Aerial view of the University of Saskatchewan. (Photo: USask)

USask researchers receive more than $8.3 million in NSERC funding

Researchers from across the University of Saskatchewan (USask) have received funding for a variety of creative and innovative projects through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants program.

The NSERC Discovery Grants support long-term research goals, providing researchers with annual instalments over a five-year period. The following 41 USask researchers were awarded more than $8.3 million in funding from NSERC in 2024. This year, six USask researchers also received $12,500 from the NSERC Discovery Grant Early Career Researcher Supplement. 

Dr. Peter Pioli (PhD) 
Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology – College of Medicine 
Sex Differences in Thymus Antibody-Secreting Cell Production and the Impact on T Cell Development 
$155,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500  

Dr. Eric Price (PhD) 
Chemistry – College of Arts and Science 
Synthesis and physicochemical study of new chemical tools towards ideal radiometal-and peptide-base constructs 
$180,000 

Dr. Susantha Gomis (PhD) 
Veterinary Pathology – Western College of Veterinary Medicine 
Immunomodulatory effects of oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG motifs (CpG-ODN) on intrapulmonary vaccine delivery in neonatal broiler chickens 
$280,000 

Dr. Ellen Wasan (PhD)  
Pharmacy - College of Pharmacy and Nutrition  
Exploring soft material nanoparticles for engaging mucosal immunity 
$200,000 

Dr. Kerry McPhedran (PhD) 
Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering - College of Engineering 
Direct potable reuse of municipal wastewater and urban stormwater in Canada 
$180,000 

Dr. Catherine Niu (PhD) 
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering 
Biosorption and Adsorption for Effective Separation of Targeted Species from Multi-Component Systems 
$165,000 

Dr. Douglas Chivers (PhD) 
Biology – College of Arts and Science 
Understanding multigenerational effects of risk and contaminants in aquatic systems 
$275,000 

Dr. Hui Wang (PhD) 
Chemical and Biological Engineering – College of Engineering 
Catalytic Sites Contiguity Study for Carbon Dioxide Conversion Reactions 
$195,000 

Dr. Kate Congreves (PhD) 
Plant Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Tightening the nitrogen cycle for sustainable soil management via diversification 
$215,000 

Dr. John Tse (PhD) 
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science 
Structural Phase transitions under Extreme Conditions 
$305,000 

Dr. Markus Hecker (PhD) 
School of Environment and Sustainability 
Translational Environmental Toxicology 
$325,000 

Dr. Valerie Thompson (PhD) 
Psychology – College of Arts and Science 
Towards a Theory of Meta-Reasoning 
$235,000 

Dr. Melissa Arcand (PhD) 
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources  
Crop rhizosphere controls on nitrogen bioavailability and soil organic matter-intersections between microbial carbon and plant nitrogen use efficiencies 
$150,000 

Dr. Qiang Liu (PhD) 
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization 
Viral Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) translation modulation 
$170,000 

Dr. David Sumner (PhD) 
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering 
Fundamentals of Bluff-Body Wakes 
$160,000 

Dr. Lynn Weber (PhD) 
Veterinary Biomedical Sciences - Western College of Veterinary Medicine 
Heart-microbiome-metabolism axis and influence of protein source in a dog model 
$235,000 

Dr. Heather Szabo-Rogers (PhD) 
Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology – College of Medicine 
Genes, proteins and tissue interactions shaping the snout and beak 
$170,000 

Dr. Alexey Shevyakov (PhD) 
Mathematics and Statistics – College of Arts and Science 
Exact and approximate symmetry methods with applications to nonlinear 
$120,000 

Dr. Gordon Sarty (PhD) 
Physics - College of Arts and Science 
Design and Testing of Gradient Free Magnetic Resonance Imaging 
$170,000 

Dr. Derek Peak (PhD)  
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Shining Light on Soil Health 
$180,000 

Dr. Mrigank Rochan (PhD) 
Computer Science – College of Arts and Science 
Towards Adaptive and Robust Visual Understanding 
$170,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500  

Dr. Steven Rayan (PhD) 
Mathematics and Statistics – College of Arts and Science 
Moduli Spaces and Quantum Matter 
$215,000 

Dr. Jonathan Farthing (PhD) 
Kinesiology – College of Kinesiology 
Neural mechanisms of contralateral effects of unilateral motor training in humans 
$165,000 

Dr. Jaswant Singh (DVM) 
Veterinary Biomedical Sciences – Western College of Veterinary Medicine 
Mechanisms Affecting Oocyte Competence in the Bovine Model during the Prepubertal Period 
$275,000 

Dr. Andrew Ireson (PhD) 
School of Environment and Sustainability  
Soil moisture futures in the Canadian Prairies 
$180,000 

Dr. Akindele Odeshi (PhD) 
Mechanical Engineering – College of Engineering 
Development of hybrid and functionally graded materials using additive 
$165,000 

Dr. Katherine Stewart (PhD) 
Soil Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Linking biocrusts, plants and belowground communities in a changing climate 
$180,000 

Dr. Aneesh Thakur (DVM) 
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization 
Inducing respiratory mucosal immunity in cattle by design of next-generation thermostable ribonucleic acid vaccines 
$165,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

Dr. Li Chen (PhD) 
Electrical and Computer Engineering – College of Engineering 
Characterize and Mitigate Radiation Effects on Microelectronics 
$230,000 

Dr. Haixia Zhang (PhD) 
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Developing Advanced Metabolomic Platforms to Unlock the Potential of Bioactive Compounds in Canadian Agrifoods 
$165,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500  

Dr. David Elwood (PhD) 
Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering – College of Engineering 
Evaluation of Liquefaction Potential in Fine Sand Tailings using a Self-Bore Pressuremeter 
$180,000 

Dr. Kerri Kobryn (PhD) 
Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology – College of Medicine 
Molecular studies of hairpin telomeres in bacteria 
$200,000 

Dr. Lori Bradford (PhD) 
Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development - College of Engineering 
Operationalization of Social and Cultural Knowledge into Engineering Design and Impact Assessment Practices 
$135,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500  

Dr. Ann McKellar (PhD) 
Biology – College of Arts and Science 
Understanding drivers of migratory bird population change in human-dominated landscapes  
$170,000 

Dr. Yansun Yao (PhD) 
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science 
Machine learning informed material prediction and discovery 
$250,000 

Dr. Chijin Xiao (PhD) 
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Science 
Plasma Physics and Engineering for Fusion Research and Other Applications 
$250,000 

Dr. Daniel Columbus (PhD) 
Animal and Poultry Science – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Investigating the impact of dietary nitrogen content on amino acid utilization in growing pigs 
$301,505 

Dr. Yongfeng Ai (PhD) 
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Exploring and exploiting starch-plant protein interactions to improve food quality and nutrition 
$195,000 

Dr. Michael Nickerson (PhD) 
Food and Bioproduct Sciences – College of Agriculture and Bioresources 
Tailoring of the interfacial behaviour of plant proteins for their structure controlling role in foods 
$275,000 

Dr. Douglas Degenstein (PhD) 
Physics and Engineering Physics – College of Arts and Sciences 
Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere from Satellite Platforms 
$255,000 

Dr. Mohammadreza Nematollahi (PhD) 
Finance and Management Science -Edwards School of Business  
Reinforcing Food Security and Sustainability through Supply Chain Analytics 
$135,000 
Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500 

 

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