Tag: Changemakers

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Lassonde staff member recognized for creativity, commitment to students

Gold trophy, stars and confetti on a yellow background

Chantel Thompson, a student success and academic advisor at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Lynda Tam Guiding Light & Legacy Award from the Advising Community of Practice and Peer Leader Community of Practice. The award recognizes Thompson’s unwavering commitment to students through her creativity and excellence in academic advising.

Chantel Thompson
Chantel Thompson

“Receiving the Lynda Tam Award is extremely meaningful to me,” said Thompson. “It means that the work that we do as advisors is important and impactful. It means that advisors like myself can be recognized for the incredible work that we do in supporting student success.”

The annual award was established to honour Lynda Tam, who served as the first assistant dean of students in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design. By shaping student services, advising and peer mentoring programs at York U, Tam had a profound impact on student experience. She was also a founding co-chair of the Peer Leader Community of Practice. Through her creative and imaginative approach, Tam developed programs and initiatives that helped students excel and reach their academic, personal and professional goals. She exemplified student service excellence across the University and was a coach and a guiding light to students, staff and faculty.

Praised for her creativity and dedication, Thompson embodies many of Tam’s qualities. According to her nominators, she has significantly contributed to building an engaging and student-centred advising practice at Lassonde. She has been a driving force behind Lassonde’s innovative approach to University-wide pop-up advising fairs, incorporating activities such as trivia games, prizes and Faculty mascot appearances. The initiatives she has spearheaded, such as the student appreciation pancake breakfast and the new student handbook, have profoundly impacted students’ academic journeys.

Thompson’s nominators – all colleagues from Lassonde – feel strongly that this recognition is well deserved.

“Chantel continuously demonstrates creativity and imagination in her work,” said Caitlin Hicks, a student success and academic advisor at Lassonde. “Her passion and creativity are infectious, making her an inspiration to her colleagues and a valuable asset to our student community.”

Althea Smikle-Brown, manager of student advising at Lassonde, had this to say: “Chantel’s dedication to student success is evident in her proactive approach and her ability to think outside the box. Her empathetic approach and genuine care have positively impacted countless students.”

Lauren Hall, advising co-ordinator at Lassonde, added, “Chantel speaks up on behalf of students and her colleagues. She is committed to social justice and advocates for equality and inclusivity at every turn.”​

As part of the award, artwork was commissioned by Paria Shahverdi, a master’s student from the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design. The piece, named Path to Light, was inspired by Lynda’s essence – her warmth, grace and nurturing spirit – and symbolizes the tranquility she embodied and sought. “This painting exemplifies the light, imagination and hope Lynda illuminated for those around her,” said Karen MacKinnon, a member of the selection committee.

The award and accompanying artwork were presented to Thompson in a surprise meeting that included her colleagues, members of the selection committee and her nominators – Smikle-Brown, Hicks and Hall.

Reflecting on the importance of the award, and her role in student outcomes, Thompson had this to say: “The concept of ‘student success’ is complex and nuanced – encompassing more than just academic success,” she said. “It’s about a student’s ability to put their mind to anything and see it through, regardless of the challenges and barriers they may encounter. This award shines a light on all those who contribute to transforming those complexities into all of the beautiful outcomes they may be.”

Read more about Tam’s legacy in YFile.

Professor recognized for exemplary lifetime contributions to the study of Earth

View of the Earth from space

York University Professor Spiros Pagiatakis received the Canadian Geophysical Union’s J. Tuzo Wilson Medal, which recognizes a Canadian scholar’s outstanding contributions throughout their career to the geosciences – the study of the Earth – and counts as the highest national honour earned by those in the field.

“I am deeply honoured and privileged to be awarded the highest accolade of geosciences and join the previous 45 laureates,” says Pagiatakis of the medal, which was given to him in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to the advancement of knowledge and education in Canadian geosciences. He is only the third York-affiliated person to receive the award.

Spiros Pagiatakis
Spiros Pagiatakis

Pagiatakis joined York U in 2001, after already having made a nearly decade-long impact in the field as a lead senior research scientist for the federal Department of Natural Resources Canada. In both his professional and academic careers, Pagiatakis has dedicated himself to the study of the Earth as observed from terrestrial and space platforms, with highly innovative work and discoveries starting from the Earth’s inner core motions. He has specialized in measuring and understanding the planet’s geometric and physical shape, and how its internal forces – like plate tectonics – bend form, deform and more, as well as how its atmosphere and gravity operate.

Pagiatakis has tackled innovative research questions across the spectrum of geodesy and Earth sciences, with groundbreaking findings that led to the recent recognition.

