In For the Public Good, our community committed to identifying a portfolio of signature research and teaching areas where we are - or will be - recognized as a global leader.
I am pleased to announce that the Signature Areas Development Panel has completed the first cycle of signature and emerging area identification, and that Deans' Council has endorsed our first three Signature Areas: Precision Health, Energy Systems, and Research at the Intersections of Gender.
Precision Health is an emerging healthcare model that leverages data, new technologies, and the study of factors such as genomics, metabolomics, nutrition and environment, to better understand and address diseases and disabilities. Precision health also includes the study of population data to deliver approaches to disease prevention, health promotion, rehabilitation, and reduction of health disparities in populations.
The university's Precision Health strength spans discovery, applied, clinical research and is supported by significant infrastructure and assets (omic technologies, biological and computational sciences, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, imaging, clinical trial infrastructure, health outcomes, public health and health policy research, etc). All 18 faculties have research and teaching related to this area. Precision Health will also capitalize on assets and infrastructure across the provincial health sector.
The university's Health Sciences Council will preside over this Signature Area.
Please send inquiries to Dean Zaragoza, Executive Director Health Sciences Council, at dean.zaragoza@ualberta.ca.
Energy is more than just fuel - it involves large and complex systems incorporating society and the environment. These systems must meet society's expectations of type, quality, quantity, reliability, and accessibility within a diverse cultural framework of urban centers, Indigenous nations, smaller communities, and rural regions. They must operate in an environmentally sustainable manner with appropriate reclamation and management.
Our energy expertise, capacity and capability involve more than 200 researchers across 10 faculties. Increasingly we are sought by provincial, national and international companies, governments, organizations and universities seeking energy collaborations.
Anne Naeth, Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) in ALES will serve as Director of this Signature Area. Please send inquiries to anne.naeth@ualberta.ca.
More than 200 researchers across all 18 faculties at the U of A already conduct gender-themed, interdisciplinary, and intersectional research. Their expertise is pivotal to tackling today's most complex challenges: from health care delivery in refugee camps and water security on indigenous reserves to automated transport and institutionalized sexual harassment.
Research at the Intersections of Gender (RIG) recognizes that gender and other aspects of identity and social belonging - race, class, age, religion, indigeneity, language, citizenship etc. - intersect and interweave. Considering gendered intersections is essential for designing successful, impactful, and socially relevant research.
By mobilizing the world-class gender expertise that we have at the university, RIG will build new capacity for small and large interdisciplinary research collaborations for both established and emerging researchers. By making gender a strategic priority in teaching and research, RIG will help the U of A to meet the new benchmarks that granting agencies are setting for intersectional gender analysis and inclusive excellence.
Susanne Luhmann, Chair of Women's & Gender Studies, will serve as Director of this Signature Area. Please send inquiries to rig@ualberta.ca.
Over the coming months, each Signature Area will need to define its organizational and governance structures, as well as set up the appropriate administrative supports. They will each prepare for individual launches later this year.
We will also continue to identify and develop new Signature Areas through the lifespan of For the Public Good, so that they align with our evolving priorities and strengths over time. The Signature Area Development Panel is currently working with the other proposals to develop them further as potential or emerging Signature Areas.
If you have any questions about ongoing Signature Area development, please send them to signature.areas@ualberta.ca.
David H. Turpin
President and Vice-Chancellor