August 13, 2007

ONTARIO RESEARCH FUND – RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

The McGuinty government is helping researchers obtain the tools they need to stay on the forefront of innovation, including lab space, equipment and computer software through the Research Infrastructure program of the Ontario Research Fund. This round of funding under the program will provide $2,788,567 to support 14 world-class projects in London.

The University of Western Ontario

Synthetic Laboratory for the Discovery of Inorganic Materials
Discovery of new materials to ensure cleaner manufacturing

Lead researcher: Paul J. Ragogna
Total project cost: $499,949
Provincial funding: $199,979

Ontario’s high-tech sector needs new, cleaner technologies to ensure that its future environmental impact is benign. Dr. Paul J. Ragogna of the University of Western Ontario is heading a team of researchers to develop new eco-friendly solvent systems and unique metallopolymers for use by the high-tech sector. A new facility will enable the scientists to synthesize the new compounds in the oxygen- and moisture-free environment. As a result of this program, Ontario’s high-tech sector will receive an infusion of cutting-edge technologies, including new marketable materials that could lead to reduced waste by high-tech and other industries.

Ubiquitous Network Laboratory
Researchers investigate lower-cost, higher-speed Internet access

Lead researcher: Abdallah Shami
Total project cost: $274,250
Provincial funding: $109,700

HDTV and Voice-over Internet telephony (VOIP) are driving an ever-increasing demand for high-speed, low-cost reliable Internet service. Dr. Abdallah Shami of the University of Western Ontario is conducting a new telecommunications and information technology study focusing on improving the reliability and lowering the service costs for broadband optical access networks and wireless local area networks. The new state-of-the-art lab equipment will enable the research team to design, develop and test innovative broadband access network solutions. The goal is to develop a suite of new network technologies that could provide Ontarians with better, faster, cheaper telecommunications.

Laboratory for Biomaterials Research
Biomaterials researchers developing bacteria-resistant new drugs

Lead researcher: Elizabeth Gillies
Total project cost: $517,342
Provincial funding: $206,937

Biomaterials offer the promise of new diagnostic techniques and treatments of disease. Dr. Elizabeth Gillies is leading scientists at the University of Western Ontario in a biomaterials research program to develop innovative antibiotics and “smart” agents that can be used during the medical imaging process to aid in the diagnosis of specific diseases. The research could lead to the development of new antibiotics and clinical technologies that will improve patient care and generate commercial opportunities for Ontario’s growing biotech industry.

32-Receiver Channel Upgrade for Parallel Magnetic Resonance Research
Super-fast MRI imaging will save lives

Lead researcher: Charles A. McKenzie
Total project cost: $634,900
Provincial funding: $253,960

Standard Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods are slow, limiting the information that can be gained. Dr. Charles A. McKenzie and a team of scientists at the University of Western Ontario are developing techniques to speed up the imaging process of MRI by a factor of 20. This could allow 3D imaging of the whole heart in a single heart beat, 3D breast MRI at resolutions nearly as high as X-ray mammography or sub-millimeter resolution, and 3D MRI scans of the entire abdomen in a single breath-hold.  These advances in MRI technology, which allow for earlier and more accurate diagnosis and monitoring of diseases such as osteoarthritis, cancer and liver disease, will save lives and improve health-care for Canadians and others around the world.

Advanced Oxidation Process Laboratory
New economical solutions sought for waste treatments

Lead researcher: Madhumita B. Ray
Total project cost: $528,841
Provincial funding: $211,536

Disposal of wastewater sludge constitutes between 30 and 50 per cent of the operational cost of water treatment plants. At University of Western Ontario’s new state-of-the-art research laboratory, Dr. Madhumita B. Ray is exploring advanced oxidation processes to find new, cost-effective technologies to treat water, air and sludge. As a result, this research could significantly reduce water treatment costs for municipalities, creating cost savings for residents and major industrial users of water, increase reuse of water and land application of sludge.

