Federal research awards fund 15 BU student projects

Fifteen Brandon University (BU) students are spending their summer working on research projects with support from the federal Tri-Agency Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRAs).

The bulk of the projects — 13 of them — are receiving funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) each supporting one USRA project at BU this summer. The grants are each valued at $6,000 for a total Tri-Agency commitment of $90,000. The students also receive supplemental funding from Brandon University and their faculty supervisors, with the BU support totaling nearly $22,000 and the supervisors contributing a little more than $25,000 through their research funding.

The research covers a wide range of topics, including cancer identification and treatment, Assiniboine River health, disease transmission through insects, sexual violence, complex calculations that will develop greater understanding of physics and quantum computing, mapping our galaxy, green energy production, and more.

“Research is a central part of the Brandon University experience for many of our students, even at the undergraduate level,” said Dr. Bernadette Ardelli, Vice-President (Research & Graduate Studies) at BU. “We take great pride in the opportunities that we are able to give students to do research in their field of interest, and earning this USRA support is just one way that our students are showing the exceptional work they are doing.”

Most of the projects are taking place over a span of 14 to 16 weeks while the students are on a break from their regular academic schedule. In addition to the funding support, the students benefit from the guidance of their supervisors.

“The work of our faculty really makes this kind of exciting research possible for our students,” said Dr. Kofi Campbell, BU’s Provost and Vice-President (Academic). “Their experience and insight can help our students zero in on key topics that will match their interests and find gaps in current knowledge that they can help fill. It is extremely rewarding for the students to see their ideas come to fruition as well as for our faculty to help them succeed.”

NSERC Awardees

Ayodele Adeniyi (Supervisor: Bryan Cassone) — Application of Microorganisms to Reduce Infectious Disease Transmission

This research looks at how environmental microorganisms can be harnessed to disrupt disease transmission by insects and ticks.

Nate Fingas (Supervisor: Chenkuan Li) — Nonlinear Fractional Differential Equations with Functional Boundary Conditions

This research studies existence, uniqueness and stability of several new fractional nonlinear differential equations with variable coefficients, which have been used to describe many different physical systems in various scientific fields, including mathematical models of real-world phenomena.

Beatrice Gatien (Supervisor: Mousumi Majumder) — Investigating DOX-COX Interaction in Drug Resistance

This research looks at how to improve the effectiveness of the cancer drug doxorubicin against aggressive and drug-resistant forms of breast cancer.

Chloe Green (Supervisor: Sarah Plosker) — Quantum State Transfer

This research looks at transmission of a quantum state from one location to another, a critical task in the development of extremely powerful quantum computers.

Jeongheum Jo (Supervisor: Michael Charette) — Identifying the Location of the Ribosome Assembly Protein Emg1’s Protein-Protein Interactions

Ribosomes are micromachines inside all cells that do the essential role of decoding genetic information into the proteins that make up our body. This research looks at how the protein Emg1 can reach the nucleolus, inside the cell’s nucleus, to perform its function in ribosome assembly.

Oyindamola Kayode (Supervisor: Barry Madison) — What Lies Below? Understanding the Local Environmental Impact of Lead from Recreational Fishing in the Urban Assiniboine River.

While the use of lead is outlawed in fishing in some provinces, such as Ontario, due to the health hazards associated with lead contamination, it remains permitted in Manitoba. This research looks at how lost tackle, which often uses lead-based weights as sinkers, could affect the water quality in this important watershed in Manitoba.

Onyedikachukwu Onyia (Supervisor: Christophe LeMoine) — Metabolic Ontogeny of the Waxworm (G. mellonella)

Insects use their fat body resources to metamorphose and remodel their body plan. This research looks at waxworms to learn how changes in food abundance and quality may affect this process.

Ying Ying Ou (Supervisor: Chenkuan Li) — Nonlinear Fractional Differential Equations with Functional Boundary Conditions

This research studies existence, uniqueness and stability of several new fractional nonlinear differential equations with variable coefficients, which have been used to describe many different physical systems in various scientific fields, including mathematical models of real-world phenomena.

Noah Paddock (Supervisor: Eric Bushnell) — A Computational Investigation into the Production of H2 by Ni-Dithiolene Catalysts

This research uses computational analysis to study potential catalysts for renewable production of hydrogen gas as a potential green fuel alternative.

Caden Pedlow (Supervisor: Barry Madison) — Development of a LAMP Assay for Species Identification from eNAs in the Field

This research is looking at the possibility of collecting environmental DNA as a less invasive form of studying fish species and ecosystems in the Assiniboine River.

Shane Sangster (Supervisor: Margaret Carrington) — Correlation Functions in High Temperature Plasmas

This research studies the particles produced in experiments that collide heavy atomic nuclei.

The equations that describe the fundamental interactions of these particles are non-linear and

this makes them very hard to solve. This research is about developing new mathematical methods to solve these kinds of non-linear equations.

Brenna Sawchuk (Supervisor: Tyler Foster) — Measuring the Thickness and Flaring of the Milky Way Galaxy’s HI Disc

The structure of galaxies can be traced by using radio telescopes to track the radio emission lines of neutral hydrogen (HI) gas in the galaxies’ discs, but a “bird’s eye” view of our own galaxy remains elusive. This research is connecting high-resolution radio telescope observations with maps from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey to contribute to a more complete view of the Milky Way galaxy.

Kaene Soopramania (Supervisor: Margaret Carrington) — Heavy Quarkonium Decay

There are six types of quarks, and the lightest two are the fundamental constituents of most matter in the universe, while the heavier quarks are not found in nature but can be produced in experiments that collide heavy nuclei. This research uses theoretical methods to learn more about the decay rates of heavy quarks’ bound states.

CIHR Awardee

Morolaoluwa Favour Temitope (Supervisor: Mousumi Majumder) — ATP5FA1 as a Therapeutic Target in Breast Cancer

This research examines how cancer cells generate energy and adapt to stressful conditions by switching metabolic pathways.

SSHRC Awardee

SSHRC USRA Awardee (Supervisor: Jonathan Allan) — The Lucky Boy

Boys and young men are victims/survivors of sexualized violence, although this is often addressed flippantly as if he was lucky to have sex. The researcher, who has asked not to be named, is using cultural analysis and media representations to study this phenomenon, with a focus on the anti-Black racist implications that place Black boys and men at disproportionate risk.

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