Eight diverse projects receive federal support
U of G will soon be home to some research “firsts” in Ontario and Canada, thanks to more than $1.3 million in funding announced this summer by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The support will help build Canada's first one-micron nuclear microprobe at Guelph, along with Ontario's first single-unit microneurography facility and new labs for studying nutraceutical encapsulation and tissue, cell and protein dynamics.
The national agency is also funding U of G projects that will advance knowledge in pest management, cardiovascular health and disease, physics, and food packaging and design.
Prof. Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research), says one of the most striking aspects of this latest CFI support is the diversity of research it's funding at U of G.
The $1.3 million was awarded to eight research projects through CFI's Leaders Opportunity Fund. Among the recipients is Prof. Amanda Wright, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, who was awarded $126,045 to set up a nutraceutical laboratory.
“I'm thrilled,” says Wright. “It will mean so much, not only for my budding program but also for our food-nutrition collaborations in general. There's so much to learn about how to encapsulate bioactive compounds for successful incorporation into food products and delivery to the body. The CFI infrastructure will allow my group to contribute to this understanding and related technology development.”
Prof. Peter Sikkema, Plant Agriculture, received $380,282 for equipment that will support an extensive research program for sustainable pest management in field and horticultural crops at Ridgetown Campus.
Back at the main campus, $145,795 was awarded to physics professor Diane de Kerckhove to buy a complex lens system for the microprobe she's building in the basement of the MacNaughton Building. She'll use the facility to study semiconductors and fabricate microscopic light-emitting devices.
Other Guelph CFI Leaders Opportunity Fund recipients are:
