McGill Headway

news bites//KILLAM KUDOSADMINISTERED BY THE CANADA COUNCILFOR THE ARTS, the Killam Program’s prizesand fellowships are an illustrious recognitionof outstanding academic scholarship. TwoMcGill professors received Killam awardsbeginning in 2012:COLIN CHAPMAN, professor of anthropology and environment, received a KillamResearch Fellowship to conduct research inKibale National Park in Uganda, where he isexamining how changes in climate affectdisease transmission between humans andprimates. The research fellowships, awardedto seven recipients across the country considered to have an outstanding reputation intheir area of research, provide funding of 70,000 a year for two years. These funds allowprofessors to take a break from teaching andadministrative duties to pursue independentresearch — in Chapman’s case, in the field ofprimate ecology and conservation.MARK WAINBERG, director of the McGillUniversity AIDS Centre and professor of medicine,microbiology and immunology, was awardedthe 2012 Killam Prize in Health Sciences inrecognition of exceptional career achievementsin HIV/AIDS research. Wainberg, who receivedthe 100,000 prize in a ceremony at RideauHall, is known for first identifying thecompound 3TC, a discovery that was key tothe development of one of the most valuableanti-viral HIV drugs. His research is also globalin scope and current collaborations include aninitiative that seeks to prevent the spread ofHIV infection in southern Africa.The Killam Program offers awards to outstanding Canadian scholars working in thehumanities, social sciences, natural sciences,health sciences and engineering.THE LATEST EXERCISE TREND:BRAIN TRAININGIN THE SAME WAY THAT SPRING TRAINING IS INTENDED TO WHIP BASEBALLPLAYERS INTO SHAPE FOR THE UPCOMINGSEASON, so can you put your brain throughthe paces and fend off dementia in old agewith a new cognitive training project offeredby the McGill Centre for Studies in Agingand the Douglas Mental Health UniversityInstitute. Called PONDER (Prevention ofNeurological Diseases in Everyone at Risk),McGILL UNIVERSITY // HEADWAY 7.1 // SPRING 2013the initiative is led by associate professor ofpsychiatry JENS PRUESSNER, who points outthat the more we use our minds, the less likelywe are to, well, lose them.“Studies show that cognitive training has asignificant effect on preserving high cognitivefunction in old age. The idea is that the moreintellectual capacity you have to begin with,the more of a buffer you have that will preventyou from being afflicted with neurodegener-ation or dementia,” he says. “Dementia is likedescending a mountain — it takes longer toreach the bottom if you start at 1,000 feet thanif you start at 100 feet.”To start climbing: the PONDER website(ponder.mcgill.ca) offers a series of onlinegames that progress from encouragingly easy(repeat the sequence of one or two flashinglights as they travel across your screen) torevealingly aggravating (repeat the sequenceof seven traveling, flashing lights and realizea er three failed attempts that your brain is insome serious need of regular working out).The project encourages participants toregister, which gives players access to the fullseries of games rather than a sample, andwhich will also allow researchers to create adatabase of longitudinal cognitive assessments, providing further insight intointervention and treatment of dementia suchas Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.So what are you waiting for? Get thoseneurons firing!Jens Pruessner’s research is funded by theCanadian Institutes of Health Research, theNatural Sciences and Engineering ResearchCouncil of Canada, the Alzheimer Society ofCanada, Fonds de recherche du Québec — Santéand the donors of the McGill Centre for Studiesin Aging.04

