Five leading researchers at Queen’s University have earned $1.3 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

“This CFI funding, which supports the acquisition or development of new infrastructure, provides the resources to sustain world-class research and the tools to pave the way for new and innovative initiatives in key areas of research at Queen’s,” says Steven Liss, Vice-Principal (Research). “Our success in this recent competition is important recognition of the leadership of our researchers in their respective fields.”

The five Queen’s researchers funded in this recent competition are:

Douglas Cook (Neurosurgery, $480,000) – The funding will allow the Queen’s Translational Stroke Research Program to create new stroke models, which will benefit Canadians by providing new treatments for stroke and improve stroke outcomes in society.

Carlos Escobedo (Chemical Engineering, $125,000) – Dr. Escobedo will use the funding to launch a research program unique in Canada focusing on optofluidics-based sensing technology. “This investment will provide the infrastructure required to design, simulate, test and analyze new technological developments,” he says.

Ryan Mulligan (Civil Engineering, $150,000) – The funding will enable Dr. Mulligan to develop a coastal engineering research group with equipment to conduct world-class research at Queen’s. “My research aims to understand naturally occurring coastal processes including wave current sediment interactions and to make predictions to help minimize impacts of human activities in coastal areas,” he says.

Ron Spronk (Art History, $154,224) – Dr. Spronk will use this funding, and funding from two other sources, to purchase a specially equipped van and state-of-the-art instruments to found the Queen’s University’s Mobile Laboratory for Technical Art History. “Instead of trying to transport priceless and fragile artwork to research facilities for further study, we can bring the mobile laboratory right to the site to undertake the research,” says Dr. Spronk.

Alex Wright (Physics, $400,000) – The funding will provide purification infrastructure for SNO+, a neutrino experiment located at SNOLAB. “This infrastructure is critical to our ability to use tellurium, a rare metal, in SNO+,” says Dr. Wright. “The tellurium will improve the capability of the experiment as we seek to determine whether or not neutrinos are their own anti-particles, and hence to better understand the role neutrinos played in the evolution of the universe.” 

The funding is designed to help universities attract and retain the country’s best researchers. For more information on the John R. Evans Leaders Fund visit the website.