Province invests in research infrastructure, innovation at post-secondary institutions

September 18, 2022

The BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) has awarded over $20 million for 78 research projects being led by researchers at the University of British Columbia.

Eight universities in British Columbia received a total of $30 million to support 120 post-secondary research projects through the BCKDF.

“As part of our StrongerBC Economic Plan and commitment to prepare people for the jobs of tomorrow, we are investing in research capabilities at B.C. post-secondary institutions to help solve some of our society’s most pressing issues,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “These investments – ranging from environmental health to vibration and acoustics research – allow researchers to create new and innovative technology that will improve the lives of people throughout B.C.”

Through these types of investments, British Columbia can attract and retain world-class talent, develop new jobs and companies, and support the advancement of research and technology in a variety of sectors, such as health and life sciences, information and communication technologies, social sciences and humanities, clean technology, and natural resources.  

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UBC-led projects (UBCV)

55 projects led by researchers on our Vancouver campus awarded a total of $17.3 million

  1. Environment Economics Research Unit led by Frederik Noack (Land and Food Systems). 
  2. Targeted inhibition of oncogenic STAT3 signaling using cutting-edge chemical biology techniques led by Brent Page (Pharmaceutical Sciences). 
  3. Hyperpolarized 129-xenon paediatric functional magnetic resonance imaging led by Jonathan Rayment (Pediatrics / BC Children's Hospital). 
  4. Naturalistic Neuroimaging of Child Psychiatric Disorders led by Tamara Vanderwal (Psychiatry / BC Children's Hospital). 
  5. Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): A Platform for Interdisciplinary Research led by Teresa Liu-Ambrose (Physical Therapy). 
  6. iMAP in vivo Mesoscale Assessment of neuroProjectomes led by Timothy Murphy (Psychiatry / Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health). 
  7. CCAT-prime: A Submillimetre Wavelength Survey Telescope in Chile led by Douglas Scott (Physics & Astronomy). 
  8. RNA Enhancement and Clinical Translation (REACT) Platform led by Anna Blakney (School of Biomedical Engineering / Michael Smith Laboratories). 
  9. The RNA Regulation Laboratory (RRL): A platform for discovering the roles of RNA regulation in autism spectrum disorders led by Ethan Greenblatt (Biochemistry). 
  10. Spatial Single Cell Imaging in the Lung led by Tillie-Louise Hackett (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Centre for Heart Lung Innovation). 
  11. UBC Nutritional Epidemiology and Big Data Analytics Laboratory led by Mahsa Jessri (Land and Food Systems). 
  12. Sensory system adaptions through electroreception: from molecules to behaviour led by Duncan Leitch (Zoology). 
  13. Single-molecule and single-cell microscopy platform for therapeutics research and development led by Sabrina Leslie (Physics & Astronomy / Michael Smith Laboratories). 
  14. Canda Research Chair in Engineered Immune Tolerance led by Megan Levings (Surgery / School of Biomedical Engineering / BC Children's Hospital). 
  15. Advanced Infrared Spectroscopy System for the Mechanistic Study of Catalytic Carbon Oxide Reduction led by Eva Nichols (Chemistry). 
  16. Control and instrumentation infrastructure for high-speed bearingless motors research led by Minkyun Noh (Mechanical Engineering). 
  17. Modern Data Analysis Tools for Reaction Discovery and Development led by Jolene Reid (Chemistry). 
  18. Maximizing value creation from Canada's forests led by Dominik Roeser (Forest Resources Management). 
  19. Cell Competition Analysis Platform led by Nika Shakiba (School of Biomedical Engineering). 
  20. Controlling the reaction environment in sustainable catalytic processes to produce fuels, chemicals, and power led by David Upham (Chemical & Biological Engineering). 
  21. Pediatric Brain Development and Rehabilitation led by Jill Zwicker (Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy). 
  22. CGEn - A national platform for genome sequencing and analysis led by Steven Jones (Medical Genetics). 
  23. µXRF mapping for mineral exploration and mineral processing led by Shaun Barker (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences). 
  24. AI-driven platform for translating precision medicine discoveries in women’s cancers led by Ali Bashashati (School of Biomedical Engineering  / Pathology and Laboratory Medicine). 
  25. Controlled-Environment Facility for Crop Pathology and Genetics Research (CEF-CPG) led by Gurcharn Singh Brar (Land and Food Systems). 
  26. Using fNIRS to Uncover Neurodevelopmental Difference arising from Prematurity led by Lauren Emberson (Psychology). 
  27. The Experimental Linguistics and Fieldwork Lab led by Christopher Hammerly (Linguistics). 
  28. Developing Breath as a Diagnostic Paradigm for Human Health led by Jane Hill (School of Biomedical Engineering / Chemical and Biological Engineering). 
  29. Beyond ratings: A neurophysiology lab to assess the neurobiology of pain led by John Kramer (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics). 
  30. Optical Coherence Tomography to Phenotype Small Airways in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease led by Janice Leung (Respiratory Medicine / Centre for Heart Lung Innovation). 
  31. Healthy Brain Development in Preterm Infants led by Manon Ranger (Nursing / BC children's Hospital). 
  32. Probing the interaction between representations and behaviour underlying navigation led by Manu Sasidharan Madhav (School of Biomedical Engineering / Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health). 
  33. Innovations for Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation led by Julia Schmidt (Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy). 
  34. Mapping the virus-immune interactome led by Maria Tokuyama (Microbiology and Immunology). 
  35. Musculoskeletal Health and Mobility Laboratory Infrastructure led by Jackie Whittaker (Physical Therapy). 
  36. Advanced Bioproducts from Canadian Forests led by Johan Foster (Chemical and Biological Engineering). 
  37. Infrastructure for Investigations of the Cognition, Behavior, and Ecology of Urban Wildlife led by Sarah Benson-Amram (Forest and Conservation Sciences). 
  38. Language and Development Lab led by Alexis Black (School of Audiology & Speech Sciences). 
  39. Integrated SOILRES platform for advanced study of soil processes driving agroecosystem resilience under climate change led by Jean-Thomas Cornelis (Land and Food Systems). 
  40. Infrastructure to Establish a Combined Regenerative and Precision Medicine Reproductive Research Program led by Ryan Flannigan (Urologic Sciences / Vancouver Prostate Centre). 
  41. Fluvial Landscapes Platform (LegoFlume) led by Marwan Hassan (Geography). 
  42. CIHR Partnership Grant, Canada Research Chair in Senior Care led by Lillian Hung (Nursing). 
  43. Development of Natural Language Processing & Machine Leaning to accelerate breast cancer outcomes research led by Kathryn Isaac (Surgery). 
  44. Metabolic monitoring of immune cell function led by Ramon Klein Geltink (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,/ BC Children's Hospital).
  45. Automated growth and screening platform for elucidating crop water requirements led by Thorsten Knipfer (Land and Food Systems). 
  46. Functional metabolism and transport using mass spectrometry (MeTSpec) led by Seth Parker (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology / BC Children's Hospital).
  47. Communicable Disease: An Interdisciplinary History led by Heidi Tworek (History). 
  48. A Functional Genomics Platform for Analysis of Cancer-Associated Glycosylation led by Simon Wisnovsky (Pharmaceutical Sciences). 
  49. Phase I: Enabling the search for neutrinoless double-beta decays in Xe-136 with nEXO led by Reiner Kruecken (Physics & Astronomy). 
  50. Infrastructure for design, characterization and structural integrity analysis of advanced out-of-autoclave composites led by Yasmine Abdin (Materials Engineering). 
  51. Collaborative Digital Heritage Studio (CoDHerS) led by Ayinuerguli Kadeer (Asian Studies). 
  52. Simulation-based modelling of the industrial, large-scale fibre reinforced polymer composite 3D printing led by Sergii Kravchenko (Materials Engineering). 
  53. Wearable systems to characterize sensorimotor response to impulsive loads led by Calvin Kuo (School of Biomedical Engineering). 
  54. Integrated in-situ observing system to track sources of atmospheric humidity in a warming Arctic led by Anais Orsi (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences). 
  55. Spatial characterization of human atherosclerotic disease for therapeutic and biomarker development led by Ying Wang (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine). 