Innovative Laboratory for Luminescent Mapping of Insitu NAPL and Technology Evaluation Geoenvironmental Research Facility
Modeling the restoration of contaminated sites

Lead researcher: Jason L. Gerhard
Total project cost: $649,140
Provincial funding: $259,656

Many communities in Ontario have an interest in restoring landscapes that were contaminated by earlier industrial activity, sites known as brownfields. But before these places can be safely occupied by new businesses or homes, the nature and extent of the contamination must be understood, and the successful minimization of this contamination must be confirmed. University of Western Ontario researcher Jason Gerhard, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Geoenvironmental Restoration Engineering, is developing a facility to provide a detailed picture of what is going on beneath brownfields. This facility models the intricate physical processes taking place, including the movement of toxic materials or the flow of groundwater. In this way, the results can demonstrate the effectiveness of restoration efforts, along with the accompanying economic and social benefits of making this land habitable.

Instillation of Scanning Tunnel Microscopy System for the Development of Molecular Surface Engineering of novel Microfluidics
Going with the very small flow

Lead researcher: Leo W.M. Lau
Total project cost: $522,738
Provincial funding: $209,095

A promising new class of devices will be based on the science of microfluidics, the application of small amounts of chemically and biologically specific liquids flowing through extremely narrow channels like those tiny transistor features found on computer chips. Portable equipment employing this technique could quickly carry out such intricate tasks as identifying pollutants in a lake or infections in a patient’s blood, analyses that currently take much more time in a conventional laboratory facility. Leo Lau, a member of Surface Science Western and the Department of Chemistry at The University of Western Ontario, will use a powerful scanning tunneling microscope, together with other surface science technologies, to explore some of the principles underlying the molecular design of microfluidic channels.  This research addresses a growing field that is already estimated to have a global market worth of $2 billion.

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory for the study of Numerical Cognition
Assessing the development of mathematical ability

Lead researcher: Daniel Ansari
Total project cost: $261,490
Provincial funding: $104,596

Some of the most important activities in modern society require us to understand and manipulate numbers, employing a basic concept that we should develop as children. University of Western Ontario psychologist Daniel Ansari, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, is examining typical and atypical cases of how that development occurs. He and his team are establishing a laboratory to assess the brain function and behavioural aspects of how we come to understand numbers. Working with children in a laboratory setting as well as schools, this work will explore why some individuals have difficultly with mathematics, and what steps might be taken to deal with this problem. In this way, educators can be provided with the knowledge and tools they require to ensure that children in Ontario acquire a skill that is fundamental to so many of today’s promising career choices.

Environmental Exposure Monitoring Systems for Health and Equity Research
Looking for pollution everywhere it can occur

Lead researcher: Isaac Luginaah
Total project cost: $326,090
Provincial funding: $130,436

Environmental problems such as air pollution are often measured according to where the  monitoring stations are based, rather than where a group of affected people might live.  The University of Western Ontario researcher Isaac Luginaah is developing a strategy to meet this challenge, assembling mobile platforms to assess air quality in a more comprehensive way. This work is building new partnerships with government agencies, as well cultivating expertise in the field, all dedicated to improving the environmental quality of life for people in Ontario.

Biotransport and Cellular Engineering Laboratory
Watching and working with the most basic living mechanisms

Lead researcher: Jun Yang
Total project cost: $503,335
Provincial funding: $201,334

The transportation and exchange of materials at the molecular or cellular level is among the most critical of biological functions, enabling cells to work together in such vital settings as the bloodstream to mount an immune response to infection. Jun Yang, a professor in the University of Western Ontario’s Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, intends to study this intricate phenomenon in a laboratory outfitted with one of the most sophisticated tools available for the task — an atomic force microscope. This cutting-edge technology will enable him and his team to take precise quantitative readings of such basic activities as how individual cells adhere to one another. Based on a growing ability to understand and even manipulate these activities at a microscopic level, this work could usher in new approaches to the medical treatment that tackles the most fundamental aspects of any given disease.