Among Pagiatakis’s innovations in the field, he pioneered a better understanding of deformation of the Earth due to the dynamics of ocean tides, as well developed the first map of Canada and the U.S. showing how gravity changes with time due to the rebounding of the Canadian land mass due to climate change and the melting of the ice since the last ice age glacial maximum, some 23 thousand years ago.

Since joining York U, his interests have shifted to space science, which has led to important discoveries highlighting how dynamics in the Earth’s lower and upper atmosphere influence, impact and shape climate science.

Pagiatakis’s work has been recognized and funded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada, the GEOIDE National Centre of Excellence, the Carbon Management Canada National Centre of Excellence, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation Trust and Natural Resources Canada.

Pagiatakis’s impact has also extended beyond research by influencing future generations in the field, notably at York University. He was one of a handful of pioneers who created the first engineering programs and accreditation at York U, which ultimately led to the founding of the Lassonde School of Engineering, where he served as the inaugural associate dean of research and graduate studies for five years. He has also led the development of innovative methods of teaching in a virtual classroom environment and in blended course delivery to university students and engineering professionals before online teaching became commonplace.

A lifetime of efforts aren’t limited to the administrative, however. Pagiatakis has been a passionate teacher, deeply invested in collaborating and supervising graduate students to help guide the next generation of pioneers in the field of geophysics. Former students – many of whom now work for top organizations like NASA, the European Space Agency and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and in academia in Canada and abroad – credit him for providing high-quality graduate education, training and mentoring opportunities in an equitable, safe, welcoming and encouraging environment built on trust, where acceptance, openness, motivation, enthusiasm and curiosity have been paramount.

For his part, Pagiatakis is reluctant to take too much credit for what he has accomplished. “My graduate students are the heart, the soul and inspiration of our research; without them nothing would be possible” he says.

Nonetheless, as one of his J. Tuzo Wilson Medal nominators emphasized, Pagiatakis “is one of those exceptional scientists who do not shy away from various administrative and organizational duties someone has to undertake in order to keep science healthy.” His dedication to doing just that – keeping his field of science thriving with his career, academic work and mentorship – are what now have earned him the recognition his students would agree he’s long deserved.

Professor advances understanding of animal consciousness

bumblebee on flower BANNER

A major new declaration co-initiated by York University professor and philosopher Kristin Andrews affirms there is strong scientific evidence that not just mammals and birds, but potentially all vertebrates and many invertebrates, possess conscious experiences.

Kristin Andrews
Kristin Andrews

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, unveiled on April 19 at a conference at New York University, states that the empirical evidence indicates “at least a realistic possibility” of conscious awareness in reptiles, amphibians, fish, cephalopod mollusks like octopuses, decapod crustaceans like crabs and lobsters, and even insects. Andrews co-initiated the declaration along with Jeff Sebo from New York University and Jonathan Birch from the London School of Economics.

“Recent research has shown stunning evidence of consciousness-related behaviours in a wide range of animals,” says Andrews, a professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. “The declaration affirms that we can no longer assume these creatures are insentient or incapable of feeling.”

The declaration – which has already been signed by more than 80 leading scientists and philosophers across disciplines – focuses on the most basic form of consciousness – the subjective experience of being an organism and the ability to feel sensations such as pain, pleasure and hunger. While higher-order consciousness involving self-awareness is not attributed, the statement says it would be “irresponsible to ignore” the possibility that these animals can have positive and negative experiences.

For Andrews, the York Research Chair in Animal Minds who has studied animal cognition for more than 30 years, the evidence from recent studies on seemingly conscious behaviours in creatures including bees, crayfish and wrasse fish is compelling.

“We’ve seen bumblebees exhibiting placid, playful behaviours for no apparent reason other than enjoyment,” she says. “Crayfish show anxious behaviours that change when given anti-anxiety medication. Wrasse fish seem to recognize bodily markings when shown a mirror.”

Such findings challenge the assumption that invertebrates and cold-blooded animals are insentient automata. The declaration argues that when there is a realistic chance an animal has conscious experiences, we are ethically obligated to consider its welfare interests.

“It doesn’t mean we can’t ever eat them or use them,” clarifies Andrews. “But it does mean we need to recognize they likely can feel pain and pleasure, and minimize the negative experiences we impose on them.”

While the declaration doesn’t prescribe policies, Andrews hopes it will prompt wider consideration of how human activities impact invertebrates. She points to the need to include cephalopods and crustaceans under animal welfare regulations in Canada, alongside chickens, pigs and fish.

