91��ɫ Research Chair Archives | Research & Innovation

How immune are you after one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine?

ls1207 — Fri, 28 May 2021 15:03:00 +0000

What level of immunity against COVID-19 do you have after being vaccinated or contracting the virus? 91��ɫ Professor is receiving a $200,000, one-year grant from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to understand the rate of immunity in both of these scenarios.

Jane Heffernan

The is part of the NRC’s , designed to bring the best Canadian and international researchers together to fast-track research and development aimed at specific COVID-19 gaps and challenges as identified by Canada's health experts.

Heffernan, Inaugural 91��ɫ Research Chair (Tier II), Multi-Scale Methods for Evidence-based Health Policy in the Faculty of Science, is leading the study with colleagues James Ooi, the NRC’s Pandemic Response Challenge program project lead, and M. Sajjad Ghaemi, NRC research officer, both from the NRC-Fields Collaboration Centre.

“Different vaccines elicit an immune response using different pathways, which affects the level and type of immunity you build,” says Heffernan of the Canadian Centre for Disease Modelling. “With this research, we’re tracking the activation of the immune response that’s been excited by vaccines, looking at the generation of antibodies, as well as memory B cells and T cells. Clinical trials can measure the number of antibodies, but they don’t measure B cells and T cells.”

To do this, the researchers will combine mathematical models of immunity development (mechanistic models) with machine learning algorithms to better understand the outcomes of immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus after one- and two-dose regimes of adenovirus (AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson), mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) and protein subunit (Novavax) vaccines. They will model the effectiveness and immunity response to the virus, including pathogen mutations and variants, when vaccines doses are given days or weeks apart or, as is the case in Canada currently, four months apart.

The researchers hope the mechanistic models will enrich the dataset upon which the machine learning framework is trained. By combining new datasets that are being released publicly, this approach can potentially advance the accuracy of the machine learning framework. This will allow the researchers to classify outcomes of vaccinations as emerging evidence becomes available.

The idea is to uncover the complex interactions between interferon signalling pathways and the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.

“When you model outcomes in antibodies, it’s important to try to model the development of these memory cells in the background. Antibodies protect you from being infected and if they fail, it’s the memory cells that give you that activate factor that allows you to have a milder infection,” says Heffernan.

One of the goals of this research is to tailor vaccines to people’s body chemistry. “This is well into the future, but the goal eventually is to develop in-house models for mRNA, adenovirus and protein subunit vaccines that can be used to inform what type of vaccine a person should get depending on the characteristics of their immune system,” says Heffernan.

In the short term, the researchers hope to predict the outcomes in children of various vaccines, even without the results of a clinical trial. Based on the differences in immune response of children versus adults, the idea is to change the machine learning and mechanistic models calibrated for adults so that they fit the characteristics of children.

The modelling can also be expanded in the future to test other types of vaccines for COVID-19, in addition to vaccines for other viruses.

The data will be provided to public health agencies, such as the Public Health Agency of Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the Canadian Immunization Research Network, and academic researchers to inform vaccine design and policy, and predict safety and efficacy of different vaccine types.

Courtesy of YFile.

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New research on ovarian cancer could mean improved patient outcomes

muellerm — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

A new study provides evidence on the tumor-promoting role of a microRNA, a small ribonucleic acid, critical in controlling the expression of genes in biology; and the tumor-inhibiting potential of a gene in the deadliest form of ovarian cancer. These molecules could be used as potential markers or therapeutic targets, which could save lives.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest disease among all gynecological disorders. A recent study, under the supervision of 91��ɫ Research Chair and Faculty of Science Professor Chun Peng and led by PhD student Mohamed Salem, offers novel insight into the complex regulatory mechanisms that are involved in the development of ovarian cancer.

“Our study provides strong new evidence to support a tumour-promoting role of a microRNA, miR-590-3p, in ovarian cancer. We found that miR-590-3p levels are higher in more aggressive tumour tissues when compared to less aggressive tumours. We also identified a gene named Forkhead Box A2 (FOXA2) as a target of miR-590-3p. We provided several lines of evidence to support the idea that FOXA2 inhibits tumour growth in ovarian cancer,” Peng said.

In fact, high levels of FOXA2 in ovarian cancer tumours correlate with improved survival. “This suggests that this gene may be a prognostic marker for this deadly disease,” Salem added. “On the other hand, miR-590-3p levels are higher in the blood of ovarian cancer patients when compared to women with benign gynecological disorders.” This means that miR-590-3p may be a useful marker for earlier detection, which could improve patient outcomes and save lives.

From left: Chun Peng and Mohamed Salem

This study, which was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canada Foundation for Innovation/Ontario Research Fund, was published in Cancer Research��(2018).

