This initiative, spearheaded by the  and the Lassonde Research Office, supports the development and enhancement of an inclusive culture at Lassonde and beyond. The funding provides community members with many ways to advance equity, diversity and inclusion, from developing new recruitment strategies and funding EDI training to supporting faculty members during parental leaves and life events.

There are two funding categories available as part of the EDI fund. The first aims to improve work-life balance and support faculty members who are new parents, caregivers or going through extraordinary life events. The second category is meant to support initiatives that strive to catalyze change and create a diverse and inclusive environment at Lassonde.

“Different backgrounds and experiences provide a wide range of perspectives which strengthen our educational and research missions aimed towards making a positive impact on a global scale,” said Jane Goodyer, dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering. “By introducing new EDI funding that supports initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion within our community, we can create a cultural change within our school and beyond. Our work can help create systemic change in academia and in the workforce.”

Equity, diversity and inclusion are a key priority for the school, with the EDI Sub-Committee and the  acting as key drivers over the past years in implementing initiatives and programs that can create a systemic change within the school and across the education system.

This EDI fund is meant to empower students, faculty and staff to make a difference and pave the way to a more equitable future for all. With this fund, students, faculty and staff have the freedom to design their own initiatives, get creative, and find ways to think outside the box to make the school a more diverse and inclusive space. Community members can also use this funding towards training opportunities to enhance their EDI knowledge and credentials.

For more information about the funding categories and application instructions, visit .

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This two-year award, valued at $70,000 per year, seeks to address underrepresentation in many disciplines and fields by providing Black and Indigenous scholars with the ability to dedicate their time to pursuing new research, while accessing the collegial resources, faculty supervision and mentorship for which 91��ɫ is well known.

91��ɫ has a strong commitment to the pursuit of justice. Integral to this pursuit is an understanding of knowledge as multifaceted and plurally constituted. For the sake of knowledge, diversity is fundamental. While the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program provides new opportunities for Black and Indigenous scholars, most importantly it seeks to attract superb scholars who will help to push the boundaries of knowledge in necessary ways.

Professor Lisa Philipps, 91��ɫ’s provost and vice-president academic, believes that “building new paths and welcoming spaces for diverse voices to thrive in the academy and beyond is vitally important.” She continues by saying that the Provost's Postdoctoral Fellowships for Black and Indigenous Scholars are “a reflection of the inclusive higher education environment that we are committed to creating at 91��ɫ.”

Professor Thomas Loebel, associate vice-president graduate and dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, adds: “As a program, these fellowships manifest a challenge that 91��ɫ has put to itself, which is to work with emerging scholars in individualized ways and to understand their needs as these emerge through the research process. Our goal is to help connect postdoctoral scholars to the incredible community that is 91��ɫ, so that with this program we can create something truly career developmental.”

Godwin Dzah (Osgoode Hall Law School)

Dzah comes to 91��ɫ having recently completed a doctorate in law at the University of British Columbia. His research proposes a fundamental re-evaluation of how international environmental law deploys concepts of crisis in ways that limit the potential for more sustained and complete forms of transformation. "The historical significance of this award is an ever-present reminder of the unfinished task of addressing systemic challenges," says Dzah. "I am looking forward to advancing this cause by expanding my teaching and research interests, which sit at the intersection of international law and the environment, by demonstrating the common interests and connections between the peoples of the Global South and their counterparts – the Indigenous Peoples in the Global North – in the context of the law and politics of international environmental law. I am grateful to the leadership at Osgoode Hall Law School; my supervisor, Professor Obiora Okafor; and especially to 91��ɫ for this exciting opportunity."

Don Davis (Faculty of Science)

Davis is currently a postdoctoral researcher at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. His research investigates a novel approach to the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, arguing that processes of forgetting are naturally amplified in major neurodegenerative diseases. “The Canadian Indigenous population has an increased prevalence and earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease than the Canadian non-Indigenous population," he says. "This opportunity will allow me to establish a research program to study Alzheimer’s disease within the Indigenous community and accelerate growth in scholarly diversity through development of an academic pipeline for Indigenous scientists. I am very grateful for the advice from Dr. Steven Connor, who will be mentoring me during my postdoctoral fellowship.”

