UNews - John R. Evans Leaders Fund

U of L announces Dr. Athanasios Zovoilis as its newest Canada Research Chair

caroline.zentner — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:17:16 +0000

The federal government has named Dr. Athanasios Zovoilis, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, a Tier II Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s minister of science, recently announced $125.9 million in funding for 142 chairholders. Along with the Canada Research Chairs, Duncan introduced a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to address the lack of diversity among Canada Research Chairs.

“Our government is committed to promoting equity and diversity within the sciences. We need to work harder to ensure that talented researchers have the opportunity to advance. The announcement of the action plan is an important step towards a more inclusive, open and diverse research environment in Canada,” says Duncan.

In addition to $500,000 in funding through the Canada Research Chair program, Zovoilis will receive more than $53,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund for laboratory tools and equipment.

Dr. Athan Zovoilis is the U of L's latest Canada Research Chair.

Zovoilis, a bioinformatician and genomicist, came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge from Boston’s Harvard ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to establish and pursue a research program aimed at developing personalized treatments for diseases like cancer and dementia. Zovoilis joined the U of L's Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), a research centre devoted to RNA research. During the last 10 years, the U of L has made a significant investment in the fast-developing field of RNA research by establishing ARRTI and attracting world-class scientists that develop cutting-edge research in understanding how RNA applications can support human health and biotechnology innovation.

“It was not a very difficult decision, I have to say,” says Zovoilis. “Having lived in Canada before, I know there’s support for science, for families and for integrating people to the society. It makes the perfect combination.”

Originally from Greece, Zovoilis began medical studies in his homeland and completed them in Germany. After witnessing the impact of diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer on members of his community, he knew he wanted a career where he could help people.

“I didn’t like this feeling of helplessness. That was one of the things that motivated me to go to medical school,” he says.

While in medical school, molecular biology captured his interest. The Human Genome Project was underway at the time and the research possibilities it presented were captivating.

“A new era was starting and I decided to specialize in it,” says Zovoilis. “I was convinced that if we want to fight Alzheimer’s and cancer we have to understand what’s happening at the molecular level in our cells. If we understand the basic mechanisms that underlie these diseases then we will be able to fight them more efficiently.”

He pursued a doctorate in molecular genetics and began working with breast cancer patients, looking for mutations in genes known to cause cancer. Studying only two out of tens of thousands of genes, coupled with the limitations of DNA sequencers, meant progress was slow. However, technological advances soon led to much faster DNA sequencing and produced larger amounts of data. Zovoilis determined to get training in bioinformatics, a new discipline that provides the computer programs that can read and analyze the data produced by modern sequencers. He went to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manchester in England to take further training and then joined the bioinformatics group at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, an organization at the forefront of personalized medicine in Canada. There he joined other scientists who were interested in analyzing noncoding sections of the genome, or what was once known as junk DNA.

Because it was at the forefront of analyzing noncoding sections of a genome, Zovoilis then went to Harvard as a research fellow. His research there, recently published in the journal Cell, the top journal in molecular biosciences, revealed a connection between these noncoding sections of the genome and cancer. Now at the U of L, Zovoilis will continue this work with the eventual goal of bringing testing to everyday clinical practice.

“In this lab, we specialize in reading the book of life and we use this information to provide personalized medicine opportunities for patients in the near future,” says Zovoilis.

Such an approach is not as widely available in Canada as it is in the United States or through the Genome Science Centre in British Columbia but he hopes to launch a similar project in Alberta.

“We intend to find partners in this initiative,” says Zovoilis. “It has to be a pan-provincial initiative but southern Alberta can be part of this.”

Zovoilis adds that a personalized approach doesn’t perform miracles but many studies have shown that targeted therapies can help and genomics is the main tool to find them.

“I wanted to come back to Canada,” he says. “Canadians are very open minded and there has been, in recent years, significant investment in research. It is not advertised a lot but, especially here in Alberta, universities have improved substantially their capabilities. They have expanded their programs. I see a huge potential, especially at the U of L. That’s one of the main reasons why I decided to come here.”

