FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 1, 2011, Peterborough
Two Trent University researchers have received a $196,095 in funding for studies in the fields of aquatic science and psychology, one examining the ecology of lake ecosystems and the other looking at long-term memory.
Announced today in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is part of a $53,298,531 million investment to support 207 projects of Canada’s best researchers and top scholars at 42 institutions through the Leadership Opportunity Fund. The CFI funding will support two researchers at Trent, Drs. Paul Frost and Hugo Lehmann.
Dr. Neil Emery, Trent University’s vice-president, Research and International, welcomed the announcement by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. "This investment in infrastructure will increase our capacity in two of our key areas of research: health and environmental sciences," said Professor Emery.
Dr. Paul Frost, the David Schindler Professor of Aquatic Science at Trent University, will receive $99,419 in infrastructure funding to provide laboratory facilities for the purpose of examining nutrient dynamics in the environment.
"This study has a wide range of benefits to Ontario and Canada,” said Professor Frost, “by deepening our basic understanding of nutrient cycling in lake ecosystems. This laboratory will increase our understanding of nutrients in the Kawartha Lakes and how they affect these important aquatic ecosystems. This infrastructure will improve Trent's ability to conduct aquatic science and will continue to build upon its international reputation in this research area."
Dr. Hugo Lehmann, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Trent, will receive $96,676 in infrastructure funding that will provide a state-of-the-art behavioural neuroscience laboratory to enable Dr. Lehmann and his colleagues to generate data and findings crucial for developing an understanding of the physical basis of memory which will impact our approach for treating memory disorders.
“Memories define us as individuals and it is critical to understand how they are stored in the brain. Only then will we be able to prevent or reverse the devastating effects of brain disorders on memory, such as Alzheimer’s disease and stroke," said Professor Lehmann, who, with his collaborators, is systematically evaluating how reiterated memories (e.g. re-experienced events) become increasingly resistant to damage of the most critical and widely studied memory centre in the brain: the hippocampus.
“CFI’s Leadership Opportunity Fund is an important driver in innovation across this nation,” said Dean Del Mastro, MP, Peterborough. “The research being pursued by Professors Paul Frost and Hugo Lehmann will add respectively to our knowledge of how we can protect our lake ecosystems and increase our understanding of important health issues such as memory disorders.”
“CFI investments provide vital infrastructure in communities across the country and create opportunities for leveraging the work being undertaken by our enterprising researchers,” said Dr. Gilles G. Patry, CFI president and CEO. “Cutting-edge research facilities are magnets that attract the best talent from around the world, allowing them to work with business and train a new generation of Canadian researchers and innovators.”
The Leaders Opportunity Fund helps universities attract and retain top researchers. With this program, universities can put together competitive packages of research support that are essential to attract today’s best research talent. The program also includes an allocation representing of 30% of finalized CFI contribution to the project to cover the operation and maintenance costs of the infrastructure.
Created by the Government of Canada in 1997, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) strives to build our nation’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to benefit Canadians through investments in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions.
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Posted on Thursday, September 1, 2011.