CRCs are world leaders in their field funded by the Government of Canada in the areas of natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. “These symposia were a wonderful opportunity for researchers to get to know each other’s specialties, and to spark new collaborations with students and the wider community,” says Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “I thank all the CRCs for their groundbreaking contributions to address the issues faced by society today.”

This thought-provoking look at current UM research is available to view online, each featuring a brief presentation from the gathered CRCs followed by a question-and-answer period with the audience.

CRC Symposium 1, February 2, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Heather Armstrong, Chair in Integrative Bioscience; Guozhen Zhu, Chair in Mechanical and Functional Design of Nanostructured Materials; Trust Beta, Chair in Grain-Based Functional Foods; Eric Collins, Chair in Arctic Marine Microbial Ecosystem Services; Britt Drögemöller, Chair in Pharmacogenomics & Precision Medicine; Ned Budisa, Chair in Chemical Synthetic Biology and Xenobiology; Lori Wilkinson, Chair in Migration Futures; Jason Kindrachuk, Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health; Sabine Mai, Chair in Genomic Instability and Nuclear Architecture in Cancer; Jörg Stetefeld, Chair in Structural Biology and Biophysics; Carl Ho, Chair in Efficient Utilization of Electric Power; and Nandika Bandara, Chair in Food Proteins.

CRC Symposium 2, February 27, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Tracie Afifi, Chair in Childhood Adversity and Resilience; Robert Lorway, Chair in Global Intervention Politics and Social Transformation; Janilyn Arsenio, Chair in Systems Biology of Chronic Inflammation; Puyan Mojabi, Chair in Electromagnetic Inversion for Characterization and Design; Annette Desmarais, Chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty; Zulma Rueda, Chair in Program Sciences & Global Public Health; and Kathryn Sibley, Chair in Integrated Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation Sciences.

CRC Symposium 3, March 28, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Ties Boerma, Chair in Population and Global Health; Kiera Ladner, Chair in Miyo we’citowin, Indigenous Governance & Digital Sovereignties; Rotimi Aluko, Chair in Bioactive Peptides; Zahra Moussavi, Chair in Biomedical Engineering; Terry Klassen, Chair in Clinical Trials; and Galen Wright, Chair in Neurogenomics.

CRC Symposium 4, April 24, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Lisa Lix, Chair in Methods for Electronic Health Data Quality; John Ataguba, Chair in Health Economics; Nicole Wilson, Chair in Arctic Environmental Change and Governance; Lorrie Kirshenbaum, Chair in Molecular Cardiology; Meghan Azad, Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease; and Kristine Cowley, Chair in Function and Health after Spinal Cord Injury.

CRC Symposium 5, May 16, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Kristina Brown, Chair in Arctic Marine Biogeochemistry; Nicole Rosen, Chair in Language Interactions; Robert Mizzi, Chair in Queer, Community & Diversity Education; Samar Safi-Harb, Chair in Extreme Astrophysics; and Susan Logue, Chair in Cell Stress and Inflammation.

CRC Symposium 6, June 19, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Andrew Halayko, Chair in Chronic Lung Disease Pathobiology and Treatment; Colin Gilmore, Chair in Applied Electromagnetic Inversion; James Blanchard, Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health; Marcelo Urquia, Chair in Applied Population Health; and Souradet Shaw, Chair in Program Science & Global Public Health.

In January, the milestone was celebrated at an international research conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

The partnership between the two institutions has been recognized as a best-practice example of North-South research collaboration. It is regarded as a model global health initiative and has received millions of dollars in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The partners’ landmark discoveries include that HIV can be transmitted from mother to child through breastfeeding; that STIs such as gonorrhea and chlamydia increase susceptibility to HIV infection; and that some individuals have natural immunity to HIV.

“The collaboration has made a huge impact,” said Keith Fowke [B.Sc.(Hons.)/88, PhD/95], head of medical microbiology and infectious diseases in the Max Rady College of Medicine.

“U of M has been a global leader in making cutting-edge contributions to understanding HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, thanks to this partnership.”

At the conference, Dr. Ruth Nduati, professor of pediatrics at the University of Nairobi, spoke of the opportunities that the partnership has given to Kenyan scientists.

