An article posted on Motherboard discusses the boycott of several Canadian scientists against attending US conferences as a form of protest against the Trump administration’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. Western’s own neuroscientist Dr. Owen has offered to compensate the cancellation fees of others from Western’s Brain and Mind Institute and pay for international scientists to come to the university to present their research. Dr. Minda and the Categorization Lab are also considering joining the boycott, but a final decision has not yet been made.

Exciting new research published in Patient Education and Counseling was led by Karen Zhang, a recent grad from the Categorization Lab. Zhang and her fellow researchers revealed that providing explanation for why illness management is effective for reducing symptomatology can help improve the knowledge and application of health information for younger individuals. In contrast, reducing verbal demands of patient education material may help older adults learn new health information better.