USask Research Projects Gain Over $8.3 Million in NSERC Support
The NSERC Discovery Grants support long-term research goals, providing researchers with annual instalments over a five-year period. The following 41 USask researchers were awarded more than $8.3 million in funding from NSERC in 2024. This year, six USask researchers also received $12,500 from the NSERC Discovery Grant Early Career Researcher Supplement.
Dr. Peter Pioli (PhD)
Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology – College of Medicine
Sex Differences in Thymus Antibody-Secreting Cell Production and the Impact on T Cell Development
$155,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500
Dr. Eric Price (PhD)
Chemistry – College of Arts and Science
Synthesis and physicochemical study of new chemical tools towards ideal radiometal-and peptide-base constructs
$180,000
Dr. Susantha Gomis (PhD)
Veterinary Pathology – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Immunomodulatory effects of oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) on intrapulmonary vaccine delivery in neonatal broiler chickens
$280,000
Dr. Ellen Wasan (PhD)
Pharmacy – College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
Exploring soft material nanoparticles for engaging mucosal immunity
$200,000
Dr. Kerry McPhedran (PhD)
Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering – College of Engineering
Direct potable reuse of municipal wastewater and urban stormwater in Canada
$180,000
Dr. Catherine Niu (PhD)
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering
Biosorption and Adsorption for Effective Separation of Targeted Species from Multi-Component Systems
$165,000
Dr. Douglas Chivers (PhD)
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Understanding multigenerational effects of risk and contaminants in aquatic systems
$275,000
Dr. Hui Wang (PhD)
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering
Catalytic Sites Contiguity Study for Carbon Dioxide Conversion Reactions
$195,000
Dr. Kate Congreves (PhD)
Plant Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Tightening the nitrogen cycle for sustainable soil management via diversification
$215,000
Dr. John Tse (PhD)
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science
Structural Phase transitions under Extreme Conditions
$305,000
Dr. Markus Hecker (PhD)
School of Environment and Sustainability
Translational Environmental Toxicology
$325,000
Dr. Valerie Thompson (PhD)
Psychology – College of Arts and Science
Towards a Theory of Meta-Reasoning
$235,000
Dr. Melissa Arcand (PhD)
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Crop rhizosphere controls on nitrogen bioavailability and soil organic matter-intersections between microbial carbon and plant nitrogen use efficiencies
$150,000
Dr. Qiang Liu (PhD)
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
Viral Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) translation modulation
$170,000
Dr. David Sumner (PhD)
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering
Fundamentals of Bluff-Body Wakes
$160,000
Dr. Lynn Weber (PhD)
Veterinary Biomedical Sciences – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Heart-microbiome-metabolism axis and influence of protein source in a dog model
$235,000
Dr. Heather Szabo-Rogers (PhD)
Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology – College of Medicine
Genes, proteins and tissue interactions shaping the snout and beak
$170,000
Dr. Alexey Shevyakov (PhD)
Mathematics and Statistics – College of Arts and Science
Exact and approximate symmetry methods with applications to nonlinear
$120,000
Dr. Gordon Sarty (PhD)
Physics – College of Arts and Science
Design and Testing of Gradient Free Magnetic Resonance Imaging
$170,000
Dr. Derek Peak (PhD)
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Shining Light on Soil Health
$180,000
Dr. Mrigank Rochan (PhD)
Computer Science – College of Arts and Science
Towards Adaptive and Robust Visual Understanding
$170,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500
Dr. Steven Rayan (PhD)
Mathematics and Statistics – College of Arts and Science
Moduli Spaces and Quantum Matter
$215,000
Dr. Jonathan Farthing (PhD)
Kinesiology – College of Kinesiology
Neural mechanisms of contralateral effects of unilateral motor training in humans
$165,000
Dr. Jaswant Singh (DVM)
Veterinary Biomedical Sciences – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Mechanisms Affecting Oocyte Competence in the Bovine Model during the Prepubertal Period
$275,000
Dr. Andrew Ireson (PhD)
School of Environment and Sustainability
Soil moisture futures in the Canadian Prairies
$180,000
Dr. Akindele Odeshi (PhD)
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering
Development of hybrid and functionally graded materials using additive
$165,000
Dr. Katherine Stewart (PhD)
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Linking biocrusts, plants and belowground communities in a changing climate
$180,000
Dr. Aneesh Thakur (DVM)
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
Inducing respiratory mucosal immunity in cattle by design of next-generation thermostable ribonucleic acid vaccines
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500
Dr. Li Chen (PhD)
Electrical and Computer Engineering – College of Engineering
Characterize and Mitigate Radiation Effects on Microelectronics
$230,000
Dr. Haixia Zhang (PhD)
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Developing Advanced Metabolomic Platforms to Unlock the Potential of Bioactive Compounds in Canadian Agrifoods
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500
Dr. David Elwood (PhD)
Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering – College of Engineering
Evaluation of Liquefaction Potential in Fine Sand Tailings using a Self-Bore Pressuremeter
$180,000
Dr. Kerri Kobryn (PhD)
Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology – College of Medicine
Molecular studies of hairpin telomeres in bacteria
$200,000
Dr. Lori Bradford (PhD)
Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development – College of Engineering
Operationalization of Social and Cultural Knowledge into Engineering Design and Impact Assessment Practices
$135,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500
Dr. Ann McKellar (PhD)
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Understanding drivers of migratory bird population change in human-dominated landscapes
$170,000
Dr. Yansun Yao (PhD)
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science
Machine learning informed material prediction and discovery
$250,000
Dr. Chijin Xiao (PhD)
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science
Plasma Physics and Engineering for Fusion Research and Other Applications
$250,000
Dr. Daniel Columbus (PhD)
Animal and Poultry Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Investigating the impact of dietary nitrogen content on amino acid utilization in growing pigs
$301,505
Dr. Yongfeng Ai (PhD)
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Exploring and exploiting starch-plant protein interactions to improve food quality and nutrition
$195,000
Dr. Michael Nickerson (PhD)
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Tailoring of the interfacial behaviour of plant proteins for their structure controlling role in foods
$275,000
Dr. Douglas Degenstein (PhD)
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Sciences
Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere from Satellite Platforms
$255,000
Dr. Mohammadreza Nematollahi (PhD)
Finance and Management Science -Edwards School of Business
Reinforcing Food Security and Sustainability through Supply Chain Analytics
$135,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient – $12,500