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Funds to support four projects in biological, social and animal sciences
BY RACHELLE COOPER
Four U of G researchers from three colleges received a total of more than $1.3 million last month from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The Guelph projects are part of a $112-million investment in research initiatives at Ontario universities and health research institutions. Nationally, CIHR is investing more than $273 million.
“The University of Guelph is increasingly being recognized for the interdisciplinary ways it can contribute to CIHR's broad mandate,” says Prof. Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “The University is very proud of these four researchers and the success they have had in a national, highly competitive environment.”
Currently, more than a dozen Guelph professors are heading research projects supported by CIHR. Last year, U of G received nearly $2.6 million from the federal agency for specific research projects, more than any other Canadian university without a medical school.
The latest Guelph projects span the College of Biological Science, the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences and the Ontario Agricultural College.
Prof. Joseph Lam, Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB), received $563,135 for a five-year study on mapping the complex pathways of how specific sugar polymers are made by pathogenic bacteria.
“The outcome of this research will allow us to identify important drug targets that could be used to screen for novel antimicrobials against a variety of bacterial infections,” says Lam.
His MCB colleague Prof. Chris Whitfield received a five-year $522,350 grant to understand how bacteria build and maintain their cell surfaces.
“It's always rewarding to see our research proposals well-received by colleagues on the national review committees,” says Whitfield. “CIHR's generous support allows us to pursue a variety of fundamental questions concerning infectious bacteria. Equally important, the funding is providing opportunities for the training of the next generation of researchers.”
Lam and Whitfield, who both hold Canada Research Chairs, share a laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment in the new science complex.
“This CIHR funding will allow our lab to take advantage of the momentum my group has built up in this project and continue to break new ground in microbial glycobiology research,” says Lam.
Prof. Barbara Morrongiello, Psychology, will receive more than $177,000 to study children's crossing of streets and the factors that affect how safely they do so.
She will develop a virtual-reality training program for street-crossing behaviour and evaluate how well this works to improve actual street-crossing behaviour in children.
Prof. Julang Li, Animal and Poultry Science, received $98,113 to continue her research on the germline potential of stem cells derived from the skin.
“We're trying to determine whether the cell isolated from skin differentiates into a female germ cell,” she says. “If the answer is yes, we plan to study the mechanism governing this differentiation.”
