PhD candidate’s original composition to premiere with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
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Luis Ramirez
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has announced that Luis Ramirez, a York University PhD candidate in music, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, has received a commission for an original composition in their 2022 season. His “Celebration Prelude” will be making its world premiere, and will be conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s music director, as part of their Gimeno + Dvořák’s “New World” concert, running April 27 to 30, 2022.
This opportunity is a testament to Ramirez’s accomplishments as a music scholar, as he was previously named the inaugural recipient of York University’s Jacques Israelievitch Scholarship in Interdisciplinary Arts. He earned the award as an advocate for music and as a dedicated educator, qualities that also animated Israelievitch’s life.
“It is fitting that Luis Ramirez has been asked to compose a new work for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,” says Assistant Professor Randolph Peters, Ramirez’s PhD supervisor. “Among his many artistic achievements, Mr. Israelievitch was Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s longest tenured concertmaster (1988-2008).”
The Jacques Israelievitch Scholarship in Interdisciplinary Arts is granted to full-time graduate students enrolled in the School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design. Recipients of the award demonstrate outstanding academic merit, artistic excellence, and artistic practice of interdisciplinary and cross-departmental nature. The award was designed to recognize students who are gifted musicians or have a musical component to their interdisciplinary artistic vision.
Pop-up Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Clinic planned for July 8 on Keele Campus
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On Thursday, July 8, York University is hosting a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Keele Campus. The clinic is being held in partnership with Humber River Hospital. Vaccines play an important role in protecting ourselves as well as those around us and all members of the community who are eligible, will be welcome. As well, York branded water bottles will be offered to the first 200 people who come down to receive first doses. Here are the details:
Dates: Thursday, July 8 Hours: 12 to 6 p.m. Drop-in:
First doses for: anyone 12 years of age and older at the time of vaccination, in any M postal code.
Second doses for: anyone 12 years of age and older at the time of vaccination who lives/work/attends school at Keele and Glendon Campuses or in a listed hotspot below and:
received Pfizer at least 21 days ago and wants Pfizer;
received Moderna at least 28 days ago and wants Pfizer;
received AstraZeneca at least 56 days ago and wants Pfizer.
Eligibility: Second doses are available for anyone living/working/attending school in a hot spot listed below:
M2R
M6A
M9R
M3J
M6L
M9L
M3K
M6M
M9M
M3L
M6N
M9N
M3M
M9V
M3N
M9W
Location: York Boulevard parking lot (near the Northeast corner of York Blvd. and Ian MacDonald Blvd.) Adjacent the York University subway station. Parking is free on York’s Keele Campus.
Bring: ID that shows where you live, work, or attend school.
York University ID/YU cards
Driver’s licence
Passport
Birth certificate (for proof of age)
Health card (optional)
Report card
York University does not deliver the vaccines, nor does it determine eligibility for vaccinations. For all of the latest updates and information on York’s safe return to campus, continue to visit the Better Together website
York University announces 14 York Research Chair appointments
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Fourteen researchers across the University will join the York Research Chairs (YRC) program, York University’s internal counterpart to the national Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, which recognizes outstanding researchers. Four of these appointments are renewals.
These YRCs belong to the eighth cohort of researchers to be appointed since the establishment of the program in 2015. These YRCs’ terms start July 1 and run through to June 30, 2026.
Rhonda L. Lenton
“The York Research Chairs program is an important component of institutional supports for research, both basic and applied, reflecting our commitment to address complex global issues and drive positive change in our local and global communities,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “This year’s YRCs have made remarkable contributions in their respective fields and furthered our understanding of subjects ranging from visuomotor neuroscience, to racial justice, to reproductive health. I want to congratulate all of our new and renewed YRCs and thank them for their continued dedication to research excellence.”
The YRC program seeks to build research recognition and capacity, with excellence in research, scholarship and associated creative activity serving as selection criteria.
Amir Asif
“This program mirrors the federal CRC program to broaden and deepen the impact of research chairs at York in building and intensifying world-renowned research across the institution. These new YRCs are undertaking visionary work that has local, national and international impact,” said Vice-President Research & Innovation Amir Asif.