Ovarian cancer survival rates comparatively lower, detection difficult

Ovarian cancer is arguably one of the most serious women’s cancers because the survival rate is lower than other common cancers of the female reproductive system (Statistics Canada). The five-year survival rate is 45 per cent. An estimated 2,800 Canadian women will be diagnosed with this cancer in 2019 (Ovarian Cancer Canada/OCC).

The survival rate for ovarian cancer is lower than other common cancers of the female reproductive system, making this research all the more pressing

This research is particularly relevant and promising because ovarian cancer is difficult to detect for the following reasons:

Some symptoms, such as indigestion, bloating or frequency in urinating, are vague and can be mistakenly attributed to other causes.
A pelvic exam, transvaginal ultrasound or cancer antigen 125 (CA125) test could help to find ovarian cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, but there is no reliable screening test for it (OCC).
The only way to diagnose it is through surgery or a biopsy (OCC).

Depending on the stage and type of the cancer and the size of the tumour, various treatments are available. These include surgery to remove the tumour, chemotherapy to shrink the tumour before surgery or to destroy the remaining cancer cells after surgery, or radiation in some cases.

Study focused on the most common form of ovarian cancer

The goal of this study was to investigate the role of miR-590-3p in the development of ovarian cancer. The research team focused on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the most common form of this cancer, which has the highest mortality rate among all gynecologic malignancies.

Female reproductive system

Two sets of samples (tumours) were used in the study: the first was collected at the Mansoura Oncology Center in Egypt, and the second was obtained from the Ottawa Ovarian Cancer Tissue Bank.

For the first set of samples, control ovarian tissues were taken from women who underwent hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy for benign gynecologic conditions, as a point of comparison. Blood samples were also collected prior to surgery. These samples were used to measure miR-590-3p and FOXA2 levels.

To investigate the role of miR-590-3p in ovarian cancer development, researchers increased the level of miR-590-3p in ovarian cancer cells and observed how tumours were formed and metastasized. They also conducted studies on culture plates and measured cancer cell behaviours when cells have an increased or decreased level of miR-590-3p.

Key findings could lead to improved outcomes, possibly save lives

This study provided original new evidence regarding miR-590-3p and its role in promoting the development of ovarian cancer. “We demonstrated that overexpression of miR-590-3p significantly increased cell proliferation, migration, invasion and colony formation in vitro – that is, outside a living organism,” Salem explained. “We also found that mir-590 promoted tumour growth and metastasis in vivo – inside a living organism,” he added.

The team found that miR-590-3p levels were significantly elevated in EOC tumours when compared with normal ovaries, and miR-590-3p plasma levels were higher in patients with EOC than in subjects with benign gynecologic disorders. “These findings suggest that higher miR-590-3p is associated with a more aggressive disease,” Salem explained.

The researchers also discovered the following:

FOXA2 inhibits versican, a matrix protein that is important for the spreading of ovarian cancer cells into other organs;
FOXA2 plays a tumour-suppressive role in EOC;
FOXA2 expression is associated with a less aggressive disease; and
Patients who have a high level of FOXA2 and a lower level of versican may have a better chance for survival.

The new findings reported in this paper could lead to the development of new markers for ovarian cancer – allowing for earlier detection – and this could save lives.

To read the article, visit the . To learn more about Peng’s work, visit the or her .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

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Research finds climate change contributes to rising mercury levels in fish

muellerm — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

New research from 91��ɫ looks at rising mercury levels in predatory fish in Ontario and tries to untangle the web of causation to better assess how changing environments are impacting wildlife and, ultimately, people consuming fish.

Existing research suggests that higher levels of mercury in fish consumed by people may harm an unborn baby or young child’s developing nervous system, and concentrated forms of mercury are toxic. Under the supervision of biology Professor Sapna Sharma, 91��ɫ Research Chair in Global Change Biology, MSc student Miranda Chen worked with BSc student Lianna Lopez and the sportfish contaminant group at the Ontario Ministry of the Environment & Climate Change (MOECC) to add to this knowledge. They undertook some pressing research on increasing mercury levels in southern Ontario’s top predator fishes.

“We wanted to evaluate fish mercury trends under multiple stressors and to improve our understanding of how intricate climatic processes can impact fish mercury levels,” Chen explained.

The researchers discovered that a combination of weather, climate and mercury emissions were responsible for rising mercury levels in predatory fishes.

New research looks at the increasing levels of mercury in Ontario fishes, and tries to identify the role of climate. Pictured: northern pike

“Identifying the role of climate on increasing fish mercury levels is crucial, particularly in light of decreasing mercury emissions,” Sharma emphasizes. “It provides a way for us to assess how changing multiple environmental stressors may impact health of wildlife and humans consuming fish.”

