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Western’s HIV vaccine gets FDA approval

The University of Western Ontario will begin testing the only HIV vaccine currently under development in Canada.

Chil-Yong Kang works at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry as a researcher and professor. The vaccine developed by Kang and his team received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials this month.

The United States FDA approval will allow easier access to many countries for clinical trials and also requires more stringent conditions for approval of pharmaceutical products for human use.

To complete the testing phase, the vaccine is required to go through three stages. The testing begins on 40 HIV-positive volunteers. The second stage will include 600 volunteers at high-risk for HIV and test their immune responses.

According to an international HIV/AIDS charity, Avert, the high-risk category refers to men who have male sexual partners, injecting drug users and individuals who have received treatment with blood products.

The last stage consists of determining the effectiveness of the vaccine on 6,000 HIV-negative volunteers.

The vaccine is being developed through a partnership between UWO and Sumagen Canada, a Korean pharmaceutical venture company.

— Meaghan Wray

Students protest during seminar

On Dec. 7, 15 students lay on the ground and simulated being dead during a die-in protest at McGill University.

The demonstration interrupted a seminar on cement production, organized by McGill Stochastic Mine Planning Laboratory (Cosmo) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallury and Petroleum (CIM).

One of the protestors, Kevin Paul, told the McGill Daily that participants in the die-in wanted to express their opposition to McGill’s involvement in Peruvian mining industries.

Security was called and the protestors left voluntarily.

Executive director for the Montreal branch of CIM, Jean Vavrek, told the McGill Daily that CIM hadn’t encountered a protest of this nature before.

— Meaghan Wray

Carleton to open sexual assault support centre

A sexual assault support centre is scheduled to open at Carleton University in September 2012. The announcement was made Jan. 4.

The centre was initially meant to include student-led education and support initiatives, but administrators pulled away from this decision. A partnership between students, staff and faculty will be put in place to decide how the centre will function.

The centre will offer support services for students, including counselling, awareness campaigns and training.

It will include a conference room for meetings and planning, a counselling room and a reception area.

— Meaghan Wray

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