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The University of Alberta was recently honoured in New York City with the prestigious Institute of International Education (IIE) Beacon Award in recognition of efforts in providing a safe haven for international scholars. As a valued partner of UAlberta International, you are cordially invited to join us for a special celebration honouring the lives and achievements of scholars from around the globe whose academic careers have been upended by conflict.
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“Our university has been engaged in programs that support refugees for a number of years, but we want to do more… We can never forget that our community — and indeed our country — have been built, in part, on wave after wave of immigrant refugees from around the world who found themselves displaced from their homelands. The people of Edmonton and Canada have stood together to help our fellow global citizens in the past and we will do so again."
- University of Alberta President David Turpin
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MARCH 26, 2019
Film screening "Science in Exile" 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM / 134 Telus Centre
This riveting documentary film from The World Academy of Sciences explores how recent violence in Syria, Yemen and Iraq has threatened the lives of four researchers, forcing them to suspend their work and flee their homelands. "Science in Exile" is story of science, but also a deeply human story. It takes viewers into the lives of scientists and social scientists with years of training and experience who are struggling to find a place in new lands—a safe place where they can continue their research. It also features organisations in the Middle East, Europe and globally who are working to support scientists displaced by conflict.
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Panel discussion
Our scholars will share their personal perspectives and insights about the treacherous journey that brought them to UAlberta, and why their academic work and lives faced peril as they forged ahead.
Moderator
 Dr Stanford Blade, Dean, Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences
Dr. Blade is a 2012 graduate of the Wharton Business School’s Executive Development Program (University of Pennsylvania). He currently serves as Vice-Chair on the Board of Trustees of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, a Nairobi-based agency supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2012 Dr. Blade was named by Alberta Venture as one of “Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People”. See full bio
Panelists
 Dr. Abdullah Gharamah, Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD in (Parasitology) from University Sciences Malaysia - USM (Malaysia), 2012. Current holder of a postdoctoral fellowship award funded by the University of Alberta and the Institute of International Education- Scholar Rescue Fund program (IIE-SRF), New York.
"They rescued my life and gave me hope to pursue my research in a safe place due to the war in my country (Yemen) and its bad consequences for me and my family."
 Dr Rami Akkad, Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Akkad has a bachelor in Applied Chemistry from University of Aleppo, Syria, and has a Ph.D. in Food Analytical Chemistry from Germany. He worked as a faculty teaching staff at the University of Aleppo for five years during the war. Dr Akkad has 10+ years of expertise in different analytical fields including, pharmaceuticals analysis, food analysis, and bioanalytical chemistry besides 6+ years of academic teaching expertise of the same fields.
 Dr Jonathan Curtis, Professor, Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science
Dr Curtis holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Swansea, UK. The Curtis research group specializes in two interrelated areas: The conversion of lipids into oleochemicals and biobased materials; and the analysis of lipids of importance in food, agriculture, human health, medical sciences, oleochemicals and in industrial applications.
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