Left to right: Miranda Chen and Sapna Sharma

This research was funded by the Natural Science & Engineering Research Council. The findings were published in Environmental Research��(2018).

Why is mercury on the rise after decades of decline?

The idea that there is mercury in the fishes that Ontarians consume is not new. By the 1970s, we knew that this heavy metal was in fishes, and that this was likely caused by elevated industrial emissions such as coal-fired power plants.

Between the 1970s and 2011, as a result of stricter government regulations, mercury emissions declined in North America. But since 2011, they have once again begun to rise. Why is this happening? Sharma and her team believed that this suggests that other factors might be at play. After all, mercury levels in fish can vacillate based on the size or acidity of the lake, the temperature of the water etc. They sought to untangle the potential causes to find the primary cause. More specifically, the study had two primary objectives:

to examine how mercury levels in Ontario’s top predator fish have changed between historical and recent time periods; and
to investigate how local weather, large-scale climate drivers, and local/global mercury emissions are potentially driving fish mercury trends over time.

“This is one of few studies exploring the changes in fish mercury levels across a large landscape and interacting multiple environmental stressors, including climate change and atmospheric pollution,” Chen said.

To do this, the team examined the relationship between mercury trends and three things:

local weather;
large-scale climate drivers; and
mercury emissions in cool water (for walleye and northern pike) and in warm water (for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass) in both historical (1970-92) and recent (1993-2014) time periods.

The team hypothesized that increases in fish mercury levels over time may more recently be attributed to changes in climate, specifically increases in precipitation events and temperature.

Researchers gather data from variety of sources and records

Total fish mercury measurements were obtained from the MOECC’s Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program, which has collected data from the 1970s. Fish samples were collected in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry (MNRF) during late summer or early fall using a variety of methods, including gill netting, trap netting, electrofishing and angling. Climate and emissions variables were obtained from multiple open-access data sources.

This was one of few studies examining the changes in fish mercury levels across a large landscape with multiple environmental stressors

Next, the researchers analyzed the trends in the two time frames – historical (1970-92) and recent (1993-2014). Altogether, the team went through extensive research processes: “Over 1,400 correlation analyses were conducted between predictor variables and fish mercury levels for each species per time period and lag,” Chen explained.

Results corroborate existing research but push beyond

The findings corroborated previous reports that mercury levels in Ontario’s predatory fishes decreased from 1970 to 1992 – again, likely due to regulations – and then increased in the past two decades.

Digging deeper, however, the team unearthed three new findings:

Mercury emission from industry were not the only contributor of higher fish mercury: The recent increase in mercury levels has been attributed to increases in global mercury emissions, but the researchers found this was not the case. “Surprisingly, our results suggest that mercury emissions did not provide any significant explanatory power within the fish mercury,” Chen explained.
Weather and climate were responsible for mercury increase: The researchers’ findings suggest that climate factors have become more influential on fish mercury levels in recent years. In addition to temperature, wetter months translated to increased mercury levels, due to greater runoff and soil erosion. “With a greater amount of mercury entering ecosystems due to increases in precipitation, mercury concentrations in the food web and, ultimately, in fish are also expected to increase,” Chen said.
Climate drivers are key: In this study, mercury levels were positively related with an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. ENSO is one of the greatest drivers of variation in Canadian climate. ENSO is known to influence the winter temperatures and total precipitation in Ontario, particularly the Great Lakes regions. “Changes in climate may be an important driver in Ontario freshwater ecosystems,” Sharma concludes.

Looking to the future, these researchers hope that acquiring improved data on mercury distribution and concentrations will assist modelling capabilities and the ability to predict and manage future changes.

To read the article, visit the . To learn more about Sharma’s work, visit her lab’s .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

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Mathematics research offers new ways to control West Nile transmission

muellerm — Mon, 07 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

CIHR- and NSERC-funded research identifies possible measures to control the mosquito population and the transmission of the West Nile virus in artificial ponds around the GTA. The findings could be used to guide programs in local health units.

The West Nile virus is the most widely distributed virus in the world and it is transmitted by mosquitoes. Exactly how it spreads is complex because it is influenced by factors including weather conditions and urban environmental settings such as storm water management ponds (SWMP).

Huaiping Zhu

Professor Huaiping Zhu, professor of mathematics and director of the Laboratory of Mathematical Parallel Systems at 91��ɫ and Tier 1 91��ɫ Research Chair in Applied Mathematics (commencing July 1, 2018), looked at the impact of these two factors on the transmission of West Nile virus.

