EDMONTON — Three world-renowned researchers are coming to the University of Alberta to set up ambitious research programs with global impact.
Today, the Government of Canada announced the latest Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) recipients, along with funding to support their work. The prestigious awards are often framed as a precursor to a future Nobel Prize. Notably, virologist Michael Houghton shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 2020 after coming to the U of A as a CERC in 2010.
With three new chairs, the U of A now has seven current or past Canada Excellence Research Chairs.
Kalyan Das will further enhance the U of A’s leadership in pandemic preparedness as the newly named Canada Excellence Research Chair in Antiviral Drug Design. Das helped develop two drugs against HIV. He also built one of the world’s top cryogenic electron microscope (cryo-EM) facilities at the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium. The technology aided the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines — and a new state-of-the-art cryo-EM facility is under construction at the U of A. Das will join the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. More information on Das’ research can be found here.
Once at the U of A, Shinichi Nakagawa, the new Canada Excellence Research Chair in Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution, will use artificial intelligence to establish a first-of-its-kind project to weed out flawed studies. Scientists have become increasingly aware that the results of many studies can’t be reproduced, meaning they’re likely flawed. Nakagawa is a global leader in meta-science — or the science of science — and at the U of A he will lead a large-scale project enabling researchers to identify trustworthy evidence and rebuild research where evidence has been flawed or weak. He will join the Faculty of Science. More information on Nakagawa’s research can be found here.
Rebecca Hull-Meichle comes to the U of A with a focus on a critical underlying defect in all types of diabetes. As Canada Excellence Research Chair in the Islet Microenvironment, Hull-Meichle will establish a world-leading research program to better understand pancreatic islet cells. Adequate insulin production in the body crucially relies on interactions between the different kinds of cells within the islet and the environment in which they exist. Hull-Meichle’s work will focus on understanding those interactions, how they contribute to diabetes and how they could be leveraged to develop improved approaches for treatment and prevention. Hull-Meichle will be based in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and the Alberta Diabetes Institute. More information on Hull-Meichle’s research can be found here.
To speak with a U of A representative or for more information, please contact: Sarah Vernon | University of Alberta communications associate | svernon@ualberta.ca