, high-performance concrete using 30 per cent recycled aggregate. It passed lab testing at UBCO and exceeded benchmarks required for European road infrastructure. To complete the project, they also created a prototype sensor to detect internal concrete cracks or instability.

Dr. Jonathan Holzman, an electrical engineering professor, says this innovative approach helps solve resource scarcity and sustainability problems.

“Our capstone projects give students hands-on, real-world experiences before they even graduate. Working with the Okanagan 4 Ukraine team and engineers in Ukraine gave these students the opportunity to make a difference in a country that will, hopefully, one day soon, begin the path to reconstruction.”

UBC Okanagan connects businesses and community organizations with student teams through capstone projects and other student-experience programs. Opportunities are open to partner with students to solve real-world challenges and benefit from their expertise. To learn more visit: ee.ok.ubc.ca/programs-and-opportunities/capstone-projects.

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In a time of tariffs and political trade disputes, new UBC Okanagan research shows that it’s not what you know but who you know.

And how well you treat them.

The research demonstrates that strong and strategic international alliances—not just diversification—are key to protecting supply chains from political trade disruptions.

Dr. Amin Ahmadi Digehsara, Assistant Professor in UBCO’s Faculty of Management, says creating strong global supply chain networks requires countries to make strategic decisions about facility locations, how to allocate capacity and how to manage operations across international markets. While globalization has improved efficiency and geographic reach, it has also made supply chains more vulnerable to large-scale disruptions.

He explains that major global supply chain disruptions fall into two categories: natural interruptions, such as extreme weather events or pandemics, and human-caused disruptions caused by deliberate or unintended actions by state and non-state policymakers.

The study, published in Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, shows that while spreading operations across countries can help during natural disasters or local shutdowns, it does little against systemic and intentional actions such as tariffs or quotas. In those cases, alliances like joint ventures or long-term agreements greatly reduce risk.

“When countries like the United States and Canada cooperate through strong alliances, supply chains can be up to eight times more resilient,” says Dr. Ahmadi Digehsara. “Without that cooperation, even moderate disruptions can cut profits by 20 to 30 per cent.”

The research was partly inspired by trade barriers introduced by United States President Donald Trump’s administration, which disrupted industries almost overnight.

“The tariffs under President Trump showed the world how quickly trade policies can disrupt entire industries,” he says. “Companies with alliances were able to keep business moving, while others faced sudden costs and uncertainty.”

For example, in 2018, when China raised tariffs on US-built SUVs, BMW’s joint venture with Brilliance Automotive let it shift production locally and keep record sales—while other vehicle manufacturers without similar alliances struggled.

The study was a collaboration between UBCO researchers Dr. Ahmadi Digehsara and Dr. Amir Ardestani-Jaafari, as well as Dr. Sam Aflaki from HEC Paris Business School. They developed a two-stage model that simulates strategic alliances and includes long-term planning for things like facility location and capacity.

“Using both real and simulated data, our modelling demonstrates that strategic alliance structures significantly improve worst-case scenarios, particularly in high-uncertainty environments,” says Dr. Ardestani-Jaafari. “Even a single strategic alliance between two countries can boost profits by 50 per cent. These findings highlight the value of incorporating strategic alliances into global supply chain network design.”

Dr. Ardestani-Jaafari advises that alliances don’t need to happen only at the government level. Individual companies should prioritize partnerships—through co-production, shared logistics networks or long-term contracts—to protect their operations in politically uncertain times.

“Global supply chains are increasingly fragile,” he says. “The companies that will thrive are the ones that build strong, flexible relationships to keep goods moving and markets stable. Every dollar invested in these alliances cuts disruption costs two to three times more than just holding extra inventory. These partnerships offer backup plans when trade policies shift, keeping goods flowing and supporting both customers and employees.”

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New UBC Okanagan research shows that exercise can do more than improve the strength and cardiovascular endurance of women who have survived breast cancer.

Dr. Sarah Purcell, a researcher with UBC’s Southern Medical Program and Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, recently published a study examining how exercise affects breast cancer survivors undergoing estrogen-blocking therapy—a standard long-term treatment.

“Breast cancer survivors generally have favourable overall survival rates,” says Dr. Purcell. “However, many have an elevated risk of weight gain, which can lead to obesity and eventual further complications such as heart disease and diabetes.”

Obesity, she notes, can also lead to the recurrence of cancer, making it a serious concern for survivors and the medical community, which continues to puzzle over the exact cause of this weight gain.

“It’s important to identify and understand the unique factors that cause obesity for this particular population,” she says. “The underlying mechanisms for weight gain during endocrine therapy have not been fully explained but may relate to lower exposure to estrogen.”

