A team of 91亚色 researchers has uncovered a critical flaw during the drug development process that, if addressed, could make drug discovery faster, more reliable and less expensive 鈥� and ultimately save lives.

The findings by a team led by Sergey Krylov, a Distinguished Research Professor of chemistry at 91亚色 U, reveal that measurement errors in the early stages of drug discovery can lead to further errors 鈥� in decisions 鈥� as pharmaceutical companies work to develop new drugs.

鈥淧eople are used to doing things a certain way, and they just keep at it, even when it鈥檚 not working,鈥� Krylov says. 鈥淲e need to make people aware of these measurement errors and why it鈥檚 so important to fix them. It鈥檚 time to stop and think about the damage these mistakes cause and start making changes.鈥�

His team is now working to raise awareness of the findings, urging drug developers and academic researchers to change their practices.

鈥淚f we can cut down bad decisions in drug development by even half, we鈥檇 see twice as many drugs making it to market,鈥� Krylov says. 鈥淭hat means saving twice as many lives and making much better use of time and money.鈥�

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars a year on drug-discovery research. The process begins with identifying disease-related proteins and then searching for molecules that can bind to those proteins and change their function. For example, fever-reducing drugs work by lowering the production of chemical signals that cause the body鈥檚 internal thermostat to raise its temperature during inflammation.

Vast libraries of chemical compounds are screened and measured to see how strongly each one binds to the target protein. The strength of the binding is quantified and molecules with the strongest interactions go to the next stage of development.

Despite advances in technology, this process remains painstakingly slow, costly and prone to errors.

Krylov鈥檚 team has discovered that these binding measurements are often grossly inaccurate, sometimes off by as much as a factor of 1,000. The molecules identified as having the strongest bindings are particularly susceptible to these large errors.

鈥淭hese mistakes mean promising drug candidates get rejected too soon,鈥� Krylov says. 鈥淲hen the strongest binders are ruled out, it sets off a chain reaction of missed opportunities and expensive delays in research and development.鈥�

To address this, Krylov鈥檚 team developed a practical method to verify whether specific molecules are measured accurately. Their approach allows researchers to flag compounds for reassessment under more rigorous conditions, potentially salvaging overlooked drug candidates.

The team鈥檚 discovery, made just a year ago, has yet to gain widespread traction in the pharmaceutical industry or the academic community. However, Krylov is optimistic about the potential for change.

In the coming years, the researchers plan to publish the findings of their ongoing research in scientific journals, engage with industry partners and present their work at conferences. They have also created a free online software tool that evaluates the accuracy of binding measurements and can even reassess data for molecules previously discarded, offering a second chance for overlooked candidates.

鈥淭his is a long game,鈥� Krylov says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no quick fix here. It鈥檚 going to take years of education and getting the message out. But if we stick with it, we can really change how drugs are discovered and save a lot of lives."

Courtesy of聽YFile

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91亚色 researchers say warmer temperatures will create more unsafe white ice conditions, ice that鈥檚 more like a snow cone than ice cube.

Sports and recreational activities on frozen lakes across the Northern Hemisphere are a popular pastime for millions, but according to new research out of 91亚色, the safety of that ice is becoming more precarious and shorter in duration.

As winter and early spring temperatures continue to rise with a warming world the quality of lake ice is changing and that prompted the researchers to delve into available data to project how many fewer days of safe ice there could be in the future. That number could be upwards of 29 days depending on the condition of ice cover and whether the world reaches 1 C, 2 C or even 4 C of warming.

Although their previous work looked at ice thickness and duration, important indicators of ice safety, they are quick to point out that that is only part of the equation. Equally important and potentially as dangerous is the quality of the ice, which also helps determine whether it is safe, especially early and late in the season when the ice is either forming or melting.

鈥淨uality and thickness need to be weighed together when deciding if the ice is safe to go out on. Our research found there will be fewer safe ice days and the formation of safe ice during the transition period in early winter will take longer, creating a higher risk for accidents and drownings,鈥� says Professor Sapna Sharma of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science and senior author of the paper.

