Green energ y explored /16

CSI: NY makes New York style one of its characters /17
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2007 $1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 61 CENTS A DAY)

Departing doctors hamper recruiting efforts
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff The Northern Health recruitment team attracted five family doctors and six specialists to Prince George in 2006, says the executive director of the Northern Medical Society. But once you take into account the seven physicians who left the area, the result is a gain of four family doctors. "Unfortunately, we lost five specialists to relocation and one to retirement, and one general practitioner to relocation," said Dr. Bert Kelly. "The numbers show just how difficult it is to recruit and retain physicians in a place like Prince George. "Our winters are a drawback. They'd sooner go to warmer locations like Kelowna or the Lower Mainland, but a big positive is the Northern Medical Program, which allows physicians to add teaching to their professional lives." New specialists coming on board last year were a pediatrician, anesthetist, psychiatrist, internist, pathologist and an ear, nose and throat specialist. Prince George has been without an ENT specialist since Dr. Keith Prendergast retired about four years ago, so acquiring one has been a big gain, Kelly said of Dr. Sergei Filatov, who came here following residency training at UBC. Dr. Dan Horvat, Northern Interior medical director, added a vascular surgeon has joined the staff, an anesthetist is slated to begin work this month, two more internal medicine specialists have committed to relocate here and two more anesthetists have formally expressed interest in coming to Prince George. Kelly said the recruiting effort led by Dr. Stephan Ferreira is also "being cramped by lack of capacity at Prince George Regional Hospital." -- See CAPACITY on page 3

Unlocking cancer's deadly secrets

Submitted photo

Dr. Chow Lee, back row in the light blue sweater, and former UNBC student Dan Sparanese, not pictured, have published three discoveries related to their cancer research at UNBC. Pictured here are the current group of students assisting Dr. Lee in his research on controlling the aggressiveness of cancer cells.

UNBC research groundbreaking
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff A team of researchers at UNBC has made three important breakthroughs in cancer research. Biochemistry professor Dr. Chow Lee and his team of student researchers has described how to destroy two aspects of cancer that make it so deadly. At the same time, they have identified why it can be so difficult to treat. "This research was carried out by basically one of my outstanding graduate students, Dan Sparanese, and this research was done entirely in Prince George at UNBC," Lee said. "So Dan spent about a year and a half doing these experiments, but in terms of the bigger picture we have been pursuing this work for probably about four or five years now." The findings appeared Monday in a prestigious genetic research journal called Nucleic Acids Research, published by the Oxford University Press. -- See FINDINGS on page 3

FIRST FINDS
 The UNBC team has been the first to identify a naturally occurring enzyme that can destroy both c-myc and MDR1 mRNAs.  The UNBC team has been the first to prove that CRD-BP binds to MDR1 mRNA, thereby protecting the genetic material. This mRNA is used by cancer cells to produce lots of MDR1 protein, which enables the cancer cells to pump out chemotherapy drugs before they have a chance to work.  The UNBC team has been the first to identify that the enzyme only works when CRD-BP isn't already bound to the c-myc and MDR1 mRNAs.

High : -3 Low : -9 page 2

This graphic illustrates how the CRD-BP protein can defeat an enzyme that accelerates the spread of cancer.

INDEX
Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 16 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . .3,5,6,13 Classified . . . . . . . . . . .19-21 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,15

Forestry training cut despite jobs for grads
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The announced closure of the B.C. Institute of Technology's two forestry programs because of declining enrolment is a trend being felt throughout the province and Canada, say postsecondar y forestr y educators in Prince George. It's a trend even though there's high demand for graduates for these programs, College of New Caledonia instructor Ed Morrice said Monday. "I've probably got well over 50 job posting from different companies, some won't get any response, and they've been looking since October," he said. As well as the announced BCIT closure, Morrice said the forestry program at Northwest Community College in Terrace closed several years ago. The Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek has also been put on closure notice because of declining enrolment. It has a year to turn its program around, said Morrice. CNC has managed to maintain its forestry program, started in 1970, but enrolment is down as well. It has only four full-time students in the second year of its two-year diploma program, and another 17 in first year. The program has room for 20 students in each year, a seating number that had been knocked back from a high of 37. The college's forestr y program turns out graduates that often fill supervisor roles in silviculture, timber surveys and road layout, playing a key role in the forest sector, said Morrice. Forestry professionals will also play a significant role in dealing with the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle epidemic, helping restore and rehabilitate the forest base, and as a result will be in increasing demand, he said. -- See NEGATIVE on page 3

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