Canada Foundation for Innovation to fund 18 more McGill projects
Research in nanotechnology, climate change, ADHD and the neuroscience of belief among new LOF grants
Federal Minister of Industry Maxime Bernier joined Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and senior administrators and researchers at McGill University today to announce the latest round of CFI research infrastructure grants through its Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF). This latest investment of $26 million will help universities across the country, including McGill, attract and retain the best minds from Canada and around the world. The funds will provide infrastructure support for 136 projects at 40 universities, including 18 at McGill, enabling 192 investigators to conduct their research in world-class facilities. A total of $2,374,516 has been earmarked for an array of groundbreaking McGill projects – from climate change work in the Canadian Arctic to green chemistry to chronic pain to prostate cancer to the development of alternative fuels.
“The support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation allows McGill University’s exceptional researchers to transform their ideas into innovations that provide solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our time and impact the future well-being of Canadians and communities around the world,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University.
The CFI is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure and strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development. Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed $3.74 billion in support of more than 5,200 projects at 129 research institutions in 64 municipalities across Canada. At McGill alone, 337 projects have been funded for a total investment of $192,806,104.
The LOF is an ongoing program designed to assist universities in attracting excellent faculty to Canadian institutions, as well as to retain the very best of today and tomorrow’s leading researchers for Canada.
New CFI-LOF-awarded McGill research projects:
Jeffrey Bergthorson – Department of Mechanical Engineering: Alternative Fuels Combustion and Reformation Laboratory
$160,000
The goal of Professor Bergthorson’s project is to develop precise models for alternative fuel combustion and to develop new commercial alternative fuel technologies in partnership with industry. The development of systems of production and distribution of energy that rely less on fossil fuels is a pressing societal challenge, and research on alternative fuels can help Quebec and Canada reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become energy independent.
Bruno Tremblay – Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences: Canadian Arctic Archipelago Buoy Program (CAABP)
$60,000
Due to global warming, the interior passage of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) may become navigable as early as the middle of the 21st century. Dr. Tremblay’s Canadian Arctic Archipelago Buoy Program (CAABP) will provide crucial data on the deformation of CAA sea ice, melt/freeze dynamics, as well as information on the stress level required to induce motion of the pack ice within its narrow passages. Allowing for better prediction of the future state of the sea ice in CAA, this project seeks to provide Canada with necessary data for the economic, political, environmental and sociological policy planning of its Arctic waters.
Chao-Jun Li – Department of Chemistry: Green Chemistry Laboratory and Facility
$300,178
Dr. Li’s research is at the forefront of green chemistry: the discovery and implementation of chemical reactions and processes that are environmentally benign. This grant will support the required equipment and laboratory for Dr. Li and his team to perform modern synthetic organic chemistry at the highest level using “green” methodologies. The infrastructure is essential to the discovery and development of novel reactions for eventual use in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Nada Jabado – Department of Pediatrics: Identification of Molecular Targets Involved in the Genesis of Pediatric High Grade Gliomas
$54,714
Dr. Jabado’s project will focus on determining the precise role of molecular targets in the formation and progression of certain tumors. It will include testing potential treatments to determine their effectiveness for clinical use on children with high grade gliomas, a category of tumors that includes devastating brain tumors known as glioblastomas. The probability of surviving such a tumor is currently less than 20%.
Reut Gruber – Department of Psychiatry: Innovative Interdisciplinary Laboratory for the Study of Attention, Behaviour and Sleep in Canadian Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
$139,797
Dr. Gruber’s project will focus on developing new avenues of exploration in understanding the basic mechanisms associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in Quebec and in Canada. Through novel pediatric sleep research combined with gene analysis, behavioural, neuropsychological and neurophysiological methods, Dr. Gruber’s research will provide crucial insights into this common childhood disorder, optimize treatment, maximize therapeutic effects and minimize unnecessary use of medication.
Philippe Archambault – Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy: Innovative Rehabilitation Techniques to Promote Recovery and Improve Extremity Function in Persons with Motor Deficits
$149,600
Dr. Archambault’s work aims to assemble the necessary infrastructure to develop a robotized technical aid capable of improving arm mobility. The aid will decode the motor information emitted by the subject in order to predict, as well as stabilize and amplify, future movement. The research, which will target adolescents with muscular dystrophy, will have a major positive impact on the quality of life of people suffering from neuromuscular problems by facilitating many routine tasks.
Michael Riedel – Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences: Installation of a State-of-the-Art Geophysical Data Processing Facility to Support Research in Gas Hydrates
$45,637
Dr. Riedel’s research focuses on the application of modern geophysical techniques to the field of gas hydrate resource studies as well as long-term climate change monitoring of marine gas hydrate systems. This grant will help establish a new geophysical data processing and interpretation facility. This facility will become a site of innovative, cutting-edge science and research with national and international collaborations that will be aimed at understanding gas hydrate occurrences worldwide.
