Pioneering scientist, entrepreneur and philanthropist leaves a lasting legacy at McGill and around the world 

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A new study by McGill University researchers shows that chronic pain, often invisible to medical tests, can be better assessed when doctors take a holistic approach.

By combining biological data with information about patients’ mental health, sleep and stress, the researchers say they were able to create a fuller picture of chronic pain. They said their findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, stand to improve how the condition is diagnosed and treated.

Colleen Chang’s McGill experience opened her mind to new possibilities. Two years after graduation, she holds a leadership position she’s passionate about in an eco-forward AI company she co-founded as a student

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July 11, 2025 | In an opinion piece published in Canada’s National Observer, Marc Fortin, alongside Richard Gold, Evan Henry, and Martin Bader, argue that Canada should seize the moment created by U.S. research setbacks to build a stronger, more collaborative innovation ecosystem. With American universities facing cuts and instability, the authors call on Canada to rethink how they support research, moving away from patent sales toward long-term industry partnerships, open data, and simplified licensing.

July 14, 2025 | In an article for Policy Magazine, MPP '25 Al-Amin Ahamed examined the gap between Canada’s 2022 federal ban on conversion therapy and the ongoing harm caused by its underlying ideology. While Bill C-4 made it a criminal offence to attempt to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, Ahamed warns that the ideology behind these practices has simply evolved—adopting new language and methods that fall outside the law’s reach.

June 16, 2025 | Speaking on Montreal Now with Aaron Rand, Pearl Eliadis cautioned that if Canada’s Supreme Court does not act to limit Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause in laws such as Bills 21 and 96, the anglophone community may need to seek recourse through the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Eliadis noted that Canada, as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has a duty to uphold principles of equality and non-discrimination—protections she believes are being undermined by the legislation.

July 12, 2025 | Pearl Eliadis spoke to CityNews Montreal about the potential to challenge Quebec’s Bills 21 and 96 before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Eliadis explained that bringing the case to the UN would aim “to get the UN committee's view” on whether the laws violate international human rights obligations. The interview highlights growing legal interest in using international mechanisms to confront the controversial legislation.

About one-third of Canadians are now obese, with women and young adults most affected, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. It found obesity rates accelerated significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

This expert from McGill University is available to comment: 

Motile cilia are specialized organelles essential for cell movement and fluid flow, driven by the beating of their internal cytoskeleton called the axoneme. At the core of the axoneme lies the central pair (CP) of microtubules, which features a distinct distal tip structure critical for motility. However, the proteins stabilizing this region have remained largely unknown.

Support allows Gault to expand its year-round programming, establish permanent mineral exhibition

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A ground-breaking study conducted by researchers from McGill University, the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) at the Jewish General Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and MIT has identified a novel approach to combat aggressive breast cancers by retraining neutrophils, the body’s first responders, to directly kill tumour cells. This research offers new hope for patients with breast cancers that do not respond well to existing immunotherapies. 

La version française suit

On July 28, the McGill Libraries website is going to undergo an extensive change. Most notably, the URL to our website will be updated to mcgill.ca/libraries to align with our rebranding to Libraries in Summer 2024. If you’ve bookmarked any favourite pages, be sure to update them once the new URLs go live. 

We will also be updating our menu structure based on user research testing completed over the past two years. This new menu better reflects the needs of our users and showcases our wonderful spaces and services. 

A team of McGill University researchers, working with colleagues in the United States and South Korea, has developed a new way to make high-performance lithium-ion battery materials that could help phase out expensive and/or difficult-to-source metals like nickel and cobalt.

Use of AI and virtual reality headsets are among the advances being explored at the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences

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The FRQSC has awarded Isabel Pike, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Sociology , a research grant through their Research Support for New Academics competition.

The grant spans three years and will go towards Pike’s project “The Demographic Dividend and the Re-Economization of Population.”

Nine of the directors who oversee Canada’s largest pension funds also hold positions at fossil fuel companies, according to a report by Pensions and Investments.

For Canadian banks, stablecoins could be, well, destabilizing. These value of these cryptocurrency assets is tied to the value of a traditional currency, which makes them more practical to use than volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This year, Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify began accepting a stablecoin called USDC, but stablecoins are in a regulatory grey area in Canada, and our banking system is not prepared for their widespread adoption.

For Quebec, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are an engine of economic growth. Many SMEs have grown into prosperous companies, writes Bensadoun School in Retail Management student William Bernasconi in an article for the Conseil québecois du commerce de detail. But it’s important to consider failures as well as successes. And local businesses have often struggled to grow because of operational constraints, shifting consumer behaviour, and intense competition.

Vincent Rigby, alongside other senior experts, co-authored a white paper analyzing the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership signed in June 2025. While the agreement aims to reduce reliance on U.S. defence suppliers and expand access to the European market, the report warns that its success is far from guaranteed. Rigby and his co-authors highlight major fiscal and political barriers, including Canada’s underinvestment in defence, EU divisions over spending targets, and implementation hurdles in aligning procurement and supply chains.

July 9, 2025 | Vincent Rigby, along with retired vice-admiral Mark Norman, former deputy trade minister Tim Sargent, former defence minister Perrin Beatty, and professor Fen Hampson, wrote a report highlighted in The Globe and Mail that raises concerns about Canada’s new Security and Defence Partnership with the European Union. The pact, signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, aims to reduce Canada’s reliance on U.S. military contractors and boost the Canadian defence industry by tapping into the EU’s growing defence market.