Identifying the health behaviours and genetic aspects that contribute to the risk factors for cardiovascular disease in ethnic communities in Canada.

While obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) affect everybody, research has shown that certain populations, such as South Asians and Aboriginal peoples, are at generally higher risk than those of Caucasian origin.

Dr. Sonia Anand, Canada Research Chair in Ethnic Diversity and Cardiovascular Disease, is identifying health behaviour risk factors in diverse ethnic groups. Anand is examining factors such as elevated blood glucose levels, dietary patterns and genetic factors to develop prevention strategies to reduce cardio-metabolic risk factors and CVD for those most in jeopardy. She is also examining these factors in diverse populations across the infant-child-adult life span.

Anand aims to identify adverse health behaviours and genetic factors that will shed light on the causes of CVD risk factors among high-risk groups. Identification of these behaviours and genetic factors could also improve the accuracy of risk prediction for diabetes and CVD and motivate behavioural changes. In addition, her approach could validate ethnic-specific measurement tools that will allow for comparisons across diverse ethnic populations.

Anand is also studying genetic molecular discoveries and data on dietary factors, such as energy intake and macronutrient composition. This information will offer excellent windows into how environmental and genetic measures affect the development of cardio-metabolic factors in high-risk groups.

Anand’s examination of high risk populations will provide greater insight into the causes and risk factors of CVD. Her research could eventually lead to the development of prevention strategies to stem the leading cause of premature deaths in ethnic populations.

Development of theoretical and computational methods for predicting reactions in complex chemical systems.

At its heart, chemistry is the study of how substances are transformed through chemical reactions. The traditional role of chemical theory has been to develop conceptual, mathematical and computational tools for describing how chemical reactions occur. Despite the many advances in chemistry over the years, the computational methods developed to predict the products and key intermediates of a chemical reaction are limited to small molecules, rapid reactions or systems in which no new chemical bonds are formed. Novel approaches are needed to address complex chemical systems such as biochemical reactions, catalysis, molecular electronics and nanomaterials.

In his early work as a graduate and postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Paul Ayers has made significant achievements in the field of density functional theory and electron structure theory. Using this basis in understanding the electronic structure of huge molecules, he will work toward developing a novel approach for predicting reaction pathways and products. In this regard, Dr. Ayers’ work is broadly viewed as groundbreaking.

There is currently no way to use computations to predict the reaction mechanisms or the products of reactions. These types of computational tools are required to enable the design of advanced pharmaceutical agents that bind to proteins and either inhibit the action of a specific enzyme or block the site where protein-protein interactions occur. It is essential to understand how proteins work at the atomic level in order to design drugs that meet specific needs and do it well. By the same token, understanding how things work at the atomic level can enable scientists to design new industrial catalysts that are also both highly targeted and highly effective.

Dr. Ayers’ research holds the potential for developing a practical, reliable and broadly applicable method for predicting the products and detailed reaction mechanisms of chemical reactions that will generate substantive advances in molecular biology and material design.

Analyzing and critically examining the policies and institutions governing the ownership, funding, and control of communication.

The rise of digital media has dramatically altered the global political landscape. Sara Bannerman is examining how this new environment is reshaping the future of international copyright, cultural funding, and communications policy and governance. Her work on intellectual property and international copyright has traced the history and future trajectories of copyright in Canada and on a global scale.

While most copyright research is focused on powerful countries, Bannerman’s work highlights the roles of emerging countries, non-governmental organizations, and indigenous peoples in the history and future of international copyright. Instead of focusing on ownership, she focuses on users’ rights in the education, news reporting, scientific and translation contexts.

A specialist in communications studies, Bannerman is ideally positioned to undertake this challenge. She is the author of two books, International Copyright and Access to Knowledge (CUP, 2016) and The Struggle for Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism, 1842-1971 (UBC, 2013). Bannerman’s work contributes to a deep understanding of the political stakes and divisions raised by copyright policy both nationally and internationally.

Bannerman notes that cultural policies are increasingly governed not only by powerful states but also through networks, and she explores this by examining online crowdfunding and other networked models of authorship and participation as tools for reshaping creativity and cultural production.

Bannerman’s research on intellectual property issues will provide greater insight into the stakes involved – for creators and other users – in the new politics, new forms of authorship, new forms of labor, and new forms of governance that new technologies and globalization raise.

Studying how we process visual stimuli and images.

Every time you look for a pen on a crowded desk, or recognize the face of a friend, your brain performs a huge number of calculations. Vision scientists have developed many sophisticated theories about how we are able to detect, discriminate, and identify simple patterns such as spots and lines. But we are still a long way from understanding whether these theories can account for our remarkable ability to perceive complex patterns such as the face of a friend.

As the Canada Research Chair in Vision Science, Patrick Bennett will join a team of researchers at McMaster University whose combined multidisciplinary expertise is unique within Canada and around the world. This multidisciplinary approach will enable Dr. Bennett to further our understanding of the hidden complexities underlying vision in everyday tasks. His work will apply advanced quantitative methods to determine how sensory and cognitive processes constrain our perception of the world, and will take advantage of modern medical imaging techniques to determine the precise nature of the neural systems underlying this perception.

An additional focus of this work involves understanding how neural systems that underlie perception in adult brains change as a function of learning and aging. It is becoming increasingly clear that neural circuits are not fixed in the adult brain, and that new neurons can be generated throughout our lifetimes. These results raise the exciting possibility that behavioural therapies might be used to counteract the effects of injury or aging by stimulating the development of new functional networks in the brain.

Dr. Bennett’s own research has already shown that young and old brains encode visual information in very different ways, and that the strategies used by the brain for visual recognition can change dramatically as a function of learning. The goals of future work are to understand the conditions that enable perceptual learning to occur, to identify the ways in which visual mechanisms change with experience, and to determine whether practice on perceptual and cognitive tasks can produce long-lasting improvements in visual performance in older adults. The results of this work may lead to the development of innovative behavioural therapies to diminish the effects of aging on vision, and to enhance the quality of life for older Canadians.

Studying musculoskeletal trauma and surgical outcomes.

Trauma is the leading cause of death in the first four decades of life surpassed only by cancer and atherosclerosis as the major cause of death in all age groups. For every death attributable to trauma, three patients survive but are permanently disabled. With over 60 million injuries per year in North America, approximately 50 percent require medical care, of which 8.7 million patients are temporarily disabled. Trauma-related care costs over 100 billion dollars annually. Yet, despite these staggering costs, only four cents for every dollar is spent on trauma research.

The care of patients with musculoskeletal injuries has been guided by physician opinion since quality research in this area has been limited. Dr. Mohit Bhandari and his colleagues at McMaster University are changing the paradigm of “eminence-based practice” to “evidence-based practice.”

In his search for evidence, Dr. Bhandari has been co-leading a collaborative multicentre randomized trial of alternative operative techniques in patients with tibial shaft fractures – the most common long fracture. The study is setting a benchmark in the conduct of orthopaedic trials worldwide.

As the Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Trauma and Surgical Outcomes, Dr. Bhandari has developed a research program that meets the need for high quality surgical research aimed at answering clinical questions of international importance.

His research includes the design and conduct of large, multicentre randomized trials that evaluate interventions in patients with musculoskeletal injuries. In addition, his program explores the methodological issues specific to the conduct of surgical trials and involves the application and evaluation of evidence-based methods to guide the care of patients with musculoskeletal trauma. In the process, his program is attracting and educating new surgical trainees as career academic surgeons.

Examination of the composition, structure and bonding of nanostructured materials using advanced microscopy and spectroscopy.

Nanotechnology – which uses materials developed on a scale of one-billionth of a metre – holds the promise of stronger materials, faster computers, better energy efficiency and a cleaner environment. To develop the most effective materials designs, it is essential to gain more insight into the interfacial reactions, alloying effects and the chemical bonding changes in structures that are in the nanometre dimension.

Dr. Gianluigi Botton has developed advanced techniques for using electron microscopes that provide very high spatial resolution information, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). In his program as Canada Research Chair in Electron Microscopy of Nanostructured Materials, Dr. Botton will use TEM/EELS technology to achieve three goals: improve techniques to detect signals from few atomic layers at interfaces and nanostructures; develop models to describe the analytical data in terms of structure and bonding changes; and describe the relationships between the observations and the properties of the materials.

