VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REPORT TO COUNCIL 2022—2023
POLLINATOR GARDEN
FACULTY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, ST. AUGUSTINE
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ST. AUGUSTINE CONVERSION TO ONLINE/BLENDED The Department of Computing and Information Technology (DCIT) started the process of conversion of its MSc Data Science and Computer Science from face- to-face to online/blended; six courses from the MSc in Data Science and four courses from the MSc Computer Science were given approval for online delivery mode. The postgraduate certificate and diploma programmes in the area of Medical Radiation Science were developed and approved for full online delivery. The MScs (Renewable Energy Technology and Biomedical Physics) were converted from face-to-face to blended delivery. GCMS INSTRUMENT ADVANCES GOALS The Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) instrument advances the Faculty’s strategic goals for expansion of analytical services toward income generation and boosting research in environmentally important persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – in service to existing needs of internal and external stakeholders. The Department of Chemistry hosted key stakeholders from Government and a wide spectrum of local industry to an introductory session, where the GCMS capabilities and supporting analytical services were presented in outline. Supported by now certified and trained technicians, the modern GCMS suite will anchor and uplift the program of accreditation for laboratory testing through its high levels of precision, reproducibility, and automated and digital recording of related quality assurance metrics.
The Department of Life Sciences (DLS) is now home to a Pollinator Garden. It is a collaborative project of The UWI, St. Augustine, the Ministry of Planning and Development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net TT), aimed at raising awareness about the importance of pollinators while serving as an educational and demonstration location. Pollinators such as bats, bees and butterflies are vital to the reproduction of numerous fruits, vegetables, and plants, and to sustainable agriculture and food security. However, these species face numerous threats, including habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, diseases and a lack of data and public awareness, in addition to deficient pollinator-appropriate management. These threats to pollinators were part of the impetus for the partnership. In July 2023, the DLS hosted approximately sixty young visitors to the Butterfly Enclosure, in partnership with NIHERST.
RESEARCH MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME The Caribbean Centre for Health Systems Research and Development launched its research mentorship programme in 2023 and over twenty senior staff members have been mentoring junior staff members to increase their research productivity. The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) Research Discussion Forum has played a critical role in improving the quantity, quality, and impact of research at the FMS.
PATENTS GRANTED FOR COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Staff at the Faculty of Medical Sciences St. Augustine are coinvestigators for three projects which have been granted patents from patent agencies in India, the UK and Europe/Germany in 2023. The FMS received in-kind donations of equipment, reagents, supplies, and training worth £1,000,000 (US$1,237,741) under a collaborative agreement between the UK Health Security Agency, The UWI and CARPHA, signed in October 2022, and received in-kind donations of personnel salary support (US $50,800) and backup generator for laboratory (US$27,000) from PAHO. The UWI-FMS staff have received grant-funding from the Wellcome Trust – £597,680 (US$739,629); IICA- PROCINORTE – US$49,930; USDA ARS – US$330,000, and CRP grants of TT$94,326 (TT$74,326 from The UWI and TT$20,000 from corporate donors) through various individual locally and collaborative research grants with international partners. The FMS staff are part of a project called Connecting Climate Minds, which received £1.2 million from the Wellcome Trust.
VALORISING SARGASSUM SEAWEED
The SARGOOD research project is a collaborative effort of five institutions aiming to develop technologies for valorisation of Sargassum biomass. The project aims to address the problems caused by Sargassum seaweed in the region. The participating institutions are The Université des Antilles (UA) – Guadeloupe (lead); The UWI – partner (Trinidad and Tobago); The Universidade de Sao-Paulo (USP) – partner (Brasil); The Institut
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