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.
Carleton University
Investigating the Effect of Amidation on the Activity of Antimicrobial Peptides
Lead researcher: Dr. Anatoli Ianoul
Number of researchers benefiting: 3
Antibiotic resistance – the ability of bacteria to develop strains that can resist certain antibiotics – is a serious health care problem related to the widespread use of antibiotics in Ontario and around the world. Dr. Ianoul is researching antimicrobial peptides – substances that could become an alternative to synthetic antibiotics. His detailed investigations of these peptides could lead to Ontario-based progress in the treatment of infectious diseases and improvement in the quality of health and life around the world.
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
Tackling the Childhood Obesity Epidemic – Starting with Mom
Lead researcher: Dr. Kristi Bree Adamo
Number of researchers benefiting: 5
Almost 60% of adults ages 18 and over, or 14.1 million Canadians, are overweight or obese. Obesity affects all ages, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and is harder to treat the longer it is not addressed. Prevention is therefore essential. Current evidence shows that preventing obesity in pregnant women may prevent these women and their children from becoming obese later in life. Dr. Adamo will provide structured physical activity and nutrition programs to overweight or obese women during their pregnancies to determine whether these activities can them avoid excessive weight gain during pregnancy and thus attenuate pregnancy related complications and weight issues in their offspring.
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Sensory Neuron Development, a Foundation for Cell-based Therapy for Neuropathies
Lead researcher: Dr. Hsiao-Huei Chen
Number of researchers benefiting: 4
Muscle sensory disorders are frequently associated with cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and congenital ataxias. Cell based therapies to selectively replace the missing neurons without increasing unwanted pain neurons could alleviate these disorders. The development of such therapies, however, requires knowledge of the molecular pathways controlling neuron development and function. Dr. Chen's research team proposes to use the easily accessible simple stretch knee-jerk reflex, to elucidate the molecular pathways that control sensory neuron development and function. It will use electrophysiological recording to assess the functional integrity of this reflex circuit. Researchers will be able to apply their findings to treat other neuropathies that affect sensory neurons, including hearing and vision loss.
University of Ottawa
High Energy Barrier Single-Molecule Magnets for Molecular Electronics
Lead researcher: Dr. Muralee Murugesu
Number of researchers benefiting: 3
Molecular magnetism, an up-and-coming field in nanotechnology, is the study of magnetically interesting phenomena displayed by molecular materials. More work on how we can isolate and fundamentally understand these materials could open the door to faster and low-powered electronics and higher density data storage. Dr. Murugesu’s research into novel molecule-based magnetic materials will provide new insights into their unique properties. This work will contribute to the important economic area of emerging materials.
Future Thinking in Young Children
Lead researcher: Dr. Cristina Marie Atance
Number of researchers benefiting: 3
Remembering the past and thinking about the future are two of the most remarkable feats of the human mind. Future thinking also underlies important adaptive behaviours such as planning, delay of gratification and anticipating the consequences of one’s actions. But psychologists know little about its developmental origins and trajectory. Dr. Atance is addressing this gap in knowledge through a series of novel methods she has developed to assess young children’s capacity to think about the immediate and more distant future. Her team will also test whether factors such as perspective-taking and inhibitory control help children develop an awareness of the future.
MicroRNA-mediated Translational Control of Biological Timing in Mammals
Lead researcher: Dr. Hai-Ying Mary Cheng
Number of researchers benefiting: 4
Our internal biological clocks drive our daily, circadian rhythms in behaviour and physiology, and help us adapt these rhythms in response to environmental change. The internal biological clocks of people who suffer from certain genetic disorders, cancer, bipolar disorder and night-shift work, is often disrupted. Dr. Cheng’s research focuses on the role of microRNAs in clock regulation, and aims to decipher the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms involved. This work could one day help these individuals readjust their internal biological clocks more effectively.
Toward Simple, Efficient Approaches to Nitrogen-Containing Bioactive Molecules
Lead researcher: Dr. Andre M. Beauchemin
Number of researchers benefiting: 6
Over 90% of the compounds manufactured and tested by pharmaceutical companies have at least one nitrogen atom in their structure – and the conversion of alkenes, alkynes and arenes into these nitrogen-containing molecules currently requires several steps. Dr. Beauchemin is researching more cost-effective, efficient processes, which would give us shorter and more efficient access to these compounds. This work will provide Ontario with an important new technology, as well as a workforce trained to work in the pharmaceutical or fine chemicals sectors.
