2020: The Year in Research

Written by:

Melinda Knox

Arts and Science

Smith Business

Education

Smith Engineering

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

Health Sciences

Law

December 16, 2020

Melinda Knox

December 16, 2020

Teaser:

A look back at the major initiatives, the funding and awards garnered, and how a community mobilized to respond to and combat COVID-19.

Deck:

A look back at the major initiatives, the funding and awards garnered, and how a community mobilized to respond to and combat COVID-19.

In recent years, we have taken a moment each December to highlight some of the research that has captured our attention over the previous 12 months.

2020 was not a normal year. It challenged us, tested us, and saw our research community pivot in creative and unexpected ways to respond to the global crisis. Through all of this, research prominence remained a key driver for Queen鈥檚 and our researchers continued to make national and international headlines for their discoveries and award-winning scholarship.

Join us as we review some of the highlights of 2020.

[Hailey Poole dispensing hand sanitizer]

COVID-19 Response: Mobilizing as a Community to Confront COVID-19

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In the early days of the pandemic, Queen鈥檚 researchers across disciplines were聽active in offering commentary and fact-based analysis聽on COVID-19-related issues 鈥� from understanding if聽DNA is key to whether you get COVID听补苍诲听helping to diagnose unusual symptoms related to COVID stress聽to suggesting聽5-min workouts you can do at home. Many of these analyses were carried on national and international news platforms, demonstrating the critical contribution that researchers and academics can make to informing the conversation.

When news of PPE and ventilator shortages and test wait times hit international media, research and student groups across campus leveraged their skills to come up with innovative solutions. Here are a few examples:

A team of researchers from the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, along with GreenCentre Canada, partnered with Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) and Tri-Art Manufacturing (Kingston) to聽make 300 litres of hand sanitizer per week to help meet the needs of Kingston hospitals
Researchers from Queen鈥檚 University and KHSC partnered with Public Health Ontario Laboratories and Hamilton Health Sciences Center to develop an聽in-house COVID test聽that can provide results in 24 hours
Faculty and students at the Human Mobility Research Centre and Ingenuity Labs joined forces with KHSC health professionals to take on the聽Code Life Ventilator Challenge, a global call to design a low-cost and easy-to-manufacture ventilator that can be created and deployed anywhere around the world
Queen鈥檚 Noble Laureate, Dr. Arthur B. McDonald, led the Canadian arm of the Mechanical Ventilator Milano project, which aimed to create an easy-to-build ventilator that can help treat COVID-19 patients.聽In May, the Government of Canada announced an聽agreement with Vexos to produce 10,000 Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM) units聽and in September the ventilators received聽Health Canada approval

The Vice-Principal (Research) Portfolio also quickly mobilized to offer Rapid Response funding, which was awarded to聽advance 20 research projects聽supporting medical and social coronavirus-related solutions. Queen鈥檚 researchers also partnered with industry to transform pandemic decision-making and healthcare through two Digital Technology Supercluster projects,聽Looking Glass and Project ACTT, focused on predictive modelling and cancer testing and treatment. The projects received over $4 million in funding from the Government of Canada鈥檚 Digital Technology Supercluster鈥檚 COVID-19 program.

Funding Future Research

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Queen鈥檚 continued to attract leading researchers and competitive funding and awards through a number of national and international programs.

Hundreds of grants for new projects and research infrastructure were secured through CHIR, SSHRC, NSERC and CFI, Canada鈥檚 national funding agencies. Seven multidisciplinary Queen鈥檚 research projects received $1.7 million in support from the聽New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) 2019 Exploration competition, a program that fosters discovery and innovation by encouraging Canadian researchers to explore, take risks, and work with partners across disciplines and borders. Additionally, The Canadian Cancer Trials Group, SNOLAB, and Canada鈥檚 National Design Network, all of which are Queen鈥檚-affiliated research facilities, saw a聽funding increase of over $60 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation鈥檚 Major Sciences Initiatives fund. The Institute for Sustainable Finance received a聽聽to support ISF鈥檚 mission of aligning mainstream financial markets with Canada鈥檚 transition to a lower carbon economy.