Dr. Purcell’s latest study, published in Nutrition and Cancer, explored whether weight gain is linked to long-term estrogen therapy. More than 75 per cent of breast cancer survivors receive this treatment for five to 10 years, and when combined with chemotherapy can leave many with lower hormone levels.

To stay healthy during and after treatment, cancer guidelines recommend aerobic activities and resistance or strength training. These activities are particularly important for breast cancer survivors with obesity because they improve body composition and overall heart and metabolic health.

For the study, Dr. Purcell’s team compared two randomized trials involving female breast cancer survivors and adults with obesity or high body weights. All participants were premenopausal before their cancer diagnosis and were currently receiving endocrine therapy.

“Our study shows that exercise can do more than build strength for these survivors—it may also help control appetite,” she says. “Participants on estrogen-blocking therapy had higher levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone Peptide YY (PYY) after exercise than women without a history of cancer.”

She says the results were surprising and opposite to what the team expected. Estrogen-blocking therapies are often linked to weight gain, but PYY is a hormone that helps reduce appetite.

“The breast cancer survivors had higher PYY levels right after exercise, which suggests their appetite-suppressing response lasted longer,” says Dr. Purcell. “This unexpected result shows a novel interaction between exercise and estrogen suppression that has not been seen in healthy groups before.”

Dr. Purcell says this may help explain how physical activity supports appetite control and weight management in women receiving breast cancer treatment. It also suggests exercise may help survivors manage weight by improving appetite control through hormones.

“Although the survivors didn’t report feeling less hungry, their hormone levels showed a stronger appetite-reducing effect, and they ate less relative to their body size following exercise,” she adds. “Exercise may help manage treatment-related weight changes by tapping into natural appetite-control systems, something we weren’t expecting to find.”

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A documentary exploring how unhoused people experience the loss of someone in their community will premiere in Kelowna next week.

Filmed in Kelowna, No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial was co-produced and co-directed by doctoral student Stephanie Laing, Director of Operations with UBC Okanagan’s Kelowna Homelessness Research Centre.

She says it’s important for everyone’s grief to be honoured after a loss, but not all loss is treated equally.

“People who are unhoused are often not recognized as grievers and are not adequately supported in their grief,” adds Laing. “This makes it difficult for them to explore and express their grief, which affects how they cope.”

The film focuses on the creation and meaning of the White Cart Memorial—a grassroots, mobile tribute to unhoused lives lost—and brings together research, personal stories, community perspectives and future action plans for Kelowna.

The Kelowna Homelessness Research Centre and the BC Centre for Palliative Care created the documentary, which will be shown twice in Kelowna before travelling to Port Alberni, Nanaimo and Vancouver later this year, with more screenings planned for 2026.

The film captures the emotional and practical challenges of grieving in public spaces, explains Dr. Joshua Black, co-director, co-producer and Bereavement Initiative Manager with the BC Centre for Palliative Care.

“Through the voices and stories of people living with unstable housing in Kelowna, the film shows what it means to grieve without a home, and how loss echoes through a community already struggling to survive,” he adds.

The film premieres at the Mary Irwin Theatre on Wednesday, October 15, at 1:30 pm, with another screening on Friday, November 7, at 6 pm. Both events will feature a panel discussion led by the film’s directors and producers.

“No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial is a powerful and personal documentary that highlights an often-overlooked part of the homelessness crisis: how people grieve the loss of someone they care about,” adds Dr. John Graham, Professor in the UBCO School of Social Work and Principal Investigator with the Kelowna Homelessness Research Centre.

The documentary is dedicated to the memories of all unhoused lives lost—and those who carry their grief, says Dr. Eman Hassan, Executive Director of the BC Centre for Palliative Care and adjunct professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine.

“The film urges us to rethink how we hold space for public mourning, and how we can build more compassionate, inclusive systems of care,” she says. “Because only through community can we create safer places to grieve, heal and remember.”

Both events are free and open to everyone. For more information and to register for either date, visit: events.ok.ubc.ca/event/no-fixed-address-the-white-cart-memorial/2025-10-15.

To watch the trailer, visit: vimeo.com/1115956034.

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A new student-led study from UBC Okanagan has found that young adults who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ report receiving significantly less affirming and inclusive sexual health education than their cisgender, heterosexual peers.

Yet these same students demonstrate higher levels of sexual health literacy.

The study, led by Phoebe Hodgson, a recent UBCO graduate in gender, women and sexuality studies with a minor in psychology, looks at how young adults with different gender and sexual identities experienced sexual education during their high school years.

The research was co-authored by Laura Moore, also a recent graduate and current lab coordinator, and supervised by Dr. Jessica Lougheed, a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar and an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Phoebe explains that the research team expected 2SLGBTQIA+ young adults to feel excluded from the sex education they received, but the results were unexpected.

