McGill researchers receive $3.7M in funding from the CFI and the Government of Quebec

Funding will "provide our researchers with the foundational infrastructure needed to become leading-edge contributors in diverse research fields," says Martha Crago

Fifteen McGill researchers have received federal grants through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). Minister of Science and Sport, Kirsty Duncan, made the announcement today at the University of Western Ontario. Each McGill recipient will also receive matching funds from the Quebec government for their research endeavours.

JELF was established to help universities attract and retain the best and brightest researchers from around the world by giving them access to cutting-edge research tools. JELF offers institutions the opportunity to acquire infrastructure for their leading research faculty to undertake cutting-edge research; and to create competitive research support packages in the form of infrastructure and a portion of the operating and maintenance costs from the CFI, coupled with direct research costs from partner organizations.

“The latest CFI investments provide our researchers with the foundational infrastructure needed to become leading-edge contributors in diverse research fields ranging from mechanical engineering to dermatology,” said Martha Crago, Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation). “We are very grateful to the federal and provincial governments for this essential support which helps attract the best scientific minds to McGill.”

Among the recipients of the CFI’s investment is Prof. Eric McCalla of the Department of Chemistry. The infrastructure provided by the CFI funding will support Prof. McCalla’s efforts to improve batteries in electric vehicles and to develop off-grid energy storage solutions to maximize on intermittent renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. This research has the potential to help generate sustainable energy by aiding in the widespread implementation of electric vehicles and better quality batteries at a lower cost.

Prof. Nagissa Mahmoudi of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences also received a CFI investment today to understand molecular-scale mechanisms and microbial processes that govern biogeochemical transformations and control carbon cycling in the ocean. The information produced through this research will have direct applications for predicting the impacts of climate change on carbon fluxes and aid in developing strategies to mitigate and adapt to future environmental conditions.

Complete list of McGill’s JELF awardees:

  • Biologically Derived Materials and Devices Laboratory [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Noemie-Manuelle Dorval Courchesne of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $120,000 from JELF; $120,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Infrastructure for the Development of Soft Biomaterials for Tissue Repair [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Jianyu Li of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $100,000 from JELF; $100,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Understanding the Molecular Pathogenesis and Improving Diagnosis and Management of Skin Cancers in Patients [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Ivan Litvinov of the Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $60,000 from JELF; $60,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Nano/Micro Device Innovation Lab [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Sara Mahshid of the Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $140,000 from JELF; $140,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Functional Materials [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Eric McCalla of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.
    $240,000 from JELF; $240,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Low-turbulence Water Tunnel [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Jovan Nedic of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $164,000 from JELF; $164,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Control of Transcription in Placental and Epiblast Development [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. William Pastor, of the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $116,824 from JELF; $116,824 matching provincial funds.
  • Infrastructure for Uncertainty Quantification in Power System Stability Analysis [February 2018 Round]
    Prof. Xiaozhe Wang, of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $40,000 from JELF; $40,000 matching provincial funds.
  • State Estimation Enabling Autonomous Operation of Robotic Vehicles [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. James Forbes, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.
    $49,600 from JELF; $49,600 matching provincial funds.
  • Patient-derived Organoids to Deconvolute the Impact of Tumor Microenvironment on Cancer Initiation and Progression [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. David Labbé, of the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $115,397 from JELF; $115,397 matching provincial funds.
  • Functional Genomics of Immune Responses [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. David Langlais, of the Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $146,000 from JELF; $146,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Controls on Microbial Carbon Cycling in Marine Environments: Linking Micro-scale Processes to Global Carbon Dynamics [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. Nagissa Mahmoudi, of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.
    $239,875 from JELF; $239,875 matching provincial funds.
  • Functional Genomics of Acute Myeloid Leukemia [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. Francois Mercier, Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $60,000 from JELF; $60,000 matching provincial funds.
  • Center for Culturally Responsive Research in Kinesiology and Physical Education [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. Lee Schaefer, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, is the principal investigator.
    $113,954 from JELF; $113,954 matching provincial funds.
  • Cerebellum-dependent Learning: From Synapses to Behavior [June 2018 Round]
    Prof. Aparna Suvrathan, Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
    $179,500 from JELF; $179,500 matching provincial funds.

Read the CFI press release