Backgrounder
August 17, 2009
Early Researcher Awards
Ontario is providing $11.5 million to support 82 emerging researchers and their teams at 21 institutions across Ontario. Each lead researcher will receive $140,000 through the Early Researcher Awards program.
McMaster University
The Quantum Internet
Lead Researcher: Dr. Duncan O'Dell
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 4
The application of quantum mechanics to computing and communication technologies is an exciting new field of basic research. It could completely revolutionize these technologies – if it gets past the problem of how to distribute quantum information, which is generally more delicate than classical information, over a network of spatially separated nodes. Dr. Duncan O’Dell and his team will conduct theoretical research that could help researchers surmount this stumbling block. They will address the problem of transferring photons reliably,and on demand, over a network of optical cavities connected by optical fibres.
Molecular Genetic Study of the Development of Reproductive System
Lead Researcher: Dr. Bhagwati Gupta
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 4
Dr. Gupta’s laboratory is conducting research on the reproductive system of worms (nematodes) including Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae. This work will help us understand how genes function and interact with each other throughout the amazing series of events that take place from the time an egg is fertilized until it develops into an adult human. The alteration of any interactions in the gene networks that control these events could cause diseases, including cancer. Dr. Gupta’s findings will reveal the basis of such diseases, leading to improved diagnosis and treatments.
Toxic or Not? – Protein Interactions in a Bacterial System
Lead Researcher: Dr. Marie Alaine Elliot
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 3
Amyloids are aggregations of proteins associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's. It was traditionally assumed that amyloids formed when proteins interacted in inappropriate ways, and that these interactions were toxic and caused disease. Now research is suggesting that not all amyloids are toxic, as recently identified “functional amyloids” play important roles in diverse biological systems, including skin pigmentation and bacterial development. Dr. Elliot and her team’s efforts to understand how amyloid formation occurs in the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor could help us determine what differentiates a toxic amyloid from a functional one, and, thereby, bring us one step closer to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Understanding the Risk of Microbiological Contamination of Groundwater Posed by the Presence of Fractures
Lead Researcher: Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Dickson
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 4
Groundwater is typically considered a safe source of drinking water. Dr. Dickson’s research combines field and laboratory scale experiments with computer modeling to identify those situations that might cause water sources to become vulnerable to pathogens. The results will provide government regulators with better science to guide water protection legislation. This will ultimately protect the public health of Ontarians who rely on groundwater for their drinking water supply.
An investigation of Mechanisms Leading to Drug Induced Weight Gain in Patients with Mood Disorder
Lead Researcher: Dr. Valerie Hannah Taylor
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 5
Dr. Taylor’s research team is working on developing a better understanding of why the prevalence of obesity among people diagnosed with a mood disorder exceeds that of the general population. Researchers know that people who are taking medication to treat mood disorders, a relatively common mental illness, gain weight as a side effect of the drugs. But what are the exact factors that contribute to weight gain and subsequent physical illness? Dr. Taylor proposes to find out. She is examining patterns of nutrition, physical activity and metabolism in individuals being treated for a mood disorder. This work will help individuals who are taking medication to treat mood disorders avoid obesity.
Studying Sex Chromosomes to Better Understand Genome Evolution
Lead Researcher: Dr. Ben Jonathan Evans
Number of Number of researchers benefiting: 3
Dr. Evans’ research on sex determination and sex chromosome evolution will constitute a step forward in our understanding of genome evolution, genetic variation, chromosomal recombination and the genetic mechanisms of reproduction. This project is focused on uncovering new knowledge about the evolution of sex chromosomes, and will offer new information relevant to human disease, gene expression, and reproduction. It will also provide members of Dr. Evans’s research team with cutting-edge technology for high-throughput data collection and analysis. They will gain made-in-Ontario expertise necessary for jobs in bioinformatics, computational biology, and molecular biology.
