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2010.04.01 – Western News
Researchers receive $8-million funding renewal
By Heather Travis
Thursday, April 1, 2010
From social psychology and star formation, to
primary health care and multilevel governance, seven Canada Research
Chairs (CRC) at The University of Western Ontario have received $8
million in renewed funding from the federal government.
Gary Shaw, Canada Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology, right,
was among the seven University of Western Ontario Canada Research
Chairs receiving an $8-million funding renewal from the federal
government. Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Canada
Robert Nicholson, far left, visited Western last week, along with
London West MP Ed Holder, to make the announcement.
This renewed investment is part of $165.5 million for
187 newly awarded or renewed CRCs at 44 Canadian universities.
Western has 69 CRCs in total.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General for
Canada Robert Nicholson visited Western, along with London West MP
Ed Holder, to announce the funding renewal on March 26.
“This is money well spent. This country has to be
competitive and we know that when you invest money into science and
technology, we all benefit. We know we have to attract and retain
the world’s best researchers to Canada’s universities,” says
Nicholson.
About seven years ago the sequencing of the human
genome was completed and unlocked some of the secrets of diseases
plaguing humans.
This revelation laid the ground work for CRC Gary
Shaw’s work using nuclear magnetic resonance to understand the
function of calcium-binding proteins (S100 proteins).
This research could lead to the development of
pharmaceuticals to treat conditions such as cardiovascular disease,
obesity and Alzheimer’s.
“Our lab aims to understand what some of these
proteins in the human brain look like on an atomic level, how they
interact with the molecules in the cell, what the outcome of these
interactions are, and what happens to these proteins in disease.
This is structural neurobiology,” says Shaw, Director, Biomolecular
NMR Laboratory.
After receiving the initial funding through the
CRC program in 2003, Shaw says “largely because of this award I was
able to take a few risks” and he was able to initiate a research
project he had little experience with – studying Parkinson’s
disease.
Over the course of
the initial CRC award, Shaw’s lab was able to determine the
three-dimensional structure of seven different proteins and they
believe they have figured out why one of these is dysfunctional in
Parkinson’s disease. With the renewal, Shaw hopes to conduct
research to better understand the disease and possibly aid in the
development of new treatments.
Recognized as leaders in their field of study,
being named a CRC opens many doors for other research investments
and recruiting top students.
For example, the CRC program attracted Physics &
Astronomy Professor Martin Houde to Canada from an institute in the
United States. It has helped him to recruit graduate students and he
has been able to use the funding to secure other grants to set up a
laboratory and build telescope instrumentation.
“I couldn’t do what I do without the original CRC
... it was certainly very gratifying and satisfying, and a big
relief for the renewal to be successful,” says Houde.
The Canada Research Chair program sets a higher
bar for the type and complexity of research they are able to
conduct, says Moira Stewart, Director of the Centre for Studies in
Family Medicine in Western’s Research Park.
Western’s funded researchers are:
Bertram Gawronski - Tier 2, Social Sciences and Humanities
Canada Research Chair in Social Psychology
$500,000
Martin Houde - Tier 2, Natural Sciences and Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Star Formation
$500,000
John F. (Rick) Jardine - Tier 1, Natural Sciences and Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Applied Homotopy Theory
$1,400,000
Gary S. Shaw - Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology
$1,400,000
Moira Stewart - Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Primary Health Care
$1,400,000
Miguel A. Valvano – Tier 1, Health
Canada Research Chair in Infectious Diseases and Microbial
Pathogenesis
$1,400,000
Robert A. Young - Tier 1, Social Sciences and Humanities
Canada Research Chair in Multilevel Governance
$1,400,000
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