|
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) granted $5 million over five years for an inter-disciplinary, multi-site study of the causes and impact of colorectal cancer, involving researchers at Memorial University and the University of Toronto. The Newfoundland share of the funding, over $2 million, includes an allocation to enhance the ability of the cancer registry at the Newfoundland Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation to rapidly collect information about newly diagnosed cancer. At Memorial, the principal investigators for the Colorectal Cancer Study are Dr. Pat Parfrey, clinical epidemiologist and nephrologist, and Dr. Ban Younghusband, molecular geneticist.
Memorial's new Oil and Gas Development Partnership took physical shape this fall when the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science welcomed its first students into oil and gas engineering studies. Developed within the existing five bachelor of engineering programs (mechanical, civil, electrical, computer, and ocean and naval architectural engineering), the oil and gas options mark the achievement of an important goal laid out in the university's oil and gas plan last fall.
The university was successful in recruitment of faculty for the new initiative, attracting several high-tech oilpatch experts. The newcomers include Petro-Canada Chair in applied seismology Dr. Michael Slawinsky; petroleum geologist and reservoir specialist Dr. Andrew Pulham; and a professor in environmental science focusing on oil and gas operations, Dr. Kelly Hawboldt. In addition, engineering professor Dr. Ray Gosine, named to the Dr. J. I. Clark Chair in harsh environments research, will contribute to Memorial's strength in oil and gas. The new positions complement the university's existing expertise in ocean and ice engineering, underwater operations and intelligent systems, environmental protection and remediation, offshore safety, reservoir characterization, and simulation.
Memorial will play a key role in the Ocean Management National Research Network, which addresses ocean management research. The network is jointly funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The network, led by Saint Mary's University, Nova Scotia, will bring together researchers in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, along with participation by ocean-oriented organizations, community groups and government. The theme of the work is science and local knowledge, sustainability and integrated ocean management. Memorial's component of the network, the Sustainability Node, is led by Dr. Peter Sinclair of the Department of Sociology. The Sustainability Node will receive $204,500 over three years to address the sustainable use of marine resources from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
A Candian Foundation for Innovation grant of approximately $15 million will go a long way in developing system-on-chip research in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Ramachandran Venkatesan was one of the principal investigators for the grant, which will allow researchers at Memorial to access state-of-the-art software and component libraries (including cores for microprocessors, DSPs, memories, etc.) that will enable design of system-level integrated circuit chips. The project involves supplying Canadian university researchers with the means to develop system-on-chip products.
The School of Nursing has received a total of 19 new research grants during this academic year. Of this number the largest for $678,000 was awarded to Drs. Lan Gien and Maureen Laryea by SSHRC/NHRDP to study Natural Resource Depletion and Health. This project will study community resilience after resources have been depleted and address its impact on people's health The research team is now in the first phase of data collection.
The Nursing Research Unit and its associate director, Dr. Sandra LeFort, have been named as the Cochrane Collaborating Centre for Newfoundland & Labrador. In this capacity the unit will serve as a marketing/educational vehicle to stimulate the use of systematic reviews, contained within the Cochrane Collection, to support evidence-based practice by health professionals. Memorial's School of Nursing will provide the content expertise for the project while the School of Continuing Education will offer expertise in instructional design, and new media design and development. Telemedicine/TETRA centre will serve as the delivery partner.
Festival 500, an international choral competition, took place in St. John's in Summer 2001. Festival 500 was organized in co-operation with Memorial University and the university hosted Symposium III, an integral academic component of the festival. The symposium gathered international expertise, provided a forum for interdisciplinary academic discussion and the dissemination of research and generated further knowledge relating to the phenomenon of singing. Symposium III took place at the School of Music from June 28 to July 1.
Dr. Kim Parker, Religious Studies, was awarded a SSHRC research grant in the amount of $40, 103 over three years for a project entitled: The Influences of the Bible on the Development of Liberalism: John Locke and Genesis.