Using mathematical modelling, Zhu led a study in conjunction with Peel Public Health and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). The study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), discovered some ways to reduce the spread of the virus. The findings, published in Royal Society (August 2017), could inform local health units.

The West Nile virus is transmitted when female mosquitoes are infected by feeding on the blood of birds carrying the virus, these mosquitos then transmit the virus to humans and other animals

“We discovered that moderate temperature and precipitation will increase the mosquito population and the potential for an outbreak of West Nile virus. However, excess precipitation could reduce the mosquito population,” Zhu explains. “This information is valuable because it could identify measures to control larval abundance in these ponds and, subsequently, control the transmission of West Nile,” he adds.

Zhu is an expert in developing mathematical models, theories, methodologies and tools for the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases.

West Nile virus spread rapidly after first occurrence in 1999

The West Nile virus is transmitted when female mosquitoes are infected by feeding on the blood of birds carrying the virus, these mosquitos then transmit the virus to humans and other animals. There are no vaccines or treatments to date.

The first case was recorded in New 91��ɫ City in 1999. From there, the virus spread rapidly. It reached Ontario only two years later. Since 2001, human infections in this province have occurred yearly. The figure below illustrates the human infections in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), June to October, 2002 to 2011. Midway, week 34 (July), marks the virus’ peak.

Human infections in the GTA, June to October, 2002 to 2011. Data from Public Health Ontario

Mosquitos breed in stationary water, like ponds and swamps. SWMPs are artificial ponds designed to collect, retain and filter storm water run-off. Ontario municipalities started building them in the 1980s. Today, there are more than 1,000 in the GTA. They’re not supposed to retain stagnant water, but they do when they’re improperly designed or maintained.

The authorities are aware of this risk. In fact, TRCA has been running a mosquito larval monitoring and surveillance program in natural wetlands and SWMP on TRCA lands in the GTA since 2003. Their results showed that the mosquitoes collected from these SWMP were principally West Nile vector species. SWMP can be used to predict adult mosquito emergence and the potential for human infections.

This is where Zhu’s research began. His study sought to explore the impacts of SWMP, temperature and precipitation on West Nile vector abundance and the transmission of the virus between mosquito and bird populations. The mathematical model he developed was used to analyse how weather conditions and SWMP can influence an outbreak, to predict or control the virus with greater accuracy.

“Having a better understanding of the mechanism of an outbreak and, in turn, a more reliable evaluation of transmission risk will greatly help to control the spread of the virus and human infections,” Zhu explains.

Storm water management ponds are artificial ponds designed to collect, retain and filter storm water run-off. They’re not supposed to retain stagnant water, but they do when they’re improperly designed or maintained

Research team factored in weather from data collected at Pearson Airport

Zhu’s research team split the mosquito population in two stages, then considered the intraspecific competition of mosquitos in the aquatic stage. (Intraspecific competition occurs when members of the same species compete for limited resources.)

They found that (1) the abundance of pre-adults was closely related to intraspecific competition and (2) intraspecific competition was associated with standing water developed from the water in SWMP.

The researchers also factored in weather, where SWMP in conjunction with precipitation determines the water habitat for mosquito larvae. They used weather data from June to October gathered from Toronto Pearson International Airport Station, as well as weather data from Meteorological Service of Canada (EC), in particular, the Ontario Climate Data Portal (OCDP). “The OCDP, established by continuous funding support by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change since 2011, serves as a platform for the impact studies of climate change in Ontario,” Zhu explains.

Findings have application for local health units

The researchers discovered that moderate temperature and precipitation increases the potential for an outbreak of West Nile because these factors increase the mosquito population. Of particular interest, they found that excess precipitation could reduce mosquito population, which would lead to fewer infectious mosquitoes and birds, and fewer outbreaks.

This new knowledge can help to identify measures to control larval abundance in SWMP and the transmission of West Nile. “This work can be used to guide programs in local health units where monitoring standing water is used to control mosquito populations and the spread of West Nile virus,” says Zhu.

Future work may involve other factors such as land use, wildlife species distribution, wind patterns and elevation on the abundance of mosquitoes and the transmission of West Nile virus.

To read the article, go to the Royal Society . To learn more about Zhu’s research, visit his .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

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Ten researchers earn 91��ɫ Research Chair appointments

muellerm — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Ten emerging and established researchers across the University will join the 91��ɫ Research Chairs (YRC) program, 91��ɫ’s internal counterpart to the national Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, which recognizes outstanding researchers.

The newly appointed YRCs belong to the fifth cohort of researchers to be appointed since the establishment of the program in 2015. The program is designed to build, support and intensify the world-renowned research underway at 91��ɫ.