Tier I YRCs are open to established research leaders at the rank of full professor. Tier II YRCs are aimed at emerging research leaders within 15 years of their first academic appointment.
Tier I York Research Chairs
Nantel Bergeron York Research Chair in Applied Algebra
Nantel Bergeron, Faculty of Science, had his York Research Chair in Applied Algebra renewed. He is one of the pioneers in the development of the theory of combinatorial Hopf algebras. In this field, researchers can understand and solve complex enumeration problems from other areas of science, such as computer science and mathematics. His research helps to further insights into the super-symmetry of nature.
Doug Crawford York Research Chair in Visuomotor Neuroscience
Doug Crawford, Faculty of Health, is a Distinguished Research Professor in Neuroscience and the Scientific Director of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program. For the past 26 years, his groundbreaking work at the York Centre for Vision Research has focused on the control of visual gaze in 3D space, eye-hand coordination and spatial memory during eye movements.
Lorne Foster York Research Chair in Black Canadian Studies and Human Rights
Lorne Foster, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is the Director of the Institute for Social Research and the Director of the Diversity & Human Rights Certificate, the first academic-industry human rights training partnership. His trailblazing work on public policy formation and scholarship on the human rights approach to inclusive organizational change ranks among the best in its field. This work has consistently helped to open doors to new scholarly explorations.
Kerry Kawakami York Research Chair in Equity and Diversity
Kerry Kawakami, Faculty of Health, is Principal Investigator of the Social Cognition Lab, which investigates a variety of social categorization processes using diverse methodologies. Her pioneering work on implicit biases provides insight into how we perceive people from different social groups, how we react to intergroup bias, and strategies to reduce prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination.
Chun Peng York Research Chair in Women’s Reproductive Health
Chun Peng, Faculty of Science, had her York Research Chair in Women’s Reproductive Health renewed. Peng’s long-term goal for her research program is to understand the regulation of female reproduction and the mechanisms underlying the development of ovarian cancer and preeclampsia. Her research will enhance the overall understanding of female reproductive health and may lead to the development of novel biomarkers for preeclampsia and therapeutics for ovarian cancer.
Jennifer Steeves York Research Chair in Non-Invasive Visual Brain Stimulation
Jennifer Steeves, Faculty of Health, undertakes research that examines how the brain adapts to changes in sensory input with the loss of one eye or to direct brain damage. She uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reverse engineer the brain. This is a VISTA York Research Chair, as Steeves is a core member of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program.
Tier II York Research Chairs
Lyndsay Hayhurst York Research Chair in Sport, Gender and Development and Digital Participatory Research
Lyndsay Hayhurst, Faculty of Health, researches sport, gender and development (SGD) – or the use of sport to support gender-related development goals, policies and practice. Her current SSHRC- and CFI-funded research explores how key stakeholders experience SGD initiatives focused on girls and women in Canada, Uganda and Nicaragua using digital participatory research strategies. Her goal is to re-envision new, community-oriented and socially just approaches to SGD initiatives.
Sean Hillier York Research Chair in Indigenous Health Policy and One Health
Sean Hillier, Faculty of Health, is a Mi’kmaw scholar and a special adviser to the Dean on Indigenous Resurgence. His collaborative research program spans the topics of aging, living with HIV and other infectious diseases, and antimicrobial resistance, all with a concerted focus on policy affecting health care access for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Hillier has been successful in receiving funding from each of the three federal granting agencies, with more than 10 external grants.
Ozzy Mermut York Research Chair in Vision Biophotonics
Ozzy Mermut, Faculty of Science, is a biophysicist harnessing the power of light to study human aging. Her group develops diagnostics and therapeutic biophotonics technologies to address age-related degenerative diseases. These techniques translate to accelerated aging studies in the environment of space, to understand long-term health consequences in space. This is a VISTA York Research Chair; Mermut is a core member of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program.