“This collaboration has been a gift to the young people of Kenya,” she said. “It has given them the possibility to dream that their work can be part of transforming the world.”

The collaboration began in 1980, after two doctors from opposite sides of the world met at a conference. Dr. Herbert Nzanze, head of medical microbiology at the University of Nairobi, convinced Allan Ronald [MD/61, B.Sc.(Med)/61, DSc./11], a UM research pioneer in infectious diseases, to come to Kenya to help combat sexually transmitted chancroid infections in men.

A small lab was opened in Nairobi, and Manitobans started travelling back and forth to operate it. Ronald brought in one of his star students, Frank Plummer [MD/76], and engineered links with infectious disease specialists at other institutions, including the University of Ghent in Belgium and the University of Washington in Seattle.

Seeking to track down the source of the chancroid infections, the group opened a clinic in the shantytown of Majengo to assess female sex workers. They soon brought chancroid under control. But in 1985, they were shocked to discover that a high percentage of the sex workers had HIV/AIDS. They changed their focus to the growing epidemic.

More students came to join them, not just from Manitoba but from Belgium and Seattle. Kenyan medical students started going to Winnipeg and Seattle to further their training.

In the late 1980s, Plummer led a team – including Fowke, then a graduate student – in discovering that some Kenyan women sex workers who had been exposed to HIV infection were naturally immune to it. This breakthrough provided vital new information for HIV vaccine and drug development.

In 2007, a team led by UM professor Dr. Stephen Moses demonstrated that circumcision reduces men’s risk of HIV infection by as much as 60 per cent. This insight led to expanded circumcision programs throughout eastern and southern Africa.

The Manitoba-Nairobi partnership also developed HIV prevention and control strategies that included opening free clinics‚ educating sex workers and distributing condoms. Many of the strategies have successfully been implemented by other countries.

Today, the University of Nairobi STD/HIV/SRH Collaborative Research Group includes several other universities in addition to Manitoba, Ghent and Washington, including the University of Toronto, McMaster University and the University of California.

To mark the 40th anniversary, attendees at the conference included then UM President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. David Barnard and University of Nairobi Vice-Chancellor Dr. Stephen Kiama.

Reflecting on 40 years, co-founder Ronald, now distinguished professor emeritus in medical microbiology and infectious diseases, emphasized the links between science, public policy and clinical practice, and the priority of getting research results implemented so they can save lives.

“Global health needs to be further defined as a shared responsibility between scientific and academic leaders, governments and implementation processes that are demonstrated to the public, and to funders, as able to reduce disease burden,” he said.

Kenyan professionals have been vital to the collaboration’s research and clinical success. A number of Kenyan students who went abroad to study at universities affiliated with the collaboration eventually assumed health-system and research leadership roles in their home country.

Omu Anzala [PhD/97], currently director of the Kenyan AIDS Vaccine Initiative, earned his PhD at UM. Dr. Joshua Kimani, who became chief clinician for the collaboration, recalled a visit to Winnipeg that influenced his career path.

Back in 1987, Kimani was a third-year medical student when a Canadian – Dr. Frank Plummer – came to lecture his class on sexually transmitted diseases. “HIV had just come,” Kimani remembered. “People didn’t really understand it.”

Kimani and another student were so intrigued by Plummer’s talk that they volunteered at the Majengo clinic. That experience influenced them to specialize in infectious diseases. In 1989, they received funding from UM to spend three months in Winnipeg.

They did rounds at local hospitals and were awestruck to meet senior figures like Ronald, Dr. Robert Brunham and Dr. Joanne Embree, who were well-known members of the collaboration with their names on numerous research papers.

“By the time we came back home,” Kimani said, “we had seen a different world and been opened up to the opportunities in public health.”

Fowke, who has made more than 40 trips to Kenya in his career, said it was moving and inspiring to mark the 40th anniversary in Nairobi with an international network of colleagues and friends.

“With five generations of UM and UN researchers represented at the meeting, I felt tremendous pride in the vision of the founders, immense hope for the future – seeing the excellence of our students – and honoured to be part of this collaboration,” he said.

“UM researchers and students have improved the health of Kenyans and people around the world, and we should all take a moment to celebrate that accomplishment.” 