news bites//CORNERING CORRUPTIONLEVELS OF SCANDAL VS LEVELS OF INTRA / INTER GOVERNMENT TERGOVERNMENTCOMPETITIONEXAMPLES:01 DUHALDE 2002-200302 MENEM 1989-199103 KIRCHNER 2005-200704 KIRCHNER 2003-200505 MENEM 1993-199506 MENEM 1991–199307 MENEM 1997-199908 DE LA RÚA 1999-2001010203040506WHY DO SOME ACTS OF CORRUPTIONBECOME PUBLIC WHILE OTHERS REMAINSECRET? McGill political science assistantprofessor MANUEL BALÁN set out to answerthis question by examining the publicity andreactions that resulted from revelations ofcorruption in Argentina and Chile between1989 and 2007. Public disclosures of corruption,he found, are o en triggered by competitionwithin a governing party or coalition itself(intragovernment competition, as opposed tointergovernment competition among multipleparties). In other words, while corruption isever-present, it is more likely to become publicwhen there is political infighting, as government insiders with privileged access toinformation leak details about misdeeds fortheir own gain.The takeaway? Those who are successfulin the political underworld keep their enemiesclose and their friends even closer Low level of scandal0708High level of scandalLEADING THE WAYIN INNOVATIONTHREE McGILL UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERSARE THE LATEST RECIPIENTS OF CLOSETO 11 MILLION IN LEADING EDGE FUNDAWARDS from the Canada Foundation forInnovation (CFI). The awards, matched bycontributions made by the government ofQuebec, will subsidize investment in state-ofthe-art equipment that will be available toresearchers across the city, province andcountry, fostering better understanding ofnanotechnology, biomolecules and atomiccellular structure.Physics professor PETER GRÜTTER pursuesresearch in nanoscience — examining andmanipulating miniscule “nano objects” suchas single electrons, molecules or neuronalsynapses. Grütter’s 4.5-million CFI awardallows him to outfit his research facility withcutting edge nanotools and to train new students in research techniques that set the05international standard for nanoscale applications in telecommunications, medicine andcomputing.KALLE GEHRING, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, will receive 4.8 millionfor a joint project with Université de Montréalto promote research that looks more closelyat biomolecules and their role in variousdiseases, from neurodegenerative diseasessuch as Parkinson’s to the growing conundrumof antibiotic-resistant bacteria in infectiousdiseases. The fund will also support the purchase of microscopes and robotics forexamining and making protein crystals.Another 1.5-million award will support thepurchase of an advanced electron microscopeand lab equipment for dentistry professorMARC McKEE’s research into cellular ultrastructures and their role in disease diagnoses,tissue repair and regeneration. Theseinstruments are unique in Canada and canexamine and manipulate molecules at -140degrees Celsius as well as in various states.The Canada Foundation for InnovationLeading Edge Fund invests in world-classinfrastructure projects and provides support toexplore promising new research directions.One of theatomic-scalemicroscopesused inPeter Grütter’sresearchfacility

news bites//WHAT TO EAT NEXT —A PHOSPHORUS PRIMERMINED PHOSPHORUS, AN ELEMENTWIDELY USED AS AGRICULTURAL FERTILIZER, IS A NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCE.This finite supply has led some researchers toproject a peak phosphorous scenario, akin tothat of peak oil, in which the earth’s reservesof the mineral will be completely depletedwithin 50-100 years. Too much phosphorus inan ecosystem as a result of runoff and erosioncan also lead to eutrophication, a process ofdense plant growth that depletes the system’soverall supply of oxygen.Because the overuse of phosphorus has bothagricultural and ecological consequences,GENEVIÈVE METSON, a PhD student in McGill’sDepartment of Natural Resource Sciences,sought to investigate how changes in dietmight contribute to sustainable phosphorusmanagement. To do so, she performed anumber of statistical calculations on theamount of phosphorus applied to crops to feedhumans, including the feed used by animalsultimately consumed by people.“Our results demonstrate that changes indiet can be a significant part of the strategy forenhancing sustainability of phosphorus management,” Metson says. “In particular, reducedconsumption of meat, and especially beef, inSTARCHY ROOTS,3333 KGcountries with large phosphorus footprintscould put a big dent in demand for minedphosphorus — since it takes many kilogramsof feed, which is fertilized, to produce a kilogram of meat.”This research was supported by funding fromthe Natural Sciences and Engineering ResearchCouncil of Canada, Arizona State University’sSustainable P Initiative, and the U.S. NationalScience Foundation.P footprint (Kg P capita-1 year-1)01234567ArgentinaUSAUruguayPULSES,2500 KGNew ZealandCanadaFranceUKGreeceFRUITS,2000 KGNorwayVEGETABLES,769 KG1 KGPHOSPHORUSCOUNTRYParaguayBrazilMexicoSouth AfricaLibyaCEREALS,344 KGWorldBoliviaMILK, 232 KGJapanMoroccoEGGS, 79 KGChinaZimbabwePOULTRY, 52 KGIndiaGhanaPORK, 31 KGBEEF, 16 KGMcGILL UNIVERSITY // HEADWAY 7.1 // SPRING 2013Meat, dairy & eggsVegetables06

