News Releases - 2011
Eight research leaders garner 2011 Killam Research Fellowships
Ottawa, March 1, 2011 – The winners of the 2011 Killam Research Fellowships, announced today by the Canada Council for the Arts, will focus their research in the areas of Mayan history, Alzheimer’s Disease, genetics, antibiotic resistance, moral philosophy, inhibiting bacterial growth, music and solar fuels. The Council, which administers the Fellowships, announced that a total of $1.12 million has been awarded for the eight projects, five of which are in the areas of chemistry or biology.
The Fellowships, among Canada’s most distinguished research awards, provide $70,000 a year for two years to each of the researchers. They enable the researchers to be released from teaching and administrative duties so that they can pursue independent research.
The recipients were chosen by the Killam Selection Committee, which included 14 eminent scientists and scholars representing a broad range of disciplines. The following individuals were selected from 74 applications:
Humanities – Fine Arts (music theory)
William Caplin, McGill University, Cadence, A study of closure in tonal music
Professor Caplin will pursue further study on cadence, a major device for creating musical closure, by grounding the concept in the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and then exploring how cadence functions in a wider range of musical styles. He will also consider the roles of performer and listener in the projection and experience of cadence. The James McGill Professor of Music Theory, he is recognized as a leading scholar in the recent revival of theories of musical form.
Humanities - Philosophy
Thomas Hurka, University of Toronto, British Moral Philosophers from Sidgwick to Ewing (1874-1959)
The focus of Professor Hurka’s research will be a group of British moral philosophers who shared common assumptions about the nature of morality and the proper methodology for theorizing about it. He will complete a book that examines their views on these topics and others such as duties concerning the self, the intrinsic goods and the nature of virtue. He has written five books, including Perfectionism; Virtue, Vice and Value; and The Best Things in Life.
Natural Sciences – Biochemistry
Zongchao Jia, Queen’s University, Structural studies of a bifunctional kinase/phosphatase AceK and its applications in water-borne disease suppression and biotechnology
Dr. Jia’s research will focus on the impact of a protein found within
E. coli called AceK that could be targeted to inhibit bacterial growth in water and food sources. He will also examine the possibility of using AceK in the creation of biomolecules with reduced cost and CO2 emission. A well-published scientist, Dr. Jia has been recognized through many awards and research grants and his work is often cited by other research groups. More information: http://structure.biochem.queensu.ca
Natural Sciences – Evolutionary biology
Dolph Schluter, University of British Columbia, The genetics of adaptive radiation
The Canada Research Chair for evolution and ecology at UBC, Professor Schluter is renowned in the area of evolutionary biology. He will undertake research with three-spined stickleback fish in the B.C. coastal lakes in order to understand the genetic changes that occur during evolution. He will also use this species, considered an ideal model for this type of research, to test how evolution occurs from the ecological to the genetic level. This will build on his published work,
The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation (2000). More information: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/˜schluter/
Natural Sciences – Chemistry
Chris Orvig, University of British Columbia, Medicinal inorganic chemistry approaches to multifunctional prodrugs for neurodegenerative disease treatment
Professor Orvig’s work will focus on preclinical discovery and testing of novel compounds that will slow, halt or reverse the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. In 2009 he won both the Rio Tinto Alcan Award from the Canadian Society of Chemistry and the Bioinorganic Chemistry Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry; he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2010. More information: http://www.chem.ubc.ca/personnel/faculty/orvig/index.shtml
Natural Sciences – Chemistry
Warren Piers, University of Calgary, Organometallic approaches to solar fuels
This research project will focus on the catalytic splitting of water into green fuels hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight as the energy source. A recipient of national and international awards in chemistry, he has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Chemical Institute of Canada. He currently holds the S. Robert Blair Chair in Chemistry. More information: http://www.chem.ucalgary.ca/research/groups/wpiers/
Natural Sciences – Chemical Biology
Gerard Wright, McMaster University, Antibiotics and resistance, from understanding to solutions
This research project includes two components: understanding antibiotic resistance and developing strategies to identify leads for new antibiotics from natural sources. Dr. Wright will also work to establish CARD: a complete antibiotic resistance database for use by researchers, scientists and clinicians. Recognized as one of the top scientists in this field, Dr. Wright, a full professor in biochemistry and biomedical sciences, is also the Director of the MG DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster.
Social Sciences – Historical Geography
W. George Lovell, Queen’s University, Enduring conquest: a cultural history of the Guatemalan Maya
The fellowship will give Professor Lovell time to synthesize four decades of research on how the Guatemalan Maya have survived cycles of conquest, allowing him to produce a book that documents remarkable cultural resilience and speaks to the strength of the human spirit. An internationally recognized scholar of Maya peoples in Guatemala, he is currently on sabbatical leave as visiting professor in Latin American history at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain.
General information
The Canada Council for the Arts Killam Research Fellowships are made possible through the Killam Trusts by a bequest of
Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam and a gift she made before her death in 1965 to honour the achievements of her late husband, Izaak Walton Killam. The awards support scholars engaged in research projects of outstanding merit in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering and interdisciplinary studies within these fields.
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards a number of distinguished prizes in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.
Find a complete listing of these awards. For more information about the Killam Trusts, visit www.killamtrusts.ca.