De-Lawrence Lamptey (Faculty of Health)

Lamptey is currently a postdoctoral Fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. His research introduces an intersectional approach to the study of the material, social, and financial barriers Black children and their families are faced with in Canada. “91��ɫ’s commitment to support Black and Indigenous scholars is very remarkable," says Lamptey," and I am proud to be an inaugural recipient. This fellowship is a recognition of the unique and complex challenges that Black and Indigenous scholars often confront as we pursue our career ambitions. My research will be exploring the intersectionality of race/ethnicity and disability among children and youth in Canada. I look forward to making a positive difference in society through this fellowship.”

Ruth Murambadoro (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies)

Murambadoro is currently a lecturer at the Wits Schools of Governance at the University of Witswatersrand in South Africa. Her research explores how women who have experienced state-sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe deploy narratives to advance the goal of gender justice. “My project, ‘Gender justice and narratives of violence by women in post-colonial Zimbabwe,’ involves working with women’s social movements and the diaspora to produce new insights on how networks of women provide avenues for healing, justice and peace, outside the auspices of the state," she says. "This work focuses on women’s encounters of state-sanctioned violence and living under dictatorial rule for the past 40-plus years. I am delighted to join the Centre for Feminist Research at 91��ɫ to work closely with Dr. Alison Crosby as a Fellow under the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowships for Black and Indigenous Scholars.”

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Black-Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs make important contributions to the Canadian economy, yet they continue to face systemic racism and obstacles in starting and growing their businesses. This has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Canada is working to address long-standing barriers through the BEP.

Judy A. Sgro, member of parliament for Humber River-Black Creek on behalf of Mary Ng, minister of small business, export promotion and international trade, made the announcement Aug. 12. The funding will be delivered through the  in North 91��ɫ, which was created to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem for Black entrepreneurs and business owners across Canada. In Southern Ontario, FedDev is administering the fund.

With the recommended funding of $2,999,431, BCCHC in partnership with 91��ɫ, will launch an agri-food program called the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance (BEA), offering a full spectrum of education, mentorship and acceleration supports to Black entrepreneurs seeking to establish or grow agri-food businesses. Building off the success of the YSpace food and beverage accelerator, SEEC’s internationally renowned leadership curriculum, and TD-CEC’s continued commitment to community engagement, BEA will support more than 350 entrepreneurs over the course of the next three years. A graduate of the YSpace program, It’s Souper – an Afro-fusion gourmet soup and sauce line founded by Lola Adeyemi in 2018 – is an example of the type of entrepreneur the program will support.

“Today was a fantastic event that will offer great opportunities to through Black Creek Community Health Centre, and 91��ɫ. It was also wonderful to meet the founder of It’s Souper, Lola Adeyemi. I’m excited to the potential and impacts this funding will provide for everyone involved,” said Sgro during the announcement.

“The Black Entrepreneurship Alliance will build on the Black Creek Community Health Centre’s leadership within the Black Creek community – as well as 91��ɫ’s historic strengths in business, innovation, and entrepreneurship – to provide educational support and training to Black entrepreneurs,” said Amir Asif, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research and innovation. “We look forward to continuing our long history of partnership with the Black Creek Community Health Centre in providing increased access to education and opportunities for members of the Black Creek community – and creating a fairer, more equitable and more prosperous city.”

About the Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP)

• The Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) is a partnership between the Government of Canada, Black-led business organizations, post-secondary or other accredited educational institutions and financial institutions.
• Canada’s Regional Development Agencies deliver the BEP’s National Ecosystem Fund, and work with selected partner organizations to assist them in implementing their services.
• �ճ���� is an over $400-million investment including:
  • up to $53 million for the  to support Black-led business organizations across the country. It will help Black business owners and entrepreneurs access funding and capital and provide them with mentorship, financial planning services and business training. An additional $51.7 million for the BEP was provided in Budget 2021.
  • up to $291.3 million in support through the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, which will provide loans of up to $250,000 for Black business owners and entrepreneurs.
  • Up to $6.5 million for the , which will conduct qualitative and quantitative research and collect data on the state of Black entrepreneurship in Canada and help identify Black entrepreneurs’ barriers to success as well as opportunities for growth.
• Canada’s regional development agencies are on the ground helping businesses weather the effects of the pandemic. With the measures recently proposed in , FedDev Ontario continues to be a trusted partner to deliver targeted support in Southern Ontario

