Western Communications

From neuroscience to renewable energy, Western researchers are being recognized for their scholarship and the solutions they’re developing to challenges around the world. The 2024 Western Research Excellence Awards honoured six leading scholars for “exceptional achievements in research, scholarship and creative activity.” The awards were created in 2023 to give the university community a chance to celebrate excellence across disciplines and highlight faculty members who use equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and accessibility to improve society. “Nominees have made impressive and important contributions,” said Penny Pexman, Western’s vice-president (research). “Our newest recipients are all tremendously accomplished and well-known internationally for leadership in their fields. This breadth and depth of expertise across disciplines and career stages reflects our potential to have impact globally.” The Western Research Excellence Awards recognize six faculty members annually, two for each assistant, associate and full professors. In all three career stages, one prize is awarded in the area broadly defined as the natural sciences and engineering, and one in the social sciences and humanities.

Outstanding Emerging Scholar Award winners

Emma Duerden, Faculty of Education

Emma Duerden is a professor in Western’s Faculty of Education and holds the Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Learning Disorders. Her impactful research in developmental cognitive neuroscience focuses on biomarkers related to cognitive functioning in critically-ill infants and children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Duerden has an impressive publication record, with significant contributions to understanding maternal and placental health’s influence on neurodevelopment. Her leadership roles in research, ethics oversight and global collaborations highlight her potential as an emerging leader in child development research.

Ryan Liss, Faculty of Law

Ryan Liss examines the role of human rights in constructing and constraining state power. In international law, he studies how the state’s obligation to protect international human rights both justifies the exercise of sovereign authority and demarcates the legitimate bounds of such authority. In criminal law, he explores how the state’s status as a public authority – obliged to protect basic rights in its territory – both justifies and limits the state’s right to engage in criminal punishment. The foundational aim of his research is to further equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and accessibility. Liss draws on theoretical and historical analysis to offer proposals for legal and political reform, and to point to a direction for a more just and equitable world.

Outstanding Scholar Award

Isha DeCoito, Faculty of Education and Faculty of Science

Isha DeCoito is an education professor, cross-appointed to the Faculty of Science, and a Faculty Scholar since 2023. She is a leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, nationally and internationally. DeCoito has developed innovative programs and implemented several large-scale and long-term research studies in STEM at all levels of education. Two major aspects of STEM education are key to her research: curriculum, pedagogical perspectives and practices that embed and reflect equity, diversity, inclusivity, and decolonization, and professional development of educators in STEM. Her work focuses on relevance and impact, with outcomes that inform STEM policy as well as the preparation of future generations.

Arghya Paul, Faculty of Engineering

Arghya Paul’s research impacts on the Canadian biomedical sector include developing a new class of nanoengineered hydrogels (synthetic materials that can absorb large quantities of water or biological fluids) to repair injured tissues. These hydrogels have applications in sustainable pharmaceuticals, stem cell therapy and health-care devices. His contributions have sparked a surge of new transformative medical innovations including development of a next generation vascular stent. Paul also co-founded a start-up biomedical company. His distinctive discipline-bridging research program has earned him several accolades including International Association of Advanced Materials Fellow, X-Chem Research Excellence Award (Chemical Institute of Canada), Ontario Early Researcher Award, Wolfe-Western Fellowship, Royal Society of Canada College Member and the Young Innovator Award from Biomedical Engineering Society (USA).

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jing Jiang, Faculty of Engineering

A Distinguished University Professor since 2018 and NSERC/UNENE Senior Industrial Research Chair for more than two decades, Jing Jiang is an internationally renowned expert in fault-tolerant control, instrumentation and control systems for nuclear power plants and renewable energy microgrids. Jiang’s pioneering works have fundamentally revolutionized approaches to achieving high reliability in safety-critical systems, safer nuclear power plants and more effective use of renewable energy. His contributions have had an impact on academic communities and industrial applications worldwide. Named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2020, the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2010 and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2017, Jiang was also named the Order of Ontario in 2021.

Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw, Faculty of Education

Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw is a professor of early childhood education in the Faculty of Education and director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research in Curriculum at Western. She is known internationally as a ground-breaking researcher in early childhood education. For over two decades Pacini-Ketchabaw has spearheaded innovative, original research and contributed to policy and program discussions in ways that have transformed early childhood education in Canada.