Latest news with #Traynor
Calgary Herald
17-07-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
SLR Consulting finds new home in historic Ribtor West building
Keeping in touch with clients after the deal is done worked well for Cody Watson, vice-president and office practice lead at JLL. When Rob Traynor, managing principal at SLR Consulting, received notice that the building his office was in was being converted into residential apartments, he had to move fast to find a new home. Article content He says that as soon as the news was out, he was approached by a number of commercial realtors wanting to help. But he says Watson had done good work negotiating the lease at Joffre Place, and had 'called once in a while to see if all was well' — so he got the nod to help find new space. Article content Article content Among the activity of Stampede week, SLR Consulting moved into 13,000 square feet on the main floor of the Ribtor West building, a 1912 character block owned by Ronmor, and now designated as a municipal historic resource. When Traynor joined the firm in 2015 it had a staff of 15 — now it employs 85 in Calgary, but like many other companies it works on a hybrid system, so not all of the staff are in the office at the same time. Article content Article content Being able to delegate the job of finding the right space in a great location was a real advantage for Traynor, who is particularly busy in his role as managing principal of the firm's Calgary office, as well as with his responsibilities as the leader of SLR's oil and gas sector for Canada. Article content SLR Consulting — with a head office in London, U.K. — was established 30 years ago to help solve sustainability issues, be they strategic, engineering or technical. A truly global organization, SLR has more than 130 offices in 127 countries, manned by more than 4,500 employees. Article content Article content Canada was added as an operational region in 2007 with the acquisition of Vancouver-based Seacor Environmental — it now operates out of 22 offices across the country. Article content Traynor was manager of business development for Environmental Health Professionals until it was purchased by Golder Associates. He remained at Golder for 12 years, where he was senior partner and director of global strategic partnerships before joining SLR, where he leads a team of knowledgeable energy specialists while working closely with SLR's global leadership team. Article content The Calgary office has a diverse portfolio of accounts, many of them involved in managing and reducing risk in all of its forms — from cleaning up contaminated land, to acoustic and air-quality concerns. As advisers on environmental sustainability the staff are often called on to share work with other SLR offices, especially on federal government tasks that spread across the country.
The Irish Sun
24-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
‘Loyalties change' – Gardai reissue info appeal over killing of Monaghan man, 20, in 14-year-old hit-and-run case
GARDAI have renewed their appeal for information 14 years after the death of a 20-year-old man in a hit-and-run collision. Fintan Traynor was killed in a collision in Lemgare in Clontibret, Co 2 Gardai belive an Audi A4 was invlved in the crash Credit: angardasiochana 2 Fintan was killed in a hit and run in 2011 Credit: angardasiochana The incident occurred early in the morning of Sunday, June 26, 2011. Tomorrow will mark the 14th anniversary of the young man's passing. Traynor had been walking home from a night out in Castleblayney when he was struck by the The driver of the car did not stop driving and fled the scene. READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS This is because the front lower portion of the grille of that same car was found at the scene of the collision. Over the past 14 years, Gardai have been investigating the case, interviewing over 400 suspects. However, they vehicle and the driver of it have not yet been located. Most read in The Irish Sun Now, on the anniversary of Traynor's death, They said that people may now feel more comfortable in coming forward with information. CONTACT INFO Anyone who might be able to assist has been urged to contact Gardai. This can be done by getting in touch with Monaghan Garda Station on 04777200 or the Garda confidential line on 1800666111. Those wishing to make contact can also do so by going to any Garda station with their information. Detective Inspector Adrian Durcan of the Monaghan Garda District made the appeal. 'DID SOMEONE CONFIDE IN YOU?' He said: "I am appealing to the public that if they have any information to please come forward. "With the passage of time, now perhaps someone may feel more comfortable coming forward with information in relation to this matter. "Do you know someone who may have had damage to an Audi car around this period? "Did someone confide in you? "In 14 years loyalties, friendships and relationships change and perhaps now you are in a position to provide the investigation team with the vital information that would locate the vehicle and driver. "You can contact us in Monaghan Garda Station on 047 77200 or alternatively you can contact us by calling the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111.''
