Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
March 11, 2005
CFI Announces ‘New Opportunities’ At U of G
Six innovative projects headed by the “next generation” of outstanding researchers at the University of Guelph received support today from the federal Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
CFI is investing more than $600,000 in the U of G projects from its New Opportunities Fund. The announcement was made in Victoria by Carmen Charette, CFI’s senior vice-president, and Industry Minister David Emerson. Guelph was among 41 Canadian universities that received close to $24 million to support 120 new research projects. “This is an investment in the future,” Charette said. “We are providing the tools that will attract tomorrow’s leaders and create opportunities for them to work with the very best.”
The New Opportunities Fund was designed to help launch the careers of new and talented faculty members and help institutions recruit exceptional scholars in priority areas for research. The funding is earmarked for specific research projects and covers 40 per cent of the infrastructure costs, with the remaining funds coming from private-, public- and voluntary-sector partners.
“I am thrilled to receive this news from CFI,” said Lindsay Robinson, a professor in the Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences. She received $116,611 to set up an integrative nutritional sciences and metabolic physiology laboratory.
“This funding for state-of-the-art equipment will be a tremendous help in establishing my new laboratory. I am very excited by the research possibilities that this will provide to my lab, my students, and my colleagues and collaborators,” she said. Robinson will study how critical metabolic biomarkers respond to diet and/or exercise, research with applications to human health and obesity-related chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
U of G’s other New Opportunities recipients are:
-- Heidi Bailey, Department of Psychology, $108,674 to study the effect of maternal history of maltreatment on the mother-child attachment relationship and children’s socio-emotional development.
-- Gregoy Bedecarrats, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, $124,627 for a laboratory to study molecular endocrinology and immunology in poultry.
-- Mario Monteiro, Department of Chemistry, $79,448 for carbohydrate structural analysis.
-- Kendall Swanson, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, $118,275 for infrastructure to study the mechanisms regulating nutrient utilization in ruminants.
-- Ximing Wu, Department of Economics, $70,533 for computer intensive methods for labour and applied welfare economics.
“Today’s announcement of additional research funding for academic researchers at the University of Guelph is significant because it will assist them to carry on with their important work to help grow and enhance Canada’s reputation as leading-edge in the global, knowledge-based economy,” said Brenda Chamberlain, MP for Guelph-Wellington.
The CFI was established in 1997 by the federal government to address the urgent needs of Canada's research community. It has a capital investment budget of $3.15 billion, and its goal is to strengthen Canada's university research and training environment through partnerships with the research institutions, the provinces and other levels of government, as well as the private and voluntary sectors.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rebecca Kendall, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982.
