Celebrating early career excellence at Ryerson’s 2022 Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity Awards

Three Ryerson University researchers have been selected for this year’s Early Scholarly, Research and Creative Career Excellence Awards. The awards recognize Ryerson faculty who have made a significant contribution in their area of expertise in the first five years of their academic career. The recipients have been announced as part of the wider annual Ryerson Awards that celebrated staff and faculty with a special ceremony held on April 7, 2022. 

Eliza Chandler, a professor in the School of Disability Studies since 2016, has been honoured for her trailblazing work combining disability studies, art and activism. She is the founder and artistic director of the non-profit Tangled Art + Disability (external link, opens in new window) , Canada’s first art gallery dedicated to showcasing artists with disabilities and advancing accessible curatorial practices. Building on this success, her program of research brings together scholars and artists to develop new ways of representing disability and experiencing art.

April Khademi, a professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering since 2017, has been recognized for her work as principal investigator of the Image Analysis in Medicine Lab (opens in new window) . Her research uses image analysis, machine learning and A.I. software to model and understand diseases – including cancer, dementia, vascular conditions and multiple sclerosis – in novel ways that enable the development of personalized therapies and treatments. Her work has already earned her an Ontario Early Researcher Award and Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar Award.

Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan, a professor in the School of Information Technology Management since 2016, has been honoured for her research and development in the field of cybersecurity. Her work explores nascent opportunities and tackles new threats that have arisen as a result of emerging technologies such as internet-of-things, blockchain and quantum computing. She is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Quality of Security Framework for Internet-of-Things and the founder and director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab (opens in new window)  at the Ted Rogers School of Management.

“Congratulations to professors Chandler, Khademi and Mashatan on their incredible impact to date,” said Steven N. Liss, vice-president, research and innovation at Ryerson. “Their research is already pushing the envelope of what’s possible in their respective fields of disability, medical imaging and cybersecurity, and their expertise is indicative of the depth of talent working on timely and important topics at Ryerson. Through these awards, the university is demonstrating its commitment to early-stage researchers who, with the necessary support and development, will help change society for the better over the course of their careers.”

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Find out more about the SRC activity awards and the 2022 recipients