More profoundly, Andrews sees an opportunity for new scientific insights by studying consciousness across a broader range of organisms. “If even simple animals like worms or flies are conscious in some way, they could provide a revelatory model for understanding the fundamental nature of consciousness, without the confounding factors like language that make human consciousness so complex.”

By expanding our “circle of moral consideration,” as Andrews puts it, the declaration opens perspectives on the richness of subjective experiences pervading the natural world. “It offers the possibility of feeling a wider, deeper connection to all the creatures around us.”

Andrews and her colleagues hope The New York Declaration will be an impetus for more research, greater ethical deliberation and, ultimately, a heightened societal valuation of the experiences of non-human minds.

York University scientists, engineers receive more than $3.3M from NSERC

idea innovation thought bubble

Fifty-four researchers from York University have been awarded more than $3.3 million combined from the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in support of ongoing research programs across multiple disciplines, including biology, geography, physics and more.

The latest NSERC funding, announced by the Government of Canada on June 14, includes Discovery Grants, Discovery Launch Supplements, Sub-atomic Physics (SAP) Discovery Grants, Northern Research Supplements, and Research Tools and Instruments Grants.

“NSERC’s latest investment in York University’s research excellence strengthens the institution’s leading position in the natural sciences and engineering and reflects the high-calibre talents of our researchers,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “York continues to increase its annual research revenue on a consistent basis and this year’s NSERC Discovery awards are the highest in the University’s history. Congratulations to all of York’s recipients, especially to the 15 early career researchers, for their dedication to advancing new knowledge and shaping the future of their fields.”

Forty-six researchers from York U received Discovery Grants, totalling $2,043,366. Some of the research programs awarded include: studying the genomics and social evolution of bees, by Sandra Rehan in the Faculty of Science ($65,000); building computer systems to control and guide spacecrafts, by Zheng Hong (George) Zhu in the Lassonde School of Engineering ($99,000); and investigating how the human brain manages breathing during physiological stress, by Devin Phillips in the Faculty of Health ($33,000).   

Four researchers from the Department of Physics & Astronomy in the Faculty of Science received more than $1.4 million in SAP Discovery Grants, including Nikita Blinov, Deborah Harris, Eric Hessels and Randy Lewis.

A full list of recipients across the country can be found on the Government of Canada’s website.

For a complete list of York University’s recipients, see below.  

Discovery Grant (including Discovery Launch Supplements and Northern Research Supplements) recipients:

Andrew Donini, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Salt and water balance in aquatic insects
$47,000 per year for a five-year term

Gordon Fitch, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Tritrophic interactions in a changing world: understanding how urbanization shapes plant-pollinator-parasite interactions to influence pollinator health and pollination services
$38,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Katalin Hudak, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Regulation and activity of plant ribosome inactivating protein
$48,000 per year for a five-year term

Kohitij Kar, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Probing the mechanisms of primate visual intelligence
$38,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Terrance Kubiseski
Regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans Stress Response
$40,000 per year for a five-year term

Raymond Kwong, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Understanding the homeostatic regulation and neurophysiology of essential trace metals in zebrafish
$39,000 per year for a five-year term

John McDermott, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Nucleolar Regulation and Function in Myogenic Cells
$48,000 per year for a five-year term

Eryn McFarlane, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
The interplay between genetics and the environment on hybrid fitness
$29,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Sandra Rehan, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Integrative genomics for pollinator health and social evolution
$65,000 per year for a five-year term

Gary Sweeney, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Examining cellular consequences of excess iron on skeletal muscle
$33,000 per year for a five-year term

Yongjoo Kim, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Methods to Create Mutations in Cells to Understand and Improve Protein Function
$37,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Arturo Orellana, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Modern Approaches to Electrocyclization of Heptatrienyl Anions
$36,000 per year for a five-year term

Derek Wilson, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Advancing Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry to Explore the Dynamic Origins of Protein (mis)Function
$36,000 per year for a five-year term

Cora Young, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Characterizing the abundance, sources, and fate of fluorinated gases in the atmosphere
$62,000 per year for a five-year term

Tao Zeng, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Theoretical studies of vibronic and spin-vibronic couplings: methodological development and applications in materials science
$36,000 per year for a five-year term

Michael Bazzocchi, Department of Earth & Space Science, Lassonde School of Engineering
Intelligent and Autonomous On-orbit Robotics for Inspection, Assembly, Manufacturing, and Servicing
$32,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Sunil Bisnath, Department of Earth & Space Science, Lassonde
Resilient satellite-based precise positioning and navigation
$43,000 per year for a five-year term