Led by 91亚色 Postdoctoral Fellow Joshua Culpepper, the study tracked historical shifts in ice thickness and quality to determine how global temperature rises will affect the number of safe days on the ice.

鈥溾�淲e used a lake ice model to examine changes in ice thickness of the Northern Hemisphere between 1850 and 2100,鈥� says Culpepper. 鈥淲e show that although many lakes are still forecasted to freeze, as warmer temperatures become the norm, they will be unsafe to use for a longer time especially if more white ice, than black ice forms.鈥�

The quality of ice, how strong it is and how much weight it can hold, differs depending on whether it鈥檚 predominantly white or black ice.

鈥淲hite ice conditions increase the risk of falling through the ice as white ice has a lower load bearing capacity compared to black ice at the same thickness,鈥� says Culpepper, who cautions that as the climate heats, white ice conditions are expected to increase.

Shoulder seasons is when it is most unsafe

Lake ice formation in the Northern Hemisphere could be delayed anywhere from Nov. 15 to Jan. 18, dictated by how high average temperatures climb 鈥� 1 C, 2 C or 4 C 鈥� and it is during this transition that white ice is most likely to form.

鈥淲e found lake ice will likely be unsafe longer at the beginning, than the end, of the ice season. Although the lakes will be frozen, they could be unsafe to use for three to four weeks at the beginning of winter and for an extra week at the end when ice is predicted to decay rapidly,鈥� says Sharma.

鈥淭his rapid break up of safe ice conditions suggests that the end of the ice season will offer some of the most dangerous conditions, but the beginning of the season is also highly risky. The greatest number of drownings through ice occur at the beginning and end of the ice season and this risk is expected to be higher with climate change.鈥�

How does white ice differ from black ice?

Even though the ice might measure the right thickness to venture out for a skate or snowmobile ride, if it is comprised mainly of white ice, it likely won鈥檛 hold. This has already resulted in dozens of drownings, say the researchers.

White ice is more likely to form when temperatures are warmer than usual or there are warm rainy days following very cold days. It is usually opaque, like snow, and filled with more air bubbles, smaller ice crystals, and holds less weight than black ice. At temperatures close to 0 C, it could be more than 50 per cent weaker. Steady cold temperatures are needed for black ice formation, which is clear and dense, has few air pockets and larger ice crystals, making it able to hold heavier loads.

Guidelines on ice thickness for people, snowmobiles, cars and transport trucks on the ice are based on black ice. If people are measuring the ice thickness without accounting for the type of ice, that could lead to life-threatening plunges through the ice.

Lake ice is unsafe when it thins to less than 10 cm of black ice, less than 15 cm of equal parts black and white ice, or less than 20 cm of white ice. The formation of white ice is expected to increase as temperatures climb increasing the unsafe transition period.

In Canada last December, six people, including a couple of teens in Ontario, died within a week plunging through thin ice. Two more died in Ontario this February. In Finland, four people died from falling through weak ice in January and February alone, where the average is said to be 18 people annually. In Sweden, 16 people drowned from falling through the ice in 2014 and at least nine in 2021, for example.

The researchers hope to get the word out on the increasing precariousness of lake ice today and into the future, and hope people will take precautions before venturing onto the ice, even if it looks solid enough.

The paper, , was published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Three 91亚色 researchers who are advancing public health by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of drug and vaccine development are being honoured with the Synergy Award for Innovation by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

The Synergy Award, which recognizes partnerships in natural sciences and engineering research and development between universities and industry in Canada, was given to professors Jianhong Wu, Sergey Krylov and Derek Wilson.

Each is a leader in their field. Wu is a research professor and 91亚色 Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics as well as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Fields Institute. Krylov is a Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry and a professor of chemistry. Lastly, Wilson is a 91亚色 Research Chair in Chemistry, as well as an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry within the Faculty of Science, in the research stream.