Carmela Murdocca York Research Chair in Reparative and Racial Justice
Carmela Murdocca, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, examines racialization, criminalization and social histories of racial and colonial violence. Her work is concerned with the social and legal politics of repair, redress and reparations. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Culture at the School of Law and the Center for Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University.
Lisa Myers York Research Chair in Indigenous Art and Curatorial Practice
Lisa Myers, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, is a curator and artist with a keen interest in interdisciplinary collaboration. Her research focuses on contemporary Indigenous art considering the varied values and functions of elements, such as medicine plants and language, sound, and knowledge. Through many media and materials, including socially engaged art approaches, her art practice examines place, underrepresented histories/present/futures, and collective forms of knowledge exchange.
Shayna Rosenbaum York Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
Shayna Rosenbaum, Faculty of Health and core member of the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program, had her York Research Chair in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory renewed. An elected member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, she has shown how different forms of memory are represented in the brain. She seeks to develop strategies to help healthy older adults and patients overcome memory loss.
Ping Wang York Research Chair in AI Empowered Next Generation Communication Networks
Ping Wang, Lassonde School of Engineering, researches wireless communications and networking. She has led research in radio resource allocation, network design, performance analysis and optimization for heterogeneous wireless networks. Her scholarly works have been widely disseminated through top-ranked IEEE journals and conferences. She intends to develop innovative techniques for next-generation wireless communications networks in supporting the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
Amro Zayed York Research Chair in Genomics
Amro Zayed, Faculty of Science, had his York Research Chair in Genomics renewed. Zayed’s research group sequences the genomes of thousands of bees to identify mutations that influence their economically and ecologically relevant traits. His program aims to improve the health of Canadian honey bees, which will increase the sustainability and security of Canada’s food supply.
Yellow-banded bumblebee (image: Victoria MacPhail, FES, York University)
What’s stressing out bumblebees? To find out, York University scientists used next-generation sequencing to look deep inside bumblebees for evidence of pesticide exposure, including neonicotinoids, as well as pathogens, and found both.
Using a conservation genomic approach – an emerging field of study that could radically change the way bee health is assessed – the researchers studied Bombus terricola or the yellow-banded bumblebee, a native to North America, in agricultural and non-agricultural areas. This new technique allows scientists to probe for invisible stressors affecting bees.
Like many pollinators, the yellow-banded bumblebee has experienced major declines in the last couple decades, which threatens food security and the stability of natural ecosystems.
“Next-generation sequencing is a totally new way to think about why bees are declining, which could revolutionize conservation biology. We’re looking directly at bee tissues to try and get clues to the stressors that are affecting this bee. I think this is a gamechanger for sure. With a single study, we are able to implicate a couple of really obvious things we’ve talked about for years – pathogens and pesticides – in the case of Bombus terricola,” says Faculty of Science Professor Amro Zayed, director of the Centre for Bee Ecology Evolution and Conservation (BEEc) at York and corresponding author of the study.
In addition to sequencing the RNA of 30 yellow-banded worker bees, the researchers also used the sequence data to directly search for pathogens infecting the bumblebees. The team found five pathogens in the abdomens of worker bees, three of which are common in managed honey bee and bumblebee colonies. This supports the theory that spill over of pathogens from commercial operations can affect the health of wild bees.
What surprised the researchers, including former York biology grad student Nadia Tsvetkov and Associate Professor Sheila Colla of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, is how well the technology worked.
“Bumblebee diseases are a key threat and this technology can help us detect new diseases and stressors quickly so we don’t lose species the way we did the rusty-patched bumblebee, where the problem was only detected when it was too late to do anything about it in Canada,” says Colla. “The rusty-patched bumblebee hasn’t been spotted in Canada since 2009.”
Bumblebees are particularly important pollinators, even better than honey bees for some plants, because their ability to “buzz” pollinate (vibrate the plants to release pollen) and tolerate cooler temperatures, which makes them critical pollinators for certain plants and regions.