Rhonda L. Lenton

“Our newest 91��ɫ Research Chairs not only have innovative perspectives on scholarship and research, but they are also valued leaders and mentors in their fields at 91��ɫ and beyond,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton. “91��ɫ is proud to support the excellence of our researchers through initiatives such as the YRC program, an important part of our institutional commitment to cultivate an engaged research environment that facilitates research growth and development and champions research, scholarship and creative activities of the highest quality and societal impact.”

The YRC program is aimed at building research recognition and capacity, with excellence in research, scholarship and associated creative activity serving as selection criteria. Standards, expectations and supports for YRCs are at the same level as for the CRC program.

This program is designed to recognize excellence that is already in existence at 91��ɫ, and to support the programs of the University’s most active researchers.

Robert Haché

“The YRC program mirrors the federal CRC program, to broaden and deepen the impact of research chairs at 91��ɫ in building and intensifying world-renowned research across the institution. These new YRCs are undertaking visionary work that has local, national and international impact,” said Vice-President Research and Innovation Robert Haché.

Tier I YRCs are open to established research leaders at the rank of full professor. Tier II YRCs are aimed at emerging research leaders within 15 years of their first academic appointment. Both have five-year terms that are renewable in the context of open competition, based on peer review and the continuing availability of resources.

Four of this year’s YRCs are supported through 91��ɫ’s Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program.

Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chairs

James Elder

James Elder
91��ɫ Research Chair in Human and Computer Vision
Elder is a member of the Centre for Vision Research and a professor in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Psychology at 91��ɫ, and is appointed as a joint Lassonde School of Engineering/Faculty of Health Tier I Chair. His research interests include the development of novel and useful computer vision algorithms and machine vision systems through a better understanding of visual processing in biological systems.

Lesley Jacobs

Lesley Jacobs
91��ɫ Research Chair in Human Rights and Access to Justice
Jacobs is professor and director of the Institute for Social Research at 91��ɫ where he teaches political science and law and society in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, as well as in the graduate program of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School and the graduate program in socio-legal studies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2017 for his contributions in Canada and abroad to human rights and access to justice. Appointed as a Tier I Chair, he will focus his research on establishing an innovative Access to Justice Research Lab, which will serve as an incubator for the most impactful primary empirical research on access to justice in Canada.

Lauren Sergio

Lauren Sergio
91��ɫ Research Chair in Brain Health and Skilled Performance
Sergio is a professor in the Faculty of Health’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science. She is appointed as a Tier I Chair. Her research investigates the effects of age, sex, neurological disease, head injury and experience (elite versus non-elite athletes) on the brain’s control of complex movement. Sergio works with a wide range of adult populations, including NHL draft prospects and Alzheimer’s disease patients, using behavioural and brain imaging techniques. She is a member of the Centre for Vision Research, a research affiliate at Southlake Regional Health Centre and a member of the 91��ɫ Lions Sport Medicine Team.

Richard Wildes

Richard Wildes
91��ɫ Research Chair in Computational Vision
Wildes is associate director of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) project, a member of the Centre for Vision Research and an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the Lassonde School of Engineering. He is appointed as a Tier I Chair. He is the recipient of a Sarnoff Corporation Technical Achievement Award, the IEEE D.G. Fink Prize Paper Award for his Proceedings of the IEEE publication “Iris Recognition: An Emerging Biometric Technology.” He has twice been invited to present lectures to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. His research interests include computer vision, video understanding, machine vision applications and artificial intelligence.

Dan Zhang

Dan Zhang
91��ɫ Research Chair in Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics
Zhang is a professor and Kaneff Research Chair in Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Lassonde School of Engineering. He is appointed as a Tier I Chair. From 2004 to 2015, Zhang was a professor and Canada Research Chair in Advanced Robotics and Automation, and was a founding Chair of the Department of Automotive, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering with the Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science at University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Zhang’s research interests include robotics and mechatronics, high performance parallel robotic machine development, micro/nano manipulation and MEMS devices, and rehabilitation robots and rescue robots.

Huaiping Zhu

Huaiping Zhu
91��ɫ Research Chair in Applied Mathematics
Zhu is a professor of mathematics in the Faculty of Science and director of the Laboratory of Mathematical Parallel Systems (LAMPS) at 91��ɫ. Appointed as a Tier I Chair, he has research interests that include dynamical systems and differential equations; bifurcation theory and applications; Hilbert’s sixteenth problem; mathematical ecology and epidemiology; climate change modelling and impact studies; and developing mathematical models, theories, methodologies and tools for the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases.

