“What’s happening on the sidelines is either nothing, or they’re using a piece of paper to perform a subjective test,” says Brown, who now researches concussions at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where he is a PhD candidate in sensorimotor physiology.

Government of Canada statistics show that football, soccer and hockey head injuries among youth have increased by more than 40 per cent. Brown wanted to bridge the gap between concussion testing in the lab and on the sidelines.

In 2016, Brown co-founded HeadCheck Health and developed a mobile app that trainers and coaches can use during a game to assess potential concussions. The HeadCheck app consists of a series of eight test modules that cover cognition, balance and memory. The tests are conducted before a head injury to establish a player’s baseline and after a brain-rattling impact. “It’s a quick, accurate way to perform both sideline and post-injury tests for concussions,” says Brown. The test takes about 10 minutes to complete.

“What’s happening on the sidelines is either nothing, or they’re using a piece of paper to perform a subjective test.”

The app is based on the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT3), which uses a series of tests to evaluate a player’s symp- toms following a blow to the head. Testing balance, cognition or memory alone won’t provide enough information to assess whether someone has a concussion. “The best way to do it is to test multiple functions of the brain,” says Brown, B.Sc. ’10. “You get a very broad picture of somebody’s brain health.”

To test balance using the app, the player is asked to stand in three different positions: stand with eyes closed and hands on the hips; position one foot in front of the other heel to toe; and stand on the non-dominant leg with the other leg raised. Brown and his team are developing a headband with sensors that will help measure a player’s balance more accurately.

The app delivers real-time results but doesn’t recommend whether a player should be pulled from the game; that decision is left up to the user. Every concus- sion and player is different, Brown explains, and what causes a concussion in one player may not affect another in the same way. The extent of the injury depends on the player and other variables, including the direction and force of impact, neck positioning and the amount of fluid in the brain.

Sixty teams representing 1,800 athletes at various levels are using the app, as well as all of UBC’s varsity teams. “They said it was an important investment in the health of their athletes,” Brown says of UBC’s endorsement. “We did this to improve the health of athletes and protect them.”

Concussion awareness has grown since Brown was in high school. “I wasn’t educated on concussions. I didn’t know that I needed to be tested. I didn’t know that there should have been someone there to make sure I was OK and make the decision as to whether I could play or not.” Now that he knows about the dangers of playing with a concus- sion, he says, “It’s a little bit scary to know that I experienced that.”– SUSAN BUBAK

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“Good food is a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding,” says Kenny, procurement manager for Hospitality Services and a certified supply chain management professional (CSCMP). “It’s worth it when we see the faces of the students as they taste what our chefs have made.”

Kenny’s job is to source the raw goods to feed more than 20,000 staff, faculty and students in 17 outlets across campus, as well as specialty foods for catering events on campus. U of G’s Hospitality Services is one of only three independent food service departments at a Canadian university that directly employs a staff member with CSCMP accreditation to purchase food and manage contracts; many other institutions use outside catering companies to feed students.

U of G further sets itself apart by serving foods that are grown and processed on campus. Arctic char, for example, comes from the Alma Aquaculture Research Station, and more than 1,800 kilograms of honey produced at the Honey Bee Research Centre is served every year.

Veggies that can’t be used right away are processed on campus, vacuum-sealed and frozen for use over the winter, and a commercial-grade smoker adds flavour to mushrooms, ribs and chicken.

Kenny’s commitment to procuring locally means he knows many of the 75 nearby farmers who supply food to the University on a first-name basis. When he deals with larger distributors, he requests Ontario-grown foods whenever possible.

“I like to share the stories of the food we are serving, and that means sharing the stories of the people who produce that food,” says Kenny, who is active on Twitter (@100milemark) and often posts mouth-watering photos of the day’s specials.

Mark Kenny’s favourite campus meal: A “Royale with Cheese” burger and fries from the Gryph ’N Grille food truck.

Kenny balances his love of food with a solid business background and an artist’s sensibility. He started working in restaurants at 14 and went on to earn a business diploma. He enrolled at U of G as a mature student and took courses ranging from film studies to art history, but before he could graduate, the food world lured him back.

“The students here [at U of G] are educated about food,” he says. “They’ve travelled; they’re used to foods that would have been considered exotic not long ago.”

Kenny taps into the diversity of the chefs on campus to respond to that desire for variety. “We have chefs from 15 different cultural backgrounds here, so they can bring those flavours to our meals,” he says. A popular dish on campus is fish moilee with Indian spices served at InFusion, a pan-Asian cuisine kiosk in the University Centre.