UBC-led projects (UBCO)

23 projects led by researchers on our Okanagan campus were awarded a total of $2.8m.

  1. Advanced MRI Hardware Laboratory led by Rebecca Feldman (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics). 
  2. Advanced Co-Located Mobile Interaction Laboratory led by Mohammad Khalad Hasan (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics). 
  3. Mining and Verifying Specification of Complex Software Systems led by Apurva Narayan (School of Engineering). 
  4. Development of Crack-Resistant High Strength Aluminium Alloys for Laser Metal Deposition led by Michael Benoit (School of Engineering). 
  5. Investigating Parent-Adolescent Dynamics in the Emotion Dynamics Lab led by Jessica Lougheed (Psychology). 
  6. Site/ation Studio: Indigenous Land as Art led by Tania Willard (Creative Studies). 
  7. Toward Autonomy and Resilience of Control Systems Using an Industry 4.0 Platform led by Ahmad Al-Dabbagh (School of Engineering). 
  8. Patient Oriented Health Economics Research Laboratory led by Jennifer Davis (Management). 
  9. Investigating the Mechanobiology of Diseases at the Single-Molecule Level led by Isaac Li (Chemistry). 
  10. Multifunctional borylenes for metal- and boron-mediated reactions led by Conor Pranckevicius (Chemistry). 
  11. Laboratory for Emerging-research in Aerial Visual Extended Surveillance led by Mohamed Shehata (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics). 
  12. Critical Future Studio/Lab led by Megan Smith (Creative Studies). 
  13. Sonic Production, Intelligence, Research, and Applications Lab (SPIRAL) led by Miles Thorogood (Creative Studies). 
  14. Earth observation and Spatial Ecology Lab led by Mathieu Bourbonnais (Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences). 
  15. DARE | Digital Archaeology Research Environment Lab led by Neha Gupta (Community, Culture and Global Studies). 
  16. The Canadian Arcminute Resolution Magnetoionic Medium Survey (CARMIMS) led by Alex Hill (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics). 
  17. Basic and applied investigations of motor imagery to promote recovery after stroke led by Sarah Kraeutner (Psychology). 
  18. Quantitative Ecology Laboratory with a Focus on Animal Conservation led by Michael Noonan (Biology). 
  19. Truth and Trust Lab: A Request for Observational, Physiological, and Social Judgment Research Infrastructure led by Leanne Ten Brinke (Psychology). 
  20. Ultrafast laser system for terahertz development in food applications led by Christopher Collier (School of Engineering). 
  21. Laboratory of Next Generation Video Surveillance for Environmental Monitoring led by Shan Du (Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics). 
  22. Microfabrication for next-generation thin film solar cells led by Ian Foulds (School of Engineering). 
  23. Next-generation pulmonary in vitro 3D models to unravel the role of cell-cell and multiorgan crosstalk in lung disease led by Emmanuel Osei (Biology).