Concordia salutes the ‘innovation and influence’ of 8 leading scholars
From left: Christophe Guy, Saifur Rahaman, Jamal Bentahar, Kristen Dunfield, Pat Forgione, Monika Kin Gagnon and Christopher Wilds. | Photos by Concordia University
At an event on August 30, Concordia recognized eight of its researchers for their outstanding contributions to furthering the wide-ranging scholarly and social impact of research at the university.
Christophe Guy, vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies, congratulated 2017 University Research Award recipients Jamal Bentahar, Kristen Dunfield, Pat Forgione, Monika Kin Gagnon, Saifur Rahaman and Christopher Wilds, and 2017 Petro-Canada Young Innovator awardees Rafik Naccache and Caroline Roux.
Eight new Concordia University Research Chairs were also celebrated.
“It is important to acknowledge the work of our exceptional faculty members, whose work, in this case, ranges from cybersecurity to trust development to wastewater treatment,” said Christophe Guy.
“I salute their leadership, productivity, innovation and influence.”
Concordia’s University Research Award winners are selected for their exceptional achievements and their contributions to advancing knowledge, building a productive training environment for students and increasing the university’s visibility as a research institution. Each recipient is awarded $5,000 and holds the title of Concordia University Research Fellow for one year.
The Petro-Canada Young Innovator Awards recognize outstanding young faculty members who are pursuing innovative research that strengthens the learning environment within their departments and has the potential to be of significance to society. The award, which is made possible by a generous endowment from Suncor Energy, comes with a $10,000 research grant.
Read more about the award recipients and what drives their research pursuits:
Jamal Bentahar: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - Technology, Industry and the Environment (category B)
Jamal Bentahar, a professor with the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, explores how cloud computing can be made more secure and trustworthy. His research interests include intelligent agents and multi-agent systems, services and cloud computing, artificial intelligence, applied game theory, computational logics and formal verification.
Kristen Dunfield: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - The Person and Society (category A)
Kristen Dunfield, assistant professor of psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Science, looks at how social cognition affects the ways in which children interact with and learn from people in their environment. The long-term goal of her research program is to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of trust on human behaviour and development.
Pat Forgione: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - Technology, Industry and the Environment (category B)
Pat Forgione, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Science, investigates methods to obtain better tools for constructing molecules. His research expertise lies in the area of organic method development and green and medicinal chemistry, in particular the development of novel anti-viral and anti-cancer therapeutic agents.
Monika Kin Gagnon: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - The Person and Society (category C)
Monika Kin Gagnon, professor of communications studies in the Faculty of Arts and Science, looks at the roles of culture and media in the production of knowledge. Her current research project, In Search of Expo 67, is a major exhibition of new works by contemporary Canadian artists. It offers a curatorial perspective on the Montreal edition of the international world fair and its artistic, social and political contexts.
Saifur Rahaman: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - Technology, Industry and the Environment (category A)
Saifur Rahaman, associate professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, is dedicated to studying how nanostructured materials can be used to purify water. The primary focus of his work is developing advanced materials and novel membrane-based processes for water treatment and resource recovery from industrial wastewater.
Christopher Wilds: 2017 University Research Award
Strategic Research Cluster - The Person and Society (category B)
Christopher Wilds, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Science, explores the role played by DNA repair in therapeutic resistance — where cancers develop resistance to treatments such as chemotherapy. His other research interests include nucleic acids and bioorganic chemistry.
From left: Christophe Guy, Rafik Naccache and Suncor Energy’s Alain Bibeau and Dean Dussault. Caroline Roux was unable to attend the event.
Rafik Naccache: 2017 Petro Canada Young Innovator Award
Strategic Research Cluster - Technology, Industry and the Environment
Rafik Naccache, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Faculty of Arts and Science, examines how novel nanomaterials can address challenges in the areas of food safety, the environment and nanomedicine.
Caroline Roux: 2017 Petro Canada Young Innovator Award
Strategic Research Cluster - The Person and Society
Caroline Roux, assistant professor of marketing in the John Molson School of Business, studies how reminders of resource scarcity affect consumer cognition, judgment and behaviour. Her research interests also focus on better understanding how pro-social values and moral considerations influence consumer decision-making.
Find out more about Research at Concordia.