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The website will serve as a central hub, assisting faculty members with identifying funding opportunities, pre- and post-award support, knowledge mobilization services and partnership development.

On this site users will be able to:

• access grant support and administration resources and services, including: grant reviews; budget development and administration; guidance on equity, diversity and inclusion; training and development; and more;
• navigate knowledge mobilization (KM) resources and services, including KM plan development, templates and resources, and internal and external resources that can amplify research impact;
• stay up to date with internal funding opportunities and awards (e.g. DARE);
• identify other services such as  services and other technical services and supports; and
• learn more about the  in the LA&PS research office.

For more information, visit the LA&PS research services website.

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O’Reilly is an expert in motherhood research, founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative, publisher of Demeter Press, author of 20-plus books, and professor in 91��ɫ’s School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

“The aim and purpose of my research over the last three decades is to put mothers and mothering at the centre of academic research and public policy. To achieve this, I believe, we need a feminism for mothers, what I have termed matricentric feminism – a feminism that makes motherhood the business of feminism by positioning mothers’ needs and concerns as the starting point for a theory and politics on and for women’s empowerment,” says O’Reilly. “Indeed, a mother-centred feminism is needed because mothers – arguably more so than women in general – remain disempowered despite 40-plus years of feminism. With these three SSHRC-funded research projects, I hope to give voice to mothers whose identities and experiences have been particularly marginalized in scholarship and policy, older young mothers in Canada and mothers deleteriously impacted by the pandemic.”

The awards are:

SSHRC Partnership Engagement Grant (January 2021) for “Mothers and COVID-19; The impact of the pandemic on mothers and mothering in Canada and Australia”

This one-year, $24,927 grant will support a research project that examines the impact of COVID-19 and its aftermath on mothers and motherwork, with the aim of developing social research and public policy to inform, support, and empower mothers through and after the pandemic. Mothers do the bulk of domestic labour, childcare and eldercare, and with social isolation, the burden of care work has increased exponentially in both time and concern as mothers are running households with little or no support and under close to impossible conditions. However, there has been little media coverage or social research on how families are managing under COVID-19.

This project will examine Canadian and Australian mothers' unpaid work in the home (e.g. homeschooling, house cleaning, childcare and eldercare) and wage labour during a pandemic, and will examine the commonalities and differences between the countries. It involves 30 mothers (15 from Canada and 15 from Australia) who will be interviewed via Zoom from all regions of each country and with diverse backgrounds in terms of race, class, sexuality and ability.

The project will examine these challenges across Canada and Australia to consider and compare the impact of COVID-19 on mothers in different regions to understand the nuanced complexity of the pandemic and to develop appropriate resources and policies for each national context.

This Partnership Engagement Grant is the first to provide a comparative study of the impact of COVID-19 on mothers in Canada and Australia.

SSHRC Insight Grant (April 2021) for “Older young mothers: An overlooked cohort in research and social policy”

This is a three-year grant of $71,411 to support a project that examines the challenges facing "older young mothers" (aged between 18 and 24), such as access to post-secondary education, housing, employment, childcare, community support and advocacy, and the deleterious societal views and cultural representations of young motherhood. Current research on young motherhood largely focuses on younger teens; this study looks at the specific needs of young mothers at the adult end of the spectrum.

The project will contribute to current research on older young motherhood in three significant ways. First, with particular attention to how the new social construct of older young motherhood informs and frames their experiences of mothering, the project will assess current policies to develop ones that better address the challenges these mothers face. Second, by exploring how this cohort's experience with motherhood is shaped by race, class, ethnicity and geographic location, the study will contribute to our understanding of intersectionality. And third, the project will explore how older young mothers resist normative discourses that define and position them as unfit mothers to effect cultural change.