LARRY KROTZ and RADYUM STAFF

Remembering Dr. Frank Plummer

The celebration of the 40-year University of Manitoba-University of Nairobi partnership gave way to sorrow on Feb. 4, 2020 with the sudden passing in Nairobi of esteemed scientist Frank Plummer [MD/76], a leading figure in the collaboration.

The day before his passing in Nairobi, Dr. Frank Plummer was reunited with Hawa, a research participant who was found to have natural immunity to HIV nearly 30 years ago.

The world-renowned infectious disease expert was 67 years old. Just days before suffering a fatal heart attack, he had spoken at the 40th-anniversary conference and enjoyed reuniting with many of the Kenyan women whose natural immunity to HIV his team had discovered in the late 1980s.

“Frank Plummer’s contributions to public health on a global scale were immense. Today we lost a giant,” said Brian Postl [MD/76], dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and a medical school classmate of Plummer. “Frank distinguished himself as a true leader and visionary.”

The Winnipeg-born Plummer, who joined the UM faculty in 1984, spent 17 years in Nairobi leading the collaboration. His work not only produced vital knowledge about the HIV epidemic in Africa, but led to prevention and control strategies that influenced worldwide health policy on sexually transmitted infections, saving tens of thousands of lives.

In Canada, Plummer’s leadership roles included serving as scientific director general of the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and director general of the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control in Ottawa.

He led the Canadian laboratory response to the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009. At the time of his passing, he was distinguished professor emeritus of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at UM and was working to develop an HIV vaccine.

“The work of Dr. Frank Plummer has had a tremendous impact on global public health, and he was a prime example of dedication and passion in one’s profession,” said Dr. David Barnard.

Plummer’s many prestigious honours included the Order of Canada, the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, the Prix Galien Research Award, the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award and the Flavelle Medal of the Royal Society of Canada.

“He was an outstanding, world-class researcher who was a dear colleague, mentor and friend to many of us lucky enough to work with him, and beside him,” said Keith Fowke [B.Sc.(Hons.)/88, PhD/95], head of medical microbiology and infectious diseases. “He will be dearly missed by all of us in the academic and scientific community.”

The funding is made possible by the gift of $30 million made in 2016 by philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady in support of health sciences at the university. The fund will allocate a total of $1 million over three years to support collaborative research by faculty members.

The one-year grants are designed to seed short-term projects that combine the expertise of researchers from various departments and colleges of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“All four of these interdisciplinary teams have proposed cutting-edge science,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty. “These are exciting projects that cover the spectrum from basic to clinical research, each with the potential for high impact in the short term.”

Here are the projects chosen for funding in 2019:

Analyzing medications in human milk

Dr. Lauren Kelly

Dr. Lauren Kelly, assistant professor of pediatrics/child health in the Max Rady College of Medicine and scientist with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), will lead a study of breast milk. Mothers who take medications, and their health-care providers, are often concerned about infants’ exposure to drugs in breast milk. This can deter breastfeeding or deny moms safe use of medicines.

Kelly’s team includes researchers from the College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and CHRIM. After reviewing what medicines breastfeeding women in Manitoba use, they will conduct a pilot project to collect and analyze breast milk. The evidence obtained will advance the understanding of medication safety during breastfeeding.

A further goal is to develop methods for storing anonymized medication data with milk samples, allowing for follow-up research.

Applying artificial intelligence to health research

Dr. William Leslie

A team led by Dr. William Leslie, professor of internal medicine and radiology in the Max Rady College of Medicine, has already had success at harnessing artificial intelligence. The team has “taught” a machine to find vertebral fractures on bone-density scans. This helps to identify patients at high risk for another fracture.  

The new study will continue this machine-learning research, enhance the infrastructure for it, and promote machine-learning collaborations within and beyond the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Leslie’s team, which includes researchers from the department of radiology and the College of Pharmacy, will share lessons they have derived from “teaching” machines, in terms of requirements such as image processing and computer programming. A key goal is to help other researchers enter this fast-paced field.

