USask researchers receive more than $8.7 million in NSERC funding

University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers from a variety of colleges and departments have received funding for projects through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants program.

NSERC Discovery Grants are intended to award funding to creative and innovative long-term research programs in instalments over a period of five years.

Below is the list of 36 USask researchers who received a total of more than $8.7 million in 2023 NSERC funding. In addition, seven researchers received a $12,500 supplement to start their projects as early-career researchers.

Bill Biligetu
Plant Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Uncovering salt-tolerance mechanisms in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)
$195,000

Asmahan AbuArish
Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology (APP) – College of Medicine
Deciphering the molecular basis of water transport in mammalian airway epithelium using quantitative confocal imaging
$200,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

Justin Botterill
Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology (APP) – College of Medicine
A dentate gyrus circuit that regulates novelty, cognition, and affective behaviours
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

L. Dean Chapman
Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology (APP) – College of Medicine
X-Ray Optics for Synchrotron Biomedical Applications
$230,000

Yifei Dong
Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology (BMI) – College of Medicine
Understanding how macrophages respond to oxidized phosphatidylcholines
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

James Benson
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Modeling approaches towards improved cryopreservation
$225,000

Som Niyogi
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Physiological and neurobehavioural effects of trace elements in fish
$195,000

Nicole Webster
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Development and regulation of molluscan biomineralization: a morphological novelty
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

Mitch Weegman
Biology – College of Arts and Science
Unraveling demographic consequences of environmental drivers and individual decisions in migratory birds
$255,000

Yangdou Wei
Biology – College of Arts and Science
The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Penetration Resistance to Fungal Pathogens in Arabidopsis
$295,000

Ajay Dalai
Chemical and Biological Engineering – School of Environment and Sustainability
Applied Catalysis Research for Renewable Liquid Fuels and Light Olefins Production and Glycerol to Chemicals
$490,000

Jafar Soltan
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering
Development of novel heterogeneous catalysts and processes for treatment of polluted indoor air
$250,000

Lope Tabil
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering
Preprocessing, Pretreatment and Characterization of Biomass for Bioenergy and Bioproducts
$195,000

Michel Gravel
Chemistry – College of Arts and Science
Synthetic Studies on Medium-Sized and Large Annulenes
$260,000

David Palmer
Chemistry – College of Arts and Science
Enzyme catalysis: structure-function relationships, inhibition, and biocatalysis
$335,000

Grant Ferguson
Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering – School of Environment and Sustainability
Deep Groundwater and the Hydrologic Cycle
$250,000

Carl Gutwin
Department of Computer Science – College of Arts and Science
Improving User Performance and Expertise in Interactive Visual Workspaces
$345,000

Nathaniel Osgood
Department of Computer Science – College of Arts and Science
Stocking Hygeia’s Toolbox: Compositional Methods for Modeling Health & Infectious Disease
$205,000

Chanchal Roy
Department of Computer Science – College of Arts and Science
SciClone: A Scientific Workflow based approach for studying the change, similarity and redundancy in Software
$295,000

Safa Kasap
Electrical & Computer Engineering – College of Engineering
Amorphous Semiconductors for Optoelectronic Applications: Photodetectors & X-Ray Detectors Based on Multilayer Doped Selenium-Alloys
$295,000

Xiaodong Liang
Electrical & Computer Engineering – College of Engineering
A Multi-dimensional Framework for Distribution Grid Modernization
$295,000

Christopher Eskiw
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Genome reorganization in response to cellular nutrients and nutrient sensing
$200,000

Yuanming Pan
Geological Sciences – College of Arts and Science
Trace elements and radiation-induced defects in minerals and Earth materials: From planetary evolution to sustainable development
$235,000

Carey Simonson
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering
Heat and moisture exchangers for energy-efficient buildings: frosting, fouling and contaminant transfer
$295,000

Wenjun Zhang
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering
Developing a Computational Design Approach for Soft Machines
$295,000

Angelica Lang
Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health – College of Medicine
Functional movement and scapular kinematics: exploring best practice methods from calibration to application
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

Janeen Loehr
Psychology and Health Studies – College of Arts and Science
The sense of agency in joint action: Cognitive and neural mechanisms
$295,000

Timothy Jardine
Toxicology Centre – School of Environment and Sustainability
Tracing the fluxes of low- and high-quality foodweb subsidies in freshwater ecosystems
$220,000

Yanping Li
Global Institute for Water Security – School of Environment and Sustainability
Canadian Prairie croplands and wetlands under a changing climate
$235,000

Saman Razavi
Global Institute for Water Security – School of Environment and Sustainability
Modelling and Management of Water Resources Systems Under Uncertainty
$250,000

Angela Bedard-Haughn
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Pedogenesis and Predictive Soil Mapping in the Prairies
$175,000

Daniel MacPhee
Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
The Importance of the Chaperome in Uterine Smooth Muscle Function during Pregnancy
$225,000

Baljit Singh
Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Mechanisms of Lung Inflammation: Biology of Pulmonary Intravascular Macrophages
$255,000

Janet Hill
Department of Veterinary Microbiology – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Defining factors affecting population dynamics of closely related bacteria in microbial communities
$225,000

Sarah Wood
Department of Veterinary Pathology – Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of foulbrood bacteria in Canadian beekeeping operations
$200,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

Neeraj Dhar
VIDO – College of Medicine
Single-cell analysis of two-component systems in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
$165,000
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500

Together, we will undertake the research the world needs. We invite you to join by supporting critical research at USask.