Expanding the scope of conservation genomic studies will help to better understand how multiple stressors influence the health of other bumblebee populations.
“We think this is the way forward in terms of managing and conserving bumblebees,” says Zayed.
What the Step 2 reopening means for York University
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The following is a message to the University community from Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps:
The province officially moved into Step 2 of its Roadmap to Reopen on Wednesday, June 30. Last week as well, all Ontarians aged 18 years and up became eligible to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This was very exciting news for the York community, as it means that all who are able can access first and second doses before a return to campus in September.
We are thrilled to announce that there will be another pop-up vaccine clinic on the Keele Campus this week on Tuesday, July 6 and Thursday, July 8 from 12 to 6 p.m. Our partners at Humber River Hospital will be administering the Pfizer vaccine and more details, including time and eligibility criteria (if applicable), will be shared with the York community.
A preliminary review of the impacts of Ontario’s Step 2 for York suggests that there are no major impacts posed to the University’s operations. The Summer term will continue to be delivered for the most part remotely as planned, with the following in place:
While gathering limitations now allow up to 50 people indoors, indoor gathering for in-person instruction will continue to abide by existing gathering limitations (10-person maximum), with a maximum of 50 persons allowed in the School of Nursing.
All indoor gatherings must still abide by two-metre physical distancing, masking/face covering requirements and/or the proper use of personal protective equipment.
Students filming outdoors or undertaking other activities outdoors must abide by the 25-person outdoor gathering limit.
In-person research involving human participants continues to be suspended at this time.
If you do need to come to campus, please request access through the Campus Access system or have pre-existing approval to access campus spaces. Completion of daily screening is also part of this process.
We continue to await guidance from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) on what will and will not be permitted for the Fall 2021 term and anticipate that this information will be shared with Ontario’s post-secondary sector in early July. As soon as this information is available, we will be sure to update you on any impacts this may pose for the York community.
In the coming weeks, more information will be shared via weekly Wellness Wednesday Return to Campus Special Issues and on the Better Together website. Please stay tuned for updates on our plans for a safe return to campus this fall.
Lisa Philipps Provost and Vice-President Academic
York faculty recognized with President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards
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Vari Hall new image
This year’s recipients of the 2021 President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards are being honoured for their innovation and commitment, as well as for having significantly enhanced the quality of learning by York students.
The President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards are chosen from four categories: full-time faculty with 10 or more years of teaching experience, full-time faculty with less than 10 years of experience, contract and adjunct faculty, and teaching assistants. They are selected by the Senate Committee on Awards. The goal of the awards is to provide significant recognition for excellence in teaching, to encourage its pursuit, to publicize such excellence when achieved across the University and in the wider community, and to promote informed discussion of teaching and its improvement.
Receiving the awards this year are Hossam Ali-Hassan, Gordana Colby, Sofia Noori and Michael Kenny. They were chosen from numerous nominations received by the awards committee. Each award winner will have their names engraved on the University-Wide Teaching Awards plaques displayed in Vari Hall.
Glendon international studies Professor Hossam Ali-Hassan has been named the recipient of the 2021 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the full-time tenured faculty with 10 or more years full-time teaching experience category. Ali-Hassan’s nomination highlighted his balanced approach to teaching, with a mix of technology and human abilities, with approachability and generosity that inspires student success and well-being. In addition, his colleagues mention the complementary relationship between his research, teaching and service to the University in administrative roles. More broadly, his continual self-development through perfecting his pedagogical approach and updating courses to incorporate in-demand skills and real-life experience improve the student experience at York University.
Gordana Colby, assistant professor of economics (teaching stream), is the recipient of the 2021 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the full-time faculty with less than 10 years teaching experience category. A York alumna, Colby is the Department of Economics’ first full-time faculty member in the teaching stream. In their submission to the awards committee, Colby’s nominators highlighted her passion for teaching and improving the student experience at York University, which they note promotes excellence in teaching and learning. Her nominators spoke of her commitment to enhancing student experience and engagement in academics and curricular activities. They praised the many innovative and transformative ways she has fostered student success while promoting York’s instructional priorities in first-year experience and e-learning.