Dr. Norm Catto and co-investigators D. Liverman (Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Mines and Energy) and D. Forbes (Geological Surveys of Canada, N.S.) received a grant of $56,000 from Natural Resources Canada for their research on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Newfoundland Coastal Communities: Trial Project in Conception Bay South. Research Professor Dr. Roger White and co-investigator Dr. John Usher from the Faculty of Business were granted $40,000 for the first of a 3-years research project on Dynamic and Evolutionary Models of Urban and Regional Systems.
© Copyright 2002 Memorial University of Newfoundland
|
 |
|
|
The Department of Sociology was highly successful with a number of large research grant awards. The most notable of these is as follows:
- Dr. Peter Sinclair - USA National Research Initiatives (2000-2003): A Commodity Systems Analysis of Alabama's Pulp and Paper Industry US$154,000. Co-PI with Drs. Conner Bailey and Marc Dubois.
- Dr. Peter Sinclair - SSHRC and DFO Strategic Research Grant - Oceans Management Network - Sustainability Group. (2001-2004) $204,500. Dr. Sinclair is node leader for the sustainability node.
- Dr. Marilyn Porter - Writing Women In: Developing Research Knowledge Tools for the New Millenium. Funded by SSHRC ($90,000) and the International Development Research Council ($50,000).
Dr. David Close, Political Science, is a co-investigator with the $600,000 Community-University Research Initiative (CURA), MUN-Community Services Council voluntary sector and social services project and with the $35,000 CURA MUN-CSC leadership gap project.
Dr. Christopher Dunn and Dr. Stephen Tomblin of Political Science are co-investigators on a SSHRCC grant to study Challenges and Opportunities of a Knowledge-Based Economy in Newfoundland and Labrador.
This was the inaugural year for the Public Policy Research Centre (Policy Centre) in the Faculty of Arts. Founded with financial assistance of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the centre has as its mission the enhancement of social and economic public policy in Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada through collaborative research and the development of research capacity at Memorial. This is an independent research institute within the Faculty of Arts; its offices at Queen's College can accommodate four researchers, a visiting senior researcher, the Fellow of the James G. Channing Chair, and the director. The Policy Centre shares additional administrative office space and staff with the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER).
The Department of Biochemistry received approval for two Canada Research chairs, one in pediatric nutrition (Tier II with the Janeway) and the other in marine biochemistry (Tier I) with the OSC. The department also received a CIHR grant for new CD spectrometer ($115,000).
Dr. Steve Carr, Biology, received a grant of $350,000 for his study of genetic and genomic analysis of stock structure in harp seals and Atlantic cod.
Researchers at the Ocean Sciences Centre involved in a variety of projects within the AquaNet National Centres of Excellence received over $560,000 in research funding for the fiscal year.
The Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography was awarded a CEDA grant for a new liquid nitrogen machine to provide liquid nitrogen to researchers across campus.
In September Memorial's Genesis - Bio-East led a Canadian delegation to the International Marine Biotechnology Conference (IMBC) 2000, in Australia. The delegation made a successful bid to host the conference in St. John's in 2005, when 500--800 delegates from 35 countries will attend the event. Hosting the conference is an important part of the strategic plan to develop the marine biotechnology industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. IMBC is the only international conference to focus specifically on marine biotechnology.
The Marine Institute's Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development (C-ASD) was expanded this year to take in the Mount Scio Food Plant. Both facilities now operate under one set of policies and offer more extensive services for clients involved in food and fisheries research and product development. The C-ASD also pursued funding to enhance its capabilities to develop the economic potential of fish by-products. The institute is also upgrading quarantine facilities within the aquaculture facility, which will give the institute the capabilities to conduct fish health research in accordance with internationally accepted experimental protocols.
Drs. Chris Sharpe and Jo Shawyer, Geography, and Dr. Gerry Pocius, Folklore, are documenting the development of the St. John's suburb of Churchill Park. The research, entitled Utopian Dreams and Lived Space, began four years ago and has made great progress during the past year with the help of a $5,000 donation from the J.R. Smallwood Foundation for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. Dr. Sharpe focused his research on the development of the project, Dr. Shawyer explored the transformation of the area's agricultural landscape and Dr. Pocius documented the transformation of the buildings architectural design.
[Publishing Successes]
[Research Professors]
[Outstanding Researchers]
|
|