His research will fall into three separate projects.

First, he will examine the interfaces in nanostructured materials to provide high-resolution spectroscopic data to understand the structure and bonding relationships at interfaces and relate the data to the properties of these interfaces in engineering applications. This project will make it possible to understand the important elements that control the properties so that interfaces can be designed effectively, or new effects can be discovered and exploited.

Second, his examination of the structure and bonding in nanoparticles for energy storage and catalysis will focus on the relationships between the microstructures observed at the nanometre level (shape, size and chemical state of nanoparticles) and the ultimate properties that are measured by macroscopic techniques. Nanoparticles that form airborne pollution will also be studied.

Finally, he will focus on metallic and semiconductor thin films in devices to develop quantitative techniques to analyze the chemical composition at the nanometre level.

Discovering why our immune system changes with age and how this predisposes us to respiratory infections.

Upper respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and influenza, are a leading cause of deaths among the elderly and a precipitating factor in their declining health. The efficacy of the most common treatment – antibiotics – could be more effective if we combined it with immune modulating drugs to combat some of the changes to the aging immune system.

Dawn Bowdish, an associate professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, leads an ambitious and innovative research program that is questioning longstanding assumptions about the aging immune system.

One of those assumptions is that old people get sick because their immune systems don’t work. Not true, says Bowdish. They just work differently.

It is widely known that as we age we become more inflamed. Bowdish found that the higher levels of inflammation in 2 year old mice (about the same as a 75 year old person) caused some types of white blood cells to enter the bloodstream before they were fully mature and produce even more inflammation.

While small amounts of inflammation are required to fight infections like pneumonia, the old mice produced so much that their white blood cells were less effective. Reducing levels of inflammation helped them to clear the infection and get better.

This may help explain why older adults with pneumonia do better when given corticosteroids, to reduce inflammation in addition to antibiotics. It may also reveal why chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia – all characterized by having elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines – carry an increased risk for acquiring pneumonia.

Understanding the interplay between age, inflammation and anti-bacterial impairment could lead to the development of preventative and therapeutic strategies that will keep us all living longer and healthier.

Investigating the behavior of biomolecules within sol-gel-processed glasses and composites, in order to develop a fundamental molecular-level view of the biomolecules, and to build devices such as sensors and chromatography columns.

Chemical Biology is vital to many established and emerging industrial sectors. In particular, new ventures based on genomics and proteomics will benefit from chemical biology the most.

The interaction between chemists and biochemists is a cornerstone of Dr. John Brennan’s research program. Much of his work is in the entrapment of biomolecules into sol-gel derived glasses, which leads to development of improved bioanalytical devices. His work intertwines materials science, biochemistry and analytical chemistry in a unique manner to produce new assays and analytical devices that have the potential to revolutionize the areas of biosensing and drug discovery. The goal of his research group is to become a world leader in the development of advanced sol-gel based biomaterials, biosensor technologies and high-throughput drug screening platforms.

As Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry, Dr. Brennan will use a highly interdisciplinary approach to enable him to achieve his research goals of: developing new matrixes for the immobilization of functional biomolecules; the development of improved analytical devices based on sol-gel immobilized biomolecules, and; the extension of the range of biomolecules that can be used for sensing and screening purposes. Advances in these areas have the potential to spin out new commercial products and new companies, to lead to improved point-of-care diagnostic devices, and to revolutionize drug-screening technologies. Dr. Brennan is already negotiating licensing agreements with Canadian companies for sol-gel based assay methods.

Dr. Brennan’s research is backed by the world-class Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research (BIMR) at McMaster University. The institute, along with the university’s initiative in developing a new graduate program in Chemical Biology, will put Dr. Brennan and his colleagues in a position to make the required leaps forward in sensor development and drug discovery that are not likely to occur anywhere else in Canada, and at only a handful of highly funded laboratories in the U.S.

Exploring health and nutrition in past populations through bone research as seen through a bioarchaeological lens.

Dr. Megan Brickley knows bones—especially human skeletal remains from the Old World communities of the past.
Brickley, Canada Research Chair in the Bioarchaeology of Human Disease, uses her background in bioarchaeology—a mix of biology and archaeology—to examine bone abnormalities caused by anything from age-related bone loss to vitamin deficiencies.

Her innovative research is helping build an understanding of human health and nutrition in past societies. She also investigates how the health and nutrition of populations from the past may have been linked to the socio-cultural, economic and environmental conditions they faced.

Brickley’s research on prehistoric to 19th-century human remains from the United Kingdom has helped reconstruct the daily life of people from that era, and to detail dietary problems and diseases found in the Old World.

She is now using her work from the Old World as a springboard to the New World, to research previous North American societies.

Not only will Brickley’s research improve our understanding of past people and their lives, but it also has great potential to contribute to our understanding of current health problems, including the possible causes and extents of conditions such as vitamin D deficiency and diabetes.

The experiences and effective management of contingent (non-permanent) workers, how employees interpret and respond to electronic communication, why employees hide knowledge from their coworkers, and workplace stress of leaders.

Our work can define us, engage us, take up tens of thousands of hours of our life, and is often the first subject of conversation among new acquaintances who want to know “What do you do?” followed by “Where do you work?”

Canadian workers and the organizations that employ them are faced with an ever increasing set of challenges. Permanent full-time jobs that last for an entire career are becoming increasingly scarce, while independent contractors and temporary workers are more commonplace; even the most important office communications aren’t happening across a desk, but via computer keyboards and smart phone screens; and stressed workers respond to increasingly competitive work environments with knowledge hiding even between coworkers in the same organization.

These transformations in the Canadian workplace are at the heart of Catherine Connelly’s interdisciplinary research program, which analyzes and considers the implication of these changes for workers and for organizations.

By extending mainstream organizational behaviour and psychological theories, Connelly will use her Canadian Research Chair in Organizational Behaviour to discover the true costs to organizations that hire contingent workers, identify the cues that determine how individuals react to – and interpret – electronic communications, and study the conditions, attributes and processes that result in knowledge hiding behaviours. Connelly will also examine how leaders can deal with the high-stress work environment while still maintaining their effectiveness.

Connelly’s research will help to improve the information, communication, training and guidance available to workers and organizations in Canada, in the context of rapid and significant workplace challenges.

Translating research into medical practice in Intensive Care Units.

For patients in Intensive Care Units all across the country, there’s fresh new hope. Deborah Cook’s study of how to improve the medical profession’s application of new knowledge could save lives. And it’s all based on keeping a patient’s chin up. Literally.

The McMaster University professor is concentrating her research on a critical and often neglected area of study: how to translate new discoveries into effective clinical practice. Cook is focusing on studies that have discovered there is a practical, non-invasive way to reduce the risk of pneumonia in critically ill patients who are hooked up to ventilators in the Intensive Care Unit of hospitals.

Statistics indicate that between 10% and 50% of all patients on mechanical ventilators develop pneumonia. The infection prolongs their time in hospital and increases their risk of dying. But studies have shown that if patients are elevated, by raising the head of the bed to a 45-degree angle, their risk of contracting this type of pneumonia drops drastically. All due to a simple re-positioning-from lying flat to sitting up. In fact, for every four patients repositioned this way, one case of pneumonia is prevented.

Given the simplicity of the procedure, it should be applied in every ICU unit in Canada. But that’s not always the case. Cook’s study has demonstrated that caregivers in ICUs have not adopted the procedure. In addition, her research will use ventilator-associated pneumonia as a model to study ways to spread information quickly and to transfer research into best medical practice. It will also highlight an important lesson to the medical and research communities: that research that has practical applications must be applied so that the discoveries can have any meaning and effect on quality of life. The long-range, big picture? Cook’s results can be applied to a variety of illnesses and to new ways to treat or prevent them.

Cook was the first intensive-care specialist in Canada who is also educated in biostatistics and clinical epidemiology (the causes, distribution, and control of diseases in populations). The benefits have been numerous. Her combined specialties make her an ideal choice for this project with its cross-disciplinary connections.