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
50 years later, Air Force pilot recalls Operation Babylift flight that killed 138
SAIGON, Vietnam — As the Vietnam War continued into the 1970s, pressure to get U.S. troops out of the fray was mounting. By 1973, troops finally began withdrawing from one of the most unpopular conflicts in American history. But what remained in Vietnam was a population of the most vulnerable, innocent bystanders: babies and young children. Refusing to comply with the guidelines of the Paris Peace Accords, the North Vietnamese Army continued its onslaught in the South as it worked its way to the nation's capital of Saigon. As the situation became more dire, President Gerald Ford ordered the evacuation of nearly 3,000 Vietnamese orphans, known as Operation Babylift. The first flight was scheduled for April 4, 1975. At the time, Dennis 'Bud' Traynor was an Air Force captain, tasked with flying his C5-A Galaxy aircraft into Saigon with a type of cargo he was unfamiliar with. 'We're used to working in tons not in people,' said the now-retired Air Force colonel. 'Upstairs in the troop compartment in the 73 seats we would put two kids, a pillow, a juice and a seatbelt. Next seat.' The older, more facile children were placed in the cargo department underneath the aircraft. With no seating, they lined the bottom of the aircraft with a blanket to shield them from the metal surface beneath them. There were 314 people on board, 250 of them were children. Just minutes into the flight, the aircraft experienced a rapid decompression. 'There was a loud bang, the cockpit filled with condensation, and I remember I didn't have my feet on the rudder pedals and they went BAM,' Traynor said. It was Traynor's first experience with a crisis of this magnitude while flying the C5. 'I sent a scanner,' Traynor said. 'He described the back of the airplane as a big gaping hole with the flight control cables hanging out the back like spaghetti.' As Traynor wrestled with the crippled aircraft, he decided to guide it to a nearby rice paddy just miles from Tan Son Nhut airport. The C5 bounced on the ground, crushing the cargo department below it as it glided to a stop hundreds of yards from where it first made contact with the remote land. 'I cranked open the window, and normally it would be 33-feet in the air but of course, I'm just stepping out onto the ground,' Traynor said. 'I got out and I look back toward the side of the flight deck and the wings were burning.' Despite the devastation and scattered debris, Traynor began looking for any survivors. With the help of local farmers, they were able to help two crew members trapped in the wreckage. But there was plenty of horror left to be uncovered. 'I was hoping to find live kids, but I did not,' Traynor said. 'Other people had gone out towards the fire and looked out, [at] what a hundred yards away was the troop compartment.' That compartment is where the youngest passengers were stowed. As Traynor got closer to the wreckage, he could see survivors being pulled out. Of the 250 children who took off on the flight, 78 died in the crash. But his skills as a pilot saved 176 people. He received the Air Force Cross for extraordinary heroism and airmanship. 'I don't think the crew took ownership of the deaths,' Traynor said. 'They took ownership of the lives.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
09-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian researchers reach ‘major milestone' in search for ALS treatment
TORONTO - Standing in an MRI control room packed with fellow ALS researchers, Dr. Lorne Zinman excitedly points to the brain scan on his phone. There's a white spot on the image, right where Bill Traynor's motor cortex is. The 70-year-old patient is lying on the MRI bed with his head inside a dome that sends focused ultrasound waves to his head in the experimental trial. The white spot signals that the immunoglobulin Traynor received intravenously has crossed the blood-brain barrier into the precise area the researchers wanted it to go. In an interview just before the procedure, Zinman talked about how significant this result would be in the search for treatment of the devastating neurological disorder. 'This is a major milestone,' the neurologist and director of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's ALS clinic said Wednesday. 'Now that we have the capability of opening up the blood-brain barrier to exactly target where ALS starts, I'm really excited about the future.' Traynor is the first of six patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial to determine the safety of administering drugs through non-invasive ultrasound waves to ALS patients. He's the world's first ALS patient to receive a drug this way, said Zinman, who is co-lead investigator of the trial. Sunnybrook researchers have previously studied the experimental procedure, called focused ultrasound, for patients with Alzheimer's disease, and those with essential tremor, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable shaking. 