The project will assess how discourses and policies impact this new cohort of young mothers across cultural differences and how they may be resisted and reformed. The findings will be widely disseminated to community agencies, government, and the general public through research reports, policy briefs, media interviews and on social media.

SSHRC Connection Grant (July 2021) for the conference “Mothers, Families, and COVID-19: Building Back Better”

This one-year, $24,250 grant supports the first international conference on the impact of COVID-19 on mothers and families. Current research shows that sustainable and holistic COVID-19 recovery will require more than a vaccine. In many ways, the pandemic has acted as a beacon, further exposing long-standing cracks in systems of caregiving, women's rights and gender equality.

The proposed conference, "Mothers, Families, and COVID-19: Building Back Better," co-hosted by the Mothers Matter Centre (MMC) and 91��ɫ, examines the impact of the pandemic on mothers' care work and wage labour in the context of employment, schooling, communities, families, and the relationships of parents and children. With a global perspective, the conference will explore the increasing complexity and demands of childcare, domestic labour, eldercare and home schooling under the pandemic protocols; the intricacies and difficulties of performing wage labour at home; the impact of the pandemic on mothers' employment; and the strategies mothers have used to manage the competing demands of care work and wage labour during the pandemic.

This conference, which has 87 confirmed speakers from 12 countries, will explore the impact of COVID-19 on mothers' wage work and care labour, with a focus on what "building back better" tangibly looks like for the mothers most affected. It will allow for a timely examination of, and response to, the impact of COVID-19 on mothers and families as countries transition to a post-pandemic world.

The knowledge mobilized by and through the conference will be widely disseminated as a report to diverse social agencies and will be preserved through the recording of the conference, which will be stored and made available through the MMC website. Moreover, articles developed from the conference will be published in a special double issue of The Journal of the Motherhood Initiative in 2022 and will be made available in open access format.

“I am deeply honoured and delighted to receive these grants that I hope will create new and innovative research and policy to empower these mothers and advance matricentric feminism,” says O’Reilly.

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A total of 20 projects led by LA&PS faculty were announced as recipients of the 2020 Insight Grants (19 awards valued at a combined $2,145,491) and 2020 Partnership Development Grants (one award valued at $199,951).

The Insight Grants support long-term research initiatives for two to five years, while the Partnership Development Grant will support a one- to three-year project organized through formal collaborations with public, private and not-for-profit organizations.

“LA&PS researchers are contributing crucial knowledge across the many disciplines of social science and humanities,” said LA&PS Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Ravi de Costa. “SSHRC Insight Grants enable leading experts to undertake original and innovative kinds of inquiry, and our colleagues’ success in this program is a testament to the strength and depth of research going on in the Faculty.”

LA&PS researchers are investigating important topics, including social implications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, connections between language and community in Canada, overlooked demographics in social policies and more.

“LA&PS is steadfast in its commitment to research excellence and to building on this excellence going forward. Across the Faculty, our instructors are at the forefront of their respective fields – enriching our understanding of the humanities, social sciences and professional studies in meaningful ways,” said LA&PS Dean J.J. McMurtry. “Grant funding from SSHRC will help us continue to accomplish this goal. I’m excited to congratulate this year’s recipients.”

LA&PS 2020 Insight Grant recipients (principal investigators):

• Lalaie Ameeriar, Department of Anthropology;
• Amelie Barras, Department of Social Science;
• Antoine Djogbenou, Department of Economics;
• Alan Durston, Department of History;
• Jonathan Edmondson, Department of History;
• Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, Department of Sociology;
• Eva Haque, Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics;
• Mark Hayward, Department of Communication & Media Studies;
• Michael Herren, Department of Humanities;
• Eva Karpinski, School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies;
• Ruth King, Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics;
• Maria Liegghio, School of Social Work;
• Carmela Murdocca, Department of Sociology;
• Andrea O’Reilly, School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies;
• Selcuk Ozyurt, Department of Economics;
• Carolyn Podruchny, Department of History;
• Andrey Stoyanov, Department of Economics;
• Leah Vosko, Department of Politics; and
• Xueqing Xu, Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics.

