IMHL students win Grand Challenges Canada grant
Research and DiscoveryA low-cost copper device, which has been proven to kill deadly water-borne pathogens, will be field-tested in poor urban and rural households in India and Kenya thanks to a $100,000 Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) Phase I Proof-of-Concept Grant awarded to Drs. Padma Venkat, Caroline Kisia and Ahmad Firas Khalid, students in the International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) program at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management.
Major investment in genomics research in Quebec
Research and DiscoveryA research team from McGill and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) led by Dr. Nada Jabado, a hemato-oncologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, has received a major investment of over $5 million for an innovative project on the genomic biomarkers associated with pediatric glioblastoma, a form of incurable cancer.
A winning illustration of corruption that Canadians can understand
Research and DiscoveryFaculty of Education graduate student Xenia Kurguzova wins SHRRC prize for visual depiction of research about Eastern European corruption.
Developing and assessing teaching tools for a techie generation
Research and DiscoverySusanne Lajoie, from the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, wants to harness some of that excitement and absorption and use it to improve – of all things – the way students learn.
Foot soldiers of the immune system
Research and DiscoveryInfectious disease has undoubtedly been one of history’s greatest killers of human beings. But with the development of vaccines, the discovery of antibiotics and drastic changes in public health, the human life span has increased over the past century. Yet, the threat of infectious disease still haunts us. As an HIV epidemic ravages through Africa and South East Asia, and a global avian influenza pandemic looms, there is an urgent need to understand, and help the immune system in its battle against pathogens. On the other hand, there is also a need to stop an over-active immune response.
Sankey awarded Sloan Research Fellowship
Research and DiscoveryMcGill University physicist Jack Clayton Sankey, whose research focuses on the mechanical properties of light, has been awarded a coveted Sloan Research Fellowship for 2013. Sankey joined the Department of Physics as an assistant professor in Jan. 2012. Sankey’s laboratory, known as the McGill Optomechanics Lab, aims to develop new types of optically controlled micro-electromechanical systems (or MEMS) that are capable of rapidly sensing incredibly small forces, such as the weak magnetic “tugs” from individual atomic nuclei.
Research funding cuts could have serious repercussions for Quebec society
Research and DiscoveryWith the tabling of the provincial budget in December 2012, the Marois government served notice that it would slash some $63 million in funding for environmental protection and health research. Many researchers felt betrayed, as the Parti Québécois had campaigned on a platform that promised to increase research funding to three per cent of the gross domestic product.
Telescope project aims to shed new light on evolution of universe
Research and DiscoveryA $4.6 million award from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) will help astrophysicists at McGill, the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto and the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory build a novel digital radio telescope designed to map a larger volume of the universe than any previous telescope.
Three McGill researchers receive CFI Leading Edge Fund grants
Research and DiscoveryThe Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded $10,861,200 to three McGill researchers under its Leading Edge Fund (LEF). The trio will use the money to purchase state-of-the-art equipment to work in fields ranging from nanomedicine to structural biology and nanoelectronics. One of the three projects involves collaborative research with Université de Montréal, which will share in the research funds. The funds from CFI will be matched by contributions made by the government of Quebec.
Wallace’s century-old map of natural world updated
Research and Discovery
Until today, a map from 1876 has been the backbone for our understanding of global biodiversity. Thanks to advances in modern technology and data on more than 20,000 species, scientists have now produced a next-generation map depicting the organization of life on Earth. Published online in Science Express, the new map provides fundamental information regarding the diversity of life on our planet and is of major significance for future biodiversity research.
