The University of Ottawa is proud to welcome six new Canada Research Chairs to “Canada’s university.” The new chairs were announced June 27 at an event in Charlottetown.
The appointments bring the number of chairs to 41 for the University. The new chairholders include:
- Kristin Baetz, Canada Research Chair in Chemical and Functional Genomics
It's not an obvious link -- brewer's yeast and the key to understanding cancer. But new Canada Research Chair in Chemical and Functional Genomics Kristin Baetz is using this very common organism to study processes that are almost identical in both yeast and humans. The key to the work of the team she leads is understanding which proteins within a cell act to keep chromosomes stable. Most major tumours show evidence of chromosomal instability. It's Dr. Baetz's hope that understanding how chromosomes become unstable will lead to new therapeutic targets and new drug therapies for cancer.
- Dr. Jocelyn Côté, Canada Research Chair in RNA metabolism in health and disease
Dr. Jocelyn Côté is working on paving the way to understanding RNA synthesis – how DNA genome produces molecules. His work aims at understanding how it occurs and what impact it may have on the utility of the proteins in the cell. He will address fundamental questions, such as how arginine, an amino acid, occurs and is controlled during the process of cellular differentiation into a specialized cell type (e.g. neurons or muscle cells) or during the cell growth cycle. A better understanding of cellular biochemistry in spinal muscular atrophy could point the way to novel therapeutic interventions and, in breast cancer, could lead to improved early detection methods.
- Dr. Jeffrey Dilworth, Canada Resarch Chair in Epigenetic Regulation of Transcription
In 1992, researcher Dr. Ron Worton made a major breakthrough in the study of muscular dystrophy when they discovered the gene which causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common form of MD and a tragic, incurable disease. Now, newly-repatriated Jeffrey Dilworth, the Canada Resarch Chair in Epigenetic Regulation of Transcription is working on ways to create effective stem cell-based gene therapies to treat the thousands of boys who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dilworth's work studies how proteins within stem cells "turn on" genes which create muscle cells and "turn off" other genes. When researchers understand how muscle-specific patterns of gene expression take place in stem cells, the next step for science will be to reproduce that pattern in the test tube and develop therapies for diseases such as Duchenne MD.
- Denise Spitzer, Canada Research Chair in Gender, Migration and Health
Is immigrating to Canada bad for your health? Most voluntary immigrants arrive in Canada in better health than the average resident; however immigrants tend to lose this advantage after living in this country for a decade, with women reporting the most dramatic deterioration in health status. Dr. Spitzer’s research program seeks to identify and understand the social, cultural and economic factors underlying the decline in the health status of immigrants, particularly women.
- Ravi Bhardwaj Vedula, Canada Research Chair in Ultrafast Laser-Matter Interactions
Using state-of-the-art femtosecond lasers, which produce extremely short bursts of light that are a billion times more powerful than the sunlight on earth, Dr. Bhardwaj is investigating light-matter interaction. His cutting-edge research will lead to new technologies that enable the creation of novel multifunctional optical devices for faster data transmission along optical networks and bio-sensing. Further, it provides revolutionary bio-diagnostic tools to perform laser surgery on live cells and tissues.
- Tom Woo, Canada Research Chair in Catalyst Modeling and Computational Chemistry
Dr. Woo’s research program aims to develop innovative techniques to advance computer modeling as a practical tool in catalysis. These computer simulations can provide molecular scale details of catalytic processes that are difficult or impossible to obtain experimentally. The modeling studies to be carried out with Dr. Woo’s approaches offer the potential to provide unique insights that will accelerate the development of new catalysts. Innovations in catalyst technologies are crucial to help Canadian chemical and pharmaceutical companies remain competitive in the global marketplace.
