UNews - Paul Hayes

��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.

Dr. Nehal Thakor wins coveted Blue Jacket Award

caroline.zentner — Thu, 11 May 2023 17:00:28 +0000

Dr. Nehal Thakor, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, was chosen as RiboClub’s Blue Jacket Award winner. The Blue Jacket Award is RiboClub's highest recognition for service by RNA scientists to the Canadian RNA community. The award recognizes sustained and impactful contributions that have strengthened the RNA community and helped it to better achieve its goals in RNA research and education.

Dr. Nehal Thakor accepts congratulations after receiving the Blue Jacket Award.

“I feel honoured by this award and I look forward to continue serving and providing leadership to the RNA community in Canada,” says Thakor.

“As Chair of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, I am delighted that RiboClub has celebrated Prof. Nehal Thakor for his important contributions to the field of RNA research,” says Prof. Paul Hayes. “This prestigious award also recognizes Thakor's unwavering dedication and steadfast commitment to the training of our next generation of scientists. Congratulations on a job well done!”

The Blue Jacket Award includes Thakor being appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of RiboClub and more recently, being appointed to the organizing committee of RiboClub 2024, the organization’s 25th anniversary meeting.

“Further, with my active involvement in establishing RNA Canada and RNA Alberta, we hope to accelerate the discovery and development of RNA-based technologies in the province and Canada,” says Thakor.

The Blue Jacket Award celebrates Thakor’s extraordinary service and leadership to the RNA community including the following:

Being a co-organizer for the RiboClub 2019 Annual General Meeting – which marked it’s 20^th Anniversary. He was also instrumental in obtaining Alberta Innovates funding which supported five trainees from the chemistry & biochemistry department to attend.
Contributing as a member of the Program Committee and Executive Committee of the NSERC-CREATE-funded RNA Innovation program. This national program includes the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Sherbrooke and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba.
Serving on the Canadian Consortium of RNA Researchers (C2R2) Management Committee and Grants Committee (national committees).

RiboClub brings ribonucleic acid (RNA) researchers together to promote the study of RNA evolution, structure and function. Through regular meetings, the exchange of ideas and sharing infrastructure, the club creates and unique atmosphere for the recruitment and development of young researchers.

Foreign study placement leads to post-doc at Princeton

caroline.zentner — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:40:17 +0000

For Connor MacNeil, graduate school turned out to be the tale of two Pauls.

While doing his undergraduate degree in chemistry at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, his research supervisor, Dr. Steve Westcott, suggested he call the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Paul Hayes, who had also been a student of Westcott’s. Westcott mentioned they had similar research interests and thought they would get along.

Photo by Jon Darmon

“I could tell right away it was going to be a good fit,” says MacNeil. “It’s an important part of starting grad school. If you don’t get along with your supervisor, then it can be a really unpleasant few years.”

Hayes was on study leave in Germany when MacNeil first called but that didn’t stop him from moving across the country to start working as a research associate in Hayes’ lab in the U of L’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. The year was 2014 and MacNeil had heard about plans to build a new science building. He wanted to get in on the ground floor.

“Seeing how the department has evolved physically and, with the new talent that we’ve brought in, securing a Canada Research Chair in organofluorine chemistry and the friends I’ve made along the way, it has been a great experience,” says MacNeil.

MacNeil is pursuing a PhD, now in its final stages. He wanted to focus on problem solving during his graduate studies and that’s what he found in Hayes’ lab — a team of problem solvers who ask interesting questions and have their eye on how chemistry can play a role in solving global challenges like climate change and developing new pharmaceuticals.

“The things I’m focusing on specifically in my PhD research are reactions pertaining to the hydrogen economy,” says MacNeil. “I’ve shown that organic molecules containing element-hydrogen bonds react with a metal complex to release hydrogen gas. When you break it down, hydrogen is a versatile reagent in all kinds of chemistry and my PhD research looks at new methods to generate hydrogen from common organic molecules in a straightforward way.”

“It has been a true pleasure working with Connor over the past few years,” says Hayes, who is also a member of the Canadian Centre for Research in Advanced Fluorine Technologies (C-CRAFT). “We both enjoy brainstorming ideas and often find ourselves drawing out new chemical reactions long after most of our colleagues have gone home for the evening.”