Jianguo Wang, Department of Earth & Space Science, Lassonde
Intelligent Data Fusion Methodology for Multisensor-Integrated Kinematic Positioning and Navigation
$43,000 per year for a five-year term

Joann Jasiak, Department of Economics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Advances in Inference Methods for Stationary Martingales and Non-Gaussian Processes
$11,966 per year for a five-year term

Elisabeth Burjons Pujol, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lassonde
Online Algorithms with Reservation and Preemption
$25,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Viet Hung Pham, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lassonde
Leveraging Model Interactions to Improve the Reliability of Machine Learning Systems
$24,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Ali Sadeghi-Naini, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lassonde
Smart ultrasound platform for tissue characterization and monitoring
$41,000 per year for a five-year term

Ping Wang, Department of Electrical Engineering, Lassonde
AI-empowered Intelligent network management for next generation wireless communications networks
$55,000 per year for a five-year term

Jennifer Korosi, Geography, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change
Lakes as sentinels and agents of environmental change in rapidly thawing discontinuous permafrost peatlands
$43,000 per year for a five-year term
*Northern Research Supplement ($15,000)

Joshua Thienpoint, Geography, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change
Reconstructing disturbance regimes and aquatic ecosystem impacts of permafrost thaw slumping
$26,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Supplement ($12,500)
**Northern Research Supplement ($15,000)

Ali Abdul-Sater, Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health
Exercise mediated training of tissue resident macrophages
$40,000 per year for a five-year term

Tara Haas, Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health
Regulation of angiogenesis in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues
$33,000 per year for a five-year term

Devin Phillips, Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health
The neural control of breathing during physiological stress in humans
$33,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Dan Palermo, Lassonde School of Engineering
Resilient and Sustainable Concrete Structures: Mitigation of Residual Displacements and Concrete Damage
$43,000 per year for a five-year term

Nantel Bergeron, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Quasisymmetric varieties, Schubert polynomials and other algebraic combinatorial systems
$27,000 per year for a five-year term

Miles Couchman, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Turbulent mixing in stratified flows
$26,000 per year for a five-year term
Discovery Supplement

Ilijas Farah, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
K-theory reversing automorphisms of the Calkin algebra. Disintegration of von Neumann algebras
$48,000 per year for a five-year term

Xin Gao, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Statistical learning methods for multi-task and network data
$27,000 per year for a five-year term

Jane Heffernan, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Towards an immuno-epidemiological framework: Tradeoffs between biological detail and mathematical complexity
$31,000 per year for a five-year term

Paul Skoufranis, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Linearization in Bi-Free Probability
$24,000 per year for a five-year term

Jianhong Wu, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Delay Differential Equations: Theory of Global Dynamics with Applications to Public Health of Zoonotic Diseases
$60,000 per year for a five-year term

Kaiqiong Zhao, Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science
Novel statistical methods for complex data-enabled learning and causal discovery
$23,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Paul O’Brien, Mechanical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering
Development of Photothermal and Radiative Cooling Surfaces and Structures for Environmental Sustainability
$32,000 per year for a five-year term

Zheng Hong Zhu, Mechanical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering
Computational Control Framework and Application for Flexible Spacecraft
$99,000 per year for a five-year term

Scott Beattie, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Optical Frequency Combs and Atomic Clocks for Frequency and Time Metrology
$19,900 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Charles-Eduoard Boukaré, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Solidification Dynamics of Rocky Planets Interiors
$28,500 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Eric Hessels, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Tests of Fundamental Physics Using Atoms and Molecules
$61,000 per year for a five-year term

Matthew Johnson, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Fundamental Physics from Microwave Background Secondary Anisotropies and Quantum Simulation of Vacuum Decay
$75,000 per year for a five-year term

Rahul Kannan, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Modelling high redshift structure formation and reionization
$39,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Adam Muzzin, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Resolving Galaxy Growth with Canadian-Built Astronomical Instrumentation
$50,000 per year for a five-year term

Paul Scholz, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Revealing the nature of Fast Radio Bursts and unlocking their potential as probes of the Universe
$33,000 per year for a five-year term
*Discovery Launch Supplement ($12,500)

Sub-atomic Physics Discovery Grant recipients:

Nikita Blinov, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Three Directions Toward the Discovery of Dark Matter
$55,000 per year for a five-year term

Deborah Harris, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Paving the way for Neutrino Oscillation Measurements at DUNE
$300,000 per year for a three-year term

Eric Hessels, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Probing PeV-scale physics: Measuring the electron electric dipole moment using barium monofluoride embedded in an argon solid
$165,000 per year for a three-year term