LA&PS 2020 Partnership Development Grant recipient (principal investigator):

• Marcello Musto, Department of Sociology.

See the complete lists of  and  recipients on the SSHRC website.

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�ʰ��Ǵڱ�����ǰ����� (Faculty of Education),  (Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change),  (Lassonde School of Engineering) and  (Osgoode Hall Law School) are the principal investigators on the winning projects, which were announced in late May.

“91��ɫ is delighted to see Professors Cristina Delgado Vintimilla, Sarah Flicker, Matthew Perras and Dayna Scott receive these highly competitive NFRF Exploration grants. My heartiest congratulations to them,” said Vice-President Research and Innovation Amir Asif. “These grants allow Canada’s foremost researchers to build strength in high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research for societal benefit – an historical strength for the University.”

Cristina Delgado Vintimilla is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education. Delgado Vintimilla’s project, titled “Ecological Devastation in Extractive Zones: Resistance, Recuperation and Regeneration,” received $248,053.00. Working with a multidisciplinary team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, artists and activists from across Canada and Ecuador, including Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies sociology Professor Denielle Elliott, the research team will explore what it takes to recuperate the devastation of the “Capitalocene.”

The project considers the urgent nature of ecological and environmental challenges posed by the devastation of blasted landscapes (Mountaintop removal mining, open-pit mining, strip mining). Women and children who are targets of annihilation through capitalism and colonialism, specifically, Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC), understand the value of non-hegemonic knowledges/practices to heal ruined places. The challenge is in recognizing their unconventional ways of knowing and doing as legitimate healing alternatives to the technological “fixes” that damaged blasted landscapes.

This research will congregate a diverse team of scholars, students, Indigenous activists, Elders, knowledge keepers and healers to lead an interdisciplinary project that draws from and contributes to education, anthropology, biology and the arts. The researchers’ approach is to codesign recuperative practices in “blasted landscapes” in Canada and Ecuador in an urgent effort to address the damage of extractive capitalism and exploitative investments. The sites— built on the dispossession and enslavement of BIPOC—are connected through capitalist, extractive industries that have left the environments forever changed.

The ecological devastation of these sites is the point of departure for this project. The researchers will ask: How are women and children who identify as BIPOC staging unconventional relations with the land to regenerate “blasted landscapes”? And how are they activating alternative modes of belonging in the process? How can we approach blasted landscapes as sites for imagining other futures?

Sarah Flicker, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, is the principal investigator on the project “Transnational Perspectives on COVID-19’s Impact on Youth Sexuality, Risk and Relationships.” The project, which involves an international research team that includes Faculty of Education Assistant Professor Jen Gilbert, received $249,038.00 in funding.

COVID-19 has fundamentally altered nearly every aspect of youths’ relational lives; new norms regarding physical and social intimacy and access to public and private spaces affect family, peer, and sexual connections. The challenge of navigating this new terrain coincides with adolescence, a developmental period when choices regarding risk and well-being are already fraught and complicated. Though decisions around how to connect, date, and love continue to be influenced by factors including gender, race, sexual cultures, community, and space, pandemic logics cause a profound shift: behaviors that once sparked alarm are now endorsed as low risk (e.g., sexting); practices that were up for debate are now decidedly off limits (e.g., sleepovers); and what were idealized as innocuous romantic gestures are now the height of danger (e.g., kissing). Changing policies and regulations (e.g., wearing masks, keeping distance, forming pods) influence sexual and intimate possibilities in new and unanticipated ways.

The international and interdisciplinary team brings together scholars in education, psychology, public health, social work, sociology, and youth studies with expertise in participatory methods, sexuality, and global health research. The project’s multi-method, multidisciplinary, and multi-site research will examine how COVID-19 is redefining risk and re-forming youth sexuality in Australia, Canada, and the United States, all countries with liberal democracies with comparable discourses and debates surrounding youth sexuality, but starkly different experiences of and responses to the pandemic.