news bites//RENOWNED QUEBEC SCIENTISTGUY ROULEAU HEADSTHE MONTREAL NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTEAFTER A WORLDWIDE SEARCH, MCGILL’SMONTREAL NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTEAND HOSPITAL — THE NEURO — HAS ANEW DIRECTOR IN PROMINENT QUEBECCLINICIAN-SCIENTIST GUY ROULEAU.Previously the director of the Centre of Excellence in Neuroscience of the Université deMontréal, Rouleau’s landmark achievementsare his contributions to the identification ofover 20 disease-causing genes and his discovery of new mutational mechanisms. Over thelast 20 years, Dr. Rouleau and his team havefocused on identifying genes causing neurological and psychiatric disease, includingautism, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, epilepsyand schizophrenia.“The Neuro is a world-renowned hub ofinnovation known for taking calculated risksvital for advancing neuroscience and for solving some of the world’s most pressingneurological problems,” said Jacques Bougie,Chairman of the Neuro’s Advisory Board. “Itrequires a visionary leader and Dr. Rouleau isjust the person for the job.”TEN SECONDS TO BLAST-OFFVOLCANIC ERUPTIONS MAY BE SUDDENAND VIOLENT, BUT THERE MAY ALSO BEAN ELEMENT OF PREDICTABILITY TOTHEIR EXPLOSIVE FORCE.DON BAKER, a professor in the Departmentof Earth and Planetary Sciences, worked witha team of international researchers to examinehow the formation of bubbles trapped inmagma affects the scale of a volcanic eruption.Think of the bubbles that erupt when you shakea can of cola and crack the tab; now convertthe cola to molten rock and you get an idea ofhow Baker’s experiments played out in the lab.Using a recently developed laser heatingsystem at the Swiss Light Source facility inSwitzerland, Baker and his colleagues heatedwater-bearing molten rock and took threedimensional tomographic (CAT) scans of theprocess, measuring the number and size of07bubbles and calculating how the sample lostgas (de-gassed).They found that the first 10 to 20 secondsof heating results in rapid bubble growth,called vesiculation, creating a porous foamthat is highly susceptible to eruption. A er thisperiod, if the magma has survived intact, thebubbles coalesce and the magma is alreadybeginning to de-gas, decreasing the likelihoodand force of eruption.These results offer insight into the types oferuptions that will occur in various volcanicregions of the world, and Baker hopes topursue further research into the effects of thefirst few seconds of vesiculation, as well asthe effect of crystals on the process of growth.Funding for the study was provided by theNatural Sciences and Engineering ResearchCouncil of Canada and the Swiss Light Source.Bubble growth in a basaltic melt at1 standard atmosphere (unit of pressure)

news bites//POSTDOCTORAL PROGRESSPOSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS (OR POSTDOCS, AS THEY ARE OFTEN CALLED) AREA GROWING PRESENCE AT INSTITUTIONSACROSS NORTH AMERICA and McGill ishome to one of the largest communities ofpostdocs in Canada.Part researcher and part academic, occasionally a teacher, sometimes an entrepreneur,and, in Quebec, also considered a trainee, apostdoc is an academically affiliated individualwho has recently obtained a PhD or an MD andis pursuing specialized research but who doesnot hold a permanent post as a professor orlecturer. There are more than 650 postdocscurrently registered at McGill and this numberrises to include about 1,000 scholars as postdocs arrive over the course of each year.“Postdocs contribute significantly to theresearch and academic initiatives of a university, and they often bring importantinternational experience as well,” says LOUISEHARVEY, a postdoctoral fellow from Australiawho is pursuing research in neurodevelopmental disorders at the Douglas Mental HealthUniversity Institute and who is an executivemember of the Association of PostdoctoralFellows of McGill University. “It can be a challenging time, but it is also an exciting time tostrengthen research skills, to learn new so skills, such as networking or academic administration, and to meet new people.”Below, a glimpse of where postdocs atMcGill are from and their chosen field ofresearch.200249628308311218DESAUTELS FACULTYOF MANAGEMENT4FACULTY OFEDUCATION9FACULTY OFRELIGIOUS STUDIES2FACULTY OFAGRICULTURAL ANDENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES18FACULTY OFENGINEERING61FACULTY OFSCIENCE145FACULTY OFARTS41FACULTY OFLAW6SCHOOL OFCONTINUING STUDIES10FACULTY OFDENTISTRY7FACULTY OFMEDICINE366SCHULICH SCHOOLOF MUSIC3McGILL UNIVERSITY // HEADWAY 7.1 // SPRING 201308