New approaches to design, modelling, characterization and applications of advanced semiconductor devices and circuits for information technology applications.

Microelectronics has largely dominated and defined the information technology revolution in the past three decades. It is expected that nanotechnology – nanoelectronics and nanophotonics – could revolutionize our technological progress in the next several decades. In this revolution, a key component of the new knowledge economy is the ability to store, transmit, receive, manipulate and display information at continually increasing speeds. To do this successfully, we will require the appropriate nanotechnology hardware.

This Canada Research Chair will explore critical nanotechnology components required for long distance communication systems used for data, speech and video in a fiber network; chip-to-chip interconnections in computers; and in areas such as medical imaging and linking of massively parallel processors and mainframe computers.

Dr. M. Jamal Deen is a world-leading expert in modelling, design and applications of modern advanced semiconductor devices and circuits. One of his main areas of research at McMaster University is based on speeding up optical receivers.

The Canada Research Chair in Information Technology will enable Dr. Deen and his team to focus on new physics-based and engineering approaches to modelling, optimization, design, characterization and applications of advanced semiconductor devices and circuits for information technology applications, particularly photodetectors and optical receivers. The calibrated models and designs they will produce are particularly important to industry, allowing those in the industry to manufacture successful new designs that function properly on first fabrication attempt, resulting in significant economic gains.

Dr. Deen has proven his success as a supervisor and mentor of graduate students and researchers. Over the past decade and a half, he has successfully supervised 31 graduate students and 16 researchers. The additional resources of the Chair will enhance Dr. Deen’s ability to attract outstanding students and researchers to McMaster, and will allow him to continue to expand exciting, innovative research designed to benefit Canadian high technology industries.

Design and optimization of the next generation of cost-effective and smart, energy-efficient electrified vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve performance.

Conventional vehicles are harmful to humans as well as the environment, and serious changes are needed to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. To address this, engineers worldwide are competing to build the next generation of cost-effective and smart, energy-efficient cars. Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles are set to become one of the main forms of transportation nationally and globally by 2030.

Internationally recognized for his work in vehicle electrification research, Dr. Ali Emadi is working to improve the efficiency, performance, and cost-effectiveness of electrified power trains, powertrain components, and vehicle energy management systems. He held the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain, and is the Canada Research Chair in Electrified Transportation and Smart Mobility.

Dr. Emadi and his team will continue to build on their previously established framework to develop and optimize electrified power trains and powertrain components including power electronic converters and electric propulsion motors.

A typical electrified vehicle will reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to its internal combustion counterpart. This research will bring new, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions to the market faster. This will enable higher performance, lower cost, reduced and zero emission vehicles to be on the roads sooner, and thus help reach Canada’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2020-2030.

The harmful effects that vehicle emissions have on both human health and the environment are leading to major shifts in the global automotive industry.

Engineers around the world are competing to build the next generation of cost-effective, energy-efficient cars.
Before joining McMaster University, Ali Emadi was the Harris Perlstein Endowed Chair Professor of Engineering and director of the Electric Power and Power Electronics Centre and Grainger Laboratories at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He also founded and served as president of the spin-off company Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies.

Emadi is internationally recognized for his in-depth research on hybrid electric vehicle powertrains and electric drives. He holds a PhD in electrical engineering, with a specialization in power electronics and motor drives, from Texas A&M University. He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran.

An extremely active researcher, Emadi has authored over 250 publications and conference papers, as well as several books, and has served as guest editor-in-chief on several publishing committees for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has been awarded several patents, including one for a energy-efficient, digitally controlled electric motor that is available to appliance manufacturers at a lower cost than earlier motors.

At the forefront of this competition are plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. Responding to the needs of a growing population of energy-conscious consumers, plug-in vehicles are expected to become one of the main forms of transportation in Canada and across the globe by 2030.

One of the keys to engineering the next generation of hybrid electric cars will be improving their powertrain, which transmits propulsion power. Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain Ali Emadi is at the leading edge of new developments in transportation electrification, including advanced electrified powertrains; the vehicle-to-grid interface of plug-in vehicles with Smart Grid technology; powertrain components; hybrid battery/super-capacitor energy storage systems; and adaptive vehicle control and power management systems.

Emadi’s research provides solutions for industry and environmental policy-makers alike: it meets the current demands of the automotive sector and will further the growth of Canada’s economy, while maintaining a strong position for the future of Canada’s green technology industry.

A rising star in his field, Emadi’s work has already had exceptional impact. His experience and knowledge aligns well with the existing engineering expertise at McMaster University, where hybrid automobile research and development is already heavily supported.

Partnering with Indigenous communities to explore and address health and well-being issues, and examine the impact of digital technology in these communities.

Indigenous peoples in Canada face continued suffering as a result of colonialism. Among the many consequences is the erosion of intergenerational closeness, particularly between the youngest and oldest members of society.

Chelsea Gabel, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Well-Being, Community-Engagement, and Innovation, is studying these relationships and her work shows that Indigenous community members are aware of the weakening of elder-youth relationships, and that there is both a need and a desire to restore them.

Some Indigenous communities are turning to technology to help improve their conditions; digital technology can boost community capacity, affirm Indigenous identity, and disseminate culturally relevant information. It can also be used to enable intergenerational engagement, empowering elders who want important information to be available to youth, and empowering young people as agents in the preservation of unique Indigenous knowledge.

Gabel is exploring the theoretical and practical impacts of technology deployment in an Indigenous context. She and her team will assist in engaging elders and youth in discussions about healthy living, Indigenous Knowledge, and preserving community connections. This program of research recognizes that the well-being of these two groups is closely linked, and that the process of digital technologies being reimagined as creatively engaged tools of healing and empowerment can bring elders and youth together to address the challenges they face.

Addressing these issues will lead to the development of elder/youth initiatives and policies that will improve the quality of life in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across generations.

Studying the intersection of leadership, work attitudes, and performance, particularly in the contextual performance of nurses.

What makes some nurses willing to go that extra mile in their work? If we can learn more about leader-follower relations in the nursing profession it will help us design more effective leadership development programs, which will in turn increase efficiencies and cost savings and ultimately improve patient care.

As the Canada Research Chair in Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, Rick Hackett is making innovative contributions to the field of leadership generally and to leadership in nursing specifically. He is examining the intersection of leadership, work attitudes and employee performance, in the little-studied area of contextual work performance, that is on-the-job behaviour that goes beyond the call. His work represents the first research into the reciprocal behaviour exchanges that go on between supervisors and nursing practitioners that yield extraordinary performance.

Hackett is undertaking a literature review and carrying out longitudinal research to learn more about leader-follower relations, including how leadership affects mental health, attitudes, and performance. He is also working on a book for nursing professionals interested in leadership positions and how to build relationships with direct reports. In addition, he hopes to establish a pioneering centre for leadership research and development in the health-care sector to disseminate research, sponsor publications and seminars, and provide leadership development workshops.

The Canada Research Chair builds on Hackett’s involvement with the Quality of Nursing Work Life Research Unit in health sciences and the graduate Health Services Management Program in the business school at McMaster University. His research there includes the study of absenteeism, job satisfaction (especially among nurses), leadership, and organizational commitment.

Using symplectic and algebraic geometry techniques to help visualize and analyze shapes beyond the second dimension.

From ancient civilizations to modern times, human minds have consistently pondered the question: What is the shape of the universe in which we live?

An understanding of the physical universe requires us to be able to “see” shapes in higher dimension, but most of our day-to-day experiences are limited to two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects.

Mathematician Megumi Harada’s research helps people get around this problem. Her specialty is equivariant symplectic and algebraic geometry, a branch of geometry involving the study of symmetries of spaces with symplectic and/or algebraic structures.

She uses mathematical techniques in one- and two-dimensional situations, then generalizes those techniques, making it possible to analyze, in a concrete way, “shapes” in higher-dimensional spaces. Some examples of these techniques include gluing, direct products, fiber products, connect sum, and stereographic projection.

Symplectic geometry was originally developed to provide a mathematical framework for classical mechanics. In the 20th century, it developed into a mathematical theory, with applications to various aspects of physics, such as string theory and conformal field theory.

