Office of the Vice-President Research
June 2014 Update
Initiatives
Tech Venture Challenge Winners Announced
The Industry Liaison Office announced the winners
of its 3rd annual Tech Venture Challenge on May
22nd. The competition is open to all entrepreneurial
members of the U of S community who want to
turn their technology idea into a business. This
year’s champion was Innocorps Research! , a team
comprised of U of S alumni, who will receive a
$50,000 prize from the ILO, in addition to office
space and professional services provided by
partners. For more information, please visit: http://
goo.gl/qNf1C6.
Improving Health Services for Aboriginal
Populations
The AVPR-H office recently completed a quality
improvement project on length of stay and delay
in discharge for Aboriginal individuals admitted
to St. Paul’s Hospital between February 2012 and
December 2013. The project was completed with
partners at the First Nations and Métis Health
Service, and the findings will begin to assist the
Saskatoon Health Region in better serving its
Aboriginal population.
Partnerships
Chinese Delegations Visit the U of S
International Agreements Signed
Two Chinese delegations visited the U of S in May:
The U of S signed agreements with two international
partners:
A delegation from Northwest Agriculture and
Forestry University, including the Vice-President
of Research and the Vice-Director of the Institute of
Water Saving Agriculture, visited from May 1st to 3rd.
Dr. Jin Qiu, President of the Chinese Association
of Foreign Relations History and Vice-President
of Xi’an Jiaotong University, visited on May
8th. He was granted an adjunct professorship by
the Department of Sociology and delivered a
presentation on the poetry form Zhuzhici at the
Confucius Institute.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed
on May 2nd with the Northwest Agriculture &
Forestry University in China.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed
on April 23rd with the National Institute of Food
Technology Entrepreneurship and Management
(NIFTEM) in India.
Funding Successes
OVPR Internal Funding Awarded
Twenty-two applicants were awarded a total of
$42,220 from the OVPR’s Publications Fund in
May. The funding helps researchers in defraying the
costs of publishing books and articles. Successful
applications included support for the College of
Medicine’s Canadian Medical Education Journal and
the College of Education’s Journal of Educational
Administration and Foundations.
Nine applicants were awarded a total of $13,170
from the OVPR’s Visiting Lecturers Fund in May.
The funding assists with covering travel expenses
and honorarium costs for visiting lecturers.
OVPR June 2014 Update
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Office of the Vice-President Research
U of S Stars in Global Health
Three U of S researchers were awarded $112,000
each from Grand Challenges Canada’s Stars in
Global Health program. For more information visit:
http://goo.gl/5BNgqt. The successful applicants
were:
Anh Dinh (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
with partners in Vietnam for the project
“Developing a Low Cost Device for Breast Cancer
Detection in Vietnam using Ultrawideband
Technology.”
Bert Vandenberg (Plant Sciences) with partners
in Bangladesh for the project “Fortifying Lentil and
Chickpea Dhal to Alleviate Fe Deficiency in South
Asia.”
Lorna Butler (Nursing) with partners in the
Philippines and Russia for the project “Pathways to
Rural/Remote Health Capacity: Moving Technology
from Education to Practice.”
Physical Activity Grant
Louise Humbert (Kinesiology) was awarded a
Community Initiatives Fund Physical Activity
Grant worth $80,000 for the project “Understanding
the Knowledge and Actions of Saskatchewan Parents:
An Important Piece of the Physical Literacy Puzzle.”
Seven Collaborative Projects Funded
Seven U of S projects were recently awarded NSERC
Collaborative Research and Development (CRD)
Grants, bringing approximately $1.8 million to the
U of S.
Philip McLoughlin and co-investigator Jill
Johnstone (Biology) were awarded $1,225,000
for the project “Population Dynamics and Critical
Habitat of Woodland Caribou in the Boreal Shield
of Saskatchewan” with matching industry
support from AREVA Resources Canada Inc.,
Cameco Corporation, Rio Tinto, SaskPower, and
Saskatchewan Mining Association.
June 2014 Update
Richard Evitts and co-investigator Aaron Phoenix
(Chemical Engineering) were awarded $92,857 for
the project “Biomass Torrefaction and Gasification
for Production of Electricity and Liquid Fuels” with
matching industry support from SaskPower and
Hitachi.
John McKinnon and co-investigators Herbert
Lardner and Gregory Penner (Animal and Poultry
Sciences) were awarded $118,700 for the project
“Strategically Blended High Fat Pellets for Pregnant
Beef Cows Derived from By-Product Feeds Using Flax
or Canola as a Fat Source” with matching industry
support from Western Grains Research Foundation
and West Central Pelleting Ltd.
Lynn Weber (Veterinary Biomedical Sciences) and
co-investigators Matthew Loewen (Veterinary
Biomedical Sciences), Tom Sctt and Murray
Drew (Animal and Poultry Science) were awarded
$312,000 for the project “Omnivores Versus
Carnivores: Can Higher Levels of Pulse Starch
be Tolerated in a Wider Range of Species than
Corn?” with matching industry support from
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Alliance Grains
and Horizon Manufacturing (Horizon Pet Foods
Inc.).
Yuanming Pan (Geological Sciences) was
awarded $50,000 for the project “Controls on Gold
Mineralization in High-Grade Metamorphic Rocks,
Borden, Chapleau, Ontario” with matching industry
support from Probe Mines.
Natacha Hogan and co-investigator Tom Scott
(Animal and Poultry Science) were awarded
$65,500 for the project “The Impact of Reducing
Mycotoxins in Poultry Feed on the Natural Defense
against Disease” with matching industry support
from Canadian Poultry Research Council and
Canadian Bio-Systems.
Sabine Banniza (Crop Development Centre) and
co-investigators Kirstin Bett (Plant Sciences)
and Albert Vandenberg (Crop Development
Centre) were awarded $403,685 for the project
“Towards Generating Multiple-Fungal Disease
Resistance in Lentil” with matching industry support
from Western Grains Research Foundation and
Saskatchewan Pulse Crop Development Board.
OVPR June 2014 Update
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