Surprisingly, pickles have been one of the tougher foods to source locally. Kenny searched for months before discovering Lakeside Packers in Harrow, Ont. “Now we buy them by the skid.” He also started ordering cheese from Bright Cheese and Butter in Woodstock.

The only downfall to serving such great food is students don’t want to leave. One student leaving campus told Kenny, “I don’t know what I’m going to eat now — I’m so used to the great food here.”
–TERESA PITMAN

Feeding 5,000 students

A quick bite of the menu served by Hospitality Services to 5,000 students on move-in day in September:

•  27,000 brownies (made by U of G chefs)
•  8,000 apples (from Martin’s Family Fruit Farm in St. Jacobs)
•  15,000 buns (made locally by Canada Bread)
•  2,400 tomatoes (from Elmira Produce Auction Cooperative)
•  1,020 kilograms of cold meats
•  900 kilograms of lettuce

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“The reality is there’s really no place on Earth that is natural and free of microbiological life,” he says.

Recent research suggests that up to one hundred trillion microorganisms inhabit the human body. “For the most part, if you happen to have reasonably good health, you can find ways to work with microbes,” he says. Distinguishing the good ones, what he calls “bystanders” and “friends,” from the bad ones, or “foes,” is the first step.

Those good bacteria help with a variety of physiological functions, including digestion. When bad bacteria get the upper hand, taking a probiotic can help restore the bacterial balance. Tetro is a fan of probiotic supplements and calls Lactobacillus acidophilus, a common ingredient in these supplements, his “favourite” germ.

Bacterial foes include Staphylococcus aureus, which is commonly found on the skin. Antibiotics are the first line of defence against the potentially life-threatening infections it can cause but some strains have become resistant.

Another route of infection is the respiratory tract. Coughing and sneezing send infectious droplets containing cold and flu germs through the air. Tetro says if you’re within six feet, there’s a good chance you’re going to become infected if your immune system isn’t strong enough. Touching your eyes, nose or mouth after touching an infected surface is another mode of transmission.

Fortunately, practising good hand hygiene by washing with soap and water is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy. Hand sanitizer is the next best thing if you don’t have access to soap and water. “Alcohol basically shuts down everything. A bacterium simply cannot develop resistance to high concentrations — 62 to 70 per cent alcohol — because it’s a physical form of disinfection,” says Tetro.

Enclosed spaces where people congregate are bacterial hot spots, and airports are among the most germ-infested. Tetro cultured bacterial samples from touch screens in a Canadian airport and found bacteria as diverse as the global population. “I could not believe what I cultured. Some of the species that I saw, I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what this is.’”

Any form of public transportation is a breeding ground for bacteria. Tetro recently collected samples from a Toronto subway and its passengers — they’re not the only ones going for a ride. A subway pole can have 1,000 microorganisms per 10 square centimetres, but only 0.1 per cent are harmful.

Tetro wasn’t always pro-germ. During his many illnesses, he says, “I wanted to kill them all because I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I went through.” A bout with pneumonia in his mid-20s turned him from germ warrior to pacifist. He changed his diet to include more fruits, vegetables and fermented foods, and started taking probiotic supplements. “I haven’t had an antibiotic since nor have I needed one.” –SUSAN BUBAK

Top tips to stay healthy:

1. Wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer.
2. Take a probiotic supplement that contains lactic acid bacteria.
3. Only take antibiotics as a last resort; they don’t treat viral infections.

The “five-second” rule: fact or fiction?

We’ve all heard, or practised, the old adage: if food falls on the ground, it’s OK to eat if less than five seconds have passed. Here’s what “The Germ Guy” says:

“If you accidentally drop food on the ground, the stickier the food, the more likely it will pick up microbes. But this may not be a problem. If you know how clean the surface is, you shouldn’t have to worry about eating it. But if you are unsure, it may be better to discard it because you might end up suffering.”

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For 40 years, I took a lot for granted — my reflection in the mirror, how my clothes fit and my sense of self. On Sept. 14, 2013, all of that changed in an instant.

Less than an hour after being diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, I knew I would not follow the traditional path to reconstruction or implants. Treatment called for a single mastectomy, but I opted to remove both breasts for symmetry and to keep up my active lifestyle. That was my first choice. My next choice, and the second phone call I made that day, was to contact a tattoo artist.