Algebraic geometry is the study of systems of polynomial equations and the geometry of their solutions. Algebraic geometry has many applications, including quantum computing, cryptography, and image and signal processing.

Harada works at the interface of symplectic geometry, algebraic geometry, geometric representation theory and algebraic combinatorics, and her research has potential applications outside of pure mathematics.

A particular focus of Harada’s current research is the “hot” new theory of Newton-Okounkov bodies. This theory builds upon the convex geometry of polytopes, which has applications in optimization theory. Harada intends to further develop this theory to further connect these research areas and potentially lead to new breakthroughs in applied mathematics.

Using translational research methods to explore the role of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in mucosal immunology.

It’s hard to imagine, but we inhale over 10,000 litres of potentially harmful air every day – for 4 million Canadians living with chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, the consequences are frightening, if not devastating: from airway constriction to hospital visits to untimely death.

Compared to a healthy individual, an asthmatic’s respiratory system is crucially different; asthmatics have a greater risk for airway inflammation, they produce an excess of mucus, and are more susceptible to allergens.

Epithelial cells line cavities and surfaces of organs throughout our bodies. Airway epithelial cells are especially important because they help protect against inhaled environmental insults. However, secretions by these cells in individuals with chronic respiratory diseases lead to increased airway inflammation – a big problem for those already finding it hard to breathe. Luckily, Jeremy Hirota’s research can help us catch our breath.

Jeremy Hirota, Canadian Research Chair in Respiratory Mucosal Immunology, is at the forefront of research into how ABC transporters – a protein superfamily that transports substances across membranes – impact the respiratory system. Hirota and his research team will continue to characterize ABC transporters by conducting translational experiments in vitro with human cells, and in vivo using live mice.

Hirota’s research will expand the existing body of knowledge by providing evidence that links ABC transporters to chronic respiratory diseases, boosts the development of ABC inhibitors, and, ultimately, leads to new and innovative treatments for respiratory diseases including asthma, cystic fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Developing new ‘smart’ materials and nano-medicines that will provide targeted drug delivery with fewer side effects for patients suffering from cancer and other diseases.

Todd Hoare has discovered that the best things come in small packages.

The Canada Research Chair in Engineered Smart Materials is studying the use of gel nanoparticles that can get drugs to the place they need to be in our bodies at the rate they need to be delivered for the best therapeutic effect.

He works on the nano-scale, creating tiny polymer delivery vehicles that act as containers for drugs that fight disease, infection or tumors. These ‘smart’ hydrogels react to various stimuli (heat, pH, light and electromagnetic fields, for example) causing them to release their drug only at the desired site of action and at user-controlled doses.

The remote-controlled drug delivery vehicles can be activated reversibly and non-invasively to trigger enhanced or suppressed drug release in the body on demand, reducing side effects and improving the efficacy of therapies for treating cancer, schizophrenia, and ocular disease, among others. They can also be precisely tuned to elicit different cellular responses and, as such, hold great promise for tissue regeneration.

Working at the interface of polymer science, physical chemistry, and biology, Hoare’s research will add significantly to our fundamental understanding of the chemistry and physics of smart materials and lead to the development of new applications in other technologies, including food, nutriceutical delivery, and environmental applications, such as soil and water remediation.

Using early in-bed cycling for mechanically ventilated patients while in the intensive care unit (ICU) to improve patient outcomes.

Exercising in the Intensive Care Unit? It’s a concept that seems at odds with the typical ICU where recovery for the hospital’s sickest patients often means prolonged bed rest, sedation, and constant monitoring and support from specialized equipment.

But exercising critically ill patients might be ‘just what the doctor ordered’ – a remedy that’s at the heart of rehabilitation scientist Michelle Kho’s Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation. Her research seeks a solution for the high cost of convalescence, not only in quality of life for ICU survivors, but the financial burden for the health care system, where critical care is our most costly hospital service.

As a practicing physiotherapist and researcher, Kho’s ‘lab’ is the ICU, where she works with highly specialized health care teams to help patients not only survive their life threatening illness or injury, but improve their recovery time and promote continued health and well-being once they leave intensive care. Kho’s research program –Critical Care Cycling to Improve Lower Extremity Strength (CYCLE) – focuses on preventing or reducing the adverse effects of immobilization by having patients pedal a motorized stationary bicycle affixed to their ICU bed.

Dr. Kho’s CYCLE rehabilitation regime targets ICU patients needing breathing machines in the very first week of critical care, when muscle strength in their legs can melt away by 15% or more. By strengthening their muscles and their overall health, patients have a better chance of not only surviving their critical illness, but may be sent home sooner, stronger, and happier, not only benefitting the patient, but alleviating the high cost of critical care for our health care system.

Studying experiences with, and impacts of, innovative strategies that support evidence-informed health systems.

Health system policymakers and stakeholders grapple with complex decisions about health systems every day. Poor decisions translate into fatalities, lower quality of life and poor satisfaction among patients and their families, and wasted investments and opportunities for the citizens who pay for the system.

The last decade has been called the ‘health systems decade’ as governments like those in Canadian provinces, international agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO), and donors like the Gates Foundation, come to realize that health-system arrangements determine whether the right mix of cost-effective programs, services, and drugs get to those who need them, and at an acceptable cost.

Synthesized high-quality research evidence can inform decisions about these health system arrangements and implementation arrangements. However, policymakers and stakeholders often do not consider this research evidence alongside the institutional constraints, interest group pressures, values, and other factors that drive the policymaking process.

John Lavis, Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Informed Health Systems, is working to change this. He wants to help create the evidence base about which strategies best support an evidence-informed health system given the particular contexts and issues policymakers and stakeholders face.

Ultimately, access to high-quality research evidence can help policymakers and stakeholders set agendas, take well-considered actions, and communicate the rationale for actions effectively.

Applying observational and experimental methods to examine pre- and early post-natal stressors and their impact on brain development.

Nearly half of all adults experience some form of mental illness at some point in their lives, and nearly half of those individuals are likely to have had mental disorders as children. Unfortunately, mental illness is often not diagnosed early, and few individuals actually receive treatment.

Although the mediators in of emotion regulation and cognitive functioning develop in the womb, psychiatric research tends to examine risk factors occurring in childhood and later. Ryan van Lieshout, Canada Research Chair in the Perinatal Programming of Mental Disorders, is looking to change that. He’s exploring perinatal risk factors and developing interventions aimed at these to promote life-long mental health.

Dr. van Lieshout will use longitudinal observations of extremely low birth weight survivors, and experimental methodologies, to test the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis.

Prenatal interventions are especially important to combat mental illness since some of the most powerful predictors of later life mental illness occur during this time: preterm birth, poor maternal diet, and maternal mental illness. Interventions undertaken during pregnancy and/or the early postnatal period are also ideal because women are more likely to make positive changes compared to any other point in their life, and are in regular contact with healthcare professionals.

This research will lead to the development of perinatal interventions designed to optimize early brain development, and aim to prevent psychiatric problems in offspring, helping them stay healthy throughout their lives.

Discovery and genomic mining of small molecules that are produced by environmental and human-associated microbes and that could be used in developing medicine for humans.

Nature can act as a vital resource for the discovery of new drug treatments for infectious, neurological, anti-inflammatory and other diseases. Natural drugs may be produced from a number of sources—from micro-organisms that are unseen or that exist in the environment, to micro-organisms found on and inside our bodies.

Dr. Nathan Magarvey, Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology and Natural Products, aims to find natural products that could be used to develop new drugs. He’s doing so through the discovery and genomic mining of small molecules.

Magarvey is identifying and isolating natural source materials for new bioactive compounds, so that they can be produced into more efficient and targeted therapies for diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Magarvey’s research could lead to the development of new drugs that contain natural products to treat diseases.

Enhancing the quality of life of older adults with multiple chronic conditions, and of their family caregivers, and reducing demand for health services.

One third of older adults in Canada have three or more chronic conditions. These adults take an average of five or more prescription medications, have higher rates of health care use and costs and are at particularly high risk for falls, hospitalization and death.