The three professors received the Synergy Award in recognition of their pursuit of work addressing challenges in early-stage drug development by providing the health economic data needed for informed decision-making in pharmaceutical markets. In its award announcement, NSERC described their work as being at the forefront of efforts to revolutionize drug and vaccine development and distribution.

鈥淭hrough innovative bioanalytical technologies and mathematical models, the team鈥檚 research has significantly accelerated the drug development process, offering new insights into vaccine risks, deployment strategies and uptake patterns,鈥� stated an . 鈥淭his pioneering approach not only supports Canada鈥檚 biomanufacturing sector but has also influenced strategies for industrial partners internationally.鈥�

The story also noted that the researchers鈥� collaboration with industry partners, including Sanofi Canada, underscores the value of interdisciplinary partnerships in advancing public health.

Each researcher will receive a $200,000 NSERC research grant to continue their work. In future, the team intends to help meet global health challenges by streamlining pharmaceutical innovation through faster, more cost-effective development of vaccines and therapeutics.

鈥淲e congratulate the 91亚色 U team for their extraordinary contributions to public health,鈥� said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. 鈥�91亚色 U is committed to new discoveries that advance the public good, and this innovative approach to getting drugs and vaccines to the world faster is a perfect example of how our research is creating positive change at a global scale.鈥�

The NSERC awards were part of six national prizes announced. To learn more about the other prizes, visit .

Courtesy of YFile

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A 91亚色 researcher is advancing a drug initiative to give hope to millions of people around the world suffering from rare diseases for which drug therapies have not yet been developed.

Professor Conor Douglas is leading a global initiative to uncover the economic, political and regulatory barriers that prevent costly research into drugs that could treat rare diseases. The goal is to advance new approaches to drug development that could open the door to a broader range of treatments for rare diseases, not just those for more common ailments.

鈥淭he majority of rare disease patients have no kind of pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical treatment option,鈥� said Douglas, an associate professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Science, Technology & Society. 鈥淭he science is in prime time; it鈥檚 ready to go. But you can have the fanciest science and technology and it鈥檚 not going anywhere unless these other issues are being addressed.鈥�

Through the  project, Douglas is working with researchers around the world to find and advocate for changes he hopes will diversify a system that has been driven in part by profit motive and regulation.

鈥淎s a society, we鈥檙e choosing not to develop certain kinds of treatments because they might not be profitable enough,鈥� Douglas said. 鈥淥ur notion of social pharmaceutical innovation is trying to understand initiatives that are tackling these problems of availability, accessibility and affordability in a way that ensures health system sustainability, supports a private insurance system that can afford to cover cutting-edge treatments and where people don鈥檛 have to pay for them out of pocket.鈥�

Although individually they are uncommon, rare diseases as a whole are quite common, with more than 7,000 identified today, and more being discovered as science progresses. It鈥檚 estimated that up to six per cent of people around the world suffer from rare diseases. There are up to two million sufferers in Canada alone, contributing to five to 10 per cent of the country鈥檚 hospitalization costs, according to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Last year, Canada announced a  and an investment of $1.5 billion to increase access to and affordability of drugs. As part of the strategy, provinces and territories are expected to cost share through their bilateral purchasing agreements for rare disease treatments with Health Canada.

鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a policy window right now,鈥� said Douglas, whose innovation project is looking at more ways to ensure drugs for rare diseases are brought to market.

Ideas include involving patients in research and development, teaming them with clinicians to collect data on how drugs are working outside of clinical trials in an effort to move drugs through trials more quickly. In another example, companies trying to bring a treatment to market and provincial health-care systems could enter into risk-sharing agreements as a drug is tested. One such collaboration has already resulted in approval by Health Canada for enzyme replacement therapies to treat Fabry disease, a rare genetic condition caused by a missing enzyme that can attack vital organs.

Douglas said he hopes the examples of winning approaches he and his colleagues are uncovering will offer hope to those who suffer from rare diseases, many of whom struggle to get a diagnosis and then feel hopeless when they learn there is no treatment.

