University of Guelph: Eleven U of G Research Projects Awarded Federal Funding
The federal government will invest more than $1.1 million in 11 University of Guelph research projects, ranging from clean energy to food spoilage to Indigenous environmental health.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) will fund the projects through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund, which helps universities recruit and retain outstanding faculty and provides researchers with infrastructure required to become leaders in their fields.
These U of G awards are part of more than $64 million in CFI funding to support 251 new research infrastructure projects at 40 institutions across Canada.
“This generous and strategic CFI investment will provide exceptional University of Guelph researchers with the vital tools they need to expand knowledge and advance the boundaries of discovery and innovation,” said Dr. Malcolm Campbell, vice-president (research). “These researchers each explore different questions, but they all aim to broaden their disciplines and improve life in meaningful ways.”
“I am pleased to see the Canadian government continue to fund primary researchers at the University of Guelph through the Canada Foundation of Innovation JELF program,” said Lloyd Longfield, MP for Guelph. “This support shows the range of research happening at the U of G including clean energy, healthful food, cell production to fight disease, and our understanding of pain. These projects contribute to One Health that connects life in all forms.”
Dr. Maria Corradini
Dr. Corradini will receive $93,855 for studies with Dr. Iris Joye and Dr. Michael Rogers in the Department of Food Science, on how food structure affects the production of healthier, safer, and longer shelf-life foods.
Improving the shelf life, healthfulness, and digestibility of prepared food currently relies on additives and extensive processing. The researchers will acquire a fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope to investigate food structure, or how food components are organized and interact.
They expect this research will help in developing novel, healthful foods that will also benefit the environment and ensure the competitiveness of Canada’s food sector.
Dr. Giannina Descalzi
Dr. Descalzi, Department of Biomedical Sciences, will receive $130,000 to study the mechanisms that cause acute pain to become persistent chronic pain.
Chronic pain changes the activity within brain regions involved in emotion. Using animal models, Descalzi will track changes across this pain–emotion brain circuit as acute pain transitions to chronic pain and will investigate the molecular causes.
To precisely control, monitor, and record the electrical activity of neural circuits, she will use an integrated calcium imaging and optogenetics system along with molecular techniques.
Improved understanding of the molecular, cellular and circuit basis of chronic pain will help lead to better treatment for humans and animals.
Dr. Khashayar Ghandi
Supporting clean energy technologies is the goal of a $207,747 project by Dr. Ghandi and Dr. Marcel Schlaf, both in the Department of Chemistry.
Ghandi will study how the chemical components of substances such as coolants, metals, and lubricating oil change under the high-temperature, high-pressure conditions of nuclear reactors. He also aims to develop new processes for clean free-radical polymerization and increased reactor efficiency.
Schlaf aims to develop cost-effective processes to convert renewable biomass — organic matter such as agricultural or forestry waste — into bio-based polymers. These sustainable polymers will reduce petrochemical consumption and break down more readily in the environment.
The researchers will acquire a supercritical water system, which can simulate extreme conditions and analyze the resulting chemical reactions.
Dr. Diana Lewis
Dr. Lewis, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, will receive $106,983 to support the IndigenERA Lab, a storage and analysis facility for data collected during the development of Indigenous environmental health risk assessments (IEHRA).
Grounded in Indigenous conceptions of health, an IEHRA considers human physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and ties them to the health of the land, water, animals and plants.
Working with four Indigenous communities from across Canada whose health and local surroundings have been affected by resource extraction and industrial development, Lewis and her team will collect data — such as oral histories, surveys, and government statistics — to support each community’s IEHRA.
Lewis will acquire computing equipment and software to securely house and analyze this information, which will remain in the control of the Indigenous communities.