Dr. Maureen Markle-Reid, Canada Research Chair in Person-Centred Interventions for Older Adults with Multimorbidity and their Caregivers, is developing and evaluating innovative interventions to reduce the burden and impact of chronic disease on older adults and their family caregivers.

Markle-Reid’s focus is on frail older home-care clients, stroke survivors who use home care, and older adults with Type 2 diabetes—all of whom have multiple chronic conditions. She is also developing strategies to enhance the uptake and spread of evidence-driven fall prevention techniqies for older adults among community-based providers.

Markle-Reid’s research will improve knowledge of the prevalence, determinants and costs of multiple chronic conditions. It will also provide knowledge of new and innovative strategies designed to enhance health outcomes and improve access to health services for older adults and their family caregivers, increasing the body of research on aging and quality of life.

Looking at areas such as economic, social, labour market, and trade and investment issues and at how transnational governance can affect the sovereignty of countries.

As a result of globalization, the world is undergoing a profound economic, environmental and political transformation. The need to understand this phenomenon is what’s driving the research of Dr. Stephen McBride, Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and Globalization. McBride is investigating just how, why and with what effect public policy changes in a globalizing world can impact and influence the economy, the environment and the political landscape.

Specifically, McBride’s research focuses on analyzing the employment policy responses to the 2008 financial and economic crisis amongst members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also aims to determine the employment implications of measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Finally, McBride will investigate the implications of the changing relationships between public and private governance in the area of international dispute settlements.

McBride is the author or editor of over 15 books and 70 articles and book chapters dealing with unemployment and labour market policy, globalization and the state, neoliberalism, transnational governance and reconfiguration of public authority. His book Not Working: State, Unemployment and Neo-Conservatism Canada won the Donald Smiley Prize in 1994.

The results of McBride’s research will help authorities from various levels to develop sound policies to manage the challenges posed by the economic and climate change crises.

Understanding, highlighting, and combating the risks of maternal and infant obesity.

Half of all Canadian women of childbearing age are overweight or obese, and more than half gain too much weight during pregnancy. Both can lead to serious complications for themselves and their babies, including stillbirth.

For the baby, pre-pregnancy obesity increases the risk of premature birth; excess weight gain during pregnancy (PWG) is associated with high infant birth weight which in turn is associated with a doubling of the risk of obesity in childhood.

Sarah McDonald, an expert in perinatal research, is working to highlight the risks of maternal and infant obesity, understand who is most at risk, and develop interventions to promote healthy weight gain and, ultimately, improve the physical and mental well-being of women and their children.

A clinical epidemiologist and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, she led a meta-analysis of 84 studies involving more than one million women. It found overweight or obese women have a 30 percent greater risk of induced preterm birth before 37 weeks and that risk climbs to 70 percent for very obese women.

It was solid evidence of the seriousness of the relationship between obesity and pre-term birth, and now most obstetrical societies recognize these risks as well as the risks of excess weight gain during pregnancy.

McDonald’s findings pose serious public health implications for Canada and other countries in both the developed and developing world where maternal obesity rates are high. Prevention and early intervention is key. She is now seeking to identify new approaches to motivate mothers-to-be to have as healthy lives as possible during the important window on their infant’s health: pregnancy.

Developing computationally intensive statistical methods for modern data sets.

The old adage that “bigger is better” may or may not apply to data. Nevertheless, big data have become a fact of life across virtually all areas of societal and scientific endeavor. Paul McNicholas is developing new, computationally intensive, statistical methods to better gain insight into big, and otherwise complex, data.

Among the most problematic big data, from an analytics viewpoint, are data sets where very many measurements are taken for each observation. While statisticians and computer scientists routinely deal with data that can contain hundreds or thousands of variables, modern data sets often have upwards of ten thousand variables. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of effective methodology for so-called ultra high-dimensional data.

Paul McNicholas is combining expertise in computing and statistics to develop computational statistics approaches for ultra high-dimensional data. These approaches focus on methods that find subgroups of similar observations – known as classification or clustering methods – and are applicable in any setting where ultra high-dimensional data arise, from management science to disease diagnostics and bioinformatics.

Beyond ultra high-dimensional data, Paul McNicholas is developing computational statistics methods that will allow users to make sense of massive data sets with measurements of different types. Similar to his work on ultra high-dimensional data, this work promises to simplify and facilitate data analytics in many fields of social, economic, and scientific endeavor.

Concrete examples of applications of Paul McNicholas’ work include developing computational statistics approaches to: look for subtypes of certain cancers; help identify candidate genes for modification to allow food crops to grow in developing countries; and combine genetic, fitness, and other health data to study the relationship between obesity, genes, nutrition, and exercise.

Using surface chemistry, micro- and nanofabrication to create functional materials that can be used in a wide variety of applications.

Today’s scientists are using increasingly clever techniques to make a host of fascinating new materials, from ultra-small particles to smart thin films with applications from wearable electronics to disease diagnosis.

José Moran-Mirabal, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology and an emerging leader in this field, is pioneering methods to produce functional structures from materials as varied as metallic films and cellulose.

Moran-Mirabal’s research is transforming the way sensors are fabricated. He has pioneered a simple, inexpensive, yet powerful technique for patterning and structuring thin films, used as components in everything from electronics to biosensors. By integrating biomembranes on micro/nanostructured films and studying them through electrochemistry and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, he is expanding our knowledge of membrane-surface interactions and opening paths for the development of novel assays for the diagnosis of important diseases.

Moran-Mirabal has also pioneered a modular method to chemically modify cellulose – the most abundant organic polymer on earth – and produce novel structured materials. The ability to tune the interfacial and functional properties of cellulose has been identified as a critical step in unlocking the full potential of nanostructured cellulose. Using chemically-modified cellulose, he is developing novel paper-based sensors for environmental pollutants, new porous materials capable of capturing molecules, and new solutions for 3D bioprinting of cellular microenvironments.

By designing new functional micro- and nanostructured materials to build improved microenvironments for tissue engineering and develop novel diagnostic assays for the detection of pathogens and diseases, Moran-Mirabal’s work will have major impacts on environmental monitoring, clinical practice, and biological research.

Examining the effects of very low doses of radiation on human and non-human species, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms of low-dose effects.

Radiation is everywhere. Rocks produce a natural form called radon. Anyone who has had a chest or dental X-ray has been exposed to man-made radiation. And highly sophisticated medical imaging techniques are used to treat life-threatening deformities or diseases. Yet most of us are frightened of radiation because we’ve heard about the terrible effects of high doses experienced during atomic bomb explosions or nuclear reactor meltdowns. This level of exposure, however, is never even approached during the controlled use of radiation where strict regulations are in place to ensure safety. Still the question remains: Just how dangerous are low doses?

Canada Research Chair Dr. Carmel Mothersill is a radiobiologist who has studied low-dose radiation effects for several years. In her research, she studies the effects of low-dose exposures to cells derived from humans and other species. She is interested in the long-term changes in the behaviour of cells; changes, for example, in how they grow and how they communicate. The information derived from her research helps put radiation risks in context given the benefits of the medical use of radiation. In addition her research is used to help detect potential problems by using sensitive tests that employ cultured cells and small tissue explants and do not involve experiments on animals.

Dr. Mothersill’s research suggests that low doses of radiation have very different effects compared to high doses. Cells appear to be able to adapt to low doses and to organize cell and tissue responses through sophisticated communication systems. The death of one or two cells in the population, which could be a consequence of low-dose exposure, is therefore not a problem for the tissue. As she explores this issue, Dr. Mothersill is also looking at the relative sensitivities of individual humans and non-human species to low-dose exposures to see if any are extra-sensitive and whether exposure to a little radiation is dangerous.

Using non-invasive techniques to measure these changes, the research will create a comprehensive understanding of the impact of fitness on neural activity.

In the 1990s, classical guitarist Liona Boyd was on top of the world with five Juno awards and a thriving career as “Canada’s first lady of the guitar”. By 2002, she was sidelined with a debilitating neurological disorder that had her struggling to control the fingers of her right hand.

