Health science researchers awarded funding for transformative, interdisciplinary research

Sherilee Harper, Margie Davenport, Zamaneh Kassiri, Puneeta Tandon and Jessica Kolopenuk

Five researchers from the College of Health Sciences have won New Frontiers in Research Fund award competitions.

The NFRF funds interdisciplinary, high-risk/high-reward, transformative research led by Canadian researchers. 

Sherilee Harper, from the School of Public Health, received an International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation award worth nearly $4 million.

Margie Davenport from the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation and Zamaneh Kassiri and Puneeta Tandon, both from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, were each awarded $250,000 in Exploration grants for their projects.

Jessica Kolopenuk, also from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, is the co-principal investigator on a project led by Kimberly Tallbear-Dauphine from the Faculty of Native Studies, which was awarded a $250,000 Exploration grant.

In the college system, the college and faculty research offices work in tandem with the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and the Research Partner Network to support interdisciplinary teams from across faculties in large funding competitions.

"The NFRF is dedicated to funding interdisciplinary research, and the successful projects at the University of Alberta exemplify this mission,” says Lawrence Richer, College of Health Sciences associate dean of research. “The College of Health Sciences shares this commitment to fostering interdisciplinary research and is proud to support these outstanding teams in their groundbreaking work." 

Sherilee Harper

Sherilee Harper is a Canada Research Chair in Climate Change and Health and a professor in the School of Public Health. Her project, the Climate Mental Health Research Initiative, addresses the intersecting social, economic, equity and justice challenges that underpin mental wellness and resilience to foster transformative action.

"Climate-change impacts on mental health are staggering and globally pervasive,” says Harper. “Climate and weather extremes, such as extreme heat, floods and wildfires, are associated with adverse mental-health outcomes, particularly PTSD, depression and anxiety, globally. Adverse mental-health outcomes can emerge even if someone hasn't had direct experiences of climate change; seeing climate-change impacts through media, friends or learned knowledge can also lead to climate grief and anxiety. Our international team will conduct world-class action-oriented research aimed to better understand climate-change impacts on mental health and — importantly — identify what effective responses and bold actions are needed." 

Margie Davenport

Margie Davenport is an exercise physiologist and professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. Her project will study an integrative approach towards personalized air-pollution-exposure assessment in pregnant women.

“Funding from the NFRF will support my lab in world-leading research into the environmental influences on pregnancy health. Balancing the positive influence of physical activity with the unavoidable exposure and risks of air pollution is essential to support the health of mother and baby in the face of current climate change,” says Davenport.

Zamaneh Kassiri

Zamaneh Kassiri is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Cardiovascular Extracellular Matrix and a professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s Department of Physiology. Her project will study enriched hydrogel scaffold as a platform for cell and drug delivery to repair aortic aneurysm.

“NFRF funding supports the curiosity and the thrill of a high-risk project, which is the fun part of being a scientist,” says Kassiri.

Puneeta Tandon

Puneeta Tandon is a transplant hepatologist and professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s Department of Medicine. She is founder and director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic with research interests in frailty assessment and management. Her project will focus on multidimensional fall risk evaluation.

"Falls are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with chronic conditions, including liver cirrhosis. Falls have a tremendous toll on patients and on the health system. This high risk, high reward funding opportunity will allow our multidisciplinary research team to contribute to innovation in this space with development and evaluation of a digital multidimensional fall risk assessment tool," says Tandon.

Jessica Kolopenuk

Jessica Kolopenuk is an Alberta Health Services Research Chair in Indigenous Health and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s Department of Family Medicine. The project she’s working on will support Indigenous governance through Indigenous science, technology and society studies.

“Making our world more liveable for Indigenous peoples and lifeways will not be achieved by one way of thinking. Inter-, trans- and multi-disciplinary funding opportunities are necessary for supporting Indigenous-led and relations-based science, technology, and society research and training,” says Kolopenuk.