McGill awarded 16 new or renewed Canada Research Chairs

From fundamental physics to child well-being, McGill researchers advance discovery across disciplines 

McGill has been awarded $18.1 million in federal funding to support 16 Canada Research Chairs – six new and 10 renewed.

The University’s newly appointed CRCs will drive forward cutting-edge research in fields that include subatomic physics, food science and agricultural chemistry, and counselling psychology. Renewed Chairs will continue vital work in such areas as Parkinson’s disease, bioengineering, data ethics and intergenerational childhood trauma.

“Guided by McGill’s newly launched Strategic Research Plan, our Canada Research Chairs lead ambitious, long‑term research that advances discovery and delivers real‑world benefits for society,” said Dominique Bérubé, Vice‑President, Research and Innovation at McGill. “I congratulate our new and renewed Chairholders and thank the Government of Canada for its continued investment in world‑class research at McGill.”

Uncovering the origins of mass and matter

Brigitte Vachon, James McGill Professor in the Department of Physics and newly appointed CRC in Experimental Subatomic Physics is tackling two of the biggest unanswered questions in modern physics: the nature of the Higgs boson and the identity of dark matter.

The Higgs boson is a unique particle that helps explain how matter gets its mass. Vachon’s team is developing new instrumentation for the the High‑Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, which is set to become operational in mid-2030. Using this unique research infrastructure, Vachon’s team aims to make the first direct measurement of how Higgs bosons interact with each other, offering new insight into the origins of mass in the early moments of the universe.

In parallel, in collaboration with Jack Sankey of the Department of Physics, she is pioneering a novel approach to dark matter detection using ultra‑sensitive, supercooled detectors and advanced quantum sensing techniques. Her research program brings together expertise from diverse disciplines to push the boundaries of fundamental science.

Harnessing enzymes to add health and sustainability to what we eat 

Salwa Karboune, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Professor in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, has been appointed CRC in Advanced Applications of Biocatalysis for the Synthesis of Functional Ingredients.

Her research program explores how enzymes can be used to produce functional ingredients more sustainably. These are ingredients added to food that improve its quality, such as increasing its nutritional benefits. Instead of relying on traditional chemistry, which often requires high heat, pressure or harsh chemicals, Karboune uses biocatalysis – harnessing enzymes to carry out precise reactions under milder conditions.

Karboune will focus on discovering and engineering enzymes and multi‑biocatalytic systems to transform starches, sugars and agri‑food byproducts into health‑promoting ingredients such as dietary fibres and slowly digestible carbohydrates. With applications across the food, pharmaceutical and agri-food sectors, her research aims to add both health value and sustainability to what we eat.

Understanding and preventing intergenerational childhood maltreatment

Rachel Langevin, William Dawson Scholar and Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, has been appointed CRC in Intergenerational (Dis)Continuity of Childhood Trauma.

Langevin’s research program examines why childhood maltreatment is so often passed from one generation to the next and how this cycle can be broken. Child maltreatment affects over 30 per cent of Canadians before age 16, with lasting health and societal impacts. Parents with a history of maltreatment are at significantly greater risk of having maltreated children.

Through population‑based, longitudinal and cross‑cultural studies, and collaboration with practitioners and community organizations at the local, national and international levels, her program aims to identify the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying intergenerational maltreatment and translate this knowledge into effective trauma-informed intervention strategies.

The CRC Program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The CRC program invests approximately $311 million annually to recruit and retain world-class researchers in the fields of engineering, health sciences and humanities and social sciences.

There are two types of Canada Research Chairs: Tier 1 Chairs, awarded to outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields, are valued at $200,000 annually for seven years with one opportunity for renewal for another seven-year term; Tier 2 Chairs, valued at $120,000 annually for five years and renewable only once for another five-year term at a value of $100,000 annually, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field.

As a Canada Research Chairs Program partner, the Canada Foundation for Innovation is also committing over $5.8 million to support 25 research infrastructure projects at 16 institutions, through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund. Newly appointed CRC Professor Satoshi Yoshiji, Department of Human Genetics, was awarded $167,953 in JELF infrastructure funding. 

McGill’s new and renewed CRC recipients:  

• Marcel A. Behr, Canada Research Chair in Mycobacterial genomics, CIHR, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Maziar Divangahi, Canada Research Chair in Trained Immunity, CIHR, Tier 1 (New)
• Ahmed El-Geneidy, Canada Research Chair in Public Transport Planning and Operation, NSERC, Tier 1 (New)
• Samer Faraj, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Innovation, and Organizing, SSHRC, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Edward A. Fon, Canada Research Chair in Parkinson’s Disease, CIHR, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Kalle Gehring, Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases, CIHR, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Alba Guarné, Canada Research Chair in DNA transposition, CIHR, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• David Juncker, Canada Research Chair in Bioengineering, NSERC, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Salwa Karboune, Canada Research Chair in Advanced Applications of Biocatalysis for the Synthesis of Functional Ingredients, NSERC, Tier 1 (New)
• Rachel Langevin, Canada Research Chair in Intergenerational (Dis)Continuity of Childhood Trauma, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)
  Sara Mahshid, Canada Research Chair in Nano-Biosensing Devices, CIHR, Tier 2 (Renewal)
• Marc D. McKee, Canada Research Chair in Biomineralization, CIHR, Tier 1 (Renewal)
• Ali Seifitokaldani, Canada Research Chair in Electrocatalysis for Renewable Energy Production and Conversion, NSERC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
• Eran Tal, Canada Research Chair in Data Ethics, SSHRC, Tier 2 (Renewal)
• Brigitte Vachon, Canada Research Chair in Experimental Subatomic Physics, NSERC, Tier 1 (New)
• Satoshi Yoshiji, Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Therapeutic Discovery, CIHR, Tier 2 (New)