Understanding a non-invasive thyroid tumour

Dr. Sabine Mai

Dr. Sabine Mai, professor of physiology, biochemistry/medical genetics and human anatomy/cell science in the Max Rady College of Medicine, Canada Research Chair in genomic instability and nuclear architecture in cancer, and senior investigator at the Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology, leads a team that will investigate a type of thyroid tumour called a “non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features” (NIFTP).

Because this tumour is non-invasive, it may be over-treated if it is diagnosed as aggressive cancer. This study will compare NIFTP to other sub-types of thyroid cancer in order to predict its behaviour and tailor its clinical management.

With team members from pathology/immunology and surgery, the study will examine NIFTP at the genetic level. It will look, for example, at the 3D organization of telomeres (the ends of chromosomes). The project aims to refine the diagnostic criteria for NIFTP.

Investigating the genetics of HIV risk

Dr. Lyle McKinnon

A study led by Dr. Lyle McKinnon, assistant professor of medical microbiology and community health sciences in the Max Rady College of Medicine, will build on the previous finding that vaginal inflammation in women increases HIV susceptibility. The underlying reasons why some women have this inflammation are unclear.

The team recently analyzed the genetic profiles of more than 200 young women in South Africa. They found several gene variants that are associated with genital inflammation and/or HIV acquisition.

With team members from medical microbiology/infectious diseases, immunology and community health sciences, this study seeks to validate this finding in a larger sample of South African and Kenyan women, and to investigate more precisely how genes influence inflammation and HIV susceptibility. The ultimate goal is to develop new HIV prevention strategies.

VIEW FULL PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.

The 2018 Rady Innovation Fund recipients, Dr. Thomas Klonisch, Dr. James Nagy and Dr. Kathryn Sibley, will present their findings on December 17, click for event info. 

This support, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, will help Canadian researchers study the full spectrum of health issues affecting the lives of Canadians.

While visiting the university, Eyolfson highlighted the $9.7 million in funding that will go to researchers in Manitoba.

Eyolfson highlighted the work of Dr. Josée Lavoie, a University of Manitoba researcher who works on kidney health care in rural and remote Manitoba First Nation communities. Manitoba First Nations have the highest documented prevalence and the second highest incidence of end-stage kidney disease in Canada. Canadians living in rural/remote locations and requiring care experience significant barriers. Dr. Lavoie will receive $1.5 million to support her research.

“These investigators are all leading experts in their fields. This recognition through the highly competitive CIHR project grants program is testament to the high impact of their research and the investigations these funds will support,” said Dr. Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International), University of Manitoba.

Other announcements are happening across the country to highlight the diversity and strength of Canada’s health research community. The total amount of funding announced by Minister Petitpas Taylor is $372 million.

U of M projects funded:

Lavoie, Josée G., Community Health Sciences, $1,575,900
Kidney health care in remote Manitoba First Nation communities

Karimi-Abdolrezaee, Soheila, Physiology & Pathophysiology, $1,059,525
Therapies for spinal cord injuries

Driedger, S. Michelle, Community Health Sciences, $864,450
Fostering trust through joint clinical decision making

McKenna, Sean A., Chemistry, $784,125
Investigating the regulatory role of RNA-G4 helicases

Fowke, Keith R., Medical Microbiology, $772,650
Reducing HIV target cells in the female genital tract

Dhingra, Sanjiv, Physiology & Pathophysiology, $749,700
Preserving stem cells in the heart

Hatala, Andrew R., Community Health Sciences, $745,875
Participatory health with Indigenous youth in Canadian cities

Azad, Meghan, Pediatrics & Child Health, $742,050
Breast milk and allergic diseases

Mookherjee, Neeloffer, Internal Medicine/Immunology, $661,725
Regulatory mechanisms in the control of asthma

Murooka, Thomas T., Immunology, $573,750
Understanding how viruses are transported from one cell to another

Sibley, Kathryn M., Community Health Sciences, $443,700
Ensuring health research is incorporated into everyday practice

Slater, Joyce, Food & Human Nutritional Sciences, $393,976
Building Evidence to Inform Policies and Programs for Food and Nutrition Security in Manitoba Youth

Riediger, Natalie D. Community Health Sciences, $359,551
A proposal for introducing a pop beverage tax to combat diabetes

Total amount: $9,726,977

The new fund is part of the $30 million gift made in 2016 by philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady in support of health sciences at the university.  

