Sabbatical Period

2017.V.05 Attended reception aboard the Colombian navy ship Gloria during its visit to Vancouver. Honored by appointment to the rank of Commander in the Colombian National Order of Merit by the Colombian Ambassador in recognition of my work in Canada in genetics applied to anthropology, medicine and pathology.

2017.V.23 Attended opening of an exhibit celebration at the Roxie Walker Galleries of Egyptian Funerary Archaeology at the British Museum, in London, UK by personal invitation of Roxie Walker. Guests came in dinosaur, dragon, mummy and reptile costumes.

2017. VI. 09 Attended formal dinner at the Lucy Cavendish College- University of Cambridge, UK, as a guest of Prof. Dalia Leinarte, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, (CEDAW), United Nations.

Post- Sabbatical Period

2017.X.30 Attended reception and State Dinner at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, on invitation of the Governor General of Canada Julie Payette in honor of the visit to Canada of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Laureate.

2017.XI.09 Attended the launch at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria of the book Kwäday Dän Ts’inchį –Teachings from Long Ago Person Found. Edited by Richard Hebda, Sheila Greer and Al Mackie, this book (688 pages in 37 chapters) compiles scientific analysis and cultural knowledge of a young man and related artifacts found frozen in a glacier in northwestern Canada in 1999. It acquaints us with a life that ended at the time Europeans were arriving in northwestern Canada.

The book was released on October 31, 2017. It is the outcome of and demonstrates a successful collaboration between the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations of the discovery site and the Royal British Columbia Museum. It is currently available for pre-order from the Royal British Columbia Museum online bookstore at: https://publications.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/product/kwaday-dan-tsinchi-teachings-from-long-ago-person-found/.

Acknowledgement is due to my colleagues at UBC’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory of Medicine (Mike Nimmo and David Walker), Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences (Wayne Vogl), MD Undergraduate students (Claudia Chen - recipient of Summer Student fellowship 2006 and Summer Student Research 2007) and (Jacksy Zhao - recipient of Fellowship 2007), colleagues at UBC/University of Victoria’s (Elaine Humphrey) and University of Manitoba’s (Paul Hazelton) that worked with me for so many years as co-authors of chapters attributed to UBC.