Latest news with #RobArmstrong
Hamilton Spectator
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Canada's para hockey players join women, NHLers at 2026 orientation camps
CALGARY - Hockey Canada has invited 20 para hockey players to a national team orientation camp in Calgary as first step toward the 2026 Paralympic Games. The roster includes 16 players who helped Canada win gold at the 2024 world championship, as well as nine who claimed a silver medal at the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Defenders Rob Armstrong, Zach Lavin and Tyrone Henry, forwards Adam Dixon, Liam Hickey, James Dunn, Tyler McGregor and Anton Jacobs-Webb and goaltender Adam Kingsmill played on both squads. The three goalies, six defenceman and 11 forwards will participate in an orientation camp Aug. 26-28 alongside 30 women and 42 NHL players also summoned to Calgary for the women's and men's Olympic team camps. The Paralympic Games run March 5-15 after the Olympic Games Feb. 6-22 in Milan and Cortina, Italy. Hockey Canada senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond called the camps the first step toward the goal of winning three gold medals across Olympic and Paralympic hockey. 'While the next several months will bring intense evaluation and difficult roster decisions, we look forward to kicking off the season in Calgary and giving our athletes and staff a chance to come together and start to become one team as we set our sights on February,' he said Friday in a statement. Each 15-player Paralympic roster will include two goalies. Goaltenders Corbin Watson and Jean-François Huneault, defenders Shawn Burnett, Gavin Baggs and Auren Halbert and forwards Vincent Boily, Jonathan Daigle, Dominic Cozzalino, Matteo Pellizari, Micah Kovacevich and Mathieu Lelièvre round out Canada's camp roster. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada's para hockey players join women, NHLers at 2026 orientation camps
CALGARY – Hockey Canada has invited 20 para hockey players to a national team orientation camp in Calgary as first step toward the 2026 Paralympic Games. The roster includes 16 players who helped Canada win gold at the 2024 world championship, as well as nine who claimed a silver medal at the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Defenders Rob Armstrong, Zach Lavin and Tyrone Henry, forwards Adam Dixon, Liam Hickey, James Dunn, Tyler McGregor and Anton Jacobs-Webb and goaltender Adam Kingsmill played on both squads. The three goalies, six defenceman and 11 forwards will participate in an orientation camp Aug. 26-28 alongside 30 women and 42 NHL players also summoned to Calgary for the women's and men's Olympic team camps. The Paralympic Games run March 5-15 after the Olympic Games Feb. 6-22 in Milan and Cortina, Italy. Hockey Canada senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond called the camps the first step toward the goal of winning three gold medals across Olympic and Paralympic hockey. 'While the next several months will bring intense evaluation and difficult roster decisions, we look forward to kicking off the season in Calgary and giving our athletes and staff a chance to come together and start to become one team as we set our sights on February,' he said Friday in a statement. Each 15-player Paralympic roster will include two goalies. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Goaltenders Corbin Watson and Jean-François Huneault, defenders Shawn Burnett, Gavin Baggs and Auren Halbert and forwards Vincent Boily, Jonathan Daigle, Dominic Cozzalino, Matteo Pellizari, Micah Kovacevich and Mathieu Lelièvre round out Canada's camp roster. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025.
ABC News
28-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Rain brings relief in parched Victoria and puts smiles on farmers' faces
Drought-affected farmers in Victoria are rejoicing after soaking rain brought relief to their parched paddocks over the weekend. Most of the state received between 20 and 60 millimetres of rain, with some areas getting more than others. At Werrimull, west of Mildura, Nick Hards tipped 20 millimetres out of his gauge. "It's going to give a lot of [farmers] a lot of hope for some sort of outcome for the year. "This brings us to about 50mm for the year. It's the toughest season we've had for quite a while, rainfall-wise." Cattle farmer Janice Newnham scored a "fantastic" 50mm at Walwa, in the state's north-east. "The rain came down quite densely, so it was very grey but the catchment dams are all filled," she said. "The calves who have dropped over the last couple of weeks are looking a bit cold and scared. "They haven't seen much rain before." Over at Ararat in Victoria's west, about 30mm of rain fell on Rob Armstrong's two farms. His dry dams started filling up and the slippery conditions took a bit of getting used to again. "I couldn't even remember how to put [my vehicle] in four-wheel drive. It's that long since I've used it," Mr Armstrong joked. Rainfall deficiencies have continued across Australia's southern agricultural areas for months. Mr Armstrong said it was a relief to get a good drop of rain. "Not having to worry about water is a wonderful thing on a farm," he said. "A lot of farmers will sleep a lot better because of this. "It's been a knife edge for a long time." For Ben Charleson, the rain has "taken the pressure off for the time being". The sheep and cropping farmer at Kingston, north of Ballarat, said he was "lucky" to get 63mm. "We've got water in a few dams, and there's water running around the place now, which is terrific," he said. Mr Charleson said his crops would still need a "good" spring to do well this year and his fodder needed warmth to grow. "It's definitely set us up, but we're behind the eight ball to where we usually would be. But Nick Hards said he needed more rain for his crops to keep growing near Mildura. "Ideally we need follow-up rain in a week or two," Mr Hards said. Winter rainfall has boosted water storages in the south-west of the state, after hitting low levels in early June. Barwon Water said the Apollo Bay, Marengo and Skenes Creek storages were now at 68 per cent, allowing stage 2 water restrictions to be lifted in those towns on Friday, August 1. Stage 2 water restrictions remain in place in Daylesford and Hepburn in central Victoria and Euroa and Violet Town in the state's north-east.
