The University of British Columbia Proposals

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Biofuels and Biorefining Innovation
Energy and its sustainable supply make up the single most important challenge currently facing humanity. The Chair in Biofuels and Biorefining Innovation would meet this challenge by establishing a field-defining research and development program. The program would provide the technological innovations needed to expand Canada's portfolio of clean-energy options, create new forest-based industries for Canada's rural communities, reduce our country's dependence on fossil fuels, and enhance our efforts to mitigate climate change. The key strategy of the program would be to develop new approaches to use Canada's forests and plantation trees as renewable resources for producing energy and value-added chemicals.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neuroscience
Diseases of the brain represent one of the most formidable medical challenges of the 21st century. The Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and the Brain Research Centre, two of Canada's leading integrated centres for neuroscience, will pool their resources and expertise to create and support this unique Chair. The Chair would be a catalyst for neuroscience research in Canada. An unbiased systems biology approach would combine state-of-the-art neuroscience, molecular genetics, functional genomics and proteomic technologies with bioinformatics to uncover how neurodegenerative diseases work at the molecular level, identify new disease proteins and potential drug targets, and develop new drug therapies for patients.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Materials and Devices Based on Oxide Heterostructures
This Chair would perform basic condensed-matter research to show that many transition-metal oxide systems can be prepared with predictable, high-quality interfaces that exhibit unique properties. They would then use the resulting knowledge to develop new devices taking advantage of these unique properties. UBC's quantum materials researchers are already world leaders in growing and understanding stand-alone transition-metal oxides. By attracting a leader in this burgeoning new field that emphasizes these oxides' interfacial properties and applications, Canada will play a leading role in this paradigm-shifting field of research and development.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Translational Prostate Cancer Genomics
The Chair in Translational Prostate Cancer would be a leader in the emerging field of translational genomic oncology, where technology, mathematics, genomics, computer science, and clinical science are brought together to develop cancer diagnosis and therapies. Using "ultra-high-throughput sequencing" technology, the Chair would develop DNA-based biomarkers to predict the risk that a localized disease will progress, to evaluate responses to therapy, and to help develop new therapies aimed at tumour-specific targets and pathways to delay the progression of late-stage cancer. The discovery and development of biomarkers and new therapeutics resulting from the large-scale sequencing efforts led by this Chair would fundamentally transform the field of oncology and speed up the development of personalized oncology.

For more information, contact:

The University of British Columbia
c/o Dr. Wesley Pue
Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Academic Resources
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6T 1Z4
Telephone: 604-822-4544
Email: wesley.pue@ubc.ca
www.ubc.ca