Results will be used to develop site-specific and transnational briefings, videos, podcasts, and other resources to help sex educators, parents and youth navigate social norms, health risks, and sexual relationships during (and, eventually, in the wake of) a pandemic.

Matthew Perras, assistant professor, Department of Civil Engineering at the Lassonde School of Engineering is the principal investigator on the project “Using machine learning to understand ancient climatic influences on the stability of cliffs and tombs in the Theban Necropolis of Egypt.” Working with an international research team that includes his colleague Usman Khan, also an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Lassonde, who is a co-principal investigator on the project, the research focuses on the Theban Necropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage site comprised of tombs and temples near Luxor, Egypt. The project received $250,000 in funding.

The tombs in the Theban Necropolis are often shallow excavations with entrances at the base of cliffs. The tombs hold evidence of rock mass collapses during construction through to recent deterioration leading to potential instabilities. Climatic variations are known to cause rock to deteriorate, however, there is debate about the exact influence on crack growth rates. Due to lack of detailed observations and experiments on long-term crack growth in rock, since such experiments span many months or even years, current numerical tools are not capable of capturing the influences of climate change on crack growth. This leads to challenges in determining when instabilities will develop and problems designing preservation strategies. To address these challenges, Perras and the research team propose to utilize machine learning (ML) to aid in analyzing existing climate data and crack growth indicators to predict instability. A ML algorithm will be trained on current measurements (weather & crack movement), then on historic climate & photographs of crack growth.

Ancient climate records and models (Nile sedimentation, tomb flooding & collapses) could be used to back analyze the influence on crack growth with time. With the expertise of geotechnical engineering, geology, archaeology, data and climate science, the researchers will seek to understand the prevailing conditions that led to the current state of stability and develop guidelines for preserving the stability into the future. The novelty of this research is in the combination of machine learning with archaeology and geological engineering. Machine learning in both fields is in its infancy, however, such techniques allow for nuanced behaviors to be extracted from large and complex data sets as in this project. Understanding the current measurements, past influences and applying it to predict future instabilities will help to identify key areas for protection and aid in preserving this UNESCO site for generations to come.

Dayna Scott, 91��ɫ Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in the Green Economy; associate professor, Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, is the principal investigator of the project titled, “Jurisdiction Back: Infrastructure beyond Extractivism.” The project received $ 246,725.00 in funding.

Resource conflicts and legal uncertainties have dominated the political landscape over the last decade. From Standing Rock to the TransMountain pipeline, conflicts over extraction and its infrastructures have intensified, catalyzing a fierce Indigenous resurgence. As Scott and the research team conceived this project, Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders were blocking a pipeline company from accessing their lands, inspiring solidarity actions that blocked rail lines, ports, highways, and political offices. The situation dramatically demonstrated that when corporate interests thrust contested projects onto Indigenous homelands - even with governmental approvals – they must contend with Indigenous governing authority.

The research project offers a transformative way forward: a fundamentally new set of relations based on different underlying assumptions about law and land. It is a vision that insists the future is not foreclosed, but pregnant with potential for renewed relations of jurisdiction and infrastructure. If anything, the new COVID-19 reality has only made this more obvious. Will we rebuild? Should we rebuild? Or, even more importantly, what should we build anew? The ground-breaking 2019 Yellowhead Red Paper documents how Indigenous-led consent processes based on fulfilling responsibilities are already having the effect of restoring Indigenous jurisdiction and reclaiming Indigenous lands and waterways, foodways and lifeways. Scott proposes to systematically document, support, expand and evaluate this work to determine which strategies and approaches have the most success. How can remaking the material systems that sustain collective life enact Indigenous jurisdiction? What does infrastructure resilience look like for Indigenous communities emerging out of COVID-19 in an era of ongoing climate crisis? How can the “just transition” to sustainable economies be imagined and infrastructured to foreground Indigenous governance systems? This project offers an agenda for fundamentally re-making our socio-technical systems; for both conceptualizing and building infrastructure otherwise.

Courtesy of YFile.

