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Projects include OVC study that will foster collaboration between veterinary and human health-care institutions
BY REBECCA KENDALL
Seven U of G researchers working on leading-edge projects ranging from a comparative epilepsy program to the study of body composition and energy metabolism received a total of nearly $800,000 in support last week from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and its new Leaders Opportunities Fund (LOF) program. Guelph was among 35 universities awarded a total of $23.6 million to support new research.
“These awards demonstrate not only the breadth of research and scholarship at the University of Guelph but also the high quality of the applicants who are helping to shape the University's future impacts on society,” says Prof. Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “We are again grateful to the CFI for its support.”
Among the award recipients is Prof. Roberto Poma, Clinical Studies, who received $80,836 to develop a program that will compare canine and human epilepsy.
“The disease is very similar in both species,” says Poma. “This research will foster innovative collaboration between veterinary and human health-care institutions focusing on similarities of the disease and target important aspects of the disorder, including physiology, diagnosis and treatment.”
Prof. Andrea Buchholz, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, received $159,594 to establish a human body composition and energy metabolism laboratory, which will be the only facility in Ontario capable of measuring fat mass and fat-free mass and energy expenditure in a “one-stop shopping” fashion.
“The lab will also have the capability of doing diet analysis and taking, processing and storing biological samples for analysis of metabolic risk factors,” says Buchholz. “This facility will allow me to evaluate the effects of exercise, diet and supplement interventions designed to modify body fat, muscle mass and bone mineral mass. This, in turn, can help reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve human health and performance.”
U of G's other LOF recipients are:
The LOF builds on the New Opportunities Fund, the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund and the Career Awards Fund, and was created to reflect Canada's fast-evolving research environment and to give Canadian universities the added flexibility they need to attract and retain the very best of today's and tomorrow's researchers at a time of intense international competition for leading faculty.
