By McGill Reporter staff
On April 23, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced that 10 McGill researchers will receive a total of $1.7 million as part of the its Leaders Opportunity Fund. Mindful of intense international competition among universities, the CFI designed the fund to attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s researchers.
McGill’s projects cover a broad range of disciplines, including architecture, earth sciences and cell biology, reflecting the diversity of the 118 projects from 32 institutions across Canada that were funded this year by the Foundation. Total funding announced for 2010 will amount to $27.9 million, of which $21.4 million was awarded under the Leaders Opportunity Fund.
“I’m really happy to have received this grant,” said Petra Rohrbach of the Institute of Parasitology, who received $221,873. “It will allow me to do the cutting-edge research that I’ve planned, and I’m eager to get the equipment and run the next experiments.”
Rohrbach’s project, entitled Dissecting Development and Drug Resistance Mechanisms in Plasmodium Falciparum Using Live Cell Imaging Techniques, involves live cell imaging and the study of real time processes to better understand the evolution of drug resistance in a parasite responsible for malaria.
“CFI investments are critical for our research leaders, to ensure that their research remains innovative and second to none,” said Rima Rozen, Interim Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations) at McGill.
Rosen’s comments were echoed by Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the CFI. We can say with conviction that Canada is becoming a place where world-class researchers want to be,” he said. “This CFI investment will further develop Canada’s global reputation as a place where outstanding research and training is being conducted.”
The McGill research projects are:
Dr. Petra Rohrbach, Institute of Parasitology
Dissecting Development and Drug Resistance Mechanisms in Plasmodium Falciparum Using Live Cell Imaging Techniques
$221,873
Dr. Yojiro Yamanaka, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre
Epithelial Morphogenesis in Early Development and Cancer
$120,000
Dr. Danielle Malo, Centre for the Study of Host Resistance
Functional and Comparative Genomics of the Interaction of the Host with Salmonella
$270,941
Dr. Lisbet Haglund, Dept. of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine
Identification, Generation and Repair of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration
$100,000
Dr. Eric Galbraith, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science
Integrated Earth System Dynamics Laboratory
$103,600
Dr. Aaron Sprecher, School of Architecture
Laboratory for Integrated Prototyping and Hybrid Environments (LIPHE)
$362,562
Dr. Koren Mann, Dept. of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine
Mechanisms of Metal-Induced Toxicity
$100,000
Dr. Nancy Braverman, Depts. of Human Genetics and Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine
Molecular and Therapeutic Studies in Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorders
$140,000
Dr. Josie Ursini-Siegel, Dept. of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine
Role of ShcA in the Establishment of a Productive Tumor Microenvironment that Facilitates Breast Cancer Progression
$120,000
Dr. Dao Nguyen, Dept. of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
The Study of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm and Antibiotic Tolerance
$140,000