Eating dirt and other good ideas

On January 23^rd, BCIT welcomed Dr. Brett Finlay as a guest speaker for our monthly student power hour event to discuss the role of microbes and health disease in society.

Dr. Finlay is the co-author of the book Let Them Eat Dirt: Raising your child in an over sanitized world. Dr. Finlay’s presentation discussed the many essential effects of the microbiota on human health. The effects of cleanliness, antibiotics, vaccinations, microbes, diet, and exciting new research in cellular microbiology was also discussed.

Dr. Finlay is a professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Finlay’s research interests are focused on host-microbe interactions at the molecular level.  By combining cell biology with microbiology, he has been at the forefront of the field of Cellular Microbiology, making several fundamental discoveries, and publishing over 460 papers.

“Rapidly increasing medical breakthroughs suggest that future therapies that restore the microbiota could decrease- or even prevent- previously unbeatable conditions such as allergies, asthma, autism and intestinal diseases,” says Dr. Finlay.

The event saw a turnout of over 300 of the BCIT community, with lots of engagement from the attendees and many questions asked and answered. Overall feedback was very positive from staff and students alike. Many attendees signed up for the next power hour, which will feature Darren Kopetsky, Regional Director of Client Risks and Relations at Vancouver Coastal Health, who will discuss Medical Assistance in Dying. That event is scheduled for February 20^th, 2017.  You can register for a spot here.

The event was organized by the BCITSA and Inter-disciplinary Student Committee (IDSC). The IDSC seeks to develop student leadership skills for inter-professional collaboration by building community within the School of Health Sciences. We strive to develop skills that will help us collaborate across health boundaries, learn to work together towards common goals of best practices, act with professional integrity and build transformative relationships with our clients, other professionals and our community. The Power Hour is a monthly event that IDSC organizes where speakers are invited to share new ideas, new thinking and transform our professional practices.