Six UCalgary researchers receive renewals of Canada Research Chairs

On Nov. 11, the Government of Canada announced the renewal of six Canada Research Chairs (CRC) at the University of Calgary, along with eight new CRC appointments, earning UCalgary more than $10 million in federal funding to solve some of our most complex problems.   

“We are extremely proud of our researchers who received renewals on their Canada Research Chairs,” says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research). “The continued funding from the Government of Canada allows us to continue important research in various domains aligning with each of our national tri-council agencies.” 

To explore the breadth and depth of the research being done on our campuses, we asked the chairholders the following question: What are you excited about in your second term as a CRC? 

Dr. Peter Tieleman, PhD, Faculty of Science
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Tier 1 CRC in Molecular Simulation 

“I have worked on computer simulations of biological systems throughout my career. Computational models have grown in complexity as computers become faster, our methods more accurate and our software more efficient. I’m amazed the level of detail we can put in our models of biomolecular systems and answer real biological questions using methods from physical chemistry and supercomputers. I look forward to continue to develop computational methods and to apply these to both fundamental biological questions and biomedical applications, including applications related to pain treatment, cardiac and kidney disease, and drug-delivery technology.” 

Dr. Colleen Cuthbert, BN'06, MN'08, PhD'17, Faculty of Nursing and Cumming School of Medicine
Canadian Institutes of Health Research Tier 2 CRC in Patient and Family Centered Cancer Survivorship 

"I am honoured to have the support of a Canada Research Chair and excited to continue to expand my program of research that seeks to improve the health, quality of life, and health-care experience of patients and their families living with and beyond cancer. Cancer will continue to be one of society’s biggest health challenges. Alongside discovering how to improve treatment for cancer, we need to discover how to mitigate or lessen the life-altering after-effects from those treatments. During my first term as CRC, I formed meaningful patient and community partnerships and developed a strong network of national and international collaborators. I am excited to build on this momentum in my second term as a CRC. My ultimate goal is to develop innovative and sustainable ways to support patients and their families as they grapple with their many biopsychosocial health and supportive care needs." 

Cuthbert is a member of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and the O'Brien Institute for Public Health. 

Dr. Dang Khoa Nguyen, PhD, Faculty of Science
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Tier 2 CRC in Number Theory and Arithmetic Geometry 

As a second-term CRC, Nguyen aims to achieve significant progress on the study of the Call-Silverman canonical height functions and the Artin-Mazur zeta functions. These functions are among the most important invariants of an algebraic dynamical system, yet the nature of their values remains very mysterious. During his first term, Nguyen and his collaborators obtained significant breakthroughs in understanding these functions. Now they will fine-tune the existing methods in their earlier work and develop more powerful methods to achieve their goal. He plans to recruit a diverse group of talented students and postdoctoral fellows to UCalgary for this purpose. 

Dr. Emma Spanswick, BSc'02, MSc'04, PhD'09, Faculty of Science
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Tier 2 CRC in Geospace Dynamics and Space Plasma Physics 

“Over the last five years, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in several high-impact initiatives in space science, including the design of new sensors and applications and key discovery science. UCalgary truly is a global hub for space remote sensing, and I’m excited to build on this through new initiatives such as Geospace Dynamics Constellation – Ground (link). Over the next five years, my team will be designing next generation ground-based, space remote sensing systems. Once implemented, we will have a fundamentally new view of our dynamic space environment, driving discovery and strategic applications. I’m perhaps most excited by the journey we are about to embark on, using our creativity and innovation to solve the many technical and scientific challenges to deliver the largest, most comprehensive space remote sensing network in the world, and the advancements in science and applications that will follow.” 

Dr. Guang Yang, PhD, Cumming School of Medicine
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Tier 2 CRC in Gene Regulation in Brain Development 

“Genes are the building blocks of life, and our research seeks to understand how these fundamental elements are precisely assembled to guide brain development — forming the most complex organ that governs how we think, feel and behave. I am thrilled to begin my second term as a Canada Research Chair (Tier II). This appointment will fuel our ongoing exploration of these scientific questions, which not only satisfy our deep curiosity about the remarkable processes of gene regulation and brain development, but can also provide answers for those affected by diseases where these processes go awry. I feel incredibly fortunate to continue my CRC research in such an inspiring and collaborative environment, surrounded by exceptional scientists, clinical geneticists and researcher colleagues at the University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and I am excited about the new discoveries that we will make.” 

Dr. Tricia Stadnyk, PhD, Schulich School of Engineering and Faculty of Arts  
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Tier 2 CRC in Hydrological Modelling  

View Stadnyk's profile.