��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

caroline.zentner — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:50:59 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are among the successful applicants for federal grants announced by The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health.

The more than $1.3 billion in funding supports over 9,700 researchers and research projects in Canada through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

“From brain plasticity and the mechanism of low-dose radiation to supporting newcomers through mentoring, these grants illustrate the diversity of research being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president of research. “This funding not only helps established researchers continue their work but also helps our early career researchers build their research programs. Ultimately, our students benefit with increased opportunities to engage in research throughout their post-secondary careers.”

In total, ULethbridge received funding from NSERC for nine Discovery Grants and two Discovery Development Grants. The Discovery Grants will bring in nearly $475,000 a year for the next five years. The research projects include the following:

Dr. Gerlinde Metz (Neuroscience) will receive $96,000 per year for a study looking at the social determinants of experience-dependent brain plasticity.
Dr. Stacey Wetmore (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $89,000 per year for a project involving computer modelling of modified RNA.
Dr. Olga Kovalchuk (Biological Sciences) was awarded $55,000 annually to study the fundamental mechanisms of low-dose radiation.
Dr. Borries Demeler (Chemistry & Biochemistry) is set to receive $47,000 yearly for solution studies of interacting biopolymer systems.
Dr. Hadi Kharaghani (Mathematics & Computer Science) will receive $32,000 a year for his project on special orthogonal matrices.

The remainder of the NSERC recipients are four early career researchers, each of whom received a Discovery Launch Supplement of $12,500 in addition to their Discovery Grant.

Dr. Corina Birghila (Mathematics & Computer Science) was awarded a yearly amount of $31,000 for a project titled Optimal Decision under Uncertainty.
Dr. Jessica Willi (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $44,000 annually for a project on ribosome functions through synthetic biology.
Dr. Vineet Rathod (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $38,000 annually to examine the structure-function relationship of natural and engineered amyloid proteins.
Dr. Dylan Girodat (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $42,000 per year for a project on the structural dynamics of ribosomes during translation.

In addition, Discovery Development Grants, worth $22,000 each, were awarded to Drs. Christopher Hopkinson (Geography & Environment) and Marc Bomhof (Kinesiology and Physical Education).

Hopkinson will use remote sensing to model vegetation and snowpack response to wildland fire in headwater basins.
Bomhof intends to look at the interplay between exercise and dietary factors on appetite regulation.

ULethbridge social science and humanities researchers were awarded $645,000 in SSHRC Insight Grants.

Dr. Daniel O'Donnell (English) will work on a project involving Research Data Management and Research Data Infrastructure by humanities researchers.
Dr. Scott Rathwell (Kinesiology) wants to enhance sport participation, promote physical activity and improve health outcomes for aging adults by establishing a framework for effective sport programming in middle-aged and older adults.

Several ULethbridge researchers are the recipients of Insight Development Grants totalling more than $291,000.

Dr. Toupey Luft (Education) has designed a project to address the gap in understanding how arts-based mentorship may enhance a sense of belonging for newcomer young adults.
Dr. Kenneth Holyoke’s (Geography & Environment) project investigates the nature and scope of climate impacts on the Wolastoqiyik and Wabanaki archaeological record in New Brunswick.
Dr. Justin Raycraft’s (Anthropology) objective in this project is to increase understanding of the social dimensions of human-carnivore coexistence in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania.
Dr. Jeffrey MacCormack (Education) will develop a professional development intervention consisting of a community of practice for teachers and principals where they learn evidence-based practices to support students with profound and multiple disabilities.
Dr. Miranda Leibel (Liberal Education) will examine how the creation and maintenance of postal services are an important component of Canadian state- and nation-building.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher receives Banting Discovery Award

caroline.zentner — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 22:05:15 +0000

Dr. Jessica Willi, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, is one of 10 scientists to receive a 2025 Banting Discovery Award worth $30,000 and the first to receive the award at ULethbridge.

The Banting Discovery Foundation recently announced its 100th cohort of Discovery Award recipients. The award is for new investigators who are in their first three years of academic appointment to help them establish their independence and trajectory in research related to health and well-being. In addition to conferring prestige, the awards also help researchers attract more funding.

“I’m extremely grateful for this funding from the Banting Discovery Foundation,” says Willi. “Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to public health, and through my research, I want to help provide innovative solutions to this problem. This money will finance our lab’s supplies and employ student researchers here at ULethbridge. It’s the spark that will start a whole new branch of research for my team.”

“Dr. Willi has been an outstanding addition to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and accordingly, I am absolutely thrilled she has received the prestigious and highly competitive Banting Discovery Award,” says Dr. Paul Hayes, professor and department chair. “I had the pleasure of reading Dr. Willi’s application, which was extremely well written and creative. She is unambiguously a rising star who will help define the future of synthetic biology, chemistry and human health.”

Willi’s research project will examine how some bacteria can evade antibiotics.

“Antibiotics are life-saving drugs thanks to their ability to fight bacterial infections in humans and animals,” she says. “Most antibiotics do this by binding to the ribosome and blocking protein synthesis, which causes the bacteria to stop growing and die. But not all ribosomes are the same — they have some natural variations in their RNA. My project will test how the natural variation of E. coli ribosomes helps bacteria change and evade antibiotics. We are interested in what happens right before bacteria gain full-blown resistance.”

Unlocking that mechanism will help safeguard last-resort antibiotics and aid researchers in creating newer drugs that are harder for bacteria to evade.

Willi received her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Bern, Switzerland. After doing postdoctoral work in the United States at Northwestern ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Willi joined ULethbridge. She focuses on ribosomes by studying the natural functions of RNA and protein synthesis to find new ways to combat bacterial infections.

About the Banting Discovery Foundation:

Formerly named the Banting Research Foundation, the Banting Discovery Foundation is a Canadian charity that provides seed grants to budding biomedical researchers, many of whom have produced key findings that have transformed the practice of medicine and health care, reduced illness, and improved wellness.

UNews - Jessica Willi

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

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��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher receives Banting Discovery Award

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher receives Banting Discovery Award