U of L researchers benefit from Canada Foundation for Innovation funding

caroline.zentner — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:06:33 +0000

Projects that involve the quest for new cancer-fighting drugs, the preservation of floodplain forests, and the creation of a digital library to support thousand-year-old crosses got a boost today with the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund announcement.

The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced $30 million for research infrastructure in support of projects across the country, which is allowing scientists to expand their knowledge in aquaculture and other areas as diverse as architectural history and chronic pain. At the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, more than $200,000 will go to three research projects.

Drs. Larry Flanagan and Stewart Rood, both biology professors, will receive more than $81,000 to establish an ecosystem-scale flux system to make long-term measurements of water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in cottonwood riparian forests. The measurements will help them define how much river water is used by cottonwood trees in the extensive floodplain forests that line southern Alberta rivers. River waters are facing increased demands from a growing population, more economic development and for agricultural irrigation. Flanagan and Rood want to determine how much water needs to be left in southern Alberta rivers to sustain a healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystem.

“Proper management of river water resources is of fundamental importance to our citizens because most of Canada’s municipal areas are located along rivers. Effective management of river flows to allow removal of water for agricultural and industrial activities, while still leaving enough water to sustain our aquatic and riparian ecosystems is a high priority for all citizens,” says Flanagan.

Dr. Roy Golsteyn, a biochemistry professor and cancer researcher, will receive slightly more than $91,000 for laboratory infrastructure for his Prairie to Pharmacy research program dedicated to investigating the cancer-fighting properties of prairie plants such as the buffalo bean. The plant has shown promising signs of medicinal properties and, this summer, Golsteyn and his team identified six other prairie plants to investigate for anti-cancer effects.

“The award includes a new cancer cell imaging system that will watch hundreds of cells around the clock as they are treated with prairie plant extracts,” says Golsteyn. “It will be great for training students as they will have access to leading-edge equipment.”

Combined with gifts-in-kind from suppliers and a commitment from the province for matching funding, the award could total $250,000. Golsteyn says early support from the U of L allowed his lab to reach the level necessary to be selected for a national award. Now, the new equipment will help attract international research companies to work with Golsteyn and his team. Local donors, whether organizations or private individuals, who would like to help advance Golsteyn’s work are always welcome.

Dr. Daniel Paul O’Donnell, an English professor with expertise in Digital Humanities and Old and Middle English language and literature, will continue research on the Visionary Cross Project thanks to an infrastructure support award worth slightly more than $28,000. The award was the only one of its kind in Canada this year under the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) competition in association with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This is the third award the project has earned this year. O’Donnell has also been awarded a four-year, $233,000 Insight award from SSHRC and a one-year $9,000 allotment from the Graphics, Animation and New Media (GRAND) National Centre of Excellence.

Dr. Daniel Paul O'Donnell, right, and James Graham scan a fragment from the Ruthwell Cross in April, 2012. (c)Visionary Cross Project, 2012, CC-BY.

“These funds will be used in the development of a digital library to support the cultural and textual heritage and multidisciplinary research on objects belonging to the Visionary Cross tradition in Anglo-Saxon England,” says O’Donnell.

The Visionary Cross Project focuses on the Ruthwell and Bewcastle stone crosses in Northern England and Scotland, the Brussels reliquary cross in Belgium, and the ‘Dream of the Rood’ and ‘Elene’ poems from the Anglo-Saxon Vercelli Book manuscript in Italy. These objects are all more than a thousand years old and are closely related to each other. The crosses have carved panels that depict scriptural scenes, and are bordered by inscriptions in Latin, Runic and Old English. These inscriptions have similar wording to that found in the Vercelli book.

Combining technology such as 3D modeling and gaming, the Visionary Cross Project will give scholars the chance to study these artifacts in a unique way and advance knowledge in the Digital Humanities and Anglo-Saxon studies. U of L professors Wendy Osborn and James Graham were co-applicants on the grants. Osborn will be responsible for developing the digital library, including metadata, cataloguing and organization of 2D and 3D data for user-centered retrieval. Graham is developing online and interactive virtual environments.The Visionary Cross team has been collecting digital representations of these objects over the last eight years.

