Twenty-five Canada Research Chairs awarded to McGill
In its twentieth year, the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) is awarding 25 McGill researchers with eleven new and fourteen renewed chairs. The projects supported by this round of CRC funding tackle a variety of topics, including, racial inequality in democratic societies, arctic ecology and data mining for cybersecurity.
Some of McGill’s CRC recipients, such as Professors Nicole Basta, Guillaume Bourque, and Brett Thombs, are conducting COVID-19-related research, including real-time modelling of virus transmission, mental health during the pandemic, and outcome prediction and treatment response in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
One new McGill CRC recipient, Professor Ali Seifitokaldani, is also receiving $206,500 in funding support from the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (the JELF-CRC partnership). The CFI partners with the CRCP to provide researchers with cutting-edge equipment they need to carry out their important work. Professor Seifitokaldani will also receive matching funds from the Quebec government for her research project.
“I am delighted to see the talent of these McGill researchers recognized by the Canada Research Chairs Program,” said Christopher Manfredi, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic). “I want to congratulate all of our new CRCs and wish them well as they embark on their new research ventures over the next five or seven years.”
The CRCP is driving a national strategy to make Canada one of the world’s top countries for research and development. To achieve this objective, they fund research chairs – experts in their fields. By attracting and retaining a diverse cadre of world-class researchers, the program reinforces academic research and training excellence among Canadian postsecondary institutions. With the addition of this newest cohort, McGill currently has 182 active chairholders (Tier 1 and Tier 2).
There are two types of Canada Research Chairs:
Tier 1 Chairs, valued at $200,000 annually for seven years with one opportunity for renewal, are for outstanding researchers, acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their field.
Tier 2 Chairs, valued at $100,000 annually for five years and renewable only once, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field.
McGill’s CRC-JELF recipient:
Ali Seifitokaldani, Canada Research Chair in Electrocatalysis for Renewable Energy Production and Conversion, NSERC, Tier 2 (New). $206,500 from JELF; $206,500 matching provincial funds.
McGill’s 2019-2 round of CRC recipients:
Nicole Basta, Canada Research Chair in Infectious Disease Prevention, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
Guillaume Bourque, Canada Research Chair in Computational Genomics and Medicine, CIHR, Tier 1 (New)
Jonathan Britt, Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Neuroscience, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
Marie Brossard-Racine, Canada Research Chair in Brain and Child Development, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
Thomas Brunner, Canada Research Chair in Astroparticle Physics, NSERC, Tier 2 (New)
Khanh Huy Bui, Canada Research Chair in Structural Cell Biology, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Bastien Castagner, Canada Research Chair in Therapeutic Chemistry, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Jessica Coon, Canada Research Chair in Syntax and Indigenous Languages, SSHRC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Luda Diatchenko, Canada Research Chair in Human Pain Genetics, CIHR, Tier 1 (New)
Kyle Elliott, Canada Research Chair in Arctic Ecology, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Benjamin C. M. Fung, Canada Research Chair in Data Mining for Cybersecurity, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Natalya Gomez, Canada Research Chair in Ice Sheet – Sea Level – Solid Earth Interactions, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Irene Gregory-Eaves, Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology and Global Change, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Yasser Iturria-Medina, Canada Research Chair in Multimodal Data Integration in Neurodegenerative Disease Research, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
Jianyu Li, Canada Research Chair in Biomaterials and Musculoskeletal Health, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
Judith N. Mandl, Canada Research Chair Immune Cell Dynamics, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Timothy Merlis, Canada Research Chair in Atmospheric and Climate Dynamics, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Catherine Potvin, Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests, NSERC, Tier 1 (Renewal)
Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, Canada Research Chair in Policies and Health Inequalities, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Keiko Shikako-Thomas, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disability: Participation and Knowledge Translation, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Faleh Tamimi Marino, Canada Research Chair in Translational Craniofacial Research, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
Brett D. Thombs, Canada Research Chair in Patient-Oriented Disease Management and Preventive Health Care, CIHR, Tier 1 (New)
Debra Thompson, Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies, SSHRC, Tier 2 (New)
Sylvia Villeneuve, Canada Research Chair in Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)