While working away at his own research, MacNeil was also following the work being done in Paul Chirik’s lab at Princeton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Princeton, New Jersey. Chirik’s expertise is in organometallic chemistry, using environmentally friendly catalysts made from abundant earth elements including iron and cobalt.

“I’d been interested in the work that Paul Chirik was doing at Princeton since I started graduate school and it had always been a dream of mine to work in that area of chemistry,” MacNeil says. “I never thought it would be possible for me to work in that lab at Princeton.”

Because MacNeil received the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, he was able to secure the prestigious Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. He contacted Chirik, who was enthusiastic about MacNeil spending the fall semester in his lab.

“It was a bit surreal because you hear about all the amazing research that this group does and then, all of a sudden, you’re dropped in and you’re a part of the group and conversing with people that you’ve admired,” he says. “Everybody at Princeton is at the top of their game and that was a world I wanted to immerse myself in.”

MacNeil focused on doing the best he possibly could with the time he was given. The first month brought a lot of trying and failing. He persevered and often found himself working away in the lab near midnight with a smile on his face because there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

“I think I made a positive impact on the group and, in the four months I was there, I was able to complete a project and actually publish a paper in Angewandte Chemie,” he says. “I’m going back — I was offered a post-doctoral position at Princeton after I conclude my studies here. My time there was highly productive and Paul Chirik and I got along really well. The way he thinks about science is something that fits well with my goals.”

“Connor has really matured as a scientist, so when the opportunity came along to work with Prof. Chirik at Princeton I knew he was well prepared for the challenge,” says Hayes. “Thus, it was not a surprise that he was an outstanding ambassador for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and that he flourished in the high-pressure environment. His future is incredibly bright and I look forward to following his career and continuing to bounce ideas back and forth.”

MacNeil is currently working on writing his PhD thesis and plans to finish it this summer. He says he hopes to spend time with family in New Brunswick before moving to Princeton at the end of the summer, depending on border restrictions and public health directives.

“I definitely miss being in the lab and I miss seeing people working on science,” he says. “If there’s one thing I learned during this time alone is that science is collaborative in nature.”

U of L Board of Governors appoints five research chairs

caroline.zentner — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 20:01:34 +0000

Five new appointments as Board of Governors Research Chairs highlight the exceptional scholarly work of a diverse cadre of professors at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

“I am pleased to announce these appointments as Board of Governors Research Chairs,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, vice-president (research). “Each one of these individuals is recognized as an outstanding scholar who has made an impact on his or her field of study. These high-profile academic appointments continue to play a vital role in helping us enhance our reputation and status amongst Canada’s most influential research institutions.”

Dr. Paul Hayes, a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, has been appointed to a five-year term as a Tier I Board of Governors Research Chair in Organometallic Chemistry. He is a leader in the field of synthetic inorganic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis, particularly in the development of new catalysts that generate green materials and those that provide insight into industrially relevant processes.

Also appointed at the Tier I level is Dr. Kevin McGeough (BA ’96), a professor of archaeology. He will be the Research Chair in Archaeological Theory and Reception for a five-year term. His specialty is the archaeology, history and languages of the ancient Near East and the reception of the ancient Near East in contemporary culture.

Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden has been appointed a Tier I Board of Governors Research Chair in Biomolecular Design and Function. A professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Wieden is the founding director of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute, home to the largest group of primarily RNA-focused research labs in Western Canada. His lab conducts a wide range of research, from rational design of biological nano-machines and over designing and reprogramming of genetic circuits to the development of novel antibiotics.

Dr. Fangfang Li, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, has received a four-year Tier II appointment as Research Chair in Child Language Acquisition. She specializes in first- and second-language acquisition, children’s speech and motor control development and examination of human speech using instruments.

Also appointed for a four-year term at the Tier II level is Dr. Aaron Taylor, an associate professor in the Department of New Media. He will be the Board of Governors Research Chair in Film and New Media. His research projects investigate the psychology of screen acting, comics and the superhero film and the cult reception of sentimental movies.

All terms begin on July 1, 2019.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge awarded record $3.9 million in NSERC funding

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 22:04:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was awarded a record $3.9 million of funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) this year, with U of L researchers earning support for projects in neuroscience, biological sciences, psychology, chemistry & biochemistry, physics & astronomy, geography and mathematics & computer science.

This unprecedented level of support was announced earlier today by Canada’s Minister of State (Science and Technology), the Honourable Ed Holder, at a national funding announcement in Oshawa, Ont.

