Eleven UPEI graduate and post-doctoral students have been awarded funding through the Island Prosperity Strategy to support their research work in areas aligned with the government’s innovation and economic strategy.
The Graduate and Post Doctoral Fellowship is a program that promotes partnerships between the private sector and research institutions by sponsoring graduate students and post-doctoral researchers whose studies are aligned with the Island Prosperity Strategy.
“We are pleased to support the research work of these students and their projects which complement the work government is doing to diversify the PEI economy,” said Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning. “Investing in people who are working to strengthen our innovative sectors is essential if we are to develop new products and services from our resource industries and other sectors of the economy.”
The Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning created the Graduate and Post-Doctoral Fellowship program to support research projects that have commercial potential with funding of up to $20,000 for graduate students and $40,000 for post-doctoral fellows.
The recipients of the Graduate and Post Doctoral Fellowship will be honoured at a luncheon on June 29, 2009 where they will receive recognition from the province for their dedicated work to Island research and innovation.
The following projects were approved by the Department of Innovation and Advanced learning under the Graduate and Post Doctoral fellowship fund.
1. Donald Cameron ~ Project Title: Erythritol-based Cores for Biodegradable Materials.
Funding will allow for further work in developing new polymeric materials based upon the polymer star architecture based on non-toxic dipentaerythritol cores. The enhanced polymer stars will have important applications in materials science and as drug delivery systems.
2. Dr. Marguerite Cameron ~ Project Title: Evaluation of Selective Dry Cow Treatment Following On-Farm Culture Using Petrifilm on Low Somatic Cell Count Cows at Dry Off.
The study will compare new infection rates at freshening between control group cows.
3. Jennifer Cuillier ~ Project Title: Development of a Bacterial Terpene Production Method.
The proposed research will create a bacteria-based isoprenoid production platform capable of high-level production of targeted isoprenoids, employing a reliable fermentation process.
4. Dr. Okechukwu Igboeli ~ Project Title: Developments of Models to Study Drug resistance in Sea Lice.
Current study investigates development of efficient models for monitoring/ studying drug resistance by sea lice using bioassays and molecular techniques.
5. Dr. Kimberly MacDonald ~ Project Title: Evaluation of an On-Farm Culture System and Treatment Decision Algorithm For Clinical Mastitis in Canada.
Currently, most dairy farmers treat all cases of mastitis without knowing the causative organism. Antibiotic treatment results in financial losses to the farm due to lost revenue from discarded milk and cost of antibiotic treatment. On-farm culture determines cases requiring treatment within 24 hours.
6. Jessica Livingston-Thomas ~ Project Title: Novel Strategies for Enhancing Functional Recovery Following Focal Ischemic Stroke.
Using microinjections of the vasoconstrictor endothelia-1, we are able to produce specific deficits in forelimb motor function simulating a stroke. This project will investigate the benefits of a unique form of rehabilitation on recovery of motor function in this model.
7. Rebecca Pike ~ Project Title: Fungal and Bacterial Diversity and Natural Products Drug Discovery from Marine Gorgonian Corals and Sponges.
The first component of the project will taxonomically enumerate fungal and bacterial communities of selected gorgonian corals and sponges using culture-independent methods. This will develop an understanding of the ecological niches of gorgonians and sponges in selected tropical habitats.
8. Dr. Malcolm McCulloch ~ Project Title: Isolation and Characterization of Novel PTP1B
Project will focus on the top 10 hits with selective activity against the protein tyrosine phosphate PTP1B, which is a major negative regulator of both insulin and leptin signalling.
9. Dr. Jennifer Slemmer ~ Project Title: Validation of potential human health benefits of functional foods produced on Prince Edward Island.
Testing of individual compounds, groups of compounds, or whole foods in functional foods will occur in order to identify their potential human health benefit, Including their effects on inflammation, atherosclerosis, oxidative stress and various metabolic disorders, such as diabetes.
10. Sarah Stewart-Clark ~ Project Title: Development of Molecular Markers to Evaluate the Impact of Tunicate Mitigation Treatments on Mussel Gene Expression and Health.
This project will use an innovative mussel microarray to evaluate the impact of tunicate treatment methods on mussel health by measuring changes in gene expression in treated vs. non-treated mussels.
11. Dr. Hua Wang ~ Project Title: Development of Noval Fatty Acid-based Nutaceuticals for Brain Health.
This project is to develop novel FA-based nutraceutical formulations that target preventable, ageing, stress and inflammation-related cognitive decline.