Our winners’ prize for the Campus Food Bank’s 12 Days of Giving was a donated coffee break.  We again collected the most food of any department participating, an achievement we’ve reached many times before.  The coffee break was held on October 3rd  and was well enjoyed by attendees.  At that coffee we collected for the Alzheimer Society, and raised $80.

Kindness Friday was held during MUNdays in October.  For this event, Marie Codner organized a collection from department members for personal care items for Street Reach, a program for at-risk youth.  Over 300 items were donated.

October ended with Halloween, and a potluck lunch was organized for the 31st.   Several people dressed up making for an interesting assortment of characters at our event.

Nikitha Kendyala Pallegar in Dr. Christian’s lab transferred from our M.Sc. to our PhD program in October.  Congratulations Nikitha.  In addition to this, Nikitha and Craig Ayre, from the same lab, were awarded two-year graduate fellowships in November from the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.   Congratulations to you both!

Dr. Surendiran Gangadaran joined the department in November as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Sukhinder Cheema’s lab.  Welcome to the department, Suri.

Matt Nosworthy from Dr. Janet Brunton’s lab successfully defended his PhD thesis in mid- November.  Congratulations, Matt.

In early December members of the department collected the food and money needed to fill two hampers for the Campus Food Bank Christmas hamper drive.

Dr. Seán Brosnan was formally presented with the 2014 John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship, Memorial’s newest and most prestigious award for faculty, at a ceremony held December 11th . Named for the founding president of Memorial University College, the award recognizes those who distinguish themselves across the continuum of teaching and learning, research and public engagement. Dr. Brosnan is an accomplished educator and one of Memorial’s premier scientists and researchers in the Department of Biochemistry.

A number of events were held pre-Christmas, getting all in the festive spirit. There was a Carol Sing hosted by the General Office, an annual event going on now for well over 20 years.  We also had a Secret Santa gift exchange, and a luncheon out at Bally Haly.

Meetings on the new Core Science Building continued throughout the fall. The department has an internal committee reviewing plans in an ongoing process designed to fit our new space to our needs.