Dr. Robert McDonald’s base grant of $355,000 (over five years) is the largest NSERC grant awarded to the U of L this year.

“This latest round of NSERC funding clearly demonstrates the outstanding research our faculty and students are undertaking,” says Interim Vice-President (Research) Dr. Lesley Brown. “That our research portfolio continues to grow as it does is testament to the quality of the work being done and also speaks to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ striking the right balance as a comprehensive teaching and research institution.”

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers receiving NSERC Discovery Grant funding include: Dr. Gerlinde Metz (neuroscience); Dr. Aaron Gruber (neuroscience); Dr. Alice Hontela (biological sciences); Dr. Jean-Baptiste Leca (psychology); Dr. David Logue (psychology); Dr. Artur Luczak (neuroscience); Dr. Robert McDonald (neuroscience); Dr. Majid Mohajerani (neuroscience); Dr. Gregory Pyle (biological sciences); Dr. Masami Tatsuno (neuroscience); Dr. Paul Vasey (psychology); Dr. Robert Laird (biological sciences); Dr. René Boeré (chemistry & biochemistry); Dr. Paul Hayes (chemistry & biochemistry); Dr. Locke Spencer (physics & astronomy); Dr. Mark Walton (physics & astronomy); Dr. Christopher Hopkinson (geography); Dr. Robert Benkoczi (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Shahadat Hossain (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Habiba Kadiri (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Nathan Ng (mathematics & computer science).

In addition, Drs. John Zhang and Olga Kovalchuk were each awarded NSERC Discovery Development Grants.

Luczak and McDonald will also both receive an additional $120,000 in funds through the Discovery Accelerator Supplements program (over a three-year period), while McDonald’s base grant of $355,000 (over five years) is the largest NSERC grant awarded to the U of L this year. He is studying neural circuits and mechanisms of context-specific conditioned inhibition.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s doctoral students were extremely successful in the NSERC Doctoral Scholarship competitions, led by Katie Wilson (chemistry & biochemistry), who was named a Canada Vanier Scholar, demonstrating leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies. Jason Flindall (neuroscience) was awarded a Canadian Doctoral Scholarship, while Kayla Stone (neuroscience), Allonna Harker (neuroscience) and Stefan Lenz (chemistry & biochemistry) were awarded NSERC Postgraduate Doctoral Scholarships. Additionally, five masters students were awarded the NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship, including: Justin Lee (neuroscience), Serena Shandik (neuroscience), Matthew Robbins (physics & astronomy), Rhys Hakstol (chemistry & biochemistry) and Douglas Turnbull (chemistry & biochemistry).

“We are pleased with the amount of money invested in our researchers and what this could yield in terms of the results they will achieve and the benefits their work will bring to society,” adds Brown. “Our continuing success with the federal research funding agencies is testament to our researchers’ ability to compete on the national stage.”

NSERC grants aim to develop, attract and retain the world’s most talented researchers at Canadian universities who are working in a multitude of scientific and engineering disciplines.

Research dollars continue to flow

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:15:12 +0000

The business of research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge keeps growing and, like any other business, needs people and resources to keep the wheels of innovation turning.
Recent rankings which place the U of L's research efforts at the top and near to the top of influential listings of Canadian research universities, show and tell the U of L's research achievements based on numbers.

But there are more than numbers to this success – there are people who, through very diverse projects, demonstrate the unique ways in which the U of L is, as described by the editors at Maclean's magazine, "…Alberta's rising research star."

Dr. Paul Hayes is part of a team of U of L researchers to receive significant funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Recent funding announcements by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chair program have brought to the U of L new or renewed funding in excess of $2.4 million. Many of the funding awards are eligible for matching funds, or can be used to lever additional resources which further advance the U of L's research agenda. As more research funding is confirmed, other U of L researchers will be profiled.

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk, a researcher at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience who studies the development of avian brains, will use his Canada Foundation for Innovation funding to purchase a sophisticated slide scanner, microscope and related equipment which will allow his research team to create what are known as virtual slides. ($131,000)

From these virtual slides, he will be able to perform a myriad of measurements and analyses to better understand how the brain is organized and how brain damage arising from exposure to environmental toxins occurs in various bird species. In addition to these direct research uses, Iwaniuk has amassed the largest collection of bird brains in the world, which at present includes over 500 specimens representing more than 150 different species from North America, Australia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

One of his aims over the next several years will be to digitize this entire brain collection and make it available to researchers, educators and students worldwide. By creating a virtual museum within which anyone will be able to look at virtual slides and photos of entire brains, researchers from around the world can more readily collaborate and provide information to educators and the general public on how the brain has evolved among birds.