'The blood-brain barrier is there to protect us, so it keeps viruses, bacteria (and) toxins outside the brain,' said Dr. Agessandro Abrahao, co-lead investigator of the clinical trial and Traynor's neurologist at the Sunnybrook ALS clinic. The problem is that it also blocks access to the brain for drugs that could potentially treat ALS. Temporarily opening the barrier to let those drugs through is a solution, Abrahao said, noting that it's critical that the barrier closes after the therapy is delivered. Traynor's day began with an intravenous infusion of immunoglobulin, an antibody therapy. He also received an injection of microbubbles. Researchers then placed a helmet, invented by Sunnybrook scientist Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, on Traynor's head. The helmet has 4,000 transducers that deliver focused ultrasound waves that cause the microbubbles to expand and contract in the small blood vessels in a targeted area. Those expansions and contractions open the blood-brain barrier in the precise spot where the immunoglobulin circulating in the blood needs to get through. Traynor laid down with his helmeted head inside an MRI machine so that the research team could see in real time that the focused ultrasound targeted the correct part of the brain. In future trials, they hope to eliminate the need for the MRI by personalizing a focused ultrasound helmet for each patient's brain where the target points are pre-set and the MRI imaging isn't needed during the procedure. 'MRIs sometimes are limited resources. They're (also) difficult for patients. Imagine being in a tiny tunnel for a long period of time,' said Abrahao. Traynor tolerated the whole procedure beautifully, both Abrahao and Zinman said. Afterward, his blood-brain barrier closed as hoped and he was expected to be discharged from hospital Friday. The researchers emphasized that this was a very early-stage trial and will not result in a treatment for ALS. Later stage trials, with more participants, will be needed. But it's an important step, they say, because it will allow them to start testing different drugs that show promise. Zinman and Abrahao are constantly reminded of the urgent need to find a drug. Their ALS clinic cares for about 700 patients. They're expected to survive about three to five years after their first symptom. 'ALS is a horrible, terminal, incurable neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive decline of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord,' Zinman said. 'Sadly, we have about three or four deaths a week in our clinic alone, and it's awful. Literally, thousands of patients have died on my watch. And I think about that every day and how we haven't yet had major interventions to change that,' Zinman said. For this trial, they decided to use immunoglobulin because it suppresses inflammation, he said. 'We know that the immune system is not normal in ALS. We know that it shifts to sort of a pro-inflammatory state where the immune system is assisting in the destruction of these motor neurons,' he said. Researchers actually tried immunoglobulin in the 1990s as a possible treatment for ALS, but it showed no effect, he said. But it wasn't given a fair shot, he said, because less than 0.01 per cent of a dose can cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the motor cortex. The researchers will be looking for biomarkers of inflammation in Traynor's blood and cerebrospinal fluid to see if the immunoglobulin had any effect, Abrahao said. They've cautioned Traynor that this trial is not expected to result in any form of treatment. But Traynor still sees the study as a source of hope. 'It's kind of exciting to be a guinea pig,' he said. He said his first symptom appeared about 10 months ago while walking down the street with his ex-wife. 'She said, 'Bill, your right foot is kind of like slapping the ground.' And being a guy, I said, 'Nah, it's nothing. It'll go away.'' 'It didn't go away,' he said, noting that he now uses canes to walk. Getting an ALS diagnosis felt like a 'death sentence,' Traynor said. But he's determined to continue living his active life and not give up. 'I'm one of these kinds of guys that I'm super positive.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian researchers reach ‘major milestone' in search for ALS treatment
