Category: Awards & Scholarships

Dr. Gibson was awarded the prestigious Killam Faculty Research Fellowship to support her sabbatical project in India “Characterization of differences in the gut microbiome composition and function between cohorts of South East Asians, immigrants and 1st generation Indo-Canadians.”

The Killam Research Fellowships are release time awards that provide support to scholars of exceptional ability who are engaged in research projects of broad significance and widespread interest within the disciplines of the health sciences, natural sciences, engineering, humanities, social sciences, or studies linking any of these disciplines.

These prizes, which are among the most distinguished research awards in Canada, were established by the Killam Trusts by means of a bequest and gift of Mrs. Dorothy J. Killam in memory of her husband, Izaak Walton Killam, and his outstanding achievements.

Congratulations to Candice Quin on CIHR award!

Congratulations to MSc student Nishat Tasnim on being awarded P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship!

Congratulations Candice Quin on CAG award!

Undergraduate students Sandeep Gill and Nishat Tasnim were awarded prizes for poster presentation and oral presentation respectively. Congratulations to both!

Nijiati has been selected  as a winner of the 2014 Graduate Scholar Scholarship, Fall Selection, with a scholarship award of $10,000.00 USD by Golden Key International Honour Society. Golden Key’s scholarships and awards program is one of the many ways that Golden Key recognizes the outstanding achievements in academics, leadership and services to the community of its members every year.

Candice Quin received the CIHR Canadian Graduate Scholarship  – Masters’s (CGS M) for her project titled “Fish Oil Supplementation to Maternal Diets Rich in Unsaturated Fats Increase Offspring Susceptibility to Infectious Colitis”.

Summary:
Clinical evidence is conflicting on the beneficial outcomes of fish oil supplementation during pregnancy and its effects on the offspring. It is unknown how fish oil supplementation impacts the offspring’s gut microbiome and immunity. Considering that diet influences microbiota and maternal microbiota is passed from mother to infant, we hypothesize that maternal fish oil supplementation will affect their offspring’s gut microbiota and immunity. To approach this, I will investigate gut microbiota and immune responses during infectious colitis from the offspring of mothers fed various fat diets supplemented with fish oil. This research could result in strategies to manage immune susceptibility by regulating maternal dietary intake during gestation and breastfeeding.

Amount:
$17,500 over 12 month

Sandeep Gill won the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) for 4 months of summer research on her project titled “Fish oil supplementation has a differential effect during murine colitis dependent on background fatty acids.”

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of fatty acids with or without fish oil supplementation on ulcerative colitis. Emerging evidence has identified dietary lipid intake to be an important factor contributing to the etiology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In the past 30 years, the western lipid diet has shifted from saturated fats (SFAs) to “heart-healthy” polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The health effects of omega-6 PUFA are in question as new evidence reveals the detrimental impacts of excessive omega-6 PUFA dietary intakes. This study looks at the effects of different fatty acids (omega-6 PUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and SFA). Furthermore, the effects of fish oil supplementation (omega-3 PUFA) on colitis are conflicting and need to be clarified. This study will help determine whether fish oil has a differential effect depending on the background diet that is being consumed. This will have significant implications when considering the contradicting evidence for dietary fish oil supplementation in IBD patients.