[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Wilkinson_John.jpg” caption=”John Wilkinson, Minister of Research and Innovation, announces $1,120,000 in Early Researcher Awards for McMaster researchers. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]The 21st century has been a roller coaster ride of technologies and inventions that have quickly become a part of our everyday lives. We don't think twice about turning on our computers or cell phones to connect locally or globally.

We're living longer because of advancements in health care, breakthroughs in disease research and constant monitoring of our environment to ensure that we're supplied with clean water, fresh air and safe food supplies.

These and so many other “everyday” expectations are met because of the work of scientists, engineers and medical researchers such as McMaster's latest round of Early Researcher Award (ERA) recipients, a group of eight who were recognized Monday, July 14 by John Wilkinson, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation (MRI).

Hailing from the faculties of Science, Health Sciences and Engineering, the ERA award recipients will be able to expand their research teams — whether by growing their labs, taking more students into the field, or having yet another talented research mind to help tackle complex theorems or policy issues — these researchers will generate dozens of highly qualified personnel (HQP) whose research results will ultimately contribute to the public good.

Mo Elbestawi, vice-president, Research and International Affairs, was particularly pleased by McMaster's success in this fourth round of ERA applications, noting that the University's success rate was double the provincial average.

“The calibre of the research we do here at McMaster is consistently world-class and it's not surprising that our University is recognized for its research talent,” says Elbestawi. “These gifted scientists are engaged in research that will impact the public's health and welfare, our environment and our economy. The award will allow each recipient the opportunity to expand their research team and as a result, there will soon be more than two dozen new researchers in our labs and in the field — master's, doctoral and post-doctoral students — who represent the next wave of talented young researchers to further our tradition of research excellence.”

ERA recipient Brian Coombes, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, took to the podium to share his thoughts about what the award meant to him and noted that the Early Researcher Awards are “the right stuff at the right time.” He also explained that while the award provides “exciting opportunities” for the expanded research teams here on campus, hundreds of high school students will also be the beneficiaries of each researcher's expertise because of the youth outreach component of the award, which requires the ERA recipient to engage in annual youth research and innovation outreach activities.

Coombes' research project is outlined below, as well as those of the other seven ERA recipients, including orthopedic surgeon Mohit Bhandari, pediatrics researcher Anne Klassen, engineering physicist Andrew Knights, mathematicians Bartosz Protas and Megumi Harada, biogeochemist Greg Slater and biologist Xu-Dong Zhu.

Brian Coombes, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, and his research team are studying enteric pathogens — gastrointestinal organisms spread by contamination of foods mainly of animal origin — that cause serious gastrointestinal illness and death in humans. These bacteria have a particularly nasty secretion system that acts like a syringe to inject its disease-causing bacterial proteins into host cells.

By disabling this bacterial mechanism, Coombes' research will fill the gap in the antimicrobial pipeline and provide a counterstrike that will render these bacteria non-infectious. Coombes will be recruiting two additional students at the graduate level, who will “emerge from their training as exceptionally qualified scientists who are versant in both basic microbiological research and allied public health. Young scientists trained through this research program will acquire marketable skills for immediate contribution to Ontario's technology-based economy.”

Megumi Harada, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, describes her research focus as “symplectic geometry, which is a branch of mathematics originally developed to provide a mathematical framework for classical mechanics. In the 20th century, it developed into a mathematical theory in its own right, with applications to various aspects of physics, such as string theory and conformal field theory.” She will be able to hire a new postdoctoral fellow as well as recruit several new graduate students (both master's and PhD level) as a result of this award.

Anne Klassen, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, was the principal investigator of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of the factors related to the health of parents of children with cancer.

From this 2003 study, she identified an important gap in the research literature — that the concerns and experiences of immigrant parents of children with cancer have never been addressed. Her new study will explore first-generation South Asian and Chinese parents' experience with caring for a child with cancer, a group of particular interest because they represent the largest visible minority group in Canada.

“Our findings could help influence how pediatric oncology services, programs and policies in Ontario — and other parts of Canada — are organized to deliver cancer care in ways that respond to the unique needs of culturally and linguistically diverse families”, says Klassen. She will use the ERA funding to hire a PhD student for two years and a post-doctoral fellow for two years.

Andrew Knights, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Physics, will be using his ERA funds to help build a better silicon chip to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for information bandwidth for communications at distances ranging from nanometres to thousands of kilometres.

“The research performed in the Silicon Photonics Group aims to integrate optical and electrical functionality on a single silicon chip, increasing exponentially the speed and operational performance of the devices which have been driving the microelectronics industry for the last 50 years,” says Knight.

To achieve this, his research team will manipulate silicon at the atomic level, utilizing many of the unique facilities at McMaster, including the Centre for Emerging Device Technologies and the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy. The award will provide for two new research students per year for the next five years — a significant 30 per cent increase in students working in this area.

“The integration of light on a silicon platform offers rewards on par with the microelectronics revolution, with applications limited by imagination only: ultra-fast computing, secure communication and cheap, widespread deployment of sensors for biological, chemical and mechanical applications ensuring the safety of citizens,” says Knight.

Bartosz Protas, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, will study the complex thermal fluid phenomena that occur during manufacturing to understand their fundamental aspects for manufacturing applications. His ERA funding will be used to expand his research team by one more postdoctoral fellow and another graduate student, who will pursue projects in areas such as gas-metal arc welding in the automotive manufacturing industry, a practical application of mathematical modeling and science.

“We seek to improve the overall quality of the weld, which means that manufacturers can better guarantee their vehicles, but more importantly, their vehicles will be safer, lighter and therefore more fuel efficient,” explains Protas. While research partnerships with industry are common, it's far from common for a mathematician to be involved in this kind of collaboration, an aspect of his research that Protas hopes will raise the profile of advanced mathematical techniques that can be used to solve manufacturing problems.

Greg Slater assistant professor, School of Geography &
Earth Sciences and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Isotope Biogeochemistry, uses Compound Specific Radiocarbon Analysis (CRSA) to investigate and monitor organic contaminants in environmental systems.

“There is a continuing need to study the behaviour of organic contaminants in the environment to develop new technologies and approaches to accurately assess their sources, the extent of their impact and the risk they pose to human and ecosystem health,” says Slater.

The ERA funding will allow him to expand his research team to support research aimed at differentiating between natural and anthropogenic (caused by humans) sources of contaminants — an important key to providing realistic assessment of clean-up targets and remediation impacts.

Xu-Dong Zhu, assistant professor in the Department of Biology, plans to recruit two more graduate students or one postdoctoral fellow to her team to continue her work on human tumour cells.

“Human chromosome ends are intimately associated with cancer and aging,” Zhu explained. “As we age, our chromosome ends become short. Individuals whose ends deteriorate faster are at a higher risk of developing cancer because short chromosome ends can lead to an unstable genome, a hallmark of cancer.”

The research in her laboratory focuses on elucidating molecular interactions that govern the maintenance of our chromosome ends, which will enhance our understanding of the cause of cancer, ultimately leading to better prevention and treatment.

Yesterday's announcement represents $9.24 million invested by the provincial government to support 66 research teams working across Ontario, “an important part of Ontario's plan to build an innovation-driven economy,” said Wilkinson. “We are investing in the people that are pioneering the scientific breakthroughs that will improve healthcare, protect the environment, and ignite growth in the industries that will shape Ontario's future.”