Backgrounder

August 13, 2007

EARLY RESEARCHER AWARD PROGRAM

Through the Early Researcher Award program, the McGuinty government is helping promising, recently appointed Ontario researchers undertake cutting-edge research and build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates. Researchers each receive a $100,000 award through the program.

Brock University

Dr. Jeffrey Stuart With an aging population, age-related disorders have become an increasingly pressing concern. A large body of scientific data implicates free radicals as an underlying cause of human aging and age-related disorders like cancer. Dr. Jeffrey Stuart, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Brock University, is focusing on ways that human cells avoid or repair free radical damage - and whether resveratrol, which is found in red wine, promotes longevity by stimulating the cell’s natural antioxidant defenses. His research could lead to the development and marketing of a high-resveratrol wine, which would promote Ontario’s growing wine industry.

Early Researcher Award

The Early Researcher Award program is a $51-million, five-year initiative. This program is a key component of the province's research and innovation strategy, which aims to strengthen Ontario's economic advantage by helping to attract, retain and develop the best and brightest researchers.

Each award to a leading researcher is a maximum of $100,000 and must be matched by an additional $50,000 from the researcher’s institution and/or a private sector partner. In addition, up to $40,000 in indirect costs is provided to the institution. The award must be used to cover the eligible expenses of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates, including:

• Salaries and benefits
• Travel and expenses related to conferences, workshops or seminars
• Travel and expenses related directly to offsite research activities.

For more information about the Early Researcher Award, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.