Vanier scholarships bring the world to McGill

One of McGill’s new Vanier Scholars will be looking into how to use virtual reality for balance and mobility re-education for children with developmental delays. Another is interested in assessing the present and future significance of Canada's Supreme Court. And a third is working on the role that genetics plays in chronic pain.

Fourteen of the 156 new 2012 Vanier Scholars will be attending McGill University, coming from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Peru and the United States, as well as from Canada.

The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program is designed to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain the world’s top-tier doctoral students. Vanier scholars receive $50,000 annually for up to three years, and each is selected based on demonstrated leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering or health sciences.

“Since they were introduced in 2008, the Vanier Scholarships continue to help McGill attract the brightest and most dedicated doctoral students,” said Martin Kreiswirth, Associate Provost (Graduate Education). “We are very grateful to the Vanier Scholarship program for the support it offers to the next generation of researchers, and to the research community as a whole.”

McGill’s 2012 Vanier Scholars are:
Jonathan Berken: Cortical and subcortical brain regions that contribute to language translation proficiency, Integrated Program in Neuroscience
Grant Cox: Neoproterozoic volcanism and its links to environmental change, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Philip Dickinson: Functional connectivity of resting state activity as a neuroimaging biomarker for Alzheimer's disease, Integrated Program in Neuroscience
James Falconer: Towards Equity in Population Health: ComparingEvolving Policy in World Health Care Systems, Department of Sociology
Katharine E. Glover: Much less and much more:  a biographical assessment of the Supreme Court of Canada's present and future significance, Faculty of Law
Jessica A. Holmes: Disability and embodiment in musical performance today, Schulich School of Music
Mona C. Luxion: Water and sanitation in small and mid-sized Indian cities:  improving the state of coverage, School of Urban Planning
Jason D.K. Noble: Finding meaning in information:  semiotic composition, Schulich School of Music
Anne M. Ritzema: Predictors of socio-educational well-being for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, Faculty of Education
Maxime Robert: Balance and mobility re-education using virtual reality in children with development delay, Integrated Program in Neuroscience
Nathaniel Robichaud: eIF4E phosphorylation and the tumour microenvironment: implications in signalling, invasion and metastasis, Department of Biochemistry
Carlos O. Rueda Heredia: Organic leadership development:  how on-the-job, internet-based pedagogies accelerate management learning and organizational change in non-profit organizations, Desautels Faculty of Management
Jeffrey Wieskopf: The Role of Genetics in Chronic Pain, Integrated Program in Neuroscience
Jenna Wong: Using real-time electronic health information from a multi-national pharmacosurveillance system to assess the safety and effectiveness of oral hypoglycemic drugs among patients with type 2 diabetes, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
 
For more information about the Vanier Scholarships http://www.vanier.gc.ca/