Notable Research Funding 1999-00:

Some notable examples of grants received this year are:

Henry Janzen, physical education and recreation studies, received a three-year grant of $150,000 from Manitoba Education and Training to participate in a study on quality physical education and how it impacts the activity level of school age children at recess and after school.

James Teller, geological sciences, received a four-year NSERC grant for a total of $209,548 to core the West Hawk Lake crater in order to study the sedimentology, mineralogy, biology and isotopic composition of the sediments. When combined with radiocarbon and luminescence dating, his research will provide an understanding of the history of glaciation in Canada, provide a record of the ancestors of Lake Agassiz, and identify and characterize the climatic and environmental changes during each interglacial period.

Geoffrey Hicks, physiology and the Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, was awarded a three-year operating grant for $539,292 through the Medical Research Council of Canada’s (MRC) Genomics Research Program, for his project entitled "Development of an embryonic stem cell library of defi ned mutations." He is particularly interested in gene mutations that occur early in the development of certain cancers.

Merv Pritchard, plant science, received a three-year grant totalling $117,500 from the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council to support a late blight survey of Manitoba potatoes.

Annette Gupton, nursing, received a one-year $28,968 planning grant from the Canadian Tobacco Research Centre Initiative of the National Cancer Institute of Canada for an intervention study to reduce the rate of smoking relapse in postpartum women.

Susan Heald, women’s studies, received a one-year grant, totalling $46,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Valuing Literacy in Canada Strategic Joint Initiative Program, for her research on violence and learning.

Ursula Tuor, physiology and the NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics, is receiving $44,928 per year from MRC for the next three years to research stroke. Using precision equipment such as MRI, Tuor is trying to discover what happens just before and after a stroke to try and determine a therapy to stop or limit its devastating results.

Carla Taylor, foods and nutrition, was awarded a four-year grant for a total of $105,000 from NSERC to research nutritional immunology. Her work will signifi cantly contribute to the understanding of the molecular and cellular function of zinc nutrition, as well as helping to develop strategies to enhance immune function when zinc is compromised due to disease, nutritional defi ciency, or repeated bouts of infection in humans and animals.

Yoshi Iwasaki, physical education and recreation studies, received a three-year grant for $60,000 from SSHRC’s Strategic Research Development Initiative Program in support of a longitudinal project on stress, coping and health.

Lotfollah Shafai, electrical and computer engineering, received a three-year NSERC Strategic Grant for $337,800 for his project on advanced antennas for wireless and satellite communications, in partnership with Info Magnetics Technologies Corporation and Norsat.

Betty Havens, community health sciences, received a three-year grant from SSHRC for $357,000 in support of a research project on the determinants of both chronic good and ill health in a longitudinal aging population.

Susan Arntfield, food science, received an NSERC grant totalling $94,500 for her work in the area of utilizing plant proteins in food systems.

The National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) awarded Thomas Hack, nursing and clinical health psychology, a three-year grant totalling $200,601 for a project examining primary oncology treatment consultations with women who have breast cancer.

John O’Neil, community health sciences, received a three-year grant from SSHRC for $365,000 in support of his research on Aboriginal health and health policy.

Naranjan Dhalla, physiology and the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, received a five-year renewal of his MRC Group grant totalling $1,346,405 for their work in experimental cardiology.

John Gartner, pathology, received a one-year MRC equipment grant totalling $47,200 to purchase a state-of-the-art microplate reader. This piece of equipment will enable him to screen large numbers of biological samples to determine the presence or absence of the effect of a new treatment or if alterations to the sample have occurred.

The University of Manitoba received a research commitment of $500,000 from Searle Canada which will see Manitoba take a leading role in the study and treatment of arthritis. The project will be directed by Hani El-Gabalawy, internal medicine.

Kumar Sharma, physics and astronomy, will receive $600,000 over the next three years from NSERC to continue using the modified Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer, which is located at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. The device allows Sharma to carry out measurements of stable and unstable nuclei, to improve knowledge of the nuclear mass surface and provide precise data of relevance to tests of standard model and fundamental symmetries.