The fund will allocate a total of $1 million over three years to support collaborative research by faculty members. The one-year grants are designed to seed innovative, short-term research projects that are interdisciplinary, bringing together researchers from various departments and colleges of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“The three leading-edge projects chosen for funding in this first year combine the knowledge and skills of some of our foremost researchers,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty.  

“The Rady Innovation Fund is intended to develop research to the point where projects are well-positioned to receive external funding. These projects are likely to secure federal grants once the initial results are obtained.” 

Dr. Brian Postl, dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and vice-provost (health sciences), congratulated the winners of the inaugural funding competition. “It’s exciting to see the Rady investment driving interdisciplinary research,” he said. “These studies have the potential to directly benefit patients in the vital areas of brain health and chronic disease.” 

A team led by Dr. Thomas Klonisch, head of the department of human anatomy and cell science in the Max Rady College of Medicine, will focus on “pseudo-progression” of glioblastoma, a common brain tumor. In some cases, what appears to be growth of a brain tumor is actually treatment-induced swelling or inflammation.

If doctors fail to recognize that chemotherapy and radiation have caused the apparent worsening of the tumor, they may prematurely stop effective therapy, perform unnecessary surgery or administer more therapy than needed. And because the swelling goes down spontaneously, doctors may misinterpret the effectiveness of additional treatment.   

The team includes professors from radiology, neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, human anatomy/cell science and pharmacology/therapeutics. They will apply new, advanced diagnostic imaging techniques to identify pseudo-progression and examine whether cancer treatments change proteins in cancer cells and thereby cause tumors to swell. They will also look at whether a blood test could be used to detect pseudo-progression.

A study led by Dr. James Nagy, professor of physiology and pathophysiology, will look at communication between neurons in the hippocampus, part of the brain that plays a critical role in forming and retrieving memories. Nagy’s team includes faculty from oral biology (College of Dentistry), pharmacology/therapeutics and physiology/pathophysiology.

The function of electrical (as opposed to chemical) neurotransmission in mammals’ brains has only recently been recognized. Nagy’s team will study “mixed synapses” that transmit information both electrically and chemically.

By manipulating certain mixed synapses in the hippocampus of animal subjects, the team aims to demonstrate for the first time that electrical transmission at these synapses has a functional impact on learning and memory in mammals.

Dr. Kate Sibley, assistant professor of community health sciences and Canada Research Chair in integrated knowledge translation in rehabilitation sciences, will lead a large study team.

It includes faculty from the College of Rehabilitation Sciences (departments of physical and occupational therapy), College of Nursing and Max Rady College of Medicine (departments of community health sciences and family medicine), the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, and partners from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health Services Manitoba.

This team will examine the current delivery of Winnipeg rehabilitation services (such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy) in community and home-care settings.

The team will then develop a framework for community-based “restorative care,” aiming to help people function as well as possible and stay at home as they age and live with chronic disease. This framework can be used by health-care planners in developing policy, service delivery and research. 

VIEW FULL PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.

Bernstein’s lecture: “Made in Manitoba Research: Advancing our understanding of inflammatory bowel disease,” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Robert B. Schultz Lecture Theatre, St. John’s College, 92 Dysart Road.

All are welcome and admission is free. A reception celebrating all 2016 Rh award winners will follow the lecture.

The 2016 Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Awards were originally established in 1973 by the Winnipeg Rh Institute, now the Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation, from funds set aside from the sale and production of medical formulae. The awards were renamed in 2016 in memory of Terry Falconer, former chair of the Winnipeg Rh Institute Foundation. These honours are given to academic staff members who are in the early stages of their careers and who display exceptional innovation, leadership and promise in their respective fields. The winners each receive $12,000 toward their research program. Typically, one award is given in each of the following areas: applied sciences, creative works, health sciences, humanities, interdisciplinary studies, natural sciences and social sciences.

APPLIED SCIENCES 

Puyan Mojabi.