Dr. Louise Barrett

Dr. Louise Barrett studies the social processes and behaviour of people and primates. Her research will determine how social functioning can be improved by examining connections between social environment and the development of interpersonal skills. Barrett, a Canada Research Chair in Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour, is aiming to discover how the actions of others help shape our social worlds – and therefore our psychology. She's doing so by studying the social behaviour and cognition of both humans and our primate cousins in Canada and South Africa. ($1.4 million/seven years)

Primates are known for their intense sociability, which is thought to have shaped the ways in which we think about the world. Research in this field has usually considered that social information is processed solely inside the head. However, Barrett is emphasizing how physical or bodily engagement with the world – and with other individuals – can and should be recognized as part of our psychology. In that respect, cognitive processes can be considered as both visible and social, and not just invisible and private.
In addition, Barrett is studying how various types of 'social niches' help shape psychology from infancy to adulthood, and how language and culture influence generate differences between humans and primates.

By challenging long-held beliefs about the way primates think and socialize, Barrett's work is paving the way for new forms of psychology that could improve people's social experiences by increasing the understanding of the social skills they need in a complex society.

Dr. Stacey Wetmore

Dr. Stacey Wetmore, Canada Research Chair in Computational Chemistry was recently renewed as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair ($500,000/five years).

Wetmore uses computers to explore the reactions between DNA and various harmful chemicals in order to understand how DNA gets damaged. And in order to clarify how nature affects repairs, she studies how enzymes in our body repair our DNA by chemically removing the damaged sections of DNA.

Computers help Wetmore examine molecules that are difficult or impossible to learn about using traditional experiments. For example, it is difficult to study some molecules experimentally because they live for such a short time; using computers, however, speeds up the process so she can investigate their properties thoroughly.

Computer simulations are the tool of choice that not only allow Wetmore to study molecules quickly and cheaply but also allow her to study chemically modified DNA pieces that have applications as drugs or tools for biotechnology.

Drs. Paul Hazendonk, Michael Gerken and Paul Hayes

The trio of chemistry researchers has received substantial funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation ($400,000) to purchase a significantly more powerful NMR system, which will allow the researchers – who envision collaboration with researchers working on wide-ranging projects from the oil and gas, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries – to more accurately measure the structure of various solid and liquid compounds down to the atomic level of accuracy.

Their research – and the current NMR facility, which is also in the process of receiving a significant upgrade – is already attracting worldwide attention. With the addition of the new equipment, they expect to expand their programs, ability to work with graduate and undergraduate students, and enhance their relationships with a wide variety of collaborators. The facility is expected to take about a year to fully commission.

This story first appeared in the November 2012 issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Cream of the crop

trevor.kenney — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:55:41 +0000

When U of L chemistry researcher Dr. Paul Hayes sees a cornfield, he looks much deeper than the rows, the stalks or even the kernels.

He envisions matter at the molecular level and sees corn as a source for biodegradable material, such as a plastic drinking cup, rather than just a common vegetable.

In fact, Hayes looks at many common materials and thinks up ways to improve them at the molecular level by making them more useful, energy efficient and, like biodegradable corn-based drinking cups, more environmentally friendly.

His award-winning research focuses on synthetic chemistry, or the making of molecules. More specifically, he prepares new molecules – called catalysts – that are able to convert one chemical into another without themselves being consumed or altered.

Chemistry researcher Dr. Paul Hayes takes his lab to the cornfield.

One of his recent projects focuses on the challenge of making new materials that are both biodegradable and biocompatible.

"We prepare catalysts that convert a chemical found in corn or beets into a plastic-like material called polylactide," explains Hayes. "Polylactide can be made into a wide variety of manufactured goods, such as drinking cups or other biodegradable products. We can either shorten or extend the biodegradable lifespan of the product based on how we fine-tune the molecular structure of the polylactide."

The ability to manipulate these characteristics opens up possibilities for many new and useful materials in the future.

For example, Hayes explains packaging materials can have readily adjusted biodegradation rates to accommodate the need for various shelf lives of different items, providing an alternative "green" plastic for food packaging.