The 2021 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the contract and adjunct faculty category has been awarded to Sofia Noori, a course director in the Faculty of Education. Noori was praised by her nominators for her commitment to creating an academically rigorous learning environment that is also a safe and inclusive space for students to express and hear a wide range of perspectives. Student letters in support of her nomination for the award speak about how Noori’s approach to teaching has inspired them to further their critical and imaginative capacities in ways that cultivate social and political awareness and justice. More broadly, her nominators spoke of her exemplary commitment to curricular development, innovative teaching and inclusive student engagements, all of which promote excellence at York University.
York Teaching Assistant Michael Kenny received the 2021 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the teaching assistant category. Kenny is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education and a research associate with the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. In their submission to the awards committee, Kenny’s nominators praised his leadership as a teaching assistant and his ability to empower his students to seek positive change in addressing today’s environmental and social concerns through advocacy, policy change and community service. His nominators expressed their high regard for his support of students by fostering a respectful and inclusive environment in his classrooms, and despite the challenges of the pandemic, promoting excellence among his students.
Like mother, like son: Introducing the first mother-son MFA screenwriting graduates in York history
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As many York University graduates geared up for the final hurrah of their academic careers this month, one soon-to-be grad who won’t don her cap and gown until fall breathed a big sigh of relief, having just defended her four-years-in-the-making master’s thesis. Nicole Alexander has now all but convocated with her master of fine arts (MFA) in screenwriting from York’s Department of Cinema & Media Arts. She follows rather untraditionally in the footsteps of her eldest son, Morgan Fics, who accepted the very same degree five years ago – making them the first mother-son MFA screenwriting graduates in York history. And the story of how they got here – together – is definitely one worth telling.
Morgan Fics (left) and Nicole Alexander (right)
The son
Growing up in Winnipeg, Fics wanted to be a writer for as long as he can remember, penning short stories every chance he got and imagining his bright future as a novelist. After high school, he took some time off to travel and write before realizing that he should pursue post-secondary education to help improve his craft. He soon enrolled at the University of Winnipeg, where his interests shifted from English literature to film after a professor pointed out that his work was better suited to scripts than prose. And after completing his first screenwriting course, he knew it was a perfect fit.
The poster for Morgan Fics’s 2018 short film Tick Tock
Encouragement from a trusted mentor led Fics to then decide to apply for a master’s program next. York’s was the only graduate screenwriting program in the country at the time, so he applied and was thrilled to be accepted.
“I remember the day they called me,” he says. “I was at work and I basically broke down crying in the middle of this tech support call centre I was working at. It was very, very exciting.”
Fics happened to know three people from Winnipeg who were going through York’s small but mighty graduate film program at the same time, in different streams. “And because of that, I had a really strong connection between all three aspects of the department,” he explains, “so I spent a lot of time on set, I got to do a lot of producing and a lot of story editing.”
His many fond memories from York University centre around the mentorship and collaboration among his fellow students, spending a lot of time workshopping and getting to know each other really well. He is still in contact with some of them today.
Since graduating in 2016, Fics has been busy. He has made several short films, the most recent of which, Tick Tock (2018), qualified for both the Canadian Screen Awards and the Academy Awards, and won best drama at the Toronto Shorts International Film Festival and an award of excellence at Canada Shorts. Finding the Restorative Narrative (2015), which he worked on with another York MFA grad, is part of the late York University Professor Amnon Buchbinder’s interactive website Biology of Story. And a new screenplay that he cowrote and hopes to co-direct is currently being shopped around to North American production companies.
Fics has also been exploring his interest in teaching by working as a teaching assistant for the Biology of Story course at York for several years and instructing a screenwriting course in the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. “I think teaching is one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever gotten to do with my life,” he says, “and I think that’s a lot of influence from my mom, for sure.”