Puyan Mojabi (electrical and computer engineering) advances the development of electromagnetic inversion, a process in which internal properties of a domain of interest are found from external electromagnetic field observations. Mojabi’s current research focus is on innovations in microwave imaging, Arctic microwave remote sensing, and antenna characterization and design. This research has broad applications in many fields such as: medicine (breast tissue imaging); geophysics (oil exploration); Arctic remote sensing (snow and sea ice thickness); antenna design, measurement and diagnostics; agriculture (grain bin imaging); environmental engineering (soil moisture); and industrial non-destructive evaluation.

HEALTH SCIENCES

Ji Hyun Ko.

Ji Hyun Ko (human anatomy and cell science) uses engineering and mathematical approaches to design new ways of looking at how the brain works. He seeks to find a better understanding of brain abnormalities in neurological and psychiatric disorders, using the development of functional brain imaging methods such as MRI and PET. He is developing imaging-based biomarkers and imaging-guided brain stimulation therapies for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries. His research allows for better diagnosis and prognosis, and to monitor disease progression and treatment responses more accurately. 

Kathryn Sibley.

Kathryn Sibley (community health sciences) studies the process of knowledge translation in rehabilitation sciences, a specialized area of health care dedicated to optimizing physical function and quality of life. Using an integrated knowledge translation research approach, where the end-users of rehabilitation research are involved in the research process from start to finish, her studies identify critical rehabilitation research-to-practice gaps and test methods to close them; promote more consistent research practices to ensure rehabilitation treatments can be accurately compared across studies; and develop new research communication strategies. She was recently awarded a Canada Research Chair in Integrated Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation Science. 

HUMANITIES

Etienne-Marie Lassi.

Etienne-Marie Lassi (French, Spanish and Italian) conducts research that focuses on the way ordinary people experience life, relate to their social and geographical environment as well as to other peoples and cultures by studying imagined realities such as legends, novels, plays, and films through which social imaginaries are expressed. His research and teaching interests include Francophone African literature and cinema, film adaptation and novelization, postcolonial theories, and environment in literature and film. The notion of identity, of how people view themselves, is central to his research. 

INTERDISCIPLINARY

Neil Bruce.

Neil Bruce (computer science) investigates vision from a computational perspective. Understanding how people view, sample, and process information is critical to many application domains including interface design, marketing, medical diagnosis and in everyday life. His research involves the use of artificial intelligence for computer vision systems, and the application of computational methods and serves as a hub, connecting a variety of disciplines including computer science, neuroscience, psychology, chemistry, imaging and statistics. Bruce provides solutions to important problems in computer vision such as object recognition, scene understanding, and foremost, mechanisms to focus attention or processing on certain parts of an image to deal with the complexity of vision problems.

NATURAL SCIENCES

Juliette Mammei.

Juliette Mammei (physics and astronomy) studies the most fundamental properties of matter. She uses high energy polarized electron beams to measure various nuclear and nucleon properties, and even to search for new forces that have never been discovered. The most exciting aspect of her research is to use this method of scattering electrons to measure the weak nuclear charges of protons and electrons so precisely that deviations from the theoretical predictions will indicate the existence of new fundamental forces that have never been seen before. This new forces may be responsible for unexplained phenomena such as why we live in a matter universe instead of an antimatter one, and what dark energy and dark matter are.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Chad Lawley.

Chad Lawley (agribusiness and agricultural economics) studies the economics of environmental and agricultural policy issues, including pre-emptive invasive species trade measures, land use and habitat conservation in agricultural landscapes, and supply management of the Canadian dairy and poultry industries. His most recent research has explored issues of farmland ownership, including the implications of farmland tenure for adoption of conservation practices and the impact of farmland ownership restrictions on farmland prices. Chad has recently completed two projects examining the effects of BC’s carbon tax on fuel use by BC households.

Sibley’s research will lead to improved rehabilitation services and care and improvements in the healthcare system; Wang is exploring the processes controlling the release, fate and effects of contaminants in Arctic ecosystems; and Treberg’s research examines how mitochondria (small compartments in cells) in animals respond to environmental change and quality.

CRCs are considered research leaders or rising stars in natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, or social sciences and humanities.

The appointments were announced today at the U of M by the Honourable Maryann Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, on behalf of the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science. Wang will receive $1.4 million over seven years. Sibley and Treberg each receive $500,000 over five years, for a total award of $2.4 million for the trio.