鈥淎lmost all of the cases that we come up against are full of often painful stories of suffering,鈥� he said, adding that the solution doesn鈥檛 lie only with the medical scientists.

鈥淭hey need help from people looking at regulatory changes. We need the patients鈥� input. We need collaboration from industry, and certainly we need buy-in from Health Canada and the provincial health-care systems and pharmaceutical plans. Change is underway; a different way of doing things is possible.鈥�

Courtesy of YFile

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For decades, scientists knew there was a huge swath of undetected and unaccounted for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the atmosphere, often referred to as PFAS dark matter, but no one knew how much was missing or how to measure them. Now, a 91亚色 atmospheric chemistry research team has devised a way to test for one of the most ubiquitous elements of these potent greenhouse gases.

By measuring for gaseous fluorine, one of the most prevalent and overlooked contaminants, scientists can better understand the extent of previously unaccounted for PFAS, comprised of thousands of organofluorine compounds. These compounds, used in a wide range of products from food, paint, paper packaging and dental floss to cosmetics and agrochemicals, can off gas fluorine.

The researchers measured how much fluorine was released into the air both in the lab and outside using chemicals, such as fluorosurfactant liquids, and found 65 to 99 per cent of the fluorine in the air inside the lab was not normally unaccounted for, while outside that number was about 50 per cent.

鈥淚 expected missing fluorine, but I didn鈥檛 expect it to be so much. This new technique can measure all fluorinated things in the atmosphere, which has never been done before and shows the majority cannot be accounted for using our usual measurements,鈥� says senior author of the study Professor , an atmospheric chemist and Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important as missing gaseous fluorine accounts for a huge part of airborne PFAS compared to what we actually measure at the moment, which means a lot of the PFAS aren鈥檛 being detected.鈥�

Most PFAS, known as forever chemicals, include fluorine bonded with carbon, a bond that doesn鈥檛 naturally break down in the environment. Testing for fluorine is an easier way to assess how many PFAS are present in the air rather than measuring all 4,700 or so PFAS contaminants individually.

The high quantities of previously unknown PFAS points to a gap, not only in measuring them, but also in understanding their sources and the impact on the environment. Gaseous fluorine is a byproduct of chemicals used in a wide range of products from food, paint, paper packaging and dental floss to cosmetics and agrichemicals.

鈥淥ur lack of focus on this has been mostly because we didn鈥檛 have the techniques to look at it properly. It鈥檚 not that people hadn鈥檛 thought that this might be important, it鈥檚 that we didn鈥檛 know how to do it, but now we do,鈥� says lead author RenXi Ye, a PhD student in .

While there are techniques to measure total fluorine in soil and water, there wasn鈥檛 one to capture it in its gas state in the atmosphere. The researchers used a method that they previously developed to test for total gaseous chlorine and adapted it to measure gaseous fluorine.

鈥淢uch of the focus of research on PFAS was on what鈥檚 happening in the water in the soil, not as much on what happens in the air, despite the fact that these fluorinated compounds, by the nature of their chemical properties and that they are in so many commercial products, are more likely to go into the air,鈥� says Young.

The question of how much gaseous fluorine is going unaccounted for piqued the interest of 91亚色 researchers last year while they were working on their .

Should we worry?

Most people are highly concerned about PFAS exposure, but Young says it鈥檚 too early to know what the effects are of from the off gassing of fluorine into the environment, either human or on the environment.

鈥淎ny fluorinated gas is a potent greenhouse gas, but the impact of that depends on how long it lasts in the atmosphere, but what is the impact of breathing this? When it comes to outdoor air and human exposure, we don鈥檛 know a lot about how much we breath in,鈥� she says, adding she doesn鈥檛 think anyone should panic, but it is an area that needs more research and could certainly have important implications.

The research 鈥� 鈥� published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters points out that unknown fluorinated chemicals emitted into the atmospherecould not only contribute to the transport of PFAS around the globe but also impact climate change.