features//SCH3.0LBased at McGill and drawing together universities from around the globe,the new Learning Environments Across Disciplines project explores howa new generation of technology-rich classrooms can keep students morefocused and engaged — and keep would-be drop-outs in school. //By Laura PellerineYou know that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, theone where the high school teacher lectures in a drymonotone voice while his students stare blanklyback at him? One student, head on desk, is so boredthat drool has pooled near his mouth, while theteacher attempts in vain to engage his charges byrepeatedly asking, “Anyone, anyone?”A new collaborative research project is hoping to prevent such scenesfrom happening in classrooms in the future — and to inspire at-riskstudents (Statistics Canada reported 190,800 drop-outs in 2010 alone)to give the classroom another chance.Susanne Lajoie, a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair (Advanced Technologies for Learning in Authentic Settings (ATLAS)) and professor inthe Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, is theprincipal researcher of Learning Environments Across Disciplines. Thegoal of LEADS is to figure out how students learn, and perhaps evenmore importantly, how to keep their attention in the classroom. Theinterdisciplinary research project is using technology-rich learningenvironments to fully engage students, and to better understand howthe act of learning can excite, or bore, students of all ages.“The big problem in today’s world is students have all these beautifultoys — social networking, smartphones, iPads — and then they go toschool and teachers tell them to turn off the technology,” says Lajoie,who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Educational Research Association. “Now, that’s one way to keeppeople focused. But another way is to bring the excitement of technology into the classroom — and that’s not being done as cleverly as itshould be. I’m not saying that just putting a computer into the classroom makes it a good tool. You have to design the technology so itenhances learning and emotional motivation.”Designing that technology is a big part of what LEADS aims to do.Backed by a 2.5-million “Insights” Partnership Grant from the SocialSciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the researchers09will use technology-rich platforms to document how learning occurs,and what educators need to do to get students more engaged.Joining Lajoie in the seven-year research project are 16 co-applicantsand 12 partners representing 19 universities and agencies from Canada,the United States, Germany, Australia, Denmark and China. The projectis divided into three themes. Roger Azevedo, a professor in Lajoie’sdepartment and the Canada Research Chair in Metacognition andAdvanced Learning Technologies, is leading the exploration of cognitiveand socially guided learning. Reinhard Pekrun, a psychology professorat Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, is leading emotionalengagement and disengagement studies. The third theme leader isJacqueline Leighton, an educational psychology professor at theUniversity of Alberta, who is tackling innovative forms of assessmentwith methods that go beyond traditional self-reporting data.The theme leaders are overseeing collaborations between researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds, who gathered for the first timethis past June at a two-day conference in Montreal. Psychologists andcomputer scientists, engineers and ethnographers, educators andphysicians — even historians: None are new to the study of education,but they haven’t ever shared their ideas with such a diverse pool ofthinkers.“There are people interested in learning theory, there are peopleinterested in emotion theory, there are people designing technologies,”says Lajoie. “We’ve all been working in silos but now we’re going tobe able to work together to build better tools. One person may be goodat designing games but they may never have worked cross-disciplinebefore, so how can they help physicians build games that would bebetter for medical simulation? By bringing people together we’re goingto be able to cross methodologies and cross theories.”One cross-discipline that students are sure to enjoy is the welcomingof video games into the classroom. Heading up this end of the projectis James Lester, a professor of computer science at North CarolinaState University, and co-investigator in LEADS’ emotional engagement

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010203040501 Jacqueline Leighton02 James Lester03 Reinhard Pekrun04 Susanne Lajoie05 Roger AzevedoWith members of the LEADS Research Groupat the inaugural annual meeting in Montrealin 2012and disengagement

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