Tier II 91��ɫ Research Chairs

Jacob Beck

Jacob Beck
91��ɫ Research Chair in Philosophy of Visual Perception
Beck is an associate professor of philosophy in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and is also a member of the Cognitive Science Program, the Centre for Vision Research and the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program. Appointed as a Tier II Chair, he has research interests that include the study of mental representation and consciousness from an empirically informed philosophical perspective. Most of his current research centres on three issues: the format of mental representation, the perception–cognition boundary, and how consciousness and representation interrelate.

Dayna Scott

Dayna Nadine Scott
91��ɫ Research Chair in Environmental Law and Justice in the Green Economy
Scott joined the Faculty at 91��ɫ’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 2006. She is cross-appointed to 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Environmental Studies. Appointed as a Tier II Chair, she has a teaching focus on environmental law and justice, risk regulation and international environmental governance. She is a co-director of Osgoode’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic, with research interests that focus on contestation over extraction, the distribution of pollution burdens affecting marginalized communities and vulnerable populations, and the justice dimensions of the transition to a greener economy.

Jonathan Weiss

Jonathan Weiss
91��ɫ Research Chair in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disability
Weiss is a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health. Appointed as a Tier II Chair, he has research foci on the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in people with autism and/or intellectual disabilities across the lifespan. Weiss also holds the CIHR Chair in Autism Spectrum Disorders Treatment and Care Research. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Dual Diagnosis Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and was a research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Derek Wilson

Derek Wilson
91��ɫ Research Chair in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
Wilson is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, at 91��ɫ. He holds the position of director of the Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry (CRMS). Appointed as a Tier II Chair, he specializes in developing novel mass-spectrometry methods to investigate biomedical problems at a molecular level. He has a Krembil Foundation-funded project that focuses on the causes of Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disease affecting an estimated 44 million patients worldwide, and with a global disease burden of more than $600 billion. His program is highly collaborative with industry for the accelerated development of anti-neurodegenerative drugs.

Courtesy of YFile.

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Book challenges urban thought, offers fresh perspective “from outside in”

muellerm — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Environmental Studies professor releases book on the global phenomenon of suburbanization. This, on the heels of a major international conference, will shape future thought on this important topic.

Professor Roger Keil, 91��ɫ Research Chair and former Director of the CITY Institute at 91��ɫ, has been very busy. He released his latest book, Suburban Planet: Making the World Urban from the Outside In, published by Polity (2017) in October 2017. The book was launched at a key international conference that Keil organized, “After Suburbia: Extended Urbanization and Life on the Planet’s Periphery,” held at 91��ɫ, October 19 to 21, and made possible by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connections Grant. The conference was the final event of the Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) “Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century,” also funded by SSHRC since 2010.

Roger Keil. Image by Ute Lehrer

This book and conference will change the way people think of urbanization in years to come, noted South African suburban researcher and core contributor to Global Suburbanisms, Professor Robin Bloch, in introducing Keil’s closing keynote address. Keil’s work adds to a greater understanding of our suburban futures, as new forms of work, housing, mobility and governance, as well as how human/non-human nature relationships take shape.

Keil, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, holds a 91��ɫ Research Chair in Global Sub/Urban Studies in recognition of his research contributions to the field of urban and environmental research. His research examines suburbanization, a defining feature of the “urban century.”

Book considers the city from its periphery

Part of an Urban Futures Series produced by the publisher, Suburban Planet is a compelling response to 20th-century Marxist philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre’s demand not to give up urban theory as the city in its classical form disappears. This new book invites the reader to reconsider the city from its periphery. Keil argues that while the massive wave of present urbanization is often referred to as an “urban revolution,” most of this startling urban growth worldwide is happening at the margins of cities.

Suburban Planet: Making the World Urban from the Outside In by Roger Keil published by Polity. Cover image reproduced with permission of the publisher

“This book occupies itself with questions of urban growth that are better understood if we take into account tendencies towards urban expansion, decentralization and suburbanization,” Keil explains. “Suburban Planet is about the process that creates the global urban periphery – suburbanization – and the ways of life – suburbanisms – we encounter there,” Keil summarizes.

Suburbanization, according to Keil, is a global process and part of the extended urbanization of the planet. “The reality of life in the urban century is suburban: most of the earth’s future 10 billion inhabitants will not live in conventional cities but in suburban constellations of one kind or another,” Keil explains.

The book contains richly detailed examples from around the world. This includes the gated communities of elites, the squatter settlements of the poor, and many built forms and ways of life in-between.

