University of Toronto Proposals

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Climate Change:
Implications for Northern Development
Dramatic changes are underway in the Arctic climate, including increasing temperatures, declining sea ice, the degradation of permafrost, melt-back of glaciers, and rising sea levels. Building on existing strengths at the University of Toronto's Department of Physics and Centre for Global Change Science, the proposed Chair would use environmental sciences and related technologies to measure and model Arctic climate change. These changes in the Arctic climate have implications for northern development through their impact on the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. This research is vitally important, as the Arctic serves as an early warning system for global climate change as well as a host to reserves of increasingly critical resources.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Neuro-Rehabilitation
Acquired brain injury is the leading cause of disability in young and middle-aged Canadians. While survival after brain injury has improved dramatically, technological advances to allow people with brain injuries to live at home and participate fully in society have not kept pace. The Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Neuro-Rehabilitation would develop new technologies for people with brain injuries by combining computer science with bioengineering. The Chair would also cement collaboration between the University of Toronto's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and Department of Computer Science, and the Bloorview Kids Rehab and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, collectively already the most productive rehabilitation-technology research group in the world.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Integrative Biology
The Chair in Integrative Biology will be a leader in the field of systems biology. This new field comes from the realization that understanding the complexity of life means considering, in an integrated way, the whole. This approach is leading to insights into the cellular changes that may define causative differences between healthy and disease states. The University of Toronto is home to internationally renowned researchers in this field, making it one of top five centres for systems biology in the world. Integrative biology is the only approach that can harness the results generated by the personal genome sequencing and proteomic technologies that will define modern medicine.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Stem Cell Neogenetics
This Chair would build on the exceptional strength and historical foundation of the Ontario Cancer Institute's stem cell research program, from Till and McCulloch's 1961 discovery of hematopoietic stem cells to John Dick's recent discoveries of cancer stem cells, the applications of stem cell technology by Gordon Keller, and Ben Neel's discoveries in signaling. The University Health Network's strong vision of the future has identified stem cell neogenetics-epigenetic and microRNA mechanisms as a new frontier for key breakthroughs in regenerative medicine. The Network, of which the Ontario Cancer Institute is a part, builds on a leading team of talent and leverages $117 million in previous institutional investment and $30 million in committed funding.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Structural Neurobiology

Neuroscience is undergoing a structural revolution. The Chair in Structural Neurobiology would be an internationally renowned structural biologist working in the exciting area of neuroscience. The Chair would lead an interdisciplinary group of scientists to develop new methods to produce key membrane channel, receptor and transporter proteins of the nervous system, and to take a high-resolution look to determine their molecular structure using the latest technologies. Building on existing strengths at the University of Toronto in both neuroscience and structural biology, the Chair would propel Canada to a leadership position in this structural revolution.

For more information, contact:

University of Toronto
c/o R. Paul Young, Ph.D., FRSC
Vice-President, Research
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 1A1
Telephone: 416-978-4984
Email: vp.research@utoronto.ca
www.utoronto.ca