“I congratulate these three researchers on their success in receiving these funds,” says Digvir S. Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. “They are all recognized leaders in their fields and are expanding our knowledge and understanding of complex systems.”

The University of Manitoba has a current allocation of 43 CRCs.

(l-r) Dr. Digvir Jayas (VP Research and International), the Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour), Dr. Norman Halden (Dean, Riddell Faculty), Canada Research Chairs Feiyue Wang (environment & geography), Kathryn Sibley (community health sciences) and Jason Treberg (biological sciences).

The researchers

Kathryn Sibley

Kathryn Sibley is the new CRC in Integrated Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation Science (community health sciences). She studies the process of knowledge translation in rehabilitation sciences. Rehabilitation is a specialized area of health care dedicated to optimizing physical function and quality of life. Continuing gaps in the research-to-practice continuum of rehabilitation are related to poorer patient outcomes. Using an integrated knowledge translation research approach, where the end-users of rehabilitation research are involved in the research process from start to finish, her studies identify critical rehabilitation research-to-practice gaps and test methods to close them; promote more consistent research practices to ensure rehabilitation treatments can be accurately compared across studies; and develop new research communication strategies. By increasing the application and use of rehabilitation strategies backed by research evidence, Sibley’s work will help improve the health, function, and quality of life of Canadians.

Jason Treberg

Jason Treberg is the renewed CRC in Environmental Dynamics and Metabolism (biological sciences). He is examining how environmental factors affect processes in animals at the mitochondrial level. In animal cells small compartments called mitochondria are vital to the conversion of nutrients and molecules for use in the energy demanding processes required for survival and growth. Environmental characteristics, such as temperature, water and the availability and quality of food influence how an animal must budget the use of its available energy. Responses to environmental factors at the small scale mitochondrial level may limit the ability of animals to respond to challenges and their ability to survive and adapt. The insights gained from this research will play a role on issues ranging from the susceptibility of animals to environmental stress to how diet influences an individual’s growth and resistance to metabolism disorders and disturbances.

Feiyue Wang

Feiyue Wang is the new CRC in Arctic Environmental Chemistry (environment and geography). Wang leads research in understanding the release, fate and effects of contaminants in the Arctic under a changing climate. His research has shown that Arctic contamination is driven not only by the amount of contaminants entering the system, but increasingly by climate-induced changes within Arctic ecosystems. A rapidly changing sea ice environment, for instance, alters the transport of contaminants between the air and ocean. It also affects how the contaminants get into marine organisms, throughout the food chain up to beluga whales, seals, and polar bears. Building upon his pioneering research on mercury in sea ice, Wang is expanding his studies to include oil and other emerging contaminants associated with projected Arctic development. This research on the interplay between chemical contamination and climate change will provide critically needed knowledge and tools to improve policies and practices leading to sustainable development in the Arctic under a changing climate.

Dr. Kathryn Sibley, Assistant Professor in the department of Community Health Sciences and Scientist in the Knowledge Translation Platform at the George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation at the U of M, delivered the keynote address titled Bridging the Research – Practice – Research Gap: Role of the Informed Clinician.

Sibley spoke about the importance of maintaining and strengthening the connection between research and clinical practice. Currently, she said, there is a seventeen year gap between research and practice and efforts need to be made to shorten that time gap.

“Clinicians at the front lines need to stay in touch and they need to stay connected,” Sibley told the students. “But researchers at the university who are interested in making a difference in practice also need to hear from the front lines. Clinicians like you are on the front lines and we need to stay in touch and stay connected.”

After Sibley’s keynote speech the first of over twenty students research presentations commenced in the Medical Rehabilitation building.

Second-year occupational therapy students Melissa Vanwynsberghe and Alina Jones presented their research topic, Reflections in Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Review that focused on the importance of reflection for both occupational therapists and OT students.

Both students were glad to be able to apply their OT skills to their research project, to share what they’d learned and expressed appreciation for the symposium.

“We’ve really learned a lot of skills that we can apply in our future practice,” said Jones.

“It really gives us an opportunity for public speaking and also to learn what others have done,” Vanwynsberghe said. “In one day you learn a lot from various projects. It’s a wonderful learning experience.”