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Louis, Gillian, and Martin join last year’s cohort of Allison Williams, Allison Williams, and Allison Williams.

Dean Maureen MacDonald and Gianni Parise, Associate Dean of Research & External Relations, congratulated the Faculty’s newest chairs during a celebration hosted at LIVELab.

“Being awarded a Faculty of Science Research Chair is a special honour because colleagues are nominated and then chosen by their peers,” says Maureen.

Introduced in 2019, the Faculty of Science Research Chairs receive three years of funding for graduate students and supplies. The designation also helps secure further grants, investments, and partnerships.

Kari, who was named an inaugural Faculty of Science Research Chair last year, joined Megumi Harada and Pat Bennett on the selection committee chaired by Gianni.

“Selecting this year’s Faculty of Science Research Chairs was far from quick or easy decision for the committee,” said Gianni. “We had 15 researchers nominated from across the entire Faculty and every candidate is an exceptional researcher and mentor to students”

In addition to introducing Research Chairs, the Faculty of Science has launched a Research Infrastructure Renewal Fund, Post Leave Support Program and Global Science Initiative. A third cohort of Faculty of Science Research Chairs will be chosen next year.

“We’re proud to be making significant and sustainable investments that support our researchers in building a brighter world,” says Maureen.

Martin Gibala, Department of Kinesiology

(from left): PhD students Billy Bostad and Devin McCarthy, Faculty of Science Research Chair Martin Gibala, Research Lab Manager Todd Prior and former PhD students Lauren Skelly (now a Postdoctoral Fellow at York University) and Jenna Gillen (now an Assistant Professor at University of Toronto).

Martin is an integrative physiologist who studies the mechanistic basis of exercise responses in humans and associated health impacts. Martin is chair of the Department of Kinesiology and also the bestselling author of The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter. He has received three awards for teaching excellence and the President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision. Martin’s research has helped to establish the efficacy of brief rigorous exercise to enhance health and fitness, including in people living with chronic diseases.

Louis Schmidt, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior

(front row from left): Graduate student Kristie Poole, Postdoctoral Fellow Karen Mathewson, and graduate students Raha Hassan and Sonia Kong (back row from left): Graduate students Zahra Khalesi and Victoria Stead, Faculty of Science Research Chair Louis Schmidt, Postdoctoral Fellow Tina Brook and graduate student Taigan MacGowan.

Louis is a professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior and an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Louis focuses his research on understanding behavioral and biological factors underlying individual differences in socioemotional processes and psychological outcomes in typical and atypical human development. A primary goal of his research is to identify and describe factors early in life that predicts emotional well-being and mental problems during development.

Gillian Goward, Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology

(from left): PhD students Chris Franko and Annica Freytag, Research Lab Manager Blossam Yan, Faculty of Science Research Chair Gillian Goward, graduate student Taiana Periera, undergraduate student Jacob Keffer and graduate student Mengyang Cui.

Gillian is chair of the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and an internationally renowned Canadian scientist who studies advanced energy materials using a combination of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging. In her Magnetic Resonance and Materials for Energy Storage Lab, Gillian and her students use nuclear magnetic resonance to study how lithium and other types of batteries and fuel cells work at a fundamental level. Since 2011, Gillian has led an NSERC partnership program with researchers at General Motors and four Canadian universities.