York U. awarded five new Canada Research Chairs

Share

TORONTO, October 23, 2003 -- Five new Canada Research Chairs have been awarded to York University to advance the study of stem cells to develop therapies for incurable diseases; computer vision to aid the disabled; antimatter properties, environmentally sustainable cultures, and the link between personality, stress management and health.

Federal Industry Minister Allan Rock made the announcement today as part of the latest round of Chair recipients at universities across Canada. In addition, Rock announced the latest Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund awards – which include four of York’s new Chair holders.

"York University is redefining research," said York University President Lorna R. Marsden. "These appointments span the wide spectrum of our research areas and reflect the world-class calibre of research that distinguishes York University as a true innovator in education."

Canada research chairs pictured with Rick HansenGordon Flett is exploring the relationship between perfectionism, psychological disorders and health and well-being. John Tsotsos is developing robotic wheelchairs for the disabled that can be controlled by vision. Eric Hessels is working on a method to trap antiatoms in order to better understand the Big Bang theory. Catriona Sandilands is developing the first international research network in environmental cultural studies. And Sergey Krylov is examining techniques for tissue regeneration in damaged organs for many diseases that are currently considered incurable.

"Today's announcement is a milestone for the Canada Research Chairs Program," said Allan Rock, Minister of Industry. "There are now more than 1000 Chairholders across the country, including 26 at York University, who are working to make the quality of life on campus and beyond better for students, researchers and Canadians as a whole."

The federal government’s Canada Research Chairs program supports cutting-edge research at Canadian universities and is intended to help secure Canada’s competitive position in the 21st century. The Canada Foundation for Innovation provides infrastructure funding for the research.

York University offers a world-class, modern academic experience in Toronto, Canada's most international city. York is at the centre of innovation, with a thriving community of faculty, students, staff and alumni who challenge the ordinary and deliver the unexpected. York faculty members are internationally recognized for their pioneering research and leadership in teaching. York is the third largest university in Canada with over 47,000 students in 10 faculties, 21 research centres, and more than 170,000 alumni. York's groundbreaking approach to research is interdisciplinary and collaborative, cutting across traditional academic boundaries to bring fresh insights and solutions to real world challenges. Working together, we redefine the possible.

**Background on York’s new Chair holders and their research is noted below.

-30-

For more information or to arrange a media interview, please contact:

Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/115/03

Background on York University’s new Canada Research Chair holders

Gordon Flett
Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health

For Dr. Gordon Flett, personality is the key to many health problems stemming from stress and the inability to cope with stress. He believes that certain aspects of the personality trait of perfectionism can be particularly harmful as an extreme form of behaviour. Dr. Flett co-developed with Dr. Paul Hewitt, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, a model reconstruction of both the personal and interpersonal components of perfectionism. Subsequent research efforts based on this model have firmly established that perfectionism has personal and interpersonal components and is associated with various forms of maladjustment, including depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies. As the Canada Research Chair in Personality and Health, Dr. Flett is further exploring the relationship between perfectionism and psychological disorders, including eating disorders and postpartum depression. He is expanding his research to include the role of perfectionism in the treatment of and recovery from physical illnesses. He is also taking a close look at the role of perfectionists in contributing to stress and distress in their adolescent children, and the transmission of this personality trait from parent to child.

John Tsotsos
Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision (CFI Infrastructure Fund award recipient)

As the Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision, Dr. John Tsotsos is looking for ways to model human mechanisms of visual motion in machines. Integrating the fields of visual psychology, computer vision, robotics, and visual neuroscience, he is developing robotic wheelchairs for the disabled that can be controlled by vision. His research in active vision (computer vision systems equipped with cameras that move and attend to items of interest), motion recognition, and mobile robotics will benefit Canadian industry and the health sciences by advancing software and hardware design and application, as well as by developing better medical diagnostic tools and biomedical visual and motor devices for use by disabled children and adults.

Eric Hessels
Canada Research Chair in Atomic Physics (CFI
Infrastructure Fund award recipient)

The symmetries of nature suggest that matter and antimatter have similar properties. But scientists have long puzzled over why the world is not also made of antimatter, which only occurs naturally in cosmic ray collisions. Scientists believe the Big Bang should have created the same amount of matter and antimatter and, in theory, the two should have wiped each other out as matter and antimatter annihilate one another on impact and disappear. As Canada Research Chair in Atomic Physics, Dr. Hessels, along with his team at York University, is working with ATRAP (Antihydrogen Trap) at Harvard University on a method to trap the antiatoms long enough to conduct experiments. His work also involves measuring the energies and orbits of helium atoms to provide the most accurate measurement of the "fine structure constant," the fundamental constant of nature that determines the strength of the electric and magnetic forces between charged objects. This fundamental constant is not only relevant to magnets and electricity, but to how atoms, chemicals, and solid objects are held together.

Catriona Sandilands
Canada Research Chair in Sustainability and Culture (CFI
Infrastructure Fund award recipient)

Dr. Catriona Sandilands is at the forefront of the movement to build environmentally sustainable cultures, and culturally sophisticated understandings of sustainability, based on the values of democracy, justice, equity, and diversity. This movement requires an examination of human relationships with landscapes at the community level. An authority on ecological feminism, Dr. Sandilands is the author of The Good-Natured Feminist (University of Minnesota Press, 1999), the first book-length treatment of ecofeminism as a body of democratic theory. She is also a pioneer in examining the links between sexuality and environmental studies in the new interdisciplinary field of queer ecology. As the Canada Research Chair in Sustainability and Culture, Dr. Sandilands is focused on developing and promoting the integration of cultural and environmental studies as the next crucial step in ensuring a sustainable future for Canadians. She is building an awareness of sustainability from the ground up by writing about environment and culture at the community level. Her work will lead to the development of the first international research network in environmental cultural studies.

Sergey Krylov
Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry (CFI
Infrastructure Fund award recipient)

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s are characterized by the development of heterogeneous tissues in which cells are different from normal cells and from each other. To understand the molecular mechanisms that result in these diseases, scientists need to know the biological and chemical properties of such cells. Unfortunately, traditional methods have not been adequate to allow researchers to isolate and examine individual cells. Dr. Sergey Krylov, in collaboration with Dr. N.J. Dovichi, has addressed this shortcoming with the development of a new bioanalytical technique that can analyze the chemical content of a single cell -- a technique called chemical cytometry. As the Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry, Dr. Krylov is using this new research tool to study stem cells. He wants to learn how to control their division and differentiation. His work is expected to lead to techniques for tissue regeneration in damaged organs. His research aims to improve the quality of life and health of Canadians through the creation of new effective therapies for many currently incurable diseases.