TORONTO – Standing in an MRI control room packed with fellow ALS researchers, Dr. Lorne Zinman excitedly points to the brain scan on his phone. There's a white spot on the image, right where Bill Traynor's motor cortex is. The 70-year-old patient is lying on the MRI bed with his head inside a dome that sends focused ultrasound waves to his head in the experimental trial. The white spot signals that the immunoglobulin Traynor received intravenously has crossed the blood-brain barrier into the precise area the researchers wanted it to go. In an interview just before the procedure, Zinman talked about how significant this result would be in the search for treatment of the devastating neurological disorder. 'This is a major milestone,' the neurologist and director of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's ALS clinic said Wednesday. 'Now that we have the capability of opening up the blood-brain barrier to exactly target where ALS starts, I'm really excited about the future.' Traynor is the first of six patients in a Phase 1 clinical trial to determine the safety of administering drugs through non-invasive ultrasound waves to ALS patients. He's the world's first ALS patient to receive a drug this way, said Zinman, who is co-lead investigator of the trial. Sunnybrook researchers have previously studied the experimental procedure, called focused ultrasound, for patients with Alzheimer's disease, and those with essential tremor, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable shaking. 'The blood-brain barrier is there to protect us, so it keeps viruses, bacteria (and) toxins outside the brain,' said Dr. Agessandro Abrahao, co-lead investigator of the clinical trial and Traynor's neurologist at the Sunnybrook ALS clinic. The problem is that it also blocks access to the brain for drugs that could potentially treat ALS. Temporarily opening the barrier to let those drugs through is a solution, Abrahao said, noting that it's critical that the barrier closes after the therapy is delivered. Traynor's day began with an intravenous infusion of immunoglobulin, an antibody therapy. He also received an injection of microbubbles. Researchers then placed a helmet, invented by Sunnybrook scientist Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, on Traynor's head. The helmet has 4,000 transducers that deliver focused ultrasound waves that cause the microbubbles to expand and contract in the small blood vessels in a targeted area. Those expansions and contractions open the blood-brain barrier in the precise spot where the immunoglobulin circulating in the blood needs to get through. Traynor laid down with his helmeted head inside an MRI machine so that the research team could see in real time that the focused ultrasound targeted the correct part of the brain. In future trials, they hope to eliminate the need for the MRI by personalizing a focused ultrasound helmet for each patient's brain where the target points are pre-set and the MRI imaging isn't needed during the procedure. 'MRIs sometimes are limited resources. They're (also) difficult for patients. Imagine being in a tiny tunnel for a long period of time,' said Abrahao. Traynor tolerated the whole procedure beautifully, both Abrahao and Zinman said. Afterward, his blood-brain barrier closed as hoped and he was expected to be discharged from hospital Friday. The researchers emphasized that this was a very early-stage trial and will not result in a treatment for ALS. Later stage trials, with more participants, will be needed. But it's an important step, they say, because it will allow them to start testing different drugs that show promise. Zinman and Abrahao are constantly reminded of the urgent need to find a drug. Their ALS clinic cares for about 700 patients. They're expected to survive about three to five years after their first symptom. 'ALS is a horrible, terminal, incurable neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive decline of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord,' Zinman said. 'Sadly, we have about three or four deaths a week in our clinic alone, and it's awful. Literally, thousands of patients have died on my watch. And I think about that every day and how we haven't yet had major interventions to change that,' Zinman said. For this trial, they decided to use immunoglobulin because it suppresses inflammation, he said. 'We know that the immune system is not normal in ALS. We know that it shifts to sort of a pro-inflammatory state where the immune system is assisting in the destruction of these motor neurons,' he said. Researchers actually tried immunoglobulin in the 1990s as a possible treatment for ALS, but it showed no effect, he said. But it wasn't given a fair shot, he said, because less than 0.01 per cent of a dose can cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the motor cortex. The researchers will be looking for biomarkers of inflammation in Traynor's blood and cerebrospinal fluid to see if the immunoglobulin had any effect, Abrahao said. They've cautioned Traynor that this trial is not expected to result in any form of treatment. But Traynor still sees the study as a source of hope. 'It's kind of exciting to be a guinea pig,' he said. He said his first symptom appeared about 10 months ago while walking down the street with his ex-wife. 'She said, 'Bill, your right foot is kind of like slapping the ground.' And being a guy, I said, 'Nah, it's nothing. It'll go away.'' 'It didn't go away,' he said, noting that he now uses canes to walk. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Getting an ALS diagnosis felt like a 'death sentence,' Traynor said. But he's determined to continue living his active life and not give up. 'I'm one of these kinds of guys that I'm super positive.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