Randy Lewis, Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Lattice gauge theory on classical and quantum computers
$90,000 per year for a five-year term

Research Tools and Instrument Grant recipients:

Zheng Hong Zhu, Mechanical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering
Ground Experiment System of Free-Floating Dual-Arm Space Robot for Autonomous On-Orbit Service
$150,000

Christopher Perry, Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health
A core high-frequency ultrasound imager for non-invasive measures of cardiac structure and function as well as muscle structure in mice
$150,000

Richard Murray, Psychology, Faculty of Health
Display calibration for virtual and augmented reality
$148,410

Ronald Hanson, Mechnical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering
Camera System for Particle Image Velocimetry with Upgraded Stereo Measurement Feature
$127,979

Marina Freire-Gormaly, Mechnical Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering
Fast Mobility Particle Sizer Tool for Effective Particulate and Aerosol Emissions Characterization
$150,000

Annual Walk with Excellence to celebrate achievements of local high-school graduates

2016 Walk with Excellence

Now in its 11th year, the Walk with Excellence is an annual event that celebrates the achievements of graduating students from high schools in Toronto’s Jane and Finch community. Signifying the beginning of their journey to post-secondary education, the event – taking place this year on Thursday, June 6 – will see over 500 graduating students walk from five local high schools onto York University’s Keele Campus.

The students’ supportive teachers and administrators will be cheering them on along the way, and all York University community members are invited join in welcoming the students onto the Keele Campus in true York U style.

“The Walk with Excellence signals new beginnings and a new season,” said Itah Sadu, founder of the Walk with Excellence and a York University honorary degree recipient. “Walking with the graduating students in this annual urban rite of passage is pure joy.”

Organized by a coalition of community partners – including the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre, local school principals and high-school leaders, the Blackhurst Cultural Centre and A Different Booklist – the Walk with Excellence will feature brief musical performances from each participating high school, remarks from community leaders and Toronto poet laureate Lillian Allen reading a poem she wrote specifically for the event. Organizers look forward to presenting several bursaries this year, generously funded by CUPE Local 4400/Toronto Education Workers, Blackhurst Cultural Centre and York University.

“We are proud to stand alongside our students and school board partners in celebrating the hard work and dedication that define the Jane and Finch community’s collective journey toward excellence,” said Byron Gray, manager of the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre. “Together, we are fostering a brighter future for all.”

All York University community members are invited to take part in the event by cheering for students as they enter the Keele Campus and witnessing the presentation of scholarships and remarks. The students are expected to arrive in front of Vari Hall at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Those who cannot attend or would like to further support the cause can consider contributing to Vice-Provost Academic Marcia Annisette’s Walk with Excellence campaign for 2025, which will offer bursaries to five future York U students – one from each of the five participating high schools.

“This event exemplifies the power of community, resilience and academic achievement,” said Annisette. “It is our vision that a newly initiated campaign will engage all of York University in funding an ongoing Walk with Excellence Bursary.”

Two York faculty members receive Minister’s Award of Excellence

Colored confetti flying on blue background

Professors Pina D’Agostino and Andrew Maxwell have each been recognized with the government of Ontario’s 2022-23 Minister’s Award of Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is given to people within the province’s post-secondary institutions and career colleges who demonstrate dedication and achievement in their respective fields.

Recipients of the Minister’s Award of Excellence are selected based on their accomplishments in teaching excellence, research innovation, student engagement and community partnerships. The award aims to not only recognize individual excellence, but how winners have made an impact in shaping the future of Ontario’s education sector.

Giuseppina (Pina) D'Agostino
Pina D’Agostino

This year, the minister received over 480 nominations. In their award category – Innovation and Entrepreneurship – D’Agostino and Maxwell represented two of the three total winners, demonstrating their, and York’s, leadership in the field.

This year, D’Agostino was recognized – as noted by the award committee – for her “track record of founding leading-edge initiatives … that [have] supported countless startups across the province.” Notable examples are D’Agostino’s founding and directing of the IP Innovation Clinic and the Intellectual Property Law & Technology Intensive Program, as well as being the founding director of IP Osgoode. Through these initiatives, she has helped to provide vital support to hundreds of innovators and startups in Ontario and across Canada, helping advance knowledge and the application of intellectual property (IP) and offsetting over $2 million via pro bono assistance while helping to train the next generation of IP practitioners.

D’Agostino is also the inaugural co-director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Society and played a critical role in securing York University’s historic $318-million Canada First Research Excellence Fund award for the Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy and Just Society project, where she served as its co-principal investigator and was named its inaugural vice-director. As of March 1, she has also been promoted to director of Connected Minds.