Looking ahead, Fics hopes to have a varied career that includes making independent Canadian feature films and teaching part-time, while doing some script-doctoring and story editing on the side. “I basically want to do a million things at once so I’m always fresh for whatever is going on,” he says with a laugh.
The mother
Alexander, who earned her bachelor of education from the University of Manitoba and graduated from Chicago’s Second City sketch comedy writing program, kept her passion for writing mostly on the back burner as she raised her young family and worked as a teacher. But once her three kids reached their teenage years, she decided to take a crack at her first film script, something she had always dreamt of doing. She submitted that debut screenplay, The Suicide Club, to the WFF Praxis Screenwriters Lab – 21 years ago now – and, to her surprise, it was selected. But with a full-time job and three kids at home, there still wasn’t much time for her to pursue writing in any significant way. However, with her interest piqued, she went on to complete two more feature scripts in her stolen moments, plus a funny book on internet dating called Cyber Love Muse.
When all three of Alexander’s adult children left Winnipeg for graduate programs, she decided to head overseas to teach. She spent two years in Thailand and a year in South Korea, and it was then, when she was really missing her family and not knowing where to settle next, that Fics encouraged her to apply for the MFA in screenwriting at York. She hadn’t previously considered it, but she liked the idea.
“I think I needed a break from teaching and I’ve always wanted to become a better writer. I still do,” she says. “And I was shocked they let me in but they did.”
She lived on campus for two years and loved every minute of it. “Because I had my kids so young, living on campus was just so much fun,” she says. “I was really quiet and I had a cat, so I wasn’t like a usual college student, but I really appreciated the experience. Just having the time to explore the writing was such a privilege.”
The most memorable part of the program for Alexander was the short film she created, as it was her first time experimenting with other aspects of filmmaking outside of writing. “I got to write, direct and shoot, and that was an absolutely amazing experience,” she recalls.
After a difficult final year spent finishing her thesis, returning to teaching and moving back to Winnipeg to take care of her elderly father, who recently passed, Alexander is now beginning to feel like she can start to enjoy the fruits of her labour. “Now I can say that I have my MFA from York in screenwriting,” she says excitedly. “I’m relieved. There’s a real jubilance underneath that is starting to come out.”
She will be moving back to Ontario this summer, and although she’ll still be teaching, Alexander hopes to spend the next year finishing up the two scripts she has on the go and trying to do something with her thesis script, which she has already submitted to some competitions. “My goal is to segue from teaching to writing full-time, if that’s possible,” says Alexander. “I’m aiming for a new career – why not, right?”
Nicole Alexander (left) and Morgan Fics (right)
A family affair
Top of mind for both mother and son is to work on a project together now that Alexander is finished her MFA and finally able to dedicate her attention to something other than her thesis. “We’ve still got some time before the school year kicks off and I have a feeling that we’ll probably pound out a script ASAP,” says Fics assuredly.
But this won’t be the first time this mother-son duo collaborates on work. The pair has a long history of working together – while Fics completed his MFA studies, and while Alexander went through hers.
“When I would write a script, I would send it to my mom and she would read it and help with the editing,” explains Fics. “It was back and forth like this, with her stuff too. I actually edited her short film, the one that she shot at York. We’ve been working together for 15 years.”
Their tight-knit bond became especially important as they both navigated through some very heavy and interconnected material for their master’s theses. “We got really lucky to have each other during both of our journeys,” says Fics, “especially because we both did very personal thesis topics that centred around one particular individual from our lives, my father and my mom’s ex,” who passed away during the first year of Alexander’s MFA.
“It was very healing, writing that script,” Fics says. “I honestly don’t think I could have done it without my mom. It was a long process of, I guess I would call it grieving, of trying to move through the story of my relationship with my father and how that ended up playing out within the script. And something I always wished is that he could have read it.”
“It was quite the journey,” Alexander agrees. “I call it my personal therapy.”
