The U of A is adding three new chairs to its research ranks through one of the most prestigious and generous awards available globally.
On Nov. 16, the Government of Canada announced the appointment of Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) across the country, with three of these world-renowned researchers coming to the U of A . These appointments confirm the university’s position as a pillar of research excellence, both in Canada and globally.
Joining the U of A in 2024 will be:
- Kalyan Das – CERC in Antiviral Drug Design (Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, College of Health Sciences)
- Rebecca Hull-Meichle – CERC in the Islet Microenvironment (Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, College of Health Sciences)
- Shinichi Nakagawa – CERC in Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution (Faculty of Science, College of Natural & Applied Sciences)
These appointments augment the U of A’s expertise in priority research areas identified in both Shape and Forward with Purpose – Health and Well-Being, and Energy and Environment.
The U of A now has seven current or past Canada Excellence Research Chairs, including virologist Michael Houghton, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 after coming to the U of A as one of the inaugural chairs in 2010, and Graham Pearson, who was named a Fellow of the Royal Society (UK) earlier this year.
Launched in 2008, the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program awards world-renowned researchers and their teams up to $8 million over eight years to establish ambitious research programs at Canadian universities.
Meet the U of A’s New Canada Excellence Research Chairs
Kalyan Das
CERC in Antiviral Drug Design, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Kalyan Das is a world-leading researcher in structural biology, and will further enhance the U of A’s leadership in pandemic preparedness. Das will also become a member of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology and Striving for Pandemic Preparedness – The Alberta Research Consortium, and his research will focus on the replication machinery in viral pathogens that have high epidemic potential, such as coronaviruses, influenza and enteroviruses.
Rebecca Hull-Meichle
CERC in the Islet Microenvironment, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Rebecca Hull-Meichle is a renowned expert in islet cell biology and diabetes research who will lead in-depth work exploring the role of blood vessels in the pancreas and their effect on islet cell function and survival. She will also study why many people with cystic fibrosis — a disease that affects the lungs and several other organs in the body — also have very high rates of diabetes.
Learn more about Rebecca Hull-Meichle
Shinichi Nakagawa
CERC in Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Science
Shinichi Nakagawa is leveraging his world-renowned expertise in meta-science to establish the first-ever systematic, large-scale meta-science project in ecology and evolution by building diverse and global collaboration networks and applying metascience — sometimes called the science of science — to mountains of scientific data, using artificial intelligence and statistical analysis to weed out flawed research.