“We would like to bring these diverse and informally catalogued collections together to form an organized, multimedia Digital Library accessible to all and able to be expanded in the future,” says O’Donnell.

U of L researchers get funding boost from Canada Foundation for Innovation

trevor.kenney — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:48:29 +0000

From below the earth’s surface to the farthest reaches of the universe, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are embarking on a pair of significant study projects thanks to research infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

On Wednesday, CFI announced a $63-million investment in support of cutting-edge research equipment, laboratories and tools through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund and the Infrastructure Operating Fund. A total of 250 facilities in 37 universities across Canada will receive funding.

For the U of L, it translates into nearly $350,000 in CFI infrastructure support. It will allow Drs. Christopher Hopkinson and Locke Spencer, and their colleagues, the opportunity to pursue imaging studies both on the ground and deep into space.

Dr. Chris Hopkinson is the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystems Remote Sensing.

“The tremendous impact that Drs. Spencer and Hopkinson make in their respective fields will only be enhanced by this important investment,” says the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Vice-President (Research) Dr. Dan Weeks. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has increased its research capacity through the attraction of world-leading talent such as these two faculty members and these CFI funds will help ensure the full potential of their research programs is realized.”

The funded projects are as follows:

An Integrated System for High Resolution Terradynamic 3D Imaging

Principal Investigator– Dr. Christopher Hopkinson

Co-applicants– Dr. Laura Chasmer and Dr. Hester Jiskoot

Hopkinson, the Campus Alberta Innovates Program (CAIP) Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystems Remote Sensing, is leading a study that will look at a range of geosciences research questions related to seasonal and long-term environmental changes.

The CFI support of $233,670 will assist in creating a suite of field-based sensors that will support 3D monitoring of environmental processes at plot to landscape scales.

“Our understanding of earth surface/vegetation processes and feedbacks are often limited by an inability to simultaneously observe causes and effects both above and below the ground surface,” says Hopkinson. “This unique integrated advanced-resolution terradynamic monitoring system (ARTeMiS) will be deployed to map and quantify 3D surface and sub-surface features and rates of change. From forest growth to mountain snowpacks to wetland regeneration, ARTeMiS will help characterize both natural and modified ecosystem dynamics.”

The work is significant in that it focuses on issues related to climate change impacts, natural resource management, human disturbance and land reclamation in boreal, alpine, montane and floodplain ecosystems.

Imaging the Universe in the Far-Infrared

Principal Investigator– Dr. Locke Spencer

Spencer (MSc ’05, PhD ’09), a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Experimental Astrophysics, in collaboration with an international team working on related research, is leading an instrumentation project that will improve experimental astrophysics observations in the Far-Infrared (FIR) spectral region, thereby helping us to better understand the formation and evolution of stars, galaxies and the universe as a whole.

“Within Canada, the need to increase support for laboratory-based experimental astrophysics has been identified as a top priority,” says Spencer, who just recently returned to the U of L through the Canada Research Chairs program. “Over half of the energy emitted by the universe appears in the relatively unexplored Far-Infrared spectral region. With the help of this funding, instrumentation will be developed to advance the technologies and techniques needed by future space instruments exploring the Far-Infrared. Many of the current open questions in astrophysics are waiting on better observations in this region.”

The CFI support of $115,200 will allow Spencer to develop a hybrid instrument combining a Fourier transform spectrometer with a spatial interferometer.

While the equipment will initially be developed in a lab, the overall goal of the program is to enhance observations from space-based telescopes. It will also support the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s continued emergence as a key contributor to astronomy research on both the national and international stage.

“This investment, in parallel to current Canadian efforts in the FIR, presents a ground floor opportunity for Canada to become a key partner in future-generation ground and space-based FIR astronomy observatories,” adds Spencer.

By funding projects such as those initiated by Drs. Hopkinson and Spencer, CFI is helping to ensure that Canada remains a world leader in terms of research and innovation.

“Canadian institutions benefit from investments in research infrastructure which provide the tools needed to be at the forefront of innovation,” says Dr. Gilles Patry, president and CEO of CFI. “The research conducted in these labs and facilities will also train a new generation of researchers which will help Canada maintain its position as a global economic leader.”

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