“What surprised us is that they knew more about sexual health than their cisgender, heterosexual peers. At first, I thought, ‘Yay! Queer people know about sexual health.’ But then I realized this is because sex education has failed us—we’ve had to educate ourselves.”

The study found that 2SLGBTQIA+ participants were more likely to use the internet and social media for sexual health information compared to other young adults. However, there were no major differences between the groups when it came to learning from parents, peers or television and film. Despite the lack of affirming school-based education, 2SLGBTQIA+ respondents scored higher on a sexual health literacy questionnaire.

Participants also reported on their sexual health behaviours. 2SLGBTQIA+ students said they used some safer sex practices more often than their heterosexual, cisgender peers, but overall, safer sex practices were low across all groups.

“Higher internet use for sexual health information is a symptom of a problem, not a solution,” Phoebe explains. “I’m glad online resources exist to fill the gaps, but school-based education should be comprehensive, accurate and inclusive of all identities.”

The research shows a gap in educational content and a wider public health issue. Phoebe notes this lack of inclusive sex education is happening amid a hostile political climate in parts of Canada and North America, where anti-queer and anti-trans rhetoric is on the rise.

“Sexual health affects everyone,” says Phoebe. “We hope our findings inform curriculum reform, educational policy and future research. Comprehensive sexual health education is a human right.”

Dr. Lougheed notes that 2SLGBTQIA+ young adults show resilience by educating themselves, but warns this self-reliance can be risky.

“When inclusive education is missing, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth look elsewhere. But that can be a problem if the information isn’t accurate or age-appropriate,” says Dr. Lougheed.

Since publication, the team has shared research in accessible formats—like posters, brochures and infographics—to reach educators, policymakers and community groups. Their goal is to keep the conversation going beyond universities.

The full study appears in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. The research was also presented at the Inaugural Conference for Critical Social Justice in Psychology at UBC Vancouver.

The team plans to launch a follow-up study that explores why young adults, of all identities, may not practice safer sex.

“Nothing is going to change if we don’t address how school-based sex education overlooks queer youth,” says Phoebe. “Sex is a taboo topic, but it shouldn’t be.”

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As the school year gets underway, a team of UBC Okanagan educators is exploring new ways to approach the K–12 curriculum. A five-year project with educators, researchers and community partners in the Okanagan examined how curriculum is developed and taught by centring Indigenous knowledge and relationships to land at the heart of teaching and learning. The project, Co-Curricular-Making: Honouring Indigenous Connections to Land, Culture and the Relational Self, involved more than 240 current and future educators. With guidance from Elders, Knowledge Keepers and community partners, participants were encouraged to see curriculum not as a fixed guide but as a shared, evolving process, explains Dr. Margaret Macintyre Latta, Professor at the UBC Okanagan School of Education. Participants learned to move away from colonial teaching practices while gaining confidence to lead meaningful classroom discussions about history, culture and identity. “This project shows that when teachers and students work together to reimagine curriculum, education becomes a powerful space for reconciliation,” says Dr. Macintyre Latta. “It is not just about adding new content, but about reshaping how we teach and learn so classrooms reflect the land, the cultures we live alongside and the relationships that connect us.” The project included a range of unlearning activities. In one Grade 6 classroom, students reimagined the 19th-century work song Drill Ye Tarriers and explored its historical and cultural context in relation to Canada’s railway construction. “Students used art, dance, drama, music and poetry to explore different perspectives, including how Indigenous communities were affected,” she explains. “The activity opened space for deeper questions, critical thinking and a better understanding of how history is shared and remembered.” Throughout the project, Dr. Macintyre Latta says educators became more confident in making space for these challenging but important conversations. One key outcome was helping both educators and students shift away from looking for right and wrong answers, and instead view uncertainty and questions as opportunities to grow and support wellbeing. This approach helped teachers and students relate their learning to their own lives and communities, she says, recognizing both what they know and what they’re still learning. “It also showed how important educators are in shaping this vision, using critical and creative thinking to engage students with the world around them.” Dr. Macintyre Latta says the project is a way to re-examine how curriculum can be taught by bringing in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This includes creating learning spaces that are responsive to place. It also supports inquiry-based learning and encourages students to ask questions, be curious and engage in difficult conversations. The full research article, The Needed Messy Practice Ground for Curricular Un/Decolonizing and Indigenizing, co-authored by Dr. Bill Cohen and Dr. Danielle Lamb, was recently published in LEARNing Landscapes. It reflects five years of collaboration and draws on the contributions of the Co-Curricular-Making team and community partners, including Okanagan Nation Alliance, Central Okanagan Public Schools, IndigenEYEZ, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna Museums Society and the universities of Alberta and Ottawa. The post Reimagining curriculum through Indigenous perspectives appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.