Conference featured leading thinkers from across the globe

The related conference, “After Suburbia,” brought together leading scholars of suburbanization and suburbanisms with a global profile, including international experts directly associated with the multiyear Major Collaborative Research Initiative, and Toronto-based urban policy and planning professionals and practitioners. Keynote speakers included Solly Angel, New 91��ɫ, New 91��ɫ; Crystal Legacy, University of Melbourne, Australia; Roberto Luís Monte-Mór, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Jennifer Robinson and Fulong Wu, University College London, UK; in addition to Keil.

Keil at “After Suburbia” conference held at 91��ɫ, October 19 to 21, 2017

The conference had much to offer: Graduate students presented their own work in a pre-conference event. Art and performance pieces augmented the conference: Photography and data visualization work created by MCRI researchers Markus Moos and Robert Walter-Joseph University of Waterloo, Ute Lehrer, 91��ɫ were featured. This provided a glimpse into the past seven years of work in the field of suburban research.

As well, the Art Gallery of 91��ɫ presented a panel on ‘off-centred curating’ and the specificities of curatorial practices in suburbia. The gallery also hosted a reception, artists’ talk and tour of the fall exhibit “Migrating the Margins,” which featured the work by artists of immigrant families who grew up in the suburbs. 91��ɫ’s Department of Theatre also staged a reading of a play, set in suburbia: “Concord Floral.”

To learn more about Keil’s book, visit the . For more information about Keil, visit his .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

The post Book challenges urban thought, offers fresh perspective “from outside in” appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91��ɫ Research Chair links adaptations of bilingualism to brain’s performance

muellerm — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 08:00:00 +0000

World-leading bilingualism expert sifts through all existing research and concludes that multiple languages involve adaptations that are apparent in cognitive performance.

Ellen Bialystok

91��ɫ Professors are undertaking ground-breaking research the impact of which is felt on a global stage. Psychology Professor Ellen Bialystok in the Faculty of Health is a shining example of this. An Officer of the Order of Canada, a Tier 1 91��ɫ Research Chair (YRC) ̶ the Walter Gordon 91��ɫ Research Chair in Lifespan Cognitive Development -̶ and Distinguished Research Professor, she examines the effects of experience on cognitive function and brain organization across the lifespan, with a focus on bilingualism.

She recently authored a paper in Psychology Bulletin, with funding from the NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the NIH National Institute on Aging. It is a comprehensive review of the research showing modifications of brain and cognitive systems that could be attributed to bilingualism.

She concluded that lifelong bilingualism involves adaptations that are linked to the brain’s performance.

“If experience can shape brain structure and cognitive ability, then bilingualism is a prime candidate for such effects,” Bialystok explains. “Bilingualism is an experience that has the potential to modify brain and cognitive systems more generally, much as enriched cages do for rats and socioeconomic status does for young children,” she adds.

Massive review of research considers studies as far back as mid-1980s

More than half of the world’s population is multilingual, most researchers agree. They also believe that there’s a connection between bilingualism and cognitive and brain processes. This makes sense; it seems logical that because language is so wholly inter meshed with the human experience and the connections between linguistic and non-linguistic processing. But Bialystok sought to dig deeper and investigate these connections, to find the modifications of brain and cognitive systems that could be attributed to bilingualism. To do this, she turned to existing literature, from the mid-1980s to present day (2017).

Her review of the literature describes, in considerable depth, studies investigating the relation between bilingualism and cognition in infants and children, younger and older adults, and patients, using both behavioral and neuroimaging methods. This paper illustrates the very best in literature reviews, as Bialystok succinctly and methodically presents decades of research in this area – a huge portion of which is her own work.

Bialystok’s literature review sought to find the modifications of brain and cognitive systems that could be attributed to bilingualism

Bialystok concludes that bilingual minds adapt to their unique situation and that the adaptation has consequences for mind and brain. “Beginning in infancy, the attention system is adapted to the particular demands of a bilingual environment, and these adaptations become apparent in cognitive performance across the life span,” she explains. “Attention begins to develop at birth and evolves throughout childhood so it is well positioned to provide the basis for a set of findings that extend across the entire life span,” she adds.

Along the way, she underscores and unpacks some important mechanisms, such as lifelong neuroplasticity, defined as the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections throughout life. In bilingualism, this plays a vital role, allowing bilingualism to influence performance. Other key factors connecting bilingualism to performance are the executive function, located in the frontal lobe of the brain, necessary for cognitive control; and an enhanced attention system, enabling bilinguals to selectively attend to relevant stimuli (something that evokes a specific reaction) and exclude irrelevant stimuli.