By Lindsay MacAdam, communications officer, Communications & Public Affairs, York University
Psychology Professor Heather Prime wins Mitacs-Banting Research Foundation Discovery Award
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Heather Prime
To mark the 100th anniversary of Frederick Banting and Charles Best’s historic discovery of insulin, the Banting Research Foundation has partnered with Mitacs to double the number of Banting Research Foundation Discovery Awards it could present this year. Amongst those recognized with the jointly funded award is Heather Prime, assistant professor in York University’s Department of Psychology, for her study evaluating an innovative program to help families recover from the pandemic, with the aim of reducing child mental health problems by strengthening relationships and reducing conflicts in families.
The Banting Research Foundation Discovery Award is a one-year grant of up to $25,000 for innovative health and biomedical research projects by outstanding new investigators at universities and research institutes in Canada who are within the first three years of their first academic appointment. This year, 12 investigators – 50 per cent of whom are women – have been awarded the grants, the intent of which are to provide seed funding so that applicants are able to gather pilot data to enhance their competitiveness for other sources of funding.
“Since 1925, the Banting Research Foundation has been a unique, talent-spotting organization,” said Catharine Whiteside, Chair of the Board of the Banting Research Foundation. “Our mission is to fund young investigators, the future Banting and Bests, at the beginning of their careers when they have a bold idea with potential for having a major impact on improving health. On behalf of the Banting Research Foundation, I would like to congratulate our new awardees and wish them well on their pathway to discovery.”
Prime joined the Department of Psychology in York University’s Faculty of Health as an assistant professor and clinical psychologist in 2020. Her research program uses a family-based approach to understanding and supporting child and youth mental health from an early age. Her focus is on understanding how family relationships and real-time interactions impact a child’s well-being, and the ways families can come together to show resilience in the face of adversity.
“I am so pleased to receive this Mitacs-Banting Discovery Award,” Prime said, “which will support our research team to help children and their families recover from the stressors of the pandemic.”
At present, Prime is part of several initiatives aiming to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families, as well as to develop evidence-based approaches to supporting recovery during this time.
“Families have experienced unprecedented levels of stress, and through this project we hope to strengthen family relationships and as such children’s mental health during and after the pandemic,” she said. “SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health provides wonderful services to support child and youth mental health. I am grateful to have this partnership with them so that we can work together to enhance access to evidence-based care.”
About the Banting Research Foundation
The Banting Research Foundation has been identifying young rising stars in health science across Canada since 1925, and mentoring them the way insulin-discoverer and Nobel laureate Sir Frederick Banting was encouraged.
To date, the foundation has supported 1,341 young health and biomedical researchers across the country (totalling $8.3 million) through its annual Discovery Award Program.
The foundation’s alumni have gone on to secure major research funding, make outstanding discoveries, and have emerged as Canada’s leaders and luminaries in medical science.
Two extraordinary professors recognized with title of University Professor
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Two professors from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) have been honoured with the title University Professor. This year’s recipients are professors Carl S. Ehrlich and Carolyn Podruchny.
A University Professor is a member of faculty recognized for extraordinary contributions to scholarship and teaching and participation in university life. The award is conferred upon long-serving tenured faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to the University as colleagues, teachers and scholars.
Such achievement fulfills the following requirements: significant long-term contribution to the development or growth of the University or of its parts; significant participation in the collegium through mentorship, service and/or governance; sustained impact over time on the University’s teaching mission; and recognition as a scholar.
Carl S. Ehrlich
Carl S. Ehrlich of the departments of Humanities and History is a highly influential scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Israelite civilization who has published extensively in these fields. He has held several appointments as visiting professor at institutions in the United States, Germany and Switzerland. As director of the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies, Ehrlich has demonstrated outstanding leadership in building scholarship and research in Jewish Studies at York, and in creating and fostering greater links between Jewish communities and the University. Throughout his university career, Ehrlich has twice served as Chair of the LA&PS Faculty Council and he provides ongoing contributions to the departments of Humanities and History. More recently, Ehrlich served as Chair of the Academic Policy, Planning and Research Committee, which, in 24 Senate Committee on Awards Report to Senate 2019-20, was tasked with the responsibility of developing and shepherding the approval of the new University Academic Plan 2020-25.