The culprit was focal hand dystonia (FHD), a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that occur during a specific skilled hand movement. It affects one in 2,000 individuals, many of them musicians, surgeons, writers and others whose professions rely on fine motor skills. Affected individuals are often treated with botox injections, which relax the muscles, but these are ineffective in many patients and some develop resistant antibodies.

Using cutting-edge techniques in functional near-infrared spectroscopy, one-proton magnetic spectroscopy, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Dr. Aimee Nelson is advancing our knowledge of the connection between exercise and the changes in the nervous system that accompany exercise.

By understanding the abnormal somatosensory physiology underlying the condition, Dr. Nelson hopes to develop rehabilitative regimes for FHD and other neurological disorders that modify brain activity and ameliorate symptoms. This research will have far-reaching implications for rehabilitative approaches that use exercise to improve human movement.

Using advances in biotechnology to produce novel papermaking chemicals that are less harmful to the environment; developing a new technique for adhesive and composite material development; establishing a better rapid purification process for drinking water.

Over the last century, much of Canada’s wealth has been generated from paper and other resource-based industries. But more stringent environmental regulations, competition from low cost pulp, aging Canadian facilities and over dependence on low-value-added products now threaten Canada’s pulp and paper industry. If it is to survive and prosper in the future, our paper industry needs new technologies that can fully exploit the Canadian fibre resource and, at the same time, protect the environment.

Although extraordinary advances in computer control and polymer science have helped to transform the rather simple 1950s mechanical processing technology into modern-day science-based paper manufacturing, Dr. Robert H. Pelton believes much more can be done. Emerging developments in biotechnology are allowing him to tackle four sets of groundbreaking projects focused on exploiting the specificity of biological macromolecules to enhance papermaking.

First he will screen a broad range of commercially available proteins to understand how specific protein structures influence adhesion in wet and dry composites, and will develop novel proteins for paper chemistry applications. Next, he will elucidate the relationships between protein structure, adsorption and flocculation (retention) efficiency. The third set of projects will try to harness the ability of molecules to self-assemble in order to transport target molecules to specific domains. These projects will also generate specialty, functional pigments that can be deposited in paper in a controlled fashion. The fourth focus area will develop a new hybrid paper material that can be used to remove bacteria and viruses from drinking water.

Dr. Pelton’s group is considered the world’s largest, most prolific academic research group working in the area of polymers for papermaking. His laboratory provides ideal opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to learn how to design, synthesize and characterize polymers, put them into paper materials, and measure and model paper properties, thus providing valuable tools for Canadian papermakers.

Conducting human-based research to evaluate combinations of exercise and nutritional support designed to alleviate age-related declines in muscle health.

By 2031 individuals over 65 will represent a quarter of all Canadians. Chronic health conditions like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and osteoporosis are common among Canada’s aging population, and are worsened by sarcopenia – the age-related decline in muscle mass and strength.

Chronic conditions diminish independence and quality of life, while increasing risk of disability and requiring extensive healthcare resources. For example, 40% of all hospital services are for patients over the age of 65.

Stuart Phillips, Canada Research Chair in Human Skeletal Muscle Health in Aging, is developing prevention strategies to address persistent issues of rehabilitation.

Previously, Phillips determined that periods of muscle disuse – which increase in frequency among the elderly – can cause significant declines in muscle mass, strength, and power. However, he was able to prevent this loss in other subjects with a carefully designed combination of low-intensity exercise and nutritional support.

While rehabilitation programs result in partial recovery, evidence-based prevention strategies will diminish the effects of sarcopenia and improve health, mobility, and quality of life, among the aging Canadians.

This research on aging will answer questions that are relevant to decision-makers and improve the quality of life and health of older Canadians.

We all look forward to aging in good health. By the time 2025 rolls around, it’s estimated that one in every five Canadians will be aged 65 or over – ‘senior’ citizens hoping to lead active and independent lives in their communities.

Some people age in a healthy fashion despite many physical health challenges, while others who are in good physical health age less optimally. What explains this phenomenon?

Dr. Parminder Raina, Canada Research Chair in Geroscience, is leading the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) which aims to answer this and many other questions about aging. The study brings together the capacity, knowledge and expertise of experts in the physical, psychological and social health fields to unlock some of the greatest mysteries of aging that have the most impact on the health of Canadians.

The CLSA is a large, national, long-term study that will follow approximately 50,000 Canadian men and women between the ages of 45 and 85 for at least 20 years. It will collect information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social and economic aspects of their lives. This platform of research is designed to be a legacy cohort for all researchers and it is the largest and most comprehensive research platform on aging anywhere in the world.

Raina and other researchers are studying these factors, both individually and in combination, to understand how they have an impact in maintaining health and in the development of disease and disability as people age. This information will help identify ways to prevent disease and improve health services, and will facilitate the rapid adoption of extensive research into health practice, programs and policies.

Raina’s research will result in a strengthened and more responsive health system that will improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

Dr. Karen Robson works together with the Toronto District School Board to look at issues around the transition of high school students to postsecondary education in Ontario. She leads a large research team, which includes members in Chicago, New York City, London, Vancouver, and Toronto. With a strong commitment to longitudinal and comparative research, Dr. Robson examines the educational pathways of young people in major cities around the world, using policy contexts to understand major differences in where young people end up after high school.

Using experimental and preclinical methods to understand the links between immune and metabolic systems.

Metabolic diseases can lead to complications like heart attacks, stroke, and even infection, claiming millions of lives worldwide each year. Obesity, which increases blood insulin and glucose, is a significant factor in the development of metabolic diseases like prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Over half of Canada’s population is overweight or obese and potentially at risk.

Researchers aren’t sure why, but not all obese individuals will develop a metabolic disease. Thankfully, Jonathan Schertzer, Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Inflammation, is trying to get the skinny on it.

Most people who develop prediabetes will later develop type 2 diabetes, but this process could take decades. Prediabetes is reversible so it is crucial to use that window of time to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Schertzer and his research team are using experimental and preclinical approaches to understand the link between the immune and metabolic systems. They will also examine how existing drugs impact blood glucose.

By understanding how our bodies interact with bacteria and therapeutic drugs during obesity, and how inflammation is triggered, Schertzer’s research team aims to improve the safety and success of existing therapies and promote the development of new and innovative treatments for obesity-related diseases.

This work focuses on how physiological systems function during environmental stress, how they are shaped during development, and how they evolve.

Scott – an assistant professor in the department of biology is examining how hypoxia-tolerant animals have solved the problems associated with oxygen deprivation, which will then provide perspective on issues related to human health (diseases involved oxygen limitation such as COPD and cardiovascular disease) and the environment (climate change and pollution).

Improving the quality and delivery of palliative care through health services and policy research.

The development of new technologies and drug formulations to improve the delivery of medication to both the front and back of the eye.

More than a million Canadians live with vision loss, a number that’s expected to double over the next 25 years as the population ages.

New drugs are revolutionizing treatment, but their effectiveness is limited by complications and patient compliance. Less than 5% of those who can wear contact lenses don’t because of discomfort. Implanted lenses, used to restore sight after cataract surgery, cause secondary cataracts in 4 out of 10 patients. Topical eye drops, even when used as directed, shed their active ingredients within seconds.

Heather Sheardown, a chemical engineering professor and world-renowned expert in ophthalmic biomaterials, uses the tools of chemical biology (high-throughput synthesis and screening) to improve the odds for those afflicted with a host of ocular conditions.

Her research is focused on developing new drug-containing formulations that can be delivered as topical drops to provide long lasting and efficacious delivery of drugs to the front of the eye, as well as the next generation of smart materials that interact with the ocular tissues to promote the long term delivery of drugs to the back of the eye.

The founding director of the 20/20 NSERC Ophthalmic Materials Research Network has already made significant contributions. Her research group has designed special contact lenses and better eye drops to assist in drug delivery, and developed a microneedle system that spares patients the excruciating routine of having drugs injected into their eyes by syringe every six to eight weeks.

Sheardown’s work holds enormous potential for delivering personalized drug formulations that could brighten the outlook for millions of people afflicted with ophthalmic diseases.

Focusing on further characterization of genetic abnormalities of brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), with the intent of developing future therapies that will target BTICs, and provide insight into patient prognosis.

