From social psychology and star formation, to primary health care and multilevel governance, seven Canada Research Chairs (CRC) at The University of Western Ontario have received $8 million in renewed funding from the federal government.
Gary Shaw, Canada Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology, right, was among the seven University of Western Ontario Canada Research Chairs receiving an $8-million funding renewal from the federal government. Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Canada Robert Nicholson, far left, visited Western last week, along with London West MP Ed Holder, to make the announcement.
This renewed investment is part of $165.5 million for 187 newly awarded or renewed CRCs at 44 Canadian universities. Western has 69 CRCs in total.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Canada Robert Nicholson visited Western, along with London West MP Ed Holder, to announce the funding renewal on March 26.
“This is money well spent. This country has to be competitive and we know that when you invest money into science and technology, we all benefit. We know we have to attract and retain the world’s best researchers to Canada’s universities,” says Nicholson.
About seven years ago the sequencing of the human genome was completed and unlocked some of the secrets of diseases plaguing humans.
This revelation laid the ground work for CRC Gary Shaw’s work using nuclear magnetic resonance to understand the function of calcium-binding proteins (S100 proteins).
This research could lead to the development of pharmaceuticals to treat conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and Alzheimer’s.
“Our lab aims to understand what some of these proteins in the human brain look like on an atomic level, how they interact with the molecules in the cell, what the outcome of these interactions are, and what happens to these proteins in disease. This is structural neurobiology,” says Shaw, Director, Biomolecular NMR Laboratory.
After receiving the initial funding through the CRC program in 2003, Shaw says “largely because of this award I was able to take a few risks” and he was able to initiate a research project he had little experience with – studying Parkinson’s disease.
Over the course of the initial CRC award, Shaw’s lab was able to determine the three-dimensional structure of seven different proteins and they believe they have figured out why one of these is dysfunctional in Parkinson’s disease. With the renewal, Shaw hopes to conduct research to better understand the disease and possibly aid in the development of new treatments.
Recognized as leaders in their field of study, being named a CRC opens many doors for other research investments and recruiting top students.
For example, the CRC program attracted Physics & Astronomy Professor Martin Houde to Canada from an institute in the United States. It has helped him to recruit graduate students and he has been able to use the funding to secure other grants to set up a laboratory and build telescope instrumentation.
“I couldn’t do what I do without the original CRC … it was certainly very gratifying and satisfying, and a big relief for the renewal to be successful,” says Houde.
The Canada Research Chair program sets a higher bar for the type and complexity of research they are able to conduct, says Moira Stewart, Director of the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine in Western’s Research Park.
Western’s funded researchers are:
Bertram Gawronski – Tier 2, Social Sciences and Humanities
Canada Research Chair in Social Psychology
$500,000
Martin Houde – Tier 2, Natural Sciences and Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Star Formation
$500,000
John F. (Rick) Jardine – Tier 1, Natural Sciences and Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Applied Homotopy Theory
$1,400,000
Gary S. Shaw – Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology
$1,400,000
Moira Stewart – Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Primary Health Care
$1,400,000
Miguel A. Valvano – Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Infectious Diseases and Microbial Pathogenesis
$1,400,000
Robert A. Young – Tier 1, Social Sciences and Humanities
Canada Research Chair in Multilevel Governance
$1,400,000