I chose a mastectomy tattoo — it’s my ultimate act of defiance to my unwelcome internal intruder. At my first sitting, while my tattoo’s outline was being drawn, the mental relief began. Twelve appointments and 32 hours later, the journey to treat my cancer was truly over.

Cancer stole much from me. Although I did not have a lot of choices for treatment, I could decide how to personally face the disease and the accompanying “monsters under the bed.” Reconstruction would offer visual safety, but would do little to fix my own experience in the mirror.

To others, my ink is a physical cover — not even my oncologist can find the scars. It camouflages two eight-inch concave scars that were my breasts; three surgical drain scars; the port-a-cath incision near my collarbone; and the medical tattoos and skin discolouration from radiation. Left naked, these physical manifestations were a constant reminder of a dark time.

I chose an intricate tattoo of a Virginia pine tree because the texture of its ridged and furrowed bark makes it easier to camouflage the scars. Its inspiration came from a rock-climbing trip with friends to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky just before I started chemo. The roots sit on my left hip; the trunk runs up my ribcage and the branches twist their way across my chest. People ask if it hurt – absolutely! Like anything else in life, to be appreciated it has to be earned.

For me, this tattoo is necessary for my continued mental health, offering mental asylum when I catch my reflection in a shiny surface. Living through critical illness also means confronting the daily “How are you? No, really, how are you?” conversation. When people stare, my tattoo shows I’m confident and comfortable in my own skin. For my husband, it means I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not.

In 2014 I met with my local MPP to start a dialogue about how OHIP views medical tattoos — post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is covered; mastectomy tattoos are not, despite being less invasive, less costly and less disruptive to those with active lifestyles. I can personally attest to their therapeutic value.

I know my choice is unorthodox and may not be accepted by some. The price for my tattoo was high: eighteen months of medical procedures, two breasts and a serious shake to my mental health. But I know if I am going to live in this body, it’s got to be on my terms.

Tanya Olsen, BLA ’98, is the owner of Royal City Nursery in Guelph, Ont., and a horticulture professor at Humber College. She’s an avid rock climber and underwater diver. Tattoo artist Mac Young of Nighthawk Tattoo in Guelph created her body art. Read more about her story at tanyaolsenblog.wordpress.com.

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After graduating from U of G with a sociology degree in 1999, Berg went to teacher’s college where she learned sign language. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “We did a literacy program at our school, and when I was researching different techniques to use in literacy programs, I kept coming across the idea of signing with babies, which made total sense.”

Babies develop gross motor skills earlier than fine motor skills, allowing them to make hand gestures before they can speak, she explains.

When her daughter, Fireese, was born, Berg decided to stay home with her but wanted to continue earning an income. Combining her teaching and sign language background, she began offering baby sign language lessons in her living room.

To help promote her business, she made a YouTube video showing her signing with her then one-year-old daughter. Viewers often asked Berg if they could take lessons with her or become an instructor, so she developed a curriculum for her program. She now has more than 200 instructors across North America, some of whom are also stay-at-home moms, and her YouTube channel has more than 30 million views.

Sign language takes the guesswork out of trying to figure out what your baby wants. “The number one benefit is that it really helps to reduce frustration for both the baby and the parent,” says Berg. “With them being able to tell you what they want, it makes your life a lot easier.” She says babies who know how to sign have fewer temper tantrums because they can express themselves in a way their parents can understand.

As an example, Berg tells the story of her daughter, who was already signing at 10 months. When Berg gave her some Cheerios to eat, her daughter threw them on the floor and signed “more.” Puzzled, Berg asked her what else she wanted, and her daughter replied “more cheese” in sign language. “At 10 months, she put together a two-word sentence, which I never would have imagined a 10-month-old baby could do.”

Berg says that some parents are concerned that teaching their baby to sign will delay their son or daughter’s spoken language skills. “Language and speech are not the same thing,” she says. “Babies will talk when they’re ready to talk, but it gives them a useful language to use until they develop the ability to talk.”
-SUSAN BUBAK

Laura Berg shares her top three tips for teaching your baby how to sign:

Be consistent. Start with a simple, commonly used word such as “milk.” Sign the word every time you say it, much like you would teach your baby how to say and wave “bye-bye.

Begin with a few words, then add new ones as your baby learns them.

Don’t get discouraged or compare your baby’s progress with others. You and your baby are learning a new language, so make it fun!

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