BACKGROUNDER
Today, Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala announced that 25 Queen’s University and two
Royal Military College of Canada researchers in a wide range of disciplines have received funding from
the Ontario government totalling more than $16 million.
Early Researcher Awards ($140,000 each) provide funding to new researchers to build a research team.
The successful researchers at Queen’s are:
Dominik Barz (Chemical Engineering) – Dr. Barz is working to develop a novel type of rechargeable
battery that could be used for portable medical diagnostic systems or provide energy to power electric
cars.
Monica Castelhano (Psychology) – Dr. Castelhano is researching how people’s visual and cognitive
processing of the environment changes with increased familiarity and how familiarity may act as a
mitigating factor in cognitive decline as they age.
Linda Booji (Psychology) – Studies have shown that early adverse environmental exposures increase risk
for psychopathology. Dr. Booji’s research will investigate the brain and molecular mechanisms that may
account for this relationship.
Stefanie von Hlatky (Political Studies) – Dr. von Hlatky’s research studies the interaction between the
women and men who serve on military bases in Ontario and military-to-civilian transitions in the
province.
Alexander Wright (Physics) – Working at SNOLAB, Dr. Wright is attempting to determine whether or not
neutrinos are their own anti-particles by searching for a rare process called neutrinoless double beta
decay.
Research Infrastructure Awards provide research institutions with funding to help support
infrastructure needs, such as modern facilities and equipment.
The recipients of the Ontario Research Fund – Large Infrastructure Awards are:
Mark Chen (Physics) is upgrading the capabilities for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and SNO+
used to detect neutrinos, $1,854,263.
Stephen Archer (School of Medicine) and his team are working to ensure a better quality of life for lung
cancer patients, $3,830,497.
Cathleen Crudden (Chemistry) and her team have developed organic coatings for various surfaces that
repel water and oil-based contaminants, $3,529,408.
Ian McWalter (CMC Microsystems at Innovation Park) is working to advance the design, development
and application of microsystems and nanotechnologies, $3,302,873.
The recipients of the Ontario Research Fund – Small Infrastructure Awards are:
Anne Croy (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) - Immune cell contributions to endometrial health and
disease, $100,000
Praveen Jain (Electrical Engineering) - Engineering a smart microgrid test platform, $400,000
Frances Bonier (Biology) - Linking current and future environment, physiology, behaviour, and life
history in birds, $80,000
Tucker Carrington (Chemistry) - Parallel computer for the development of new algorithms in quantum
mechanics, $50,000
Mark Daymond (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) - Preparation of transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) foils from ion irradiated samples, $100,000
Derek Berg (Education) - Merging mathematical cognition and instructional intervention, $86,000
Stephen Archer (School of Medicine) - Super resolution optical imaging of mitochondrial dynamics in
human diseases, $400,000
Gilles Gerbier (Physics) - Search for GeV dark matter, $800,000
John Smol (Biology) - Long-term environmental change facility, $85,000
Alan Giacomin (Chemical Engineering) - Experimental techniques to determine the rheological
properties of polymeric liquids, $200,000
Jean-Michel Nunzi (Chemistry) - Exploration of a rectifying antenna solar cell technology, $50,000
David Rival (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) - A state-of-the-art optical towing tank for the 21st
century, $175,000
Neil Renwick (Pathology and Molecular Medicine) - Improved neuroendocrine tumor management
through RNA-based diagnostics, $200,000
Avena Ross (Chemistry) - Connecting genes to molecules in marine proteobacteria to discover new
compounds and biosynthetic pathways, $150,000
Tomas Babak (Biology) - Nextgen sequencing laboratory for methods development and deciphering
genomic and epigenetic causes of complex disease, $150,000
Ahmad Ghahremaninezhad (Mining) - Development of environmentally responsible hydrometallurgical
processes, $125,000
ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE
Valérie Langlois - CRC Tier II in Ecotoxicogenomics and Endocrine Disruption, $208,979
Cecile Malardier-Jugroot - CRC Tier II in Self-Assembly and Nanomaterials, $156,200
For information on any of these researchers contact Anne Craig, 613-533-2877, anne.craig@queensu.ca.