Three new Canada Research Chairs

The federal government yesterday announced appointment of three new Canada Research Chairs at UW, all in the Faculty of Arts, as well as renewing its funding for two of UW's existing CRCs. The renewals go to Jean Duhamel and Holger Kleinke, both members of the department of chemistry, who received their chairs in 2001.

UW was awarded a total of $3.6 million for the five chairs, which allow faculty members to focus on research and on training the next generation of scientists. The federal funding includes one-time payments for associated infrastructure — such as laboratories, computers and equipment — from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

"These new appointments bring the total number of Canada Research Chairs established at Waterloo to 48," said Alan George, UW's interim vice-president (university research). "UW will continue to attract leading researchers, initiating new directions for scholarship that will benefit the entire nation."

One new chair goes to Wendy Mitchinson, professor of history, who will hold a Canada Research Chair in Gender and Medical History, funded at $200,000 annually for seven years.

Mitchinson's work launches the first historical study of obesity in Canada, exploring the perception, definition and treatment of obesity from the 1920s to the 1980s. The Conference Board of Canada reports that Canadian men are the third fattest among their peers in developed nations while Canadian women are not doing much better. Mitchinson seeks to assess today's therapeutic treatment methods, as well as understand why and how the issue of weight became a focus of health, attractiveness and happiness.

A second chair goes to David Moscovitch, professor of psychology, who will hold a Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Research, funded at $100,000 annually for five years. CFI associated infrastructure funding totals $91,603.

Moscovitch's research focuses broadly on adult anxiety, with an emphasis on investigating the nature and treatment of shyness, social anxiety and social phobia. "Social phobia is surprisingly common," he said, adding that the disorder alone affects upwards of 750,000 Canadians.

By combining basic lab experiments with controlled clinical trials, his research aims to fathom the factors underlying the development and persistence of anxiety disorders. As well, he explores the psychological treatment mechanisms responsible for effective reduction of symptoms. His research seeks to determine the ways in which psychological treatments can be improved to suit characteristics of individual patients and thereby maximize public health benefits. His work on developing effective treatments for people affected by mental illness will play a key role in UW's Centre for Mental Health Research.

The third new chair goes to Chris Eliasmith, professor of philosophy and systems design engineering, who will hold a Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience, funded at $100,000 annually for five years. CFI associated infrastructure funding is $151,358 in total.

Eliasmith's research focuses on developing a fundamental, mathematical theory for describing brain function. He will extend that theory as well as build large-scale computational models for two practical applications: clinical interventions for hemineglect and deep-brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.

Hemineglect, which usually results from severe trauma in the right parietal areas of the brain, has recently been shown to be partially alleviated after adapting to prismatic glasses. Parkinson's disease, which affects more than 1.1 million people in North America, has recently been demonstrated to be alleviated by deep-brain stimulation after the failure of other methods of treatment. "In both cases, the underlying neural mechanisms are poorly understood and if they are better characterized, more effective treatments can be developed," Eliasmith said.

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Chemistry staff member is mourned

A memorial service will be held Monday for Nicholas J. Taylor (left) of UW's department of chemistry, who died suddenly on November 23. He was 61.

"Nick Taylor first came to the University of Waterloo in 1973 as a post-doctoral fellow for Professor Arthur J. Carty," recalls the department chair, Terry McMahon. "He later held appointments as Research Associate, Lecturer and Research Assistant Professor before finally taking up his position as X–ray Service Manager in 1981.

"He provided invaluable service to the research of several generations of faculty, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows through his meticulous efforts in elucidating the precise details of the structure of molecules using X-ray crystallographic techniques."

The official obituary notes that Taylor "had a passion for gardening and the environment. Plants that he grew are now transplanted throughout the campus."

The memorial service is scheduled for 12:00 noon Monday at the Erb and Good Funeral Home, 171 King Street South. A reception will follow in the Davis Centre corporate lounge.

Taylor is survived by two brothers. Memorial donations to Habitat for Humanity or Canadian Feed the Children are suggested.

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Notes on the first day of exams

A million-plus dollars every day adds up to a lot of electrons zipping around in the Oracle Financial system that handles UW's finances. Maybe that's why it's going to be necessary to take the system out of operation for as long as two weeks, starting in early February, for an upgrade. "During the down time, no purchase orders, payments or internal accounting transactions will be processed," warns a memo from Jane Manson, director of finance, and Steve Cook, manager of procurement and contract services. "Between now and February, normal service levels may be affected, so we ask that you be patient and understanding." Their advice: get payment requests in as early as possible (and by December 15 if they need to be processed before the Christmas break).

There will be one more flu shot clinic this season, says Ruth Kropf of UW's health services. "We had to work out details with Public Health due to a change in funding source," she says, but details are now set: shots will be available this coming Wednesday, December 13, from 9:30 to 11:30 in the Health Services building (that white landmark beside the placid pond). "We will ensure staffing to make it a speedy process," she promises. "For clients unable to attend at that time, they may come to health services any weekday, 9 to 12 and 2 to 4, but will have to check in along with all the ill walk-in clients and wait for triage." A separate memo from health services notes that the clinic will be closed Wednesday from 11:30 to 2:00 (right after the flu shot clinic), and "will not be available for allergy injections, immunizations, or nurse visits" the next day, Thursday, until after 2 p.m.

This morning's professional development seminar in IST, as I noted yesterday, deals with prospects for replacing the existing UWdir software. Here's a fuller description of the session: "UW's experience with 'online phonebooks' and 'corporate directories' dates back to the early 1980s. These tools have evolved into what we know today as UWdir, which includes a repository of campus entities and also authentication services. Requests for new capabilities, the need to deal with a more complex audit and regulatory framework and the desire for a more robust and easily-maintained infrastructure have led to the search for a commercial solution. This seminar will focus on the case for a new Identity Management system and our progress to date." The speaker is Connie van Oostveen of IST's Information Systems unit.

Warrior athletes will be at Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo tonight and most of Saturday and Sunday, posted outside Zehrs to conduct their annual food drive on behalf of the local Food Bank. • Columbia Lake Village is currently hiring graduate dons, and today is the deadline to submit applications. • UW's chemistry department, which has been publishing Chem 13 News for high school science teachers since 1968, has just produced a CD-rom "sampler" of material that has appeared in print over the years.

December 31 will be the nomination deadline for the 50th Anniversary Alumni Awards, created to recognize 50 “outstanding” alumni in honour of UW's 50th anniversary in 2007. "These awards are a great way to recognize alumni who have had significant involvements with UW over the past 50 years while achieving excellence in their chosen fields," says Dave Revell, chair of the Alumni Council. Members of UW’s community are invited to nominate "a graduate who has demonstrated a significant commitment to UW through activities such as volunteering, mentoring, involvement with committees, boards or panels, philanthropic support or advocacy". Fifty recipients will be selected next spring and recognized during Homecoming. "I encourage staff, faculty, students and alumni to submit nominations," says Jason Coolman, Director of Alumni Affairs. Nomination forms can be found online.

And . . . I noted yesterday that the Employee Assistance Program had announced a three-part series on "Getting Back to Healthy Weights", offered as lunchtime brown-bag sessions on December 13, January 11 and February 15. Before yesterday ended, there was a change to that: somebody realized that January 11 is the date of the 50th anniversary launch party, and people will be otherwise occupied at noontime. "Healthy Weights" is now scheduled for December 13 (that's next Wednesday), January 12 and February 15.

CAR

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