It was while Dr. Sheila Singh, Canada Research Chair in Human Cancer Stem Cell Biology, was in medical school that two little boys with brain tumours—both named Christopher—sowed the first seeds of her interest in research. Both were five years old and treated with the best current therapies. One flourished. The other died.

Singh says the boy who died left her a legacy of questions: Why should two small boys with the same disease fare so differently? What is different about each individual’s tumour?

As a scientist in McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, Singh now spends her life looking for the molecular and genetic answers to these questions.

She’s discovered an abnormal stem cell—the brain tumour initiating cell (BTIC)—that may drive the formation of brain tumours. It’s the first isolation of cancer stem cells in the central nervous system—a discovery with important implications for understanding how brain tumours start.

Most important to Singh’s research is the idea that only a small population of cancer stem cells, and not every cell in a brain tumour, is capable of generating and propagating. Current approaches to brain tumours focus on every cell in the tumour rather than on the rare tumour stem cell, and this may explain the poor response of brain tumours to current treatments. Future therapies that target the BTIC could better halt the growth and propagation of tumours.

Singh and her team will continue to search for better surface markers for the BTIC, making it possible to isolate the cell even more specifically and easily. Her work will offer insight into patient prognosis, as patients with a higher proportion of BTICs may have a shorter survival and worse prognosis. Her studies will form the basis for future trials of therapy directed against the BTIC.

Investigating the relationship between prenatal risk factors, including poor nutrition and long term disease risk, with the goal of improving maternal and child health.

We all know our lifestyle choices impact on our health, and that overeating and inactivity contribute to our risk of obesity and other diseases like diabetes. But did you know that the prenatal environment within which you (and even your parents) develop also impacts your disease risk?

Dr. Sloboda’s research is based on fundamental knowledge that the environment in which the embryo or fetus develops influences both the immediate health and wellbeing of the child, as well as their risk of disease later in life. Poor prenatal nutrition can have long-lasting effects on an unborn child, elevating the risk of adult obesity and a host of later-life diseases, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and reproductive dysfunction.

Deborah Sloboda is investigating the complex molecular pathways and mechanisms of perinatal programming – the triggering of illnesses in adults by events that occurred during development within the womb. Combining expertise in endocrinology, physiology and molecular biology, her work is uncovering important new details on how prenatal nutrition impacts the health of offspring, and how this molecular memory can be transmitted to subsequent generations.

Her recent work investigates how gut bacteria participate in the way in which a women’s body adapts to pregnancy and whether the mother’s gut bacteria contributes to how her baby develops while in the womb. These are exciting new unexplored avenues that might lead to new ways of targeting obesity, and maybe even preventing it in the first place.

By focusing on this developmental window of vulnerability, Dr. Sloboda intends to identify ways in which we can promote a healthy start to life and develop strategies to assist and support expectant mothers in making decisions that will reduce later-life disease risks for their children and future generations.

Developing low-cost, miniaturized devices that can be used at point-of-care and in the field to quickly and accurately diagnose disease.

What if cancer, infectious diseases and other conditions could be diagnosed in a matter of hours instead of weeks during a regular visit to your family doctor? Or if paramedics could use a simple finger prick to analyze a heart attack victim’s blood and transmit that information to hospital before the patient’s arrival?

Point-of-care diagnostic testing promises to usher in a new era of predictive, personalized, and preemptive medicine by bringing complex diagnostic and screening tests, currently performed at centralized laboratories, to local clinics, physician offices, and patient and community homes. Yet only a few systems have made it from the research lab to market.

Leyla Soleymani, Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices, is developing new fabrication processes, materials, and devices that will enable the rapid development and commercialization of application-specific, handheld, point-of-care diagnostic systems.

She employs ink-based fabrication methods to create structurally-tuned solid-phase electronics functionalized with bio-receptors. This allows multiple biomedical devices for processing clinical samples and detecting genetic markers to be miniaturized and created on a single scalable and inexpensive system.

Her research has already contributed to a novel biosensor that improves the detection of viruses and bacteria. Dubbed as the most sensitive nanostructured biosensing chip of its kind, the device’s probes can identify whether a particular disease exists within the body with the utmost precision and within only 30 minutes.

Offering sensitive, specific, low-cost, and easily-accessible disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment selection capabilities at the point-of-need, promises significant health care benefits for under-served populations in Canada and resource-poor communities in the developing world.

Understanding how hormones regulate the body’s storage and breakdown of fat and its response to insulin.

Canadians eat too many fast foods and don’t exercise enough. With obesity contributing to escalating rates of diabetes and heart disease, it’s a recipe for disaster.

At the molecular level, Dr. Gregory Steinberg, Canada Research Chair in Metabolism, Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, is working to understand how obesity causes Type 2 diabetes and the role nutrition and exercise play in maintaining good health.

To accomplish this, he is conducting metabolic studies in which genetically modified mice exercise or consume calorie foods. How many and what type of calories (fat or carbohydrate) the mice burn will be measured both during exercise and in response to hormones.

Steinberg’s studies will be complemented with work using advanced techniques in protein chemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis on phosphoproteomics (identifying, cataloguing and characterizing proteins) and gene expression analysis.

Steinberg is also interested in understanding the role of inflammation in obesity and how this contributes to the development of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis.

The goal of Steinberg’s research is to develop medicines that could be used to treat insulin resistance and atherosclerosis, both serious problems for the more than one million diabetics living in Canada.

Using culture-enriched molecular profiling and state-of-the-art genome sequencing to study the human microbiome and its role in human development and health.

The human body is host to numerous complex microbial communities that comprise the human microbiome. These microbes and their dynamic interactions with each other and with the host play critical roles in human development and health.

While mostly beneficial, bacteria within the microbiome also contribute to disease: as pathogens, as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance and virulent genes, and, when these microbial communities become out of sync with their host, as drivers of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Michael Surette, a professor of medicine and one of Canada’s top microbiologists, is shedding new light on why some microbes keep us healthy while others cause illness, what role our microbes play in chronic diseases, how the microbiome develops and changes across the lifespan, and how changes with age affect susceptibility to disease.

While it is often stated that most of the microbiome is not accessible by laboratory culturing methods, Surette’s lab has challenged this assumption. His pioneering approach combining culture-enriched molecular profiling with state-of-the-art genome sequencing allows his laboratory to routinely grow more than 99.9% of bacterial populations, and typically recovers 2-3 times the diversity of bacteria than recovered by molecular profiling alone.

These approaches are being used to investigate specific diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome, and to address fundamental questions about microbe-microbe/host interactions. Exploiting beneficial properties of the human microbiota holds promise for the development of new microbiome-derived therapies for the treatment of a wide range of conditions impacted by the health of our microbiota.

Dr. Arthur Sweetman, a leading researcher in health and labour economics, was named in February 2010 as the new Ontario Research Chair in Health Human Resources at McMaster University. Specializing in health and labour economics, Dr. Sweetman focuses on issues in health human resources in Ontario, including the shortage in doctors, health budgets, and the number of medical radiation technologists and pharmacists needed in the province.

Throughout his extensive academic career, Dr. Sweetman has demonstrated leadership in research, teaching, and bridging academia and policy-making. His extensive research in immigration and education policy compliments his work in health human resources, for which work-place training and immigration are integral parts of workforce strategy.

Investigating the mechanisms involved in food intolerance in functional gut disorders.

Gluten intolerance, which is caused by the protein found in wheat and other grains, can cause symptoms ranging from stomach problems to life-threatening illnesses such as celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes and certain cancers. The only known treatment is an expensive gluten-free but low fiber diet that can cause constipation.

But what if a pill could be taken before every meal that would neutralize the gut-damaging effects of gluten intolerance? Dr. Elena Verdú, Canada Research Chair in Inflammation, Microbiota and Nutrition, thinks it’s just a matter of time before such a pill is developed.

