UBC Gains Brains With Latest Research Recruits

New research at the University of British Columbia will range
from studies of bowel disease in children to the future of
international political institutions when 18 investigators
join the university as Canada Research Chairs.

The UBC positions — valued at $14.4 million — are among
137 federally funded research positions, representing a total
investment of $38.3 million distributed to 38 universities,
research institutes and hospitals across Canada today. UBC
has appointed 101 of the 156 positions allocated to the university.

In addition to Canadian investigators, researchers have been
recruited from the U.S., Australia, France and Switzerland.

“There is global competition for these talented researchers.
We are proud that they have chosen UBC — their decision is
a measure of the university’s international reputation
and their belief that UBC provides a research environment
in which they can be successful," says Barry McBride,
vice-president, Academic.

The federally funded research positions are designed to build
Canada’s research capacity. An investment of $900 million
will support the establishment of 2,000 Chairs at universities
across the country by 2005.

As Canada Research Chair in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Dr.
Bruce Vallance
will explore health issues such as
how bacteria and parasitic infections cause inflammatory bowel
disorder. Knowledge from this research will lead to new therapies
for children who suffer from the damaging inflammations seen
in bacterial infections and intestinal disorders.

Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in
Global Politics and International Law, will investigate international
institutions such as the United Nations to determine if they
can adapt to current global political, economic and social
changes or if they are destined to become obsolete.

Edith Chen, Canada Research Chair in Health
and Society, is an expert in how socio-economic status affects
the physical health of children. She will track the progress
of a group of children to determine what happens when a family’s
socio-economic status changes.

Other Canada Research Chairs include: (in alphabetical order)

Nanoscientist Johannes Barth; neuropsychologist
Jason Barton; mad cow disease expert Neil
Cashman
; neuroscientist Ann Marie Craig;
(Barton, Cashman and Craig will conduct investigations at
the Brain Research Centre at Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute); bacterial disease expert Franck Duong;
complex fluids specialist James Feng; Geoffrey
Hammond
, an expert in steroid hormones (Vallance
and Hammond will conduct investigations at BC Research Institute
for Children’s & Women’s Health BCRICWH); airway disease
researcher Darryl Knight; Abidin
Kusno
, an expert on city life and politics in Asia;
Scott Oser, a physicist who specializes in
solar neutrinos; climate change researcher Andrew
Ridgwell
; cognitive scientist Jonathon Schooler;
Donald Sin, respiratory health investigator
(Knight and Sin will conduct investigations at the iCAPTURE
Centre); David Wilkinson, an expert in fuel
and energy technology; and infant language development researcher
Fei Xu.

Chair appointments provide research and salary support. Tier
1 chairs have seven-year terms and are renewable; Tier 2 chairs
are for a five-year period and can be renewed once.
BCRICWH operates in partnership with UBC and the Children’s
& Women’s Health Centre of BC, an agency of the Provincial
Health Services Authority.

The James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary
Research is affiliated with UBC and based at Providence Health
Care.

Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute is a joint venture
between UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health that promotes development
of new researchers and research activity.
For more information on Canada Research Chairs, visit www.chairs.gc.ca.

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