ABC News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
CFA volunteers and farmers protest Victoria's proposed Emergency Services Levy
Farmers and volunteer firefighters angry about a new emergency services tax have blocked traffic on Melbourne's West Gate Bridge to draw attention to what they describe as an unjust burden. "It's not viable for farmers to be able to pay that tax," farmer Rob Armstrong said. A convoy of more than a dozen fire trucks and farm vehicles set a creeping pace during peak hour this morning before lining Spring Street outside Parliament House. The state government is moving to introduce a new Emergency Services Levy, which would replace the existing Fire Services Levy already attached to land rates in Victoria. Under the planned tax changes, some farmers say the amount they pay will increase by tens of thousands of dollars. "It stops farmers employing people because they've got to pay a bill to the government for $80,000 — well, there's someone's wage," Mr Armstrong said. He said he was baffled by the government's intentions of introducing even higher taxes during drought periods. "I actually find it really hard to believe that a government would think this was a good idea, he said. Under both the existing Fire Services Levy, and the planned Emergency Services Levy, primary production land is taxed at a higher rate. Money raised will go towards fire services, the SES, state control centre and triple zero. "It's something our the State Emergency Services have been calling for, they're also volunteers," Premier Jacinta Allan said. "We've introduced this change because we want to increase support for our emergency services. To bring funding to the state emergency services for the first time in a similar way to the fire services." But farmers protesting today claim it will increase their tax burden, without contributing materially more to local CFA brigades, which many farmers also volunteer for. "Not only is it a horrendous tax, we are firefighters. We're either the member of a CFA truck or we're a private unit," Mr Armstrong said. "We risk our lives … I spent all Christmas Day on a fire truck in the Grampians, missed out on all the fun, trying to look after people's farms. The upper house is expected to vote on the controversial new tax as soon as Tuesday, when parliament returns. Opposition Leader Brad Battin was at the rally and called on the government to drop the tax. "There are farmers here that are struggling each and every day because of the drought that many people will not even talk about, and then the government wants to throw a tax on them," Mr Battin said. "[The government must] ensure that this tax is stopped in the first sitting of parliament and never gets put back on the table." CFA volunteers say they're furious about getting slugged with an extra tax when they already contribute time — and in many cases — money to their local brigades as well. The government has flagged exemptions for CFA volunteers on the levy charged on their place of residence. But those who do the job say that doesn't go far enough, because it doesn't take into account they way farms are structured. Ms Allan said as someone who lives in a very high fire risk area in rural Victoria, she deeply understood and appreciated the work that fire and emergency services did to keep the community safe. "We need to ensure we're investing in our fire and emergency services and every dollar through the fire and emergency services volunteer fund will be invested in our emergency services." Tom Drife is a farmer from Glendaruel, on the rural fringe of Ballarat. He told the ABC's Victorian Country Hour that 15 to 20 fire trucks from central and northern Victorian communities were driven to the premier's office at lunchtime today. "A whole heap of proud CFA volunteers have come to Bendigo, to Jacinta Allan's office and basically handed the keys (of the trucks) back," Mr Drife said. "We're getting pushed beyond our limits and we decided to do something she'll take notice of. "The tax as it's proposed is unfairly skewed towards farmers. Our tax will go up 189 per cent which is very significant for all operations." He said his bill would increase from $3,000 to about $14,000. "It's along the lines of $2 billion ripped out of regional Victoria. That $2 billion would have been spent in regional Victoria," Mr Drife said. "It's going to go straight back to Melbourne and our communities are just going to be left high and dry. "Most of Victoria's had a very tough season this year, we are going to struggle to pay that if it comes in, but even on a good season, the community can't afford to pay that." There was no-one at the premier's office today and the keys to the fire trucks have been left at the front door.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Artax Biopharma Presents New Preclinical Data on Nck Modulators at 2025 AAD Annual Meeting
