Two Canada Research Chairs for McMaster

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/whelan_balshine.jpg” caption=”Time Whelan and Sigal Balshine awarded Canada Research Chairs.”]The breadth and depth of McMaster's research capacity is evident in the latest announcement by the Canada Research Chairs program, awarding one new research chair to behavioural ecologist Sigal Balshine, and renewing Dr. Timothy Whelan's Canada Research Chair in Health Services Research in Cancer.

Both researchers are attempting to solve the 'big question' in their respective fields. Balshine, an associate professor in the department of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour was named Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Behavioural Ecology. Her pioneering work seeks to understand the evolution of social behaviour — how cooperation and conflict influence the brain, behaviour and physiology in animals.

Whelan, a radiation oncologist and professor in the department of medicine, is also the director of the Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit. He will continue to break new ground in the treatment of breast cancer, conducting clinical trials designed to determine how best to accelerate treatment time with the most effective use of radiation therapy.

Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president, research and international affairs commented, “Here at McMaster, we initiate the research that results in key discoveries in virtually every discipline. The Canada Research Chair program allows us to retain researchers of this calibre who contribute significantly to Mac's broad spectrum of collaborative scientific endeavors. They teach, mentor and inspire our students with their cutting edge research.”

Sigal Balshine uses cichlid fishes — a particularly social species from Lake Tanganyika in Africa — to conduct unique studies that observe and document complex behaviour patterns. She monitors how these species compete for food, mate, care for and defend their young, and how individuals cooperate with other group members.

“I'm testing new ideas about the evolution of complex social behaviour, using cichlid fish as model organisms. From my research, I hope to determine why animals – and humans – are the way they are. I study how social behaviours like parental care, reproductive competition and cooperation and conflict in social groups are all shaped by ecology and evolution,” Balshine explains.

She combines ecological, physiological and phylogenetic (relating to or based on evolutionary development or history) techniques to understand the how and why behind breeding behaviours.

Like Balshine, Tim Whelan's research is opening up new areas of thought in his field of radiation therapy. Radiation treatment has been used for more than a century, but its full potential as a tool for cancer control has not been “fine-tuned” in the same way as drug therapies. In the first five years of his chair in Health Services Research in Cancer, Whelan focused on clinical trials that have led to new advances in breast cancer treatments by optimizing the delivery of radiation therapy.

“By using cancer therapies that are less toxic and more efficient, we ultimately end up accelerating the treatment process, which in turn improves the patient's quality of life,” explains Whelan.

While the central goal of Whelan's research for the next five years is to arrive at an optimal formula for the treatment of breast cancer, an integral and over-arching component is facilitating communication of information to cancer patients. During the first five years of his Canada Research Chair, Whelan developed the Decision Board, an instrument designed in response to studies that indicated patients regain a sense of control over their disease and their lives by taking an active part in the selection of treatment.

“The Decision Board is a tool for both the patient and their physician. There are so many new treatments and therapies for women with early breast cancer – whether it's breast conserving therapy or mastectomy, drug and/or radiation therapy – women become empowered as partners in their health,” says Whelan.

The Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs awarded to Balshine and Whelan are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. For each Tier 2 Chair, the university receives $100,000 annually for five years.

“University research in Canada has expanded enormously over the past several years, and our Canada Research Chairs have made vital contributions to this evolution. They are a powerful intellectual force that benefits our economy, our environment, and our citizen's quality of life,” said the Honourable Maxime Bernier, minister of industry. “The knowledge of these renowned researchers represents a precious national resource and a powerful competitive advantage on the world stage.”