Expanding Scholarly, Research & Creative (SRC) Activity
With the support of our government, industry and community partners, Ryerson University’s faculty are pushing the boundaries of research and innovation across disciplines.
Canada Research Chairs
The Canada Research Chair (CRC) program administered by the Government of Canada’s Tri-Agencies represents the best in world-class research and results in the training of the next generation of student researchers who will go on to lead in their fields. During the 2020–21 fiscal year, Ryerson saw Reza Arani, Damien Lee and Ali Tavallaei named new CRCs, and the renewal of a second-term CRC for Anatoliy Gruzd.
Reza Arani (Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering) was named the Canada Research Chair in Smart Grid Cyber-Physical Security. He will develop new models and controls to ensure that smart power grids are secure, sustainable and resilient, while innovating ways to eliminate, mitigate or detect attacks and threats.
Anatoliy Gruzd (Information Technology Management) will use his renewal as the Canada Research Chair in Privacy-Preserving Digital Technologies to continue his research into the emerging areas of social media data privacy and stewardship and by examining the adoption and use of new privacy-preserving technologies and methods by social networking platforms.
Damien Lee (Sociology) was named the Canada Research Chair in Biskaabiiyang and Indigenous Political Resurgence. His research will focus on Indigenous governance and how various Indigenous communities are practicing their own systems of government while disengaging from the systems imposed by Canada’s Indian Act.
Ali Tavallaei (Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering) was named the Canada Research Chair in Systems and Devices for Cardiovascular Interventions. He will generate new image-guided therapeutic and diagnostic solutions for cardiovascular diseases, the number-one cause of death globally.
Tri-Council Highlights
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Linda Rothman (Occupational and Public Health) received a CIHR Operating Grant: COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities to investigate the overall effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rates of road traffic injuries and deaths across Canadian cities, with the aim of developing new road safety strategies and safer walking and cycling environments.
Josephine Wong (Nursing) and Mandana Vahabi (Nursing) received a CIHR Team Grant: Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases – Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cancer program. They will lead a team of Ontario and Alberta researchers to study an intervention model that aims to help reduce HIV-related stigma in racialized and other marginalized communities and compare the effectiveness of in-person and online training.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation
Ebrahim Bagheri (Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering) received an NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation in acknowledgment of his long-standing NSERC-supported partnership with Warranty Life, a British Columbia-based company. The award will go towards supporting new research in advanced social media analytics to help combat online misinformation.
Russell Richman (Architecture) received an NSERC Alliance Grant to monitor and measure the performance and durability of mass timber, an engineered wood material that is considered to be more sustainable than concrete and steel, in mid to high-rise buildings.
Brandon Paul (Psychology) received an NSERC Discovery Grant to investigate the relationship between hearing, vision and overall brain function and behaviour, including whether long-term reliance on audiovisual applications such as hearing aids and cochlear implants enhance cognitive resources.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Idil Atak (Criminology; Law) received SSHRC support to lead the Canada-related part of a major international research project called PROTECT, which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 initiative that looks at migrant rights in the context of increasingly conflicted political visions in countries around the world.
Tara Collins (Child and Youth Care) received a SSHRC Partnership Grant to further advance the work of the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP), which was formed in 2015 and has 30 partner organizations from Canada, the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
Oliver Okafor (Accounting and Finance) received a SSHRC Insight Grant to examine immigrants’ perceptions of discrimination/bias and how they impact their lives, the challenges for immigrant and minority groups at work, and the opportunities for creating a more inclusive workplace that would improve their overall quality of work life.
Municipal, Provincial & Other Federal Funding
Non-Tri-Council Federal Funding
Judy Finlay (Child and Youth Care) received support from the Department of Justice’s Youth Justice Fund to launch, in partnership with Indigenous courtworkers from multiple jurisdictions in Canada, a project to improve outcomes for Indigenous youth who are involved in both the child welfare and youth criminal justice system.
Jenn McArthur (Architectural Science) received research infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to establish the Smart Campus Integration and Testing Lab, which will explore and test “smart building” products and management strategies that could help to address and mitigate climate change.
Provincial Funding
Early Researcher Awards (ERA)
April Khademi (Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering) will lead the development of an automated software tool that will analyze magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain together with clinical data to investigate causes of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.
Miranda Kirby (Physics) will work to create innovative medical imaging analysis tools that can be applied to assess patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and be used to predict which patients are at greatest risk of disease progression and hospitalization.
Karl Szpunar (Psychology) will train personnel and advance his novel research into reducing bouts of inattention during learning from video-based materials by interspersing opportunities for people to express what they’ve learned.
Cheryl Thompson (Creative Industries) will create a comprehensive inventory of Ontario’s Black archives, addressing a challenge in Black Canadian Studies when dealing with archives that are sometimes hidden, incomplete or scattered.
Municipal Funding
Chris Gibbs (Creative Industries) received support from the City of Toronto to explore strategies and practices to aid in the recovery and resiliency of Toronto’s live entertainment sector, and to conduct outreach activities for cultural workers and organizations.
Catherine Middleton (Information Technology Management) received support from the City of Toronto to investigate the digital divide in the city, including the socioeconomic factors that can lead to citizens being underserved when it comes to internet access.
Gavin Adamson (Journalism), Asmaa Malik (Journalism) and Karyn Pugliese (Journalism) received support from the Google News Initiative’s North American Innovation Challenge to develop an AI-powered tool that assesses the quality of sources cited in news stories.
Melanie Panitch (Disability Studies) received support from Eviance to identify and advance methods of making postsecondary education inclusive and equitable for diverse students with disabilities.
Derick Rousseau (Chemistry and Biology) received support from Kraft Heinz Canada to investigate methods to slow down oil separation in natural peanut butter.
Centres & Institutes
The Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst launched its public policy initiative, the Cybersecure Policy Exchange, in collaboration with the Ryerson Leadership Lab and supported by RBC. The initiative began in April 2020 with a series of weekly town halls in which leading experts discussed critical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ryerson Zone Learning network expanded beyond Ryerson’s downtown Toronto campus to Brampton, Ontario with the launch of the Ryerson Venture Zone in Brampton (RVZ), which will incubate local technology startups and develop entrepreneurial talent.
City Building Ryerson was launched in September 2020 as a university-wide initiative to collaborate, mobilize and showcase city building and urban innovation at Ryerson. City Building Ryerson furthers the work of the now retired Ryerson City Building Institute.
Ryerson’s research success is built on a strong history of collaboration with industry, not-for-profit and community partners.