PFAS in the Arctic in sometimes surprising quantities found in 50-year-old ice cores

PFAS is the atmosphere are even finding their way into pristine environments like the Arctic. In a recent study led by 91亚色 PhD student Daniel Persaud with Young and team looked at perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in ice cores in the Arctic, from 1967 to 2016, on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut.

鈥淭he measurement covers the longest time period and so you鈥檙e seeing that it has been accumulating for a very long time,鈥� says Young. The surprising part? 鈥淚n the early part of the ice core, there was more than I thought there would be. I expected it to be accumulating since the 1990s, maybe the 1980s, but in the early part of the core, I thought there would be less鈥�

As the longest deposition record in the Arctic for perfluoroalkylcarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and the longest record globally for perfluoroalkylsulfonic acids (PFSAs), it allowed for observations not previously possible.

Before the 1990s, the ice core showed some variable pulses of accumulation, which the researchers at first weren鈥檛 sure about, but now think it may be linked to Arctic military activities of the time. Starting in the 1990s, however, the ice core shows a steadier accumulation of the chemicals up to the present.

The study shows that most PFAAs are present in the ice at Mt. Oxford icefield on Ellesmere Island and that over 50 years, there is a steady increase of PFCA deposits, but it also highlighted how ice cores are helpful in understanding how PFAS are transported long-range.

鈥淲e were able to confirm that the PFCAs we found in the ice cores are formed primarily through long-range atmospheric transport and oxidation of volatile precursors in the atmosphere,鈥� says Persaud.

The issue now, says Young, is that as the permafrost melts, this resource is disappearing which creates an urgent need to collect more ice cores to further illuminate temporal trends and possible sources of PFAAs.

The paper, , was published in the journal Environmental Science: Processes and Impact.

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Several studies have looked at lake ice quantity and its duration, but there is little research on the quality of the ice which directly corresponds to how safe it is to venture out on.

Ice may look safe for a game of pick-up hockey on the lake, but as a new study out of 91亚色 found, looks can be deceiving. Warming winters are not only affecting ice thickness and timing 鈥� when a lake freezes and thaws 鈥� but also quality, making it potentially unstable and unsafe.

When lakes and rivers freeze, there are two predominant layers of ice, what鈥檚 called white ice and black ice. White ice is generally opaque, like snow, and filled with more air bubbles and smaller ice crystals, diminishing its strength and stability, while black ice is clear and dense with few air pockets and larger ice crystals making it a lot stronger.

鈥淚ce quality is important because of its direct implications for load bearing capacity for human safety and also how much light will transmit under ice for life under frozen lakes,鈥� says 91亚色 Professor Sapna Sharma.

The problem, says lead author and 91亚色 Postdoctoral Fellow Joshua Culpepper, is that the unpredictable and warmer winter weather is creating thinner layers of black ice and sometimes a corresponding thicker layer of white ice, the unstable kind. The two combined can make for treacherous conditions for skaters, hockey players, snowmobilers, ice anglers and ice truckers.

鈥淲e know that in general, lake ice is forming later in the season and breaking up earlier, which implies an overall shorter duration of ice cover, but our study looked at what the ice is doing. How is it changing? You might get periods of time when people are on the ice and they think it鈥檚 safe, but it really isn鈥檛. It鈥檚 not sufficiently thick enough given the changes in the quality,鈥� says Culpepper.

10 cm no longer the golden rule

Thickness alone is no longer a good predictor of safe ice. If there is too much white ice and not enough black ice, the ice it may not be strong enough to hold a person鈥檚 weight. It鈥檚 what the researchers are calling a dangerous combination.

鈥淔or a human to go out on the ice to skate or play, that requires about 10 centimeters or four inches of black ice鈥ut what we鈥檙e seeing and what we鈥檙e predicting is that climate change is contributing to more white ice conditions,鈥� says Sharma, who recommends people measure the ice and if there is only a thin layer of black ice to double the usual recommended thickness to at least 20 cm.

鈥淏lack ice is clear and there鈥檚 no slush. You shouldn鈥檛 be walking over slush,鈥� says Sharma, she adds that it鈥檚 always best to go with someone or a group.