Hayes' research also has medical applications like absorbable sutures, matrices for the slow release of pharmaceuticals and polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Hayes, who has been at the U of L for four years, continues to develop his thriving independent research program, which has produced numerous publications in top-tier journals and received more than $1.4 million in funding from provincial and national agencies, such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada School of Energy and Environment and GreenCentre Canada.

As a result of these successes the young researcher has earned province-wide accolades, including the prestigious Alberta Ingenuity New Faculty Award. Most recently, Hayes accepted a Distinguished Academic Early Career Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations for his ongoing accomplishments and future research potential.

It's a promising future for all Albertans, really, thanks to leading ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ like Hayes, who just happens to be tackling world issues at the molecular level.

For a look at the full issue of SAM in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Finding the right equation

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:21:04 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher Dr. Paul Hayes recruits students to work in his lab the way a mentor researcher first found him: by looking, listening and asking.

The chemistry equivalent of a hockey scout, Hayes says he looks for students with promise in different areas, and invites them to meet with him to talk about their research or academic progress and future plans.

This idea is not new to Hayes, who was on the road to dentistry when a researcher spoke with him.

"At Mount Allison ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, I was approached by one of my professors, Dr. Steve Westcott, who told me he'd been following my progress, and wanted me to work in his lab," recalls Hayes.

The flattering offer led to a steady job and a dramatic change in direction for Hayes, who turned his attention toward inorganic chemistry. After graduation he moved to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary for his doctoral degree and then to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California, Berkeley for a postdoctoral appointment – environments completely different from his tiny hometown of Shubenacadie, N.S.

Hayes, who has been at the U of L for four years, continues to develop his thriving independent research program which aims, among other things, to make catalysts that convert a chemical found in corn and beets into a biodegradable, environmentally friendly 'plastic-like' material called polylactide.

Thus far he has been extremely successful, having attracted more than $1.4M in funding from provincial and national agencies and published numerous articles in top tier journals. In addition, the young researcher has earned province-wide accolades, including the prestigious Alberta Ingenuity New Faculty Award.

Most recently, Hayes accepted a Distinguished Academic Early Career Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations for his ongoing accomplishments and future research potential.

"I was thrilled to receive the award, since it comes from my peers and colleagues, and it will affect my group and research in a positive way," says Hayes.
"People like to be part of a winning team, and I am always looking for the right people. Maybe there's another wannabe dentist out there who doesn't yet know how exciting it can be to make new molecules.

For more on Dr. Paul Hayes' research, check out the next issue of SAM magazine.

Hayes earns CAFA honour

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:59:55 +0000

The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA), the provincial organization representing academic staff associations at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, recently announced the recipients of the CAFA Distinguished Academic Awards for 2010.

Among the recipients is Dr. Paul Hayes an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who will receive the 2010 CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award at an event in mid-September.

The CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award recognizes academic staff members who, at an early stage of their careers, through their research and/or other scholarly, creative or professional activities, have made an outstanding contribution to the wider community beyond the university.

Hayes is being recognized for, among other projects, his research to find a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable 'green' alternative to conventional plastics.

Building his research programme at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge from scratch, Hayes has been able to attract top-quality students and postdoctoral fellows to his lab. As principal investigator, he has secured multi-year external funding, including grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Alberta Ingenuity, NSERC, the Canada School of Energy and Environment, and GreenCentre Canada.

Hayes' research is receiving wide attention in the scientific community, and already has resulted in an impressive string of high-profile publications in leading peer-reviewed chemistry journals, in addition to numerous invited presentations at scholarly conferences across Canada and abroad.

His research in the field of organometallic chemistry, focusing on fundamental questions in catalysis and polymer science, addresses the need to develop new technologies for chemical conversions, which are crucial to drug development, materials synthesis, and the production of value-added chemicals.

Specifically, his work on polylactide polymerization catalysis advances our understanding of the synthesis of 'green' polymers, that is, biodegradable polymers that can be prepared from inexpensive renewable sources, such as corn.

This research holds the key to the challenge of producing viable alternatives to many conventional materials, such as 'green' plastic for food packaging. Lactone polymers also have many possible medical applications, for example in absorbable sutures, matrices for the slow release of pharmaceuticals, and polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Hayes earns CAFA honour

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Hayes is being recognized for, among other projects, his research to find a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable 'green' alternative to conventional plastics.

UNews - Paul Hayes

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

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