A new study by McGill University and the University of Alberta (UofA) paleontologists shows that one type of ancient reptiles evolved a special type of tooth enamel, similar to that of mammals, with high resistance to wear and tear. The study is the first to report this kind of enamel in a fossil reptile.
Indigenous Peoples around the world are suffering disproportionately from the impacts of pollution. After surveying close to 700 articles covering different disciplines and regions of the world, a research team led by Helsinki University and involving McGill has highlighted key factors that contribute to this situation.
The McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative has just funded six new projects through the 2020 Innovation Fund. These one-year projects from Law, Science and Engineering were selected for their potential-for-impact on sustainability challenges. The recipients of this year’s funding, our third Innovation Fund to date, are below. You can see projects funded through previous calls here.
Congratulations to the Sharif Lab for the recent publication of their paper, TACAN Is an Ion Channel Involved in Sensing Mechanical Pain, in the prestigious journal Cell. Their identification of a mechanical pain sensor lays the groundwork for designing new drugs to treat pain. Great job!
Photo (left to right): Marine Christin, co-first author and Reza Sharif-Naeini, senior author.
Study suggests humans have developed complementary neural systems in each hemisphere for auditory stimuli
Speech and music are two fundamentally human activities that are decoded in different brain hemispheres. A new study used a unique approach to reveal why this specialization exists.
Earlier today, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced the results of the competition for the Canada-UK Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative, and three McGill teams were among the selected projects. The initiative supports the development of collaborations in AI projects between researchers in Canada and in the UK. Each winning project will receive up to $173,333 per year up to three years, for a total of $520,000 CAD per project.
Ranked 1st, Dr Daskalopoulou, Principal Investigator, received the largest grant at McGill University, which was in the top 2% of the total grant value of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2019 Competition. She received more than $1.8 m to support her project, early Prediction of preeclampsia Using arteriaL Stiffness in high-risk prEgnancies; a multinational study (PULSE). This study aims to determine the ability of arterial stiffness, other vascular measurements and biomarkers to predict early the development of preeclampsia in high-risk pregnant women.
Dr Natalie Dayan, et al's article, Infertility treatment and risk of severe maternal morbidity: a propensity score--matched cohort study, was listed as one of the 25 most read articles in CMAJ in 2019.
Open source app helps predict brain tumour malignancy and patient survival
The power of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine lies in its ability to find important statistical patterns in large datasets. A study published today is an important proof of concept for how AI can help doctors and brain tumour patients make better treatment decisions.
New technique could be used to choose best therapies for patients and measure their effectiveness
Evaluating the effectiveness of therapies for neurodegenerative diseases is often difficult because each patient’s progression is different. A new study shows artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of blood samples can predict and explain disease progression, which could one day help doctors choose more appropriate and effective treatments for patients.
Kudos to the Prager-Khoutorsky lab for publishing their first paper, Effects of Salt Loading on the Organization of Microtubules in Rat Magnocellular Vasopressin Neurons, in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology. Special congratulations to Amirah-Iman Hicks, graduate student, and Zsuzsanna Barad, post-doctoral fellow, the co-first authors of the paper. Well done!
To view the paper, click here.
Congratulations to Daniel Almeida for being named in the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list, and for being the only listmaker from a Canadian university! As a PhD student at the Douglas Research Centre, Almeida studies the molecular impact of childhood maltreatment on the brain in the lab of HBHL-funded prof. Gustavo Turecki.
With a total funding envelope of $1.65 million, the new HBHL International Partnerships Program supports large-scale, multi-year projects that build and advance partnerships with leading institutions that will help McGill University to:
- Compete with the best in the world for talent, for partnership opportunities, and to make breakthrough discoveries
- Seize emerging opportunities and strategically advance its greatest strengths on the global stage
- Implement large-scale, transformational and forward-thinking institutional strategies
HBHL-funded researcher Dr. Kieran O'Donnell recently appeared on CTV News Montreal to discuss the HBHL-funded Montreal Antenatal Well-Being Study. Watch the full interview here, where Dr. O'Donnell discusses the project's goals, initial findings, and more.
Food can trigger overconsumption similar to alcohol and drugs, but it is not the whole story
A large analysis of personality studies has found that people with obesity behave somewhat like people with addictions to alcohol or drugs. But obesity is also a complex condition that cannot be fully explained by the addiction model.