U of T receives $17.6 million from federal government for research chairs program
The Honourable Ed Holder, minister of state (science and technology), visited the University of Toronto Mississauga with Bob Dechert, MP (Mississauga-Erindale) and parliamentary secretary for the Minister of Justice on April 9, where he announced 150 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) at 36 post-secondary institutions across the country.
The $139 million investment, with an additional $7.6 million in infrastructure support provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, will help promote research and development and support top-tier talent at Canadian post-secondary institutions.
“Through our government’s updated science, technology and innovation strategy,” said Holder, “we are making the record investments necessary to push the boundaries of knowledge, create jobs and opportunities, and improve the quality of life of Canadians.” The CRC program will help create “long-term social and economic benefits while training the next generation of students and researchers in Canada.”
The University of Toronto will receive $17.6 million for 19 Canada Research Chairs, including Dr. Leonardo Salmena, the new Canada Research Chair in Signal Transduction and Gene Regulation in Cancer at the University of Toronto. Salmena is researching the molecular basis of acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer originating in bone marrow. Through his role as a chairholder, he hopes his research can be used to develop new strategies for preventing and treating this form of cancer.
“The Canada Research Chairs program will allow my team to build an infrastructure to conduct excellent science,” Salmena said. “More importantly, it will allow me to have a hand in training Canada’s future researchers.”
Professor Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president of research and innovation, noted U of T has the largest contingent (a total of 255) of CRCs in the country. “We are extremely proud of this incredible group of scholars and scientists. In so many ways, they are helping to strengthen Canada’s future.
Professor Deep Saini, vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga, added there are five CRC chairholders at UTM in fields ranging from language acquisition in children, philosophy of perception, the genetics of social behaviour, and the protein interactions involved in cancer. “Not only does the Canada Research Chairs program assist these scientists with their groundbreaking discoveries, it helps ensure that Canada attracts and retains outstanding researchers from around the world.”
The CRC program was created in 2000. There are nearly 1,700 CRC chairholders working in natural sciences and engineering, health, and social sciences and humanities, at more than 70 post-secondary institutions across the country. Approximately 650 of these chairs are in Ontario.