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The Access to Success Organization is a not-for-profit that supports the development of future leaders with disabilities. This merit-based fellowship celebrates outstanding students who have demonstrated excellence in academic, professional or extracurricular areas.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Schulich School of Business as the latest business school to launch the Access to Success Fellowship,” said Varun Chandak, president of the Access to Success Organization. “We applaud Schulich’s commitment to disability inclusion and are looking forward to working with them to build a pipeline of future leaders with disabilities.”

The mission of Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) is to increase the influence of the LGBTQ+ community in business by educating, inspiring, and connecting MBA students and alumni. As a ROMBA partner school, Schulich is planning to award up to two fellowships to eligible incoming MBA students. Each Fellow will receive a minimum $20,000 scholarship and access to exclusive leadership programming.

“Building upon Schulich’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we look forward to welcoming our first fellowship recipients to the MBA program this fall and are excited to see the contributions they will make to the Schulich community,” said Hollis Sinker, executive director of Student Services & International Relations at Schulich.

In addition to Access to Success and Reaching Out MBA, Schulich remains a proud  partner school.

The  is a non-profit consortium of leading companies and top business schools working together to launch women into fulfilling, significant careers through access to business education, opportunities and a community of successful women. In partnership with the Forté Foundation, Schulich provides support to women applying for and enrolling in their MBA through entrance awards, fellowships, professional development and networking events. Selected Forté Fellows join an exclusive group of women that represent 54 leading business schools in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

To be considered for any of these fellowships, applicants must submit an MBA application for the September intake and indicate interest in being considered as a Fellow for one of these organizations to an admissions officer. To learn more about these initiatives, contact admissions@schulich.yorku.ca.

Courtesy of YFile.

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The University Academic Plan Building a Better Future: 91��ɫ Academic Plan 2020-2025 has established six important priorities for 91��ɫ. To support this mandate, tenured faculty members are invited to submit expressions of interest to become inaugural Provostial Fellows.

Fellows will have an opportunity to work directly with the Provost and relevant senior leadership on a project or initiative geared towards advancing one of the UAP priorities listed below, at either an institutional or Faculty level.

Anyone interested in applying or who may have a particular project in mind, should consider these details:

• Projects do not need to target a Fellow’s home Faculty;
• Projects that also seek to enhance and intersect with the University-wide challenge to elevate contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be of particular interest; and
• Proposed projects should also seek to provide an opportunity for personal professional growth and learning, as well as the exploration of leadership at the Faculty or institutional level.

The program is intended for tenured faculty who are interested in future university leadership. Indigenous faculty and those from equity deserving groups are encouraged to apply.

The Provost’s Office welcomes all who are interested in advancing the priorities of the UAP while working to build a better future at 91��ɫ and beyond.

More details on the program, application process and relevant timelines can be found on the .

Courtesy of YFile.

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Last year, 91��ɫ Professor Lauren Sergio undertook a ground-breaking study on the effect of concussions on neurological skills in elite hockey players. The findings were not uplifting: Athletes with a history of concussions showed prolonged performance deficits. This shortfall was the result of concussion-induced disruptions in the section of the brain that’s responsible for movement guidance.

Through this research, Sergio raised a vital point: The existing ways of assessing functional abilities after a concussion are failing. Taking the bull by the horns, she created a new technology to better assess traumatic brain injury. She turned to Innovation 91��ɫ, 91��ɫ’s innovation office, to commercialize her product. In collaboration with MaRS Innovation (of which 91��ɫ is a member) and armed with FedDev funding, the new technology is slated to hit the market in 2018.

“91��ɫ’s Brain Dysfunction Indicator is a simple and accurate neurocognitive assessment tool for traumatic brain injury,” Sergio, member of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program, explains.

“The line from research to social benefit, from new knowledge to the service of society, could not be more striking in this case,” says Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Haché. “Professor Sergio’s Brain Dysfunction Indicator is a remarkable new tool that will improve the health outcomes of Canadians.”