Laura Stone – Faculty of Dentistry: Integrated Neurobiology of Pain Research Laboratory
$199,923
Dr. Stone’s research involves an integrated approach to study the fundamental mechanisms of chronic pain. The research will establish an integrated neurobiology laboratory where a variety of approaches will be applied – behavioural, anatomic, biochemical, genomic and proteomic – to analyze chronic pain problems. This project promises to dramatically impact pain research in Canada and abroad.
Yukiori Goto – Department of Psychiatry: Integrative Systems Neuroscience Lab for the Study of Neural Network Associated with Dopamine-Deficit Psychiatric Disorders
$119,739
The objective of Dr. Goto’s research is to understand the functional interactions of brain regions implicated in the pathophysiology, or the functional changes associated with psychiatric and neurological disorders, associated with dopamine system defects. Through the use of a novel approach using in vivo assessment in rodents, Dr. Goto’s study will provide important insight into the pathophysiology of major psychiatric and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia.
Vamsy Chodavarapu – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Laboratory for Multidisciplinary Research on Integrated Sensor Microsystems
$172,000
Dr. Chodavarapu’s research involves looking at new methods of integration with existing and emerging biochemical elements and nanobiomaterials to create highly functional sensor microsystems. As the area of integrated sensor microsystems is projected to increase rapidly over the coming years, the technologies developed through this research program will help industries in Quebec and Canada remain at the forefront of this technological revolution.
Dmytro Perepichka – Department of Chemistry: Laboratory for Molecular Electronics and Organic Nanomaterials
$100,000
Dr. Perepichka’s project is focused on the creation of molecular and nanoelectronic devices. The infrastructure provided by this grant includes a renovated laboratory and the instruments necessary to perform synthetic chemistry/materials science research focused on molecular electronics and nanomaterials. This will complete the set-up phase of Dr. Perepichka’s project, providing world-class research conditions for his fast-growing research group.
Claire de Mazancourt – Redpath Museum: Laboratory for the Study of Evolutionary Dynamics in Ecosystems
$109,733
The objective of Dr. de Mazancourt’s research is to explore mathematical models of ecosystems to analyze the behaviour of these very complex systems, which have numerous entities interacting with and depending upon one another. Such understanding will allow for better management of disturbances caused by human action in order to ensure the continued functioning of ecosystems.
François Barthelat – Department of Mechanical Engineering: Micro- and Nano-scale Mechanical Test Facility for Biomimetics Research
$160,000
Dr. Barthelat’s project will use high-powered equipment, such as optical and atomic force microscopes, to study the mechanical performances of hard biological tissues such as seashells and teeth, and to develop new bio-inspired structures and materials. The objectives of this research are to understand how the microstructure of these materials controls their mechanical performance, and to develop new composite, high performance materials that will have applications in fields such as aerospace and medicine.
Tarek Bismar – Department of Pathology: Molecular Signatures Platform to Characterize Aggressive and Indolent Prostate Cancer
$61,200
The purpose of Dr. Bismar’s research is to develop, through a molecular signature platform, a molecular test using human tissue that would enable medical professionals to distinguish the indolent form of prostate cancer from its aggressive form, prior to treatment. A reliable distinction between these two forms of prostate cancer would have a significant impact on medical practice, diminishing excessive treatment and allowing systematic and expensive treatment to be targeted to those who truly need it.
Martin Rochette – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Nonlinear Signal Processing Infrastructure
$260,000
The next generation of optical data transmission infrastructure is expected to be based on optical networks with processing functions in the optical domain rather than in the electrical domain. Prof. Rochette’s project focuses on nonlinear optics, a new topic in optical engineering that has a tremendous potential for all-optical signal processing. The Nonlinear Signal Processing Infrastructure (NSPI) will provide a state-of-the-art laboratory for research, development and testing of nonlinear optical devices.
Jeff McKenzie – Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences: Research Laboratory for Groundwater Hydrology
$60,000
Dr. McKenzie’s project is focused on a broad range of groundwater hydrology topics, including understanding the role of scale on groundwater-surface water process, the role of seasonal ground freezing on hydrologic systems and heat transport in northern peatlands. This grant will support a state-of-the-art field laboratory for hydrology research that will address critical questions in hydrogeology and environmental geosciences.
Ian Gold – Department of Philosophy: The Theory of Belief
$149,995
Presently, a clear understanding of the cognitive or neural processes that bring about beliefs does not exist. Dr. Gold’s “Theory of Belief Project” will be the first attempt made to combine neurobiological, cognitive and philosophical methods in an investigation of normal and pathological belief. It will contribute to putting Quebec at the forefront of the effort to better understand the delusional brain and aid in treating those with neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
Thomas Bureau – Department of Biology: Transposons to Genes: Laboratory Retooling or Novel Gene Discovery
$72,000
A transposon is a sequence of DNA that can move around to different positions within the genome of a single cell. The main goal of Dr. Bureau’s project is to uncover and fully characterize domesticated mobility-related genes and gene-transposon interactions. The infrastructure provided from this CFI grant will allow Dr. Bureau and his team to determine the actual role of transposons in gene/genome evolution.
A complete list of the projects awarded, by university, can be found at www.innovation.ca.
