The inaugartion event was a complet success. Thank you very much to every one for comming and for your support.
Andrés Palacios (UCL Col. Scty President 2013-2014)
Ana María Ortiz (UCL Col. Scty President 2012-2013)
UCL Vice-Provost (International) Michel Worton
Ambassador Mauricio Rodríguez
Are you interested in learning about an amazingly biodiverse country, lavished by emeralds, where coffee is soft and delicious, and home to world renowned artists such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Shakira?
Whether you are a Colombian by birth or by heart, you will not want to miss the opportunity to join UCL's Colombian Society! The Colombian Society at UCL, which, as you may know, is a new society consolidated at the end of last year. We are currently working on our first event which is our inauguration.
1st of March, 5:45 - 7:00 pm at the Wilkins Old Refectory
Urban mobility and poverty: Lessons from Medellín and Soacha, Colombia
Prof. Julio Davila et al. (UCL-UNAL)
"This book examines the experience of Medellín in seeking to reduce poverty and integrate large marginalised areas, marked by years of severe poverty and violence, into the urban fabric. It pays particular attention to the impact of two aerial cable-cars connecting high density hilly neighbourhoods with the rest of the city, and an associated urban upgrading programme. It also contrasts Medellín’s successful experience with that of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, where an aerial cable-car has been proposed as a means of linking two low-income hilly neighbourhoods with a main arterial road. The contrast between a well-resourced, well-managed municipality like Medellín with a dense and homogenously poor and institutionally weak municipality like Soacha offers valuable lessons to other cities in Latin America and elsewhere." Learn more
Population Genetics of American Continent
Prof Andres Ruiz-Linares (Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment) extensive research on population genetics in America includes several projects involving Colombian population. For instance, a genetic demography of Antioquia. "The remarkable history of this continent offers unique opportunities for examining fundamental question about human evolution and the genetic basis of human phenotypic variation." Learn more
Migration as a social determinant of dengue fever transmission in Colombia
Adriana Pacheco-Coral (PhD student) from Department of Epidemiology & Public Health.
"In Colombia as a consequence of internal armed conflict there are large groups of displaced populations; their health needs vary from malnutrition, infectious diseases and mental illnesses.
In this context, Colombia’s faces several problems regarding the health status of displaced populations. Despite the public health policies -which have tried to respond to this complex situation, the perpetuation of the migration process accentuates the incidence of health problems and, especially, infectious diseases such as dengue fever in Colombia. It seems that forced migration could affect the dynamic of infectious diseases transmission in host cities. The aim of this study is assessing the role of migration process in dengue’s transmission at endemic regions that are host cities for displaced population." Learn more
Child Development in Developing Countries
Prof. Orazio Atanassio studied how to improve early child development through the program "Madres Líderes" which is part of the broad intervention "Familias in Acción" in Colombia.
More details on UCL Lunch Lectures
Colombian guerrillas help UCL scientists locate literacy in the brain
Study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science
"The unique study of former guerrillas in Colombia, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, enabled researchers to see how brain structure changed after learning to read.
(...)
The researchers found that for those participants who had learnt to read, the density of grey matter (where the 'processing' is done) was higher in several areas of the left hemisphere of the brain. As might be expected, these were the areas that are responsible for recognising letter shapes and translating the letters into speech sounds and their meanings. Reading also increased the strength of the 'white matter' connections between the different processing regions." Learn More
Dear colleagues, For a long time, Colombians have attended to University College London, one
of the best universities in the world. However, few people from the UCL
community know about the beauty and potential of this South American country,
principally owing to negative media coverage - news related to the armed
conflict or drugs trafficking are the main stories that people hear about. The
UCL Colombian Society aims to change the image of the country; it is not only
representing Colombia, but also creating a space in UCL, London and across the
United Kingdom, where qualified opinions about Colombia are generated.
This is the beginning of an important project that will change the UCL
experience for prospective UCL Colombian students and the UCL community as a
whole. Through the Colombia UCL Society, people in the UK will know more about
Colombia and what the country has to offer. Although there are fundamental
challenges that need to be resolved, Colombia has become one of Latin America's
most important economies and a gateway to global business in the region. It is
a country full of opportunity, with an ambitious vision to become a regional
leader. The Urban Land Institute’s decision to award Medellín joint
finalist status with New York and Tel Aviv for Most Innovative City in the
World is testament to the new Colombia.
We, the group of UCL Alumni living in Colombia, applaud the Colombian
students who have been working hard on the creation of the UCL Colombian
Society. They can all count on our support and we are happy to contribute to
the purposes they have outlined. We have been in contact with this active and
inspiring group, and we are proud to announce that there are already some
activities that we plan to organize together. We hope to run a collaborative
agenda and to help people in Colombia know more about the University and what
Colombians are doing at UCL.
Wishing you all
the best.
Sincerely,
Juanita
Saenz Samper Jessica
Wong Christopher Banahan Sebastián Tobón Carlos Ramirez Pamela Góngora Salazar
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