August 15, 2017 | Research
Government awards $5.7 million for U of T research
By Jennifer Robinson
Ruby May Sullan in her UTSC lab. Sullan's $195,294 grant will support her study of “integrated atomic force microscopy (AFM)-optical microscopy facility for the nanoscale study of microbial biofilms.” Photo by Ken Jones.
The nanostructures of biofilms, innovative techniques to clean mining wastewater, how chronic pain changes brain circuitry: projects by 27 scholars at the University of Toronto are sharing $5.7 million in funding from the Government of Canada.
The money for state-of-the-art research tools is through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund, which is designed to help universities attract and retain the best and brightest researchers from around the world.
The U of T projects were among 220 new infrastructure projects worth more than $52 million at 51 universities announced by the government August 15 at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont.
“Our scientists need the best tools and equipment for ground-breaking research and discovery, and we are committed to ensuring they have them,” said federal Science Minister Kirsty Duncan in a news release.
“Their successes will lead to an improved economy and will fuel an active research community here in Canada and internationally.”
To date, the John R. Evans Leaders Fund has awarded almost $11 million this year to U of T scholars to support their research in a number of areas, from using stem cells to fix injured hearts to creating an advanced laboratory to develop large astronomical telescopes.
“As Canada’s top globally ranked research university, it is imperative for U of T researchers to have access to state-of-the-art tools and labs to foster their search for breakthroughs to real-world challenges,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president of research and innovation.
“I’d like to congratulate our 27 researchers and thank the Government of Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation for their continuing support.”
The John R. Evans Leaders Fund recipients affiliated with U of T are:
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Lisa Strug, of the Hospital for Sick Children, $340,200 for “De Novo assembled and phased whole genome sequence for the Canadian cystic fibrosis population.”
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Erin Bobicki, of the department of materials science & engineering, $122,250 for “sustainable mineral processing laboratory.”
Marianne Hatzopoulou, of the department of civil engineering, $200,000 for “characterization of exhaust emissions from on-road vehicles using portable emission monitoring systems (PEMS).”
Naomi Matsuura, of the department of materials science & engineering, $172,250 for “ultrasound-activated nanobiomaterial synthesis and characterization laboratory.”
Marianne Touchie, of the department of civil engineering, $122,250 for a “laboratory for building energy and indoor environment research.”
Lesley Warren, of the department of civil engineering, $232,000 for “new mining, water and environment facility: innovating practice, improving sustainability.”
Masayuki Yano, of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, $140,250 for “advanced research computing cluster for the development of next-generation PDE algorithms.”
Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Michael Mack, of the department of psychology, $150,000 for “the mutual influence of attention and knowledge formation in successful learning.”
Jennifer Ryan, of the department of psychology, the department of psychiatry and Baycrest, $148,039 for “roles of neural, physiological and behavioural variability in cognitive health.”
Margaret Schlichting, of the department of psychology, $130,000 for “linking memory and reasoning in the developing human brain.”
Faculty of Medicine
William Derry, of the department of molecular genetics and the Hospital for Sick Children, $488,064 for “optogenetic analysis of the molecular pathogenesis of cerebral cavernous malformations using super-resolution.”
Mathieu Lupien, of the department of medical biophysics and University Health Network, $777,119 for “target screening and immuno-profiling platform for difficult to treat cancers.”
Karen Maxwell, of the department of biochemistry, $150,000 for “investigation of bacteriophage contributions to bacterial virulence and microbiome dynamics.”
Helen McNeill, of the department of molecular genetics and the Sinai Health System, $472,533 for “dissecting tissue growth and organization at the single cell level.”
Philippe Monnier, of the department of physiology and the University Health Network, $366,237 for “translational research pipeline for retinal and neurodegenerative diseases.”
Arthur Mortha, of the department of immunology, $240,000 for “a research platform to study the compartmentalized crosstalk of host and microbiota.”
Jason Moffat, of the Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, $110,000 for “high-throughput flow cytometry capacity for functional genomics, proteomics and biologics development.”
Ori Rotstein, of the department of surgery and St. Michael’s Hospital, $343,897 for “mechanistic characterization and clinical therapeutic interventions in critical illness.”
University of Toronto Mississauga
Katharina Braeutigam, of the department of biology, $100,000 for “the relationship between genome, epigenome and plant performance.”
Loren Martin, of the department of psychology, $110,000 for “the modification of brain circuits by chronic pain and its effect on behaviour.”
Bailey McMeans, of the department of biology, $100,000 for “using seasonal variation to connect fish physiology and behaviour with ecosystem-level energy and contaminant flow.”
Jennifer Stellar, of the department of psychology, $75,000 for “prosocial emotions laboratory.”
University of Toronto Scarborough
Ashton Anderson, of the department of computer and mathematical sciences, $76,000 for “computational social science lab.”
Blair Armstrong, of the department of psychology, $100,000 for “advancing neural network accounts of cross-linguistic differences, language learning and ambiguity resolution.”
Brett Ford, of the department of psychology, $100,000 for “affective science and health laboratory: integrated and dynamic assessment of experience, behaviour and physiology.”
Gennady Pekhimenko, of the department of computer and mathematical sciences, $85,000 for “heterogeneous systems laboratory.”
Ruby May Sullan, of the department of physical & environmental sciences, $195,294 for “integrated atomic force microscopy (AFM)-optical microscopy facility for the nanoscale study of microbial biofilms.”