The Minister’s Awards of Excellence additionally recognized Maxwell – a Bergeron Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship – for his dedication to transforming student educational experiences and driving economic development through pioneering initiatives.

Andrew Maxwell
Andrew Maxwell

Those initiatives have included the establishment of the living lab, which fosters collaboration between academia and industry through strategic partnerships. Among collaborations overseen by Maxwell is the prototyping, testing and deployment of the SARIT micro-mobility electric vehicle on campus. The SARIT vehicles are a flagship project for the new Manufacturing, Technology & Entrepreneurship Centre, which has provided students with invaluable opportunities to engage directly with industry leaders and work on cutting-edge technologies poised to impact mobility and the growing electric vehicle industry. Maxwell has also helped secure multidisciplinary research funding from York and the Ontario Research Fund to explore the social impact of the SARIT and enhance its safety and ride experience.

As the director of the Bergeron Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology (BEST) Lab at Lassonde, he has also been instrumental in supporting entrepreneurial ventures, enhancing university research commercialization and revolutionizing educational paradigms.

As a professor, Maxwell was also recognized for his efforts to link sustainability, experiential learning and community with innovative pedagogical methods – including weekend hackathons, multidisciplinary entrepreneurship certificates and intense, three-week, experiential international visits.

Further information about the Minister’s Awards of Excellence can be found on the Government of Ontario website.

York U and Philippines advance emergency response leadership with MOU

YEMERGE Philippines MOU BANNER

By Elaine Smith

Members of the York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, & Governance Institute (Y-EMERGE) have travelled to the Philippines to establish a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the country’s Civil Defense Training Institute (CDTI).

Earlier in 2024, Ali Asgary and Eric Kennedy, professors of disaster and emergency management and associate directors of Y-EMERGE – a York University Organized Research Unit dedicated to research and training in disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness – were invited to Manila for the launch of CDTI and the MOU signing ceremony.

Eric Kennedy (far left) and Ali Asgary (far right) at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Manila.
Eric Kennedy (far left) and Ali Asgary (far right) at the signing of the memorandum of understanding in Manila.

The partnership – and trip – grew out of an earlier visit to the Philippines by Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Phillips in November 2023 (as part of the Universities Canada Partnership Mission) where queries emerged about areas of specialization that York had in common with the country and its researchers.

Because the Philippines is ranked among the most disaster-prone countries in the world, and York’s Y-EMERGE is a national leader in emergency management, a natural fit was quickly found.

Asgary and Kennedy travelled to Manila in March for the official MOU signing, which also included a discussion about short-, medium- and long-term collaborations with York. CDTI was very interested in the work of York’s Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM) team – where Asgary is a core scientist – as well as the University’s technology and training.

Ali Asgary (right) giving a demonstration to a colleague
Ali Asgary (right) giving a demonstration to a colleague.

“We had great discussions with the senior people there,” Asgary says. “They are keen to collaborate, knowing that York has strong research and training expertise in disaster management. This formal collaboration initiative through the MOU makes it more impactful.”

The agreement is especially meaningful, since 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of Canada-Philippines diplomatic relations.

The professors also used the trip to further other York partnerships, collaborate and make new contacts. Asgary and Kennedy connected with CDTI personnel, and visited with disaster and emergency management experts at the University of the Philippines’ Resilience Institute. They also met with CIFAL Philippines, a sister organization to CIFAL York – both part of the United Nations Institute for Training & Research.

“We used this trip as a way to advance University partnerships in areas where York has exceptional strengths,” Kennedy says. “Building collaborative relationships with institutions in the Philippines is a natural connection point, given both sides have significant expertise in disaster and emergency management – and given the many hazards, including volcanoes, typhoons and earthquakes, faced in the Philippines.

Eric Kennedy during his visit
Eric Kennedy during his visit.

“The idea is to build mutual learning, collaboration and opportunities for exchange. Our new CDTI partners have an incredible amount of lived experience in managing a wide variety of hazards. Creating relationships and partnerships is so much more valuable than simply importing solutions. The best programs are born out of collaboration, so we are eager to work together to build resilience, conduct research and train the next generation of emergency leaders.”

The first product of the new partnership will be a monthly virtual speaker series about climate change displacement, an issue that is a focus for CIFAL Philippines, the Resilient Institute and the CDTI, which will begin in June as a way to share expertise and resources. It is a practical first step for the partners to undertake, but it promises to be the first of many, including research collaborations and potential student exchanges.