Landscape Genetics Laboratory
Analysing our impact on the natural inhabitants of altered landscapes

Lead researcher: Nusha Keyghobadi
Total project cost: $578,711
Provincial funding: $231,484

Human activities regularly destroy or fragment natural landscapes, but we know little about how these changes affect the species inhabiting these settings. University of Western Ontario biologist Nusha Keyghobadi is addressing this issue through a laboratory dedicated to studying the genetic diversity of species such as butterflies and insects occupying pitcher plants. This work, part of an emerging field called landscape genetics, reveals the fundamental biological impact of an altered environment, which can threaten the survival of plants or animals. A detailed understanding of this impact can help frame strategies for conserving and managing at-risk species, preserving the integrity of Ontario’s natural environment as well as safeguarding public health and agriculture from the emergence of pests.

A Window into Planetary Interiors: A Laboratory for Extreme Temperature and Pressure Studies
Simulating a journey to the Centre of the earth

Lead researcher: Sean Shieh
Total project cost: $494,843
Provincial funding: $197,937

As inaccessible as the deepest portions of this planet might be, new technology is making it possible to replicate the conditions found there. By analysing the combination of extreme pressures and temperatures of such settings, investigators are seeking a more accurate description of natural events such as compositional changes and/or physical property variations of rocks and minerals responsible for seismic phenomena, in our own world as well as neighbours such as Mars or Venus. University of Western Ontario researcher Sean Shieh and his team are setting up a laboratory to model this kind of underground environment and measure its behaviour. In addition to answering questions about fundamental geological processes, this facility will also examine how novel chemical formulations might be created, perhaps yielding extremely hard materials at far lower cost than diamonds.

Laboratory for Chemistry and Materials Research under Extreme Conditions
Seeking new materials at the frontiers of high pressure

Lead researcher: Yang Song
Total project cost: $635,639
Provincial funding: $254,255

The unique conditions of extremely high pressures, as much as a million times that of the atmosphere around us, can create entirely new classes of materials. Researchers are just beginning to explore the way in which chemical reactions take place under these conditions, but their findings already point to such prospects as a means of storing hydrogen in fuel-cell powered vehicles or enhancing the performance of widely used industrial processes. University of Western Ontario chemist Yang Song and his team are establishing a laboratory outfitted with specialized equipment to study this frontier of high-pressure phenomena, training individuals who will have a unique expertise in a field of promising economic significance.

Physiological Performance of Overwintering Insects in a Changing Climate
Studying how pests might meet a milder season

Lead researcher: Brent J. Sinclair
Total project cost: $544,155
Provincial funding: $217,662

The prospect of warmer year-round temperatures in places like Ontario could promote more active populations of insect pests, posing a threat to forestry and agriculture. In order to put this threat in perspective, The University of Western Ontario biologist Brent Sinclair is taking a closer look at the various physiological mechanisms insects employ to survive low temperatures. In a new facility designed to simulate different types of winter conditions, he and his team will examine how different species respond to those conditions, and how a warming trend might change their physiology. This understanding will provide the basis for protecting key industries from a major hazard, as well as training individuals in skills that will be useful in confronting other challenges introduced by climate change.

Ontario Research Fund

The McGuinty government is investing $527 million over five years through the Ontario Research Fund. The fund is a key part of the government’s plan to promote scientific excellence by supporting research that can be developed into innovative goods and services that will boost Ontario’s economy. The fund also helps researchers move new ideas from Ontario’s labs to the global marketplace.

The fund provides one window for research funding. Proposals for funding are evaluated through a competitive, peer-review process.

The province matches funding commitments made by the Canada Foundation for Innovation through the Research Infrastructure program. Project funding is shared among the Canada Foundation for Innovation (up to 40 per cent), the province (up to 40 per cent), and the research institutions and industry partners (at least 20 per cent).

For more information about the Ontario Research Fund, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.