Nck modulator reduced evidence of inflammation in an animal model of dermal irritation Compelling preclinical data support continued development of Nck modulators in atopic dermatitis CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artax Biopharma, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on transforming the treatment of autoimmune diseases, today announced the presentation of new preclinical data in atopic dermatitis models with Nck modulators, in an ePoster with oral presentation at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting, taking place March 7-11, in Orlando, Florida. 'These preclinical results highlight the potential breadth and depth of Nck modulation, a completely novel mechanism which we believe has the potential to achieve true immunomodulation for a broad range of autoimmune conditions,' said Dr. Rob Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer of Artax Biopharma. 'On the heels of our recently announced positive Phase 2a data in patients living with psoriasis, we look forward to continuing to evaluate the potential of Nck modulation to impact TCR signaling activation in response to self-antigens and offer an alternative to broad immunosuppression for patients with serious autoimmune diseases.' ePoster presentation 'TCR-Nck Modulators: Pioneering Oral Modulation of T Cell Receptor Activation Holding the Promise of Treating Dermatologic Diseases,' Christopher L. VanDeusen, PhD; Shannon Dwyer; D. Scott Batty Jr, MD; Aldo Borroto, PhD; Andrés P Gagete, PhD; Robert W. Armstrong, PhD; Balbino Alarcón, PhD Dysregulated TCR signaling leads to T-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. Nck modulators specifically block Nck recruitment upon TCR activation, correcting erroneous activation. Nck plays a fundamental role in increased TCR signaling triggered by self-antigens, which is a key upstream event in autoimmune diseases. Nck modulators act by modulating T cell activation, rather than broadly suppressing it. Key findings include: Dose-dependent decrease in dust mite induced cytokine production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from an atopic dermatitis patient. Treatment of healthy PBMCs with AX-158 resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in cytokine release across all T helper cell subtypes including IL-17, IL-4 and IL-13. Oral Nck modulator AX-194 significantly reduced the appearance of inflammation in an imiquimod model of dermal irritation, as demonstrated by reduction in the total number of hematopoietic cells and inflammatory macrophages in the skin. Based on this preclinical evidence, the Artax team is planning further studies in additional autoimmune diseases to explore the potential of Nck modulators to correct erroneous T cell activation in dermal autoimmune disorders. About Artax BiopharmaArtax Biopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company transforming the treatment of T Cell-driven autoimmune diseases. Artax's first-in-class oral small molecules aim to deliver immune system modulation without immunosuppression, potentially unlocking new treatment options as both monotherapy and in combination with other treatments. Artax Biopharma is based in the Boston area and raised funding from investors including Advent Life Sciences, Sound Bioventures, The Termeer Family Office, the Fuhrer Family Office and Columbus Venture Partners. For more info, see or follow us on LinkedIn. About Nck modulation We believe there is significant potential for Nck modulation to revolutionize treatment of T Cell-driven diseases. Immunomodulation maintains healthy control of the immune system, while addressing the underlying source of T Cell-driven diseases. Central to a well-functioning immune system is the T Cell Receptor (TCR). When TCR signaling becomes dysregulated, it causes T Cell-driven conditions, including autoimmune diseases. We believe the immunomodulation mechanism offered by our investigational agents holds broad potential to revolutionize how these T Cell-driven autoimmune diseases are addressed, while not impairing the ability of a patient's immune system to function properly. AX-158, our lead Nck modulator, has shown strong, broad cytokine modulation as well as modulation of mixed lymphocyte reactions. Good data on therapeutic efficacy with AX-158 were observed in murine models of self-antigen activation (EAE), with a prolonged pharmacodynamic effect in EAE, suggesting durable immune modulation. AX-158 showed no immunosuppression in models of strong antigen stimulation. Studies with AX-158 showed substantial preclinical evidence of activity in the Th2, Th17, Th1/Th0 pathways, suggesting that applications could be quite broad across the autoimmune space. For future clinical study inquiries: contact@ Contacts: Maria Nichol, DPhil, EPA, CPA Chief Business Officer mnichol@ Media: Madelin HawtinLifeSci Communicationsmhawtin@ in to access your portfolio