Asgary and Kennedy also met with numerous faculty members at the University of the Philippines for a presentation about some of their current projects and a tour of their various labs. They were able to assess where synergies exist and connect York colleagues with researchers who have similar interests.

In addition, Asgary, a specialist in volcanic emergencies and emergency simulations, and Kennedy, an expert in wildfire emergencies and decision-making during disasters, were each able to find commonalities with Filipino researchers and consider individual research collaborations.

Asgary also had the opportunity to visit two active volcanoes, as well as volcano observatories, facilitated by CDTI and their regional directors, and is already busy in working on simulations used for planning and training.

“We can now broker mutually beneficial connections and match up teams in both directions,” Kennedy says. “It was also a fruitful space to foster relationships beyond those with our three official partners. At the launch, we met representatives from a variety of organizations with overlapping interests, such as the World Food Programme and the International Organization for Migration.

“It is so important that York prioritizes this kind of in-person relationship building. There are a lot of ways to sustain relationships in the virtual world, but they are built on the foundation of in-person relationships. In-person connections are incredibly valuable.”

Vinitha Gengatharan, York’s assistant vice-president, global engagement, says Asgary and Kennedy are modelling the type of relationship the University is eager to create with its international partners.

“Knowledge sharing, respect and mutually enriching collaboration are vital ingredients for successful international partnerships,” Gengatharan says. “Ali and Eric set the standard for the type of relationships we continue to build worldwide.”

The seeds of this relationship may have just been planted, but they are already bearing fruit.

York University brings emergency management journal in-house

By Alexander Huls, deputy editor, YFile

The Canadian Journal of Emergency Management (CJEM), once published independently, has migrated to York Digital Journals (YDJ) – along with its back catalogue – to pursue a shared goal of providing practitioners and academics a resource to advance their efforts to manage disasters and save lives.

CJEM was launched in 2020 to promote awareness, knowledge and best practices of emergency management in Canada. That goal was one reason that, two years later, it formed a partnership with the York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, & Governance Institute (Y-EMERGE), the largest and strongest emergency management initiative of its kind Canada, to become its official journal.

Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy

When CJEM joined Y-EMERGE, it gained a new editor-in-chief in Professor Eric Kennedy, a leader in the field who is also associate director of Y-EMERGE and one of six speakers in York’s award-winning Microlecture Series in Sustainable Living. One of Kennedy’s goals to open up the journal – to other fields and contributors – was to build on something CJEM had already established: being open access.

“We’re wanting to do this in the right way and make it accessible to different audiences, including those who can’t pay for a journal subscription or might not have it in their budget to afford to buy an article,” says Kennedy, who stresses that – given the often life-saving value of the latest knowledge in the field of emergency management – it’s essential to remove as many access barriers as possible.

To keep doing so, Kennedy had the idea to approach a potential key partner: York Digital Journals.

An electronic journal-hosting service run through the York University Libraries, YDJ looks to help community members create new journals or migrate existing ones online through a platform called Open Journal Systems, which can streamline submissions, peer review, editing and publishing.

After some conversations, Kennedy asked if YDJ could help do just that for CJEM. “I thought it would be a great opportunity,” says Tomasz Mrozewski, a digital publishing librarian in the Department of Digital Scholarship Infrastructure, who wanted to bring to Kennedy and the journal what they’ve done for many others at York. “What we’re really doing is helping enable certain services and certain processes,” he says.

YDJ now provides CJEM with assistance in publishing content, navigating copyright agreements with authors and promoting articles within the scholarly communications ecosystem – all while ensuring the journal is free to read and publish. In adopting more of the logistical side of publishing, YDJ aims to provide help that can have a significant impact on the future of the journal. “By taking on some of the burden of managing that infrastructure, it allows CJEM to reinvest their energy into the more specialized and demanding areas that they’re experts in,” says Mrozewski.  

Among the areas Kennedy and CJEM are reinvesting their energies is dedicating time to publish and mentor early career researchers and non-academic voices. The editorial team is guided by questions like, “How do we provide coaching and support for practitioners writing for a journal for the first time? What does it look like to provide constructive and coaching peer reviews for early career researchers, and helping practitioners get their feet under them when it comes to rigorously documenting their lived experiences and lessons learned from real-life disasters?”

The goal is to get new voices into the field of emergency management and knowledge production to ensure there is a representative cross-section of perspectives not limited by experience, background or academic record.

“What we’re really excited to see is people using this knowledge and breaking down those walls between academic knowledge production and how people actually do practise in this field,” Kennedy says. “We think of our readership as being not just academics but also practitioners – fire managers, paramedics, emergency managers, and other professionals and community beyond the academy. The journal is trying to advance knowledge, but also trying to do so in a way that is relevant to the people who are at the frontlines of the climate crisis.”