Carolyn Podruchny
Carolyn Podruchny of the Department of History is an award-winning scholar, teacher, practitioner of community outreach and engagement with Indigenous peoples, and a leader in building Indigenous studies at York University. She has produced groundbreaking and award-winning scholarship for more than 20 years, including a serious and important body of scholarship in Indigenous and colonial histories of northern North America before 1900, published in books, articles and book chapters, blog posts, media interviews, newsletter contributions and webcasts. This scholarship has earned awards and award nominations from the lieutenant-governor of Ontario, the Canadian Historical Association and the Manitoba Historical Society. York University has also recognized Professor Podruchny with eight Faculty of Arts Awards of Merit and a Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research.
York University’s Schulich Leader Scholarship recipients share passion for solving global challenges
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Two graduating high-school students from the Greater Toronto Area are headed to York University this fall to begin their studies in engineering with the help of the Schulich Leader Scholarship program.
Above, from left: Aryan Soni and Kiara Mavalwala
Incoming Lassonde School of Engineering students Aryan Soni and Kiara Mavalwala are among the 100 students chosen from across Canada this year to receive the Schulich Leader Scholarship for undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). There were 1,400 nominations this year, from a larger pool of 350,000 high-school candidates. The Schulich Leader Scholarship is awarded to students entering university studies in science, technology, engineering or math who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, charisma and creativity.
Soni is receiving $80,000 over four years to pursue computer science studies at Lassonde. As student body president at Heart Lake Secondary School, he launched a school-wide charitable initiative in collaboration with Samsung to support SickKids. He also co-founded a charity that sponsors underprivileged students in India, raising enough funds to sponsor tuition for 15 students to date. In 2020 he founded Ultrain Athletics, an e-commerce business that addressed the rising demand for at-home fitness products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Soni hopes to one day launch an artificial intelligence startup to democratize algorithmic investing.
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the Schulich Foundation, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Lassonde School of Engineering for this incredible opportunity,” said Soni. “With the backing of this scholarship, I look forward to employing my passion for computer science to facilitate positive change.”
Mavalwala is receiving $100,000 over four years to pursue engineering, also at Lassonde. A graduate of St. Augustine Catholic High School, Mavalwala was an executive at her school’s chapter of Best Buddies and was instrumental in transitioning its activities online. This ensured students with and without disabilities remained engaged at a time when they most needed an inclusive space. In her role as president at youth organization Project 5K, she championed several volunteer events, resulting in more than 70 students participating in free online tutoring, more than 850 items being donated to local shelters and 1,200 Valentine’s Day cards being sent to essential workers – all while challenged with the pandemic. A decade from now, Mavalwala hopes to be working as an engineer and to be the CEO of an engineering startup to eradicate water advisories in Indigenous communities across Canada.
“I’m excited to be working alongside bright minds at the Lassonde School of Engineering where the sky is the limit,” said Mavalwala.
“We are proud to celebrate 10 years of Schulich Leader Scholarships, the premiere STEM scholarship program in Canada and the world,” said the program’s founder Seymour Schulich. “This group of 100 outstanding students will represent the best and brightest Canada has to offer and will make great contributions to society, both on a national and global scale. With their university expenses covered, they can focus their time on their studies, research projects, extracurriculars and entrepreneurial ventures. They are the next generation of entrepreneurial-minded technology innovators.”
Schulich Leader Scholarships Canada
Recognizing the increasing importance and impact that STEM disciplines will have on the prosperity of future generations, businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich established this $100+ million scholarship fund in 2012 to encourage our best and brightest students to become Schulich Leader Scholars: the next generation of entrepreneurial-minded technology innovators.
Through the Schulich Foundation, these prestigious entrance scholarships were awarded to 100 high-school graduates this year, enrolling in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics undergraduate program at 20 partner universities in Canada. Every high school in Canada can submit one Schulich Leader nominee per academic year based on academic excellence in STEM, entrepreneurial leadership and financial need.