On thin ice

The lack of consideration for quality ice is already leading to a loss of life. In Canada last December, six people, including a couple of teens in Ontario, died within a week plunging through thin ice. Two more died in Ontario this February. In Finland, four people died from falling through weak ice in January and February alone, where the average is said to be 18 people annually. In Sweden, 16 people drowned from falling through the ice in 2014 and at least nine in 2021, for example.

The findings from a 2020 study led by Sharma found widespread drowning across the Northern Hemisphere, but surprisingly, northern Canada, the territories, had the highest drownings per capita even though it was the coldest.

鈥淭hat is because of the dramatic changes in the Arctic which is warming four times faster than the rest of the globe so it鈥檚 not just southern regions that are experiencing these changes in ice conditions, but also far north. What you would consider to be like extremely cold icy areas,鈥� says Sharma.

鈥淔or a transport truck, they require 100 cm or about 42 inches of black ice. So those benchmarks on transportation are no longer viable because there is more white ice, which is approximately less than half the strength of black ice. What we鈥檙e predicting is a 95 to a 99 per cent loss in winter ice road transportation infrastructure without meaningful adaptations for ice safety.鈥�

That could mean remote communities are at risk of not being cut off and unable to access food, supplies, medicine and the like, during the winter.

Unseasonable winter weather

For this study, Culpepper and some of his co-authors had to stop taking ice measurements in mid-February on Lake Simcoe and early March on Paint Lake in the Muskoka region because the ice cover was dangerously thin.

Changes in precipitation from unseasonably warm weather is creating a lot of the unsafe ice conditions and unpredictability. Warmer temperatures, rain and even snow can alter the strength and thickness of lake ice.

Sharma and Culpepper recommend checking the weather reports for the last month.

鈥淟ake ice has a memory,鈥� says Sharma. 鈥淎ll of the weather fluctuations are stored in the ice. If the temperature was over 0 C for a period of time, if there was rain or if there were extremely sunny conditions, all of that can affect the safety of the ice for human use. When there are freeze thaw events or temperatures are above 0 C, the ice becomes weaker, and it becomes structurally less stable.鈥�

Underneath the ice

The diminishing quality of ice is also affecting life below, the amount of nutrients available for fish and other aquatic life, such as invertebrates, as well as phytoplankton which needs light for photosynthesis, but with more white ice, it鈥檚 blocking some of that light and compromising the health of the ecosystem.

But as Culpepper says, their study is one of only a few that looks at the quality of lake ice and yet that ice is changing dramatically. 鈥淭he thing that stuck out to me first is the surprising lack of data that we have on ice quality broadly,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e were diving into what data was available, but trying to find exactly what we could work with in terms of data that鈥檚 available in the Northern Hemisphere was pretty challenging.鈥�

What鈥檚 needed, he says, is regular measurements of ice quality, including black and white ice thickness, throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

The paper, , was published today in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment.

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A long-time 91亚色 professor will join the Ivy League this fall, having been awarded a prestigious visiting professorship at Yale University.

, a University Professor in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, has been named this year鈥檚 recipient of the 2024-25 Fulbright Canada Distinguished Visiting Professorship, the foundation鈥檚 top Research Chair.

Bazely has taught at 91亚色 for more than 30 years and met the news of the win with shock and disbelief.

鈥淚 initially thought it was fake or their email account was hacked,鈥� says the trained ecologist. 鈥淏ut once it was verified, I chalked it up to a career built on 99 per cent grind and persistence, and a decades-long personal policy of never resting on my laurels. I feel that this is evidence that I still have something to bring to the academic table.鈥�

At Yale, Bazely will teach a course as wide-ranging as her expertise, called Canada鈥檚 Approach to Selected Global Wicked Problems. The course will cover world issues, including climate change, settler-colonialism, and public health 鈥� as seen through a Canadian lens.