To aid real-world applications, where knowledge is often time-critical and life-saving, the journal is also leveraging YDJ’s help to shift from publishing once or twice a year on a fixed timeline and moving to continually open submission calls and publication of articles. That way, the journal can publish case studies, reports or timely studies quickly – and, often, in response to an ongoing or emergent disaster – in the aim to provide help as much as it can.

“The journal can play a role in helping to avoid injuries and loss of life and the impact to communities by sharing what we’re learning about how to build resilience and how to manage disasters,” says Kennedy. “We want to be able to say, ‘The research we’re doing and mobilizing is helping to avoid adverse impacts that would be happening if we weren’t here.’ That’s the gold standard.”

For Mrozewski, that is what he hopes YDJ can help facilitate, too. “I would love to see the journal flourish with a minimal of worrying about the basics,” he says. With the future direction of the journal – and YDJ’s help – that gold standard looks very achievable.

Grads innovate skincare with cutting-edge technology

Close,Up,Shot,Of,Beautiful,Female,Hands,Holding,And,Applying

Anna Kotova and Ksenia Timonina, former York University PhD students, converge science and cosmetics in their venture Agenek – a gene diagnostic skincare company that leverages emerging technology in innovative ways.

The root of Agenek – which offers personalized skincare reports and recommendations – began after Kotova and Timonina’s graduate studies in the Department of Biology at York.

A focus on molecular biology and genetics laid the foundation for their venture, as their shared expertise and passion for understanding genetic mechanisms naturally led them to explore innovative applications in skincare technology. 

Notably, they recognized the potential of transcriptomic analysis, which looks at ribonucleic acid (RNA), which has structural similarities to DNA.

“While the DNA testing market may be saturated, we are pioneering the use of RNA biology to develop a direct-to-consumer skin test for personalized skincare,” explains Kotova.

Their company’s groundbreaking transcriptomic analysis dives deep into the RNA molecules within facial skin cells, offering dynamic insights into skin health. It differs from DNA-based tests, providing a comprehensive view of the skin’s current condition and guiding personalized recommendations based on gene expression profiles. The methodology is unique to the beauty industry, placing Agenek at the forefront of personalized skincare solutions, Kotova says.

The process begins with a testing kit ordered from Agenek’s website, which includes a microneedle patch applied to the skin for 10 minutes. The sample is then sent to the company’s Kitchener, Ont., laboratory, while users provide additional insights via a digital questionnaire. Then, Agenek delivers a personalized report outlining unique skin needs and customized product recommendations. 

Through the analysis of gene expression profiles, Agenek identifies specific “problem genes” and provides targeted recommendations for existing skin-care products, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their skincare routines.

Supported by YSpace ELLA Women Accelerator, Lab2Market, MaRS and other agencies, Agenek benefits from a robust network offering essential resources and guidance to Kotova and Timonina to scale their innovative skincare venture.

A future goal is to advance skincare science while offering individuals enhanced skincare options, potentially improving their quality of life.

“We hope to empower individuals to better understand their skin’s unique needs and make informed decisions about skincare products and treatments,” Kotova says. “By providing comprehensive insights into gene expression profiles and offering tailored recommendations, we seek to improve overall skin health and confidence.”

York University announces 2024 Top 30 Alumni Under 30

Top 30 Alumni banner

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York University has announced its Top 30 Alumni Under 30 for 2024. This distinguished group of alumni under the age of 30 have displayed exemplary leadership and volunteerism to address deep and complex social challenges – both locally and globally.

“The York University Top 30 Alumni Under 30 program showcases the remarkable work that York’s young alumni have done to create positive change at home and abroad,” says Julie Lafford, assistant vice-president, alumni engagement. “The 2024 cohort is an accomplished group featuring creative artists, innovators in science, business leaders and champions for social justice.

Dael Vasquez
Dael Vasquez

The 2024 recipients have applied the skills, knowledge and learning experiences they gained at York towards community service that benefits the public good.

“I was humbled and incredibly thankful to receive this tremendous honour,” says Dael Vasquez, a 2024 recipient. “This recognition is a great opportunity to highlight the transformative impact that youth can have when they apply everyday skills in research, writing and community relations.”

Launched in 2021, York’s Top 30 Alumni Under 30 program seeks to highlight the success and diversity of the University’s alumni community, while inspiring the next generation of young alumni leaders. To view the full list of 2024 recipients, and learn more about them, visit the Top 30 Alumni Under 30 web page.