On April 28, Western named three new Canada Research Chairs in the fields of health care management, proteomics and sexual dysfunction.
Richard Ivey School of Business professor Greg Zaric, biochemist Shawn Li and cell biologist Lique Coolen were named to the positions.
“A Canada Research Chair is one of the most prestigious academic awards for a researcher in this country,” said Ted Hewitt, Western’s Vice-President of Research and International Relations. “Our chairs are recognized as leaders in their fields and collaborations, which span the globe, help to provide answers to some of the world’s most pressing scientific and social questions, while enhancing southwestern Ontario’s profile as a centre of research excellence.”
Zaric, CRC in Health Care Management Science, is developing new models to understand cost-effectiveness in health care.
Li, CRC in Functional Genomics and Cellular Proteomics, is exploring how disruptions in cellular protein networks cause disease.
Coolen, CRC in Neurobiology of Motivation and Reward, is examining brain activity resulting from sexual motivation and reward to understand sexual dysfunction.
—Matt Larkin
Western’s alumni boast nearly one quarter of Canada’s top 40 rising stars.
Nine former Western students made this year’s Top 40 Under 40 list published by The Globe and Mail last week. The list honours rising Canadian business and community leaders who have achieved significant success before the age of 40.
Western alumni on the 2006 Top 40 list include: Jordan Banks (BA 1990, Managing Director of e-Bay Canada); Brenda Banwell (MD 1991, Director of the Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She also runs a weekly paediatric neuromuscular disorders clinic); Paul Clark (BA 1989, Senior Vice-President for small business banking and merchant services for TD Canada Trust); James Dean (MBA 1995, President and CEO of DPoint Technologies); Neil Hetherington (BA 1995, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity Toronto); Patrick Luke (FRCSC 1998, Associate Professor at Western and Surgical Director of Renal Transplantation at London Health Sciences Centre); Scott McCrea (BA 1987, President of Armour Group Ltd. and President and CEO of Overland Realty Ltd., Halifax); Linda McCurdy (EMBA 2000, President of K-Bro Linen Systems Inc., Toronto); and Robert Palter (MBA 1995, Principal of McKinsey & Company’s Toronto Office).
—Ian Van Den Hurk
Western executives and London Hydro announced a partnership in research and student training last week.
London Hydro will commit $125,000 of funding over a five-year span to assist collaborative research, student training and performance of technical services. The agreement will also grant students and faculty in the Electric Power Engineering Program access to facilities where they can conduct research, tests and training.
The Faculty of Engineering and London Hydro have shared an unofficial partnership for several years. London Hydro sponsors the E.V. Buchanan scholarship, supports the fourth-year engineering design competition, and often hires students in the summer.
—Ian Van Den Hurk
Western’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry was recently awarded the first annual Rural Educators Award from the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada.
The award was given to Schulich’s Southwestern Ontario Education Network (SWOMEN), a program that offers Western’s undergraduate medical students a first-hand rural medicine experience. SWOMEN was created to encourage young physicians to explore career opportunities in rural practice.
The program was inspired by the Southwestern Ontario Rural and Regional Medicine’s pioneering work. SWOMEN credits its success to its various innovative programs, such as its MedQuest summer camp program for high school students.
SWOMEN received the award because it earned Canada’s largest per cent increase for students establishing rural practice after graduating. Rural Regional Assistant Dean Dr. Tom LaCroiz accepted the award in Winnipeg on April 22.
—Anna Coutts
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