The university welcomed and appointed seven new and two renewed Canada Research Chairs (CRC) in two rounds (September听补苍诲听December聽2020) of CRC competition announced this year. One of the country鈥檚 highest research honours,聽Queen鈥檚 is now home to over 50 Canada Research Chairs. Queen鈥檚 also welcomed seven promising new researchers through the聽Vanier Canada Graduate Scholars and Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowship programs.

Recognizing Research Leadership

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2020 saw Queen鈥檚 researchers win some of Canada鈥檚 top awards and honours for research excellence and the university continues to rank second in Canada for awards per faculty member (2021 Maclean鈥檚 University Rankings).

Queen鈥檚 had a successful year earning fellowships within Canada鈥檚 national academies.聽Nancy van Deusen and Cathleen Crudden were elected to the聽Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, while Amy Latimer-Cheung and Awet Weldemichael were named members of the organization鈥檚聽College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Health research leaders Janet Dancey, Marcia Finlayson, and Graeme Smith were inducted into the聽Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Michael Cunningham and Jean Hutchinson were elected to the聽Canadian Academy of Engineering.

While our researchers were recognized with dozens of honours throughout the year, below are a few highlights: David Lyon secured Canada鈥檚聽Molson Prize聽for pioneering the field of surveillance studies. Education researcher Lynda Colgan received the聽NSERC Science Promo Prize聽for her efforts in promoting science to the general public. Heather Castleden was awarded a聽Fulbright Visiting Research Chair聽at the University of Hawaii at M膩noa to engage with Native Hawaiians about their leadership in renewable energy projects. A lauded steward of the environment, John Smol received聽Canada鈥檚 Massey Medal聽for his lifetime of work in studying environmental stressors. The first Indigenous midwife in Canada to earn a doctoral degree, health researcher Karen Lawford was named one of this year鈥檚 12聽outstanding Indigenous leaders and received the聽Indspire Award for Health.

Internally, researchers were honoured with the university鈥檚聽Prizes for Excellence in Research聽(Yan-Fei-Liu, Michael Cunningham, and Gabor Fichtinger) and the聽Distinguished University Professor聽(Audrey Kobayashi, David Bakhurst, Julian Barling, Glenville Jones, John Smol, Kathleen Lahey) title.

Major Initiatives

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罢丑别听Discover 搁别蝉别补谤肠丑蔼蚕耻别别苍鈥檚听肠补尘辫补颈驳苍聽was launched to build engagement with the聽搁别蝉别补谤肠丑蔼蚕耻别别苍鈥檚聽website and encouraged 1000s of key external stakeholders to learn more about the research happening at the University. Our community continued to mobilize their research through fact-based analysis on聽. In 2020, 79 Queen鈥檚 researchers published 85 articles that garnered over 1.9 million views.

This year marked the fifth anniversary of the Art of Research photo contest with over 100 faculty, staff, students, and alumni submitting engaging and thought-provoking research images.聽Ten category and special prizes were awarded.

The WE-Can (Women Entrepreneurs Canada) program through Queen鈥檚 Partnership and Innovation (QPI)聽celebrated one year of supporting women entrepreneurs聽in Kingston and the surrounding area, through programs such as Compass North and LEAD.聽 The QPI team also marked one year at its聽new downtown Kingston location,聽the Seaway Coworking building, which allows easy access for the community and partners.

To support researchers thinking outside of the box to solve some of humanity鈥檚 most complex problems, the Vice-Principal (Research) portfolio launched the聽Wicked Ideas competition聽to fund high risk, high reward projects with interdisciplinary teams that are not easily supported through traditional funding opportunities. Twelve projects received funding in round one and researchers can now apply for round two.

Congratulations to the Queen鈥檚 research community for their resilience and successes this year. We look forward to seeing what new research and opportunities 2021 will bring. For information about research promotion, contact聽Melinda Knox, Associate Director, Research Profile and Initiatives.