The largely anticipated American group of students will also learn about Canadian politics, the country鈥檚 relationship to the United Nations and its contributions to several intergovernmental panels, like the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), along with current topics particularly relevant north of the border, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission鈥檚 Calls to Action and the Canadian mining sector.

For Bazely, the opportunity to conduct research and teach at Yale is a platform to amplify as many voices and perspectives as possible.

鈥淚 will be bringing in guest presenters, including far more brilliant people than me from 91亚色 and elsewhere, to the course each week, to share their views of the Canadian zeitgeist and how science and society are connected,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want to grow the students鈥� global awareness, expose them to new ideas and have the course be as expansive and as eye-opening of an experience as possible. Not to mention, the most important part: I want the course to be fun.鈥�

Bazely鈥檚 upcoming stint at Yale also won鈥檛 be the first time she鈥檚 taught at an Ivy League institution. In 2011, she was a Charles Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard University.

These awards add to a long list of accolades that Bazely鈥檚 received over the years, becoming one of 91亚色鈥檚 most decorated academics. She received the Sandford Fleming Medal in Excellence in Science Communication from the Royal Canadian Institute for Science in 2022, as well as the Minister of Colleges and Universities Award of Excellence for Future-proofing Ontario鈥檚 students.

91亚色 students should hold their heads up high about their education and training. They can hold their own and compete with the best of the best students from schools around the world.

Bazely first came to 91亚色 in 1990 after earning her doctorate from Oxford University. As a first-generation university student herself, she was drawn to 91亚色 because of its diverse student body, which includes many generational pioneers.

鈥�91亚色 students should hold their heads up high about their education and training,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey can hold their own and compete with the best of the best students from schools around the world.鈥�

As a 91亚色 Fulbright scholar, Bazely will follow in the footsteps of 91亚色 faculty member Kent McNeil, an emeritus distinguished research professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, who won the award in 2020, and 91亚色 PhD alumnus Andrew Knight, a professor of international relations at the University of Alberta, who won in 2021.

The Fulbright Canada Distinguished Visiting Professorship is from September to April and is valued at $50,000 USD. For more about Fulbright Canada, visit .

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Congratulations to Biology Professor Elizabeth Clare for being elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Induction to the RSC is one of the country鈥檚 highest honours in the arts, social sciences and sciences. The RSC College recognizes the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership; members of the College are individuals who are at an early stage in their career and have demonstrated a high level of achievement.

Clare鈥檚 RSC membership recognizes her global leadership in developing and applying novel technologies to monitor biodiversity. Her research pioneered the use of airborne DNA to study biodiversity at continental scales. Clare is a popular science communicator volunteering for multiple STEM mentoring groups, and she hosts the for university students.

The RSC will celebrate new fellows, members and award recipients at an official event hosted by Simon Fraser University from Nov. 7 to 9.

Read the full story in YFile.

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At 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science鈥檚 annual Science Summer 2024 Undergraduate Research Conference, students competed and received awards in recognition of oral and poster presentations on summer projects that covered topics like dark matter, mathematical disease modelling, antibiotic resistance and beyond.

More than 40 students conducting summer research in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculties of Science, Environmental & Urban Change, and Liberal Arts & Professional Studies attended the conference.

Participants 鈥� including two Queen's University students working with 91亚色 U professors 鈥� had received funding earlier in the year for their summer research positions from the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Summer Research Awards, the Earle Nestmann Undergraduate Research Awards or the 91亚色 Science Scholars Awards.

The projects culminated at the conference, where each student gave either a poster or oral presentation that was judged by faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.