Beginning in infancy, the attention system is adapted to the particular demands of a bilingual environment

Conclusions affirm suspicion that bilingualism changes the way that language processing works

In many ways, this research is a confirmation of what Bialystok had suspected. “Experience has the power to modify cognitive and brain systems, and of all the experiences in which we engage, the way we use language must be among the most intense and the most profound. It is perhaps not surprising that bilingualism changes the way language processing is carried out,” she concludes.

However, Bialystok presses for more research and warns against simplistic interpretations of this multifaceted work. “Nothing is as complex as the human mind, and investigations of the myriad factors that shape human cognition cannot be reduced to single-factor models that erase the inherent complexity of the question as an expedient to arrive at a simple answer,” she explains.

The article, “,” was published in Psychology Bulletin (2017). For more information on Bialystok, visit her .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, watch the , see the or visit the .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

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91��ɫ appoints seven new 91��ɫ Research Chairs

muellerm — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ President and VP Research & Innovation announce seven new 91��ɫ Research Chairs, each outstanding in their respective academic fields, bringing the grand total to 24.

Mamdouh Shoukri

91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and 91��ɫ Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Haché are pleased to announce seven new 91��ɫ Research Chairs (YRCs). Four years after the launch of the YRC program, it has now grown to 24 Chairs.

The YRCs is an internal program aimed at building research recognition and research capacity, with excellence in research, scholarship and associated creative activity being the selection criteria. Standards, expectations and supports for YRCs are at the same level as for the Canada Research Chairs program.

This program is designed to recognize excellence that’s already in existence at 91��ɫ U and support the programs of the University’s most active researchers.

Tier I YRCs are open to established research leaders at the rank of full professor. Tier II YRCs are aimed at emerging research leaders within 15 years of their first academic appointment.

Robert Haché

“We are delighted to acknowledge these outstanding researchers and scholars with the 91��ɫ Research Chair appointment,” said Shoukri. “These new Research Chairs embody 91��ɫ’s commitment to research intensification, scholarly excellence and policy-relevant findings.”

“These academics are accelerating research leadership across 91��ɫ. They are undertaking visionary work that has local, national and international impact,” said Vice-President Research & Innovation Haché.

The following appointments are effective July 1, 2017. Note: The two Chairs associated with the Vision Science to Application (VISTA) Program were supported by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).

Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chairs

Deborah Britzman

Deborah Britzman
Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chair in Pedagogy and Psycho-Social Transformations

Britzman’s research interests are in psychoanalysis with education and studies of learning as psychosocial transformation. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, A Psychoanalyst and Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Education, she is the author of 100 articles and eight books.

Eric Hessels

Eric Hessels
Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chair in Atomic Physics

Hessels’ area of specialization is in experimental atomic physics and high-precision measurements in excited states of few-electron atoms. A Distinguished Research Professor in the Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, he is part of a collaboration whose goal is to use antihydrogen atoms to conduct tests of the physics of antimatter.

Laurence Harris

Laurence Harris
Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chair in Multisensory Integration

Harris investigates how we integrate information from our different senses to create the perception of our own body, and our sense of position and movement in the world. He is the Director of the Centre for Vision Research at 91��ɫ, an international leader in biological and machine vision research. He is a professor in Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health and a core member of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program.

George Zhu

Zheng Hong (George) Zhu
Tier I 91��ɫ Research Chair in Space Technology

Zhu is the Director of the Space Engineering Design Laboratory at the Lassonde School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research interests touch on a number of topics including the dynamics and control of tethered spacecraft systems, electrodynamic tether propulsion and space debris removal, space robotics and advanced spacecraft materials.

Tier II 91��ɫ Research Chairs

Kristin Andrews

Kristin Andrews
Tier II 91��ɫ Research Chair in Animal Minds

Andrews’ interests are in animal and child social cognition and moral development. She has worked with dolphins in Hawaii and orangutans in Borneo. Her research area is in the philosophy of psychology. Her first book, Do Apes Read Minds?, was published by MIT Press in 2012. She is in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Department of Philosophy.

Sapna Sharma

Sapna Sharma
Tier II 91��ɫ Research Chair in Global Change Biology

Sharma, in the Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, is interested in predicting the effects of environmental stressors, such as climate change, invasive species, land use change, and habitat alteration, on ecosystems and improving the use of quantitative approaches used to generate these predictions.

Robert Allison

Robert Allison
Tier II 91��ɫ Research Chair in Stereoscopic Vision and Depth Perception

Allison, in the Lassonde School of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and VISTA Program is interested in human perceptual responses in virtual environments and study of stereoscopic vision. He is also interested in the measurement and analysis of eye movements and the applications of this technology.

Learn more at .

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91��ɫ, muellerm@yorku.ca

The post 91��ɫ appoints seven new 91��ɫ Research Chairs appeared first on Research & Innovation.