“Digital health is growing and providing key health outcomes for healthcare organizations and their patients. Software-based systems, like the Brain Dysfunction Indicator, are accelerating the process of helping patients better understand their medical situation,” says MaRS Innovation President & CEO Rafi Hofstein. “MaRS Innovation played a critical role in identifying a suitable receptor for the Brain Dysfunction Indicator, negotiating business terms for its license and closing the deal with a Toronto-based company. We look forward to seeing the company bring this 91��ɫ technology to the market,” he adds.

Concussions becoming epidemic problem in Canadian children and youth

The need for this technology is great. Much has been written about concussions becoming an epidemic problem in Canadian children and youth, ages 10 to 18 years. Concussions in sport are a recognized public health issue because of their frequency and their potential short- and long-term consequences.

Statistics from the Government of Canada illustrate this epidemic:

•  Sixty-four per cent of visits to hospital emergency departments, among 10- to 18-year-olds, are related to participation in sports, physical activity and recreation;
• Among children and youth who visit an emergency department for a sports-related head injury, 39 per cent were diagnosed with concussions, while a further 24 per cent were possible concussions; and
• Football, soccer and hockey have all shown a greater than 40 per cent increase in rates of reported head injury (relative to other injuries) between 2004 and 2014 for children and youth.

This, naturally, rings up a hefty health care tab. Research provided by Innovation 91��ɫ says the average costs associated with a single concussion are as follows:

• Emergency room visit: $1,664;
• CT scan: $3,665; and
• Hospital stay: $34,030

According to the National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions (2014), the combined health care system costs and out-of-pocket caregiver costs related to dementia in Canada amounted to $10.4 billion in 2016. By 2031, this figure is expected to increase by 60 per cent, to $16.6 billion.

Business opportunity ripe for new tool

Business conditions were ripe for the Brain Dysfunction Indicator (BrDI). In terms of a market,  many different parties would be interested – the health care sector, senior living and insurance providers, the education sector (schools) and employers.

On a wider scale, the global market for brain health applications of software and biometrics (the measurement of unique physical characteristics, such as facial features) was over $1 billion in 2012. By 2020, it is forecast to reach $6 billion.

Technology commercialization, collaboration at its finest

BrDI’s jump to commercialization was facilitated by Innovation 91��ɫ, which builds vital connections among the research community, industry and non-profit partners to foster new discoveries and maximize research opportunities.

“Innovation 91��ɫ took the idea to MaRS Innovation in order to see it through to the marketplace. In fact, the commercialization of this new technology is the perfect example of collaboration at its best,” says Hassan Jaferi, commercialization manager at both Innovation 91��ɫ and MaRS Innovation.

An Intellectual Property Agreement was established between Sergio and 91��ɫ; and an Agency Agreement was established between 91��ɫ and MaRS Innovation, making MaRS Innovation the exclusive commercialization agent.

How does the new technology work?

BrDI is a touch-screen sized electronic diagnostic tool that measures hand-eye coordination tasks as a way of assessing pre-dementia, in under 10 minutes, and post-concussion with more than 85 per cent accuracy. A prototype of a functional assessment tool, related to this technology, is in development. It will be able to prevent functional decline in early dementia.

Subjects complete various tasks that measure their onscreen neurocognitive abilities. In the diagram below, the effect of concussions is clear: Here, when comparing the movements of non-concussed with concussed participants, in V/vertical and HR/horizontal rotated movements, it’s easy to spot the deficit.

There’s no doubt the BrDI is a game-changer in a rapidly evolving field that will lead to improved health outcomes for Canadians and youth in particular. It’s also a collaboration success story for Innovation 91��ɫ and MaRS Innovation.

The original research study by Sergio, “,” was published in Future Science journal Concussion (2016). Sergio also co-wrote, with others at 91��ɫ, a related article in Concussion (2016): “.”

A National Hockey League draft prospect uses the Brain Dysfunction Indicator

Another key article, “,” was published in BioMed Central’s Sports Science, Medicine & Rehabilitation (2015). A related press release, “,” was published by 91��ɫ (September 2016). For more information about Sergio, visit her faculty profile.

A new graphic, animated whiteboard offers an overview of . 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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