Verdú is researching the mechanisms involved in food intolerance in functional gut disorders to shed light on the role gluten intolerance plays in the development of diseases like celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Verdú has performed gluten sensitivity studies that show that gluten can set off a reaction in the intestines and the immune system, even in people who don’t have celiac disease. She has also tested the efficacy of a process to prevent gluten’s toxic effect on the gut lining. Although this approach is still in a pre-clinical discovery phase, it could allow much greater diet freedom for people with celiac disease and gluten-sensitive IBS.

Verdú’s work to unravel the mystery of how gluten causes damage and dysfunction to the gut could lead to greatly improved non-dietary treatment and prevention strategies for people with gluten intolerance.

Conducting field research experiments and laboratory studies to examine how drought and wildfire severity impact peatland ecosystems.

Damaged and lost peatland ecosystems have profound consequences for valuable ecosystem services. Wildfires, for example, can produce billions of tons of carbon. Air pollutants from wildfires, which are far-reaching, have already been responsible for thousands of deaths.

Canada Research Chair in Ecohydrology, Mike Waddington, wants to minimize these consequences.

Peatlands cover about 17% of Canada’s land surface and account for 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. Unique traits of northern peatlands, like the water retention of Sphagnum mosses, protect them from deep peat combustion and burning. However, northern peatlands may be at risk in the future thanks to warming and drying of the global climate.

Using an existing wildfire study site, field-based moisture and fuel manipulations, and laboratory experiments, Waddington is examining how peatland sensitivity is impacted by severe drought and fire.

Enhanced drought and drying conditions will decrease water levels in northern peatlands, shifting vegetation composition, and increasing the risk of burning. Greater occurrence of drought and wildfires can shift Sphagnum peatland regimes to persistent sources of carbon dioxide, limiting the recovery of mosses. This shift could cause further damage by triggering processes like afforestation, contributing to continued loss of ecosystem services.

Waddington’s work will lead to a better understanding of the processes that impact peatland resilience and the boundaries of peatland regime shifts, enabling better protection and recovery of these resources.

New techniques for identifying and treating the underlying causes of blood clot formation.

Thrombosis, the formation of harmful or potentially fatal clots in the bloodstream, results from a complex interaction between the blood vessel wall and various components in the blood. The current approach to this problem relies on accurate diagnosis and treatment with specific anticoagulant drugs. It would be more effective, however, to deal with thrombosis in a fundamental way, by understanding the underlying genetic and biochemical events that give rise to the problem in the first place.

As holder of the Canada Research Chair in Thrombosis, Jeffrey Weitz will seek out this understanding. Following a comprehensive bench-to-bedside program, he will explore the most basic molecular dynamics responsible for this condition, expanding this research to develop clinical treatments that have value for patients who have already been diagnosed and are currently being treated.

This approach has already improved the standard of care being given to thrombosis patients. Dr. Weitz and his colleagues demonstrated the efficacy of a new drug regimen that could be administered on an out-patient basis, improving the quality of life for these individuals by enabling them to recover at home. At the same time, the health care system saved the cost of the five- to seven-day hospital stay the former therapy entailed.

Dr. Weitz has also characterized the structure and function of various clotting enzymes, and has used these insights to create new types of anticoagulant drugs that are now being tested. He intends to build on this success by examining the specific molecular changes that take place in blood vessel walls and give rise to thrombosis. The results of this research should identify the proteins to be targetted as part of a gene therapy, which should combat the very basis of the disorder.

Using clinical trials to evaluate new radiation technologies for the treatment of patients with breast cancer and the use of biological markers to predict response to radiation therapy.

Affecting over 26,000 women in 2017, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The disease is often limited to the breast and surrounding lymph nodes and is treated primarily by surgery. However, about 70% of women will also receive radiation therapy (RT) in addition to other treatments (chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy) to prevent recurrent disease.

The last two decades have seen major advances in the delivery of RT because of improvements in computing and imaging technology. It can now be delivered more precisely, permitting dose intensification to the cancer, and a reduction of dose to the surrounding normal tissues, thus avoiding toxicity. There have also been major research discoveries around the molecular biology of breast cancers. Gene array studies have given rise to a new taxonomy to classify breast cancer into subgroups that more accurately predict risk of recurrence and response to treatment compared to classic clinical factors such as tumour size or lymph node involvement.

Dr. Timothy Whelan, Canada Research Chair in Breast Cancer Research, will use the technologic advances and improved understanding of breast cancer biology to tailor RT to the individual patient in three ways. First, Dr. Whelan is evaluating whether molecular biomarkers of cell proliferation can identify low risk cancers and help avoid the use of RT in these cases. Second, Dr. Whelan and his team are studying the effectiveness of short treatments over one week, given to just part of the affected breast, compared to the usual whole breast radiation over three weeks. Finally, this work will determine whether biomarkers can be used to tailor the use of more extensive radiation for high risk patients only and avoid it in patients at low risk.

Canadian workplaces need to step up to the challenge of managing a workforce which is, due to health care restructuring, increasingly expected to provide unpaid caregiving to family members. Allison Williams’ CIHR Chair will investigate Gender, Health and Caregiver Friendly Workplaces. Her research, will involve an international analysis of best practices for caregiver-employee policies, an evaluation of a caregiver-employee friendly workplace intervention program, and a broad assessment of vulnerable caregivers, which will all contribute to the development of a computer-based decision-making tool to help employers and caregiver-employees determine appropriate caregiver-friendly workplace options.

Using millimeter-wave radio techniques to examine star formation.

Stars are the building blocks of galaxies. Examining how they form holds the key to understanding how planets form, how the brightest galaxies shine, and how the early universe produced the chemical elements essential for life.

Does the rate of star formation determine what type of galaxy will form? Or does the type of galaxy determine the rate of star formation?

These are among the important questions astrophysicist Christine Wilson is attempting to answer. A world expert on the structure and evolution of star formation within galaxies, her prolific work in millimeter-wave radio astronomy, the newest technique for exploring the properties of the interstellar medium, is revolutionizing our view of the universe.

Her latest tool is the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world’s most sophisticated ground-based radio telescope located in the Chilean Andes. Wilson was Canadian Project Scientist for the international collaboration that designed and built the new telescope, whose 66 high-precision antennas will allow scientists to see further and deeper into the universe than ever before.

She will use ALMA to examine how physical and chemical changes in the gas that is the fuel for star formation act to regulate the local and global rate of star formation in galaxies of various types and environments, and calibrate these methods for studying young distant galaxies in the early universe.

Wilson’s work will prove crucial to uncovering the secrets of galaxy evolution and answering our most basic questions about how galaxies form and when the universe began.

Antibiotic resistance; chemically synthesizing antibiotics.

Every day, pathogenic bacteria are being implicated in the cause of more diseases. Legionnaire’s and Lyme’s. Gastric ulcers and hardening of the arteries. The list of infections associated with serious diseases like these is growing.

In this environment, effective drugs are critical to do battle. But as the use of antibiotics becomes more widespread, so too does the growth of antibiotic resistance. It’s the bugs against the drugs. And the bugs look like they’re winning.

Gerard Wright’s research concentrates on understanding the mechanisms that promote antibiotic resistance and the reasons micro-organisms become resistant. He is particularly interested in the enzymes that alter or destroy antibiotics. By identifying resistance genes, expressing and purifying enzymes, and understanding their role in the process of antibiotic resistance, Wright hopes to gather data to help reverse this resistance and develop new drugs.

To study existing antibiotics and why organisms balk at them, researchers need to synthesize them in a lab. But many of these antibiotics can’t be chemically synthesized cost-effectively in large-enough quantities to allow chemists to modify them. Wright is working on understanding new ways to synthesize particularly critical groups of antibiotics, some of them the last effective treatments for emerging superbugs.

The ultimate goal of this research is the development of new antibiotics. To do that, researchers have to understand the way they currently combat infection, and the body’s molecular processes. Wright and his colleagues are using chemistry and biochemistry to examine the use of new agents in the war against infection. One such possibility is the use of amino acids as an antidote to fungal pathogens-another living micro-organism that causes both diseases in people, and major crop losses from infection.

The chair Wright will hold at McMaster will contribute to the creation of the critical mass necessary to result in long-awaited breakthroughs in the fight to combat antibiotic resistance. His discoveries will have practical implications for both human health and agricultural practices.