The conference 鈥� and the work leading up to it 鈥� are meant to give students hands-on opportunities to engage in research, noted Rui Wang, dean of the Faculty of Science, at the event. He stressed other benefits, too. 鈥淪haring your ideas and findings with fellow researchers, and building connections that lead to fruitful friendships and collaborations, are an important part of being a scientist. Enjoy these moments and use them to learn about yourself and grow as a researcher.鈥�

The students who received awards for their oral presentations were:

• Harry Parmar, a health sciences student at Queen鈥檚 University, won first place for the project 鈥淓xamining Functional Properties of Frontal Eye Field in the Macaque Monkey,鈥� supervised by Jeffrey Schall, a biology professor in the Faculty of Science.
• Vesta Tajik, an environmental biology student in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science, won second place for the project 鈥淒ocumenting the impacts of an inter-basin river diversion on Lake Nipigon (Ontario, Canada),鈥� supervised by Joshua Thienpont, a professor in the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change.
• Alrishia Agard, a biomedical science student in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science, won third place for the project 鈥淎ssessing the impact of road de-icers on the osmoregulatory physiology of Chironomus riparius larvae,鈥� supervised by Andrew Donini, biology professor in the Faculty of Science.

The students who received awards for their poster presentations were:

• Yash Shrestha, a health sciences student at Queen鈥檚 University, won first place for the project 鈥淧robing Late-LTP following selective inhibition of TrkC-PTP蟽 complex in a mouse model,鈥� supervised by Steven Connor, a biology professor in the Faculty of Science.
• Michael Petosa, a biomedical science student in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science, won second place for the project 鈥淎 New Route to Pyridine-Substituted Piperidines,鈥� supervised by Arturo Orellana, a chemistry professor in the Faculty of Science.
• Shahen Alexanian, a computer science and mathematics student in 91亚色鈥檚 Lassonde School of Engineering, won third place for the project 鈥淓valuating the Introduction of a Variational Autoencoder into a Multi-omics Workflow,鈥� supervised by Xin Gao and Hannah Jankowsi, mathematics and statistics professors in the Faculty of Science.

Read more about the students and their projects in the conference program booklet.

Courtesy of YFile

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Four undergraduate students from 91亚色鈥檚 Faculties of Science and Health were among 17 individuals selected from across Canada to participate in the 2024 Ward Family Summer Student Research Program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

The 12-week program offers students an opportunity to work alongside leading scientists in the field of pediatric disability and developmental differences.

The 91亚色 students and their summer research projects are:

Vivien Ayllon-Kovacs

Ayllon-Kovacs is entering her third year in biomedical science (honours). Her research focuses on the relationship between brain activity and connectivity and language impairments across neurodevelopmental disorders. Her summer project explored the use of the Oral and Written Language Scales, 2nd edition (OWLS-II) tool to determine the relationship between oral language and brain measures in neurodivergent children compared to typically developing children.

The study found that the OWLS-II is effective for measuring language functionality, and that some brain regions may have a different influence on language functionality in both subject groups.

Huda Jirreh

Jirreh recently graduated with a BSc in biomedical science (honours) from 91亚色. She is interested in exploring the clinical applications of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology as a means to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. During the Ward research program, she designed a BCI-controlled music instrument in collaboration with other researchers, clinicians, and music therapists.

Following the completion of the summer program, Jirreh will conduct a case study to analyze the effectiveness of using the instrument in music therapy to improve attention in children with cerebral palsy.

Sajeela Rana

Rana is entering her third year of biomedical science, minoring in psychology. During the Ward summer program, she conducted a systematic chart review of patients from Holland Bloorview鈥檚 psychopharmacology clinic, allowing her to gain a deeper grasp on the holistic aspects of client and family care. This work inspired her research question examining the relationship between financial barriers to care and burnout for caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders

She hopes that, in the near future, comprehensive care can consist of support for caregivers鈥� mental health, respite access and financial resource navigation to reduce caregiver strain.

Zahra Wakif

Wakif is a third-year student in psychology (specialized honours). She is interested in accessible care with a focus on mental health, and aspires to recognize and alleviate inequities in healthcare. Much of her work is around children鈥檚 health, development, resilience and social inclusion, with a focus on children with developmental delays or differences. Wakif鈥檚 summer research project focused on identifying the current diagnostic facilitators and barriers that community pediatricians across Ontario face in conducting autism assessments. The research aims to help develop toolkits for clinicians that would encourage more assessments and improve diagnosis and care access for families.

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