Innovative Projects Realized

Portrait des syndicats et de la Confédération des syndicats nationaux face à la transition juste et écologique

La notion de transition énergétique et écologique juste — ou transition juste — a été développée par le mouvement syndical mondial pour protéger les travailleuses et les travailleurs touchés.es par la transition vers une économie sobre en carbone. Elle est née de la nécessité de protéger les moyens de subsistance de ces personnes et de s’assurer que les gouvernements accordent une attention aux conséquences des transformations profondes liées à la transition. Elle a permis de renforcer les capacités d’agir ainsi que le partage d’expériences et de compétences tout en établissant les bases d’un dialogue social inclusif. La transition concerne les travailleuses et les travailleurs dont les emplois dépendent d’industries à hautes émissions de GES, qui pourraient se retrouver en situation de précarité et devoir réorienter leur carrière. Elle va toutefois bien au-delà du secteur de l’énergie puisque la transition aura des répercussions dans l’ensemble de l’économie. La transition est maintenant une mesure d’adaptation pour lutter contre les changements climatiques et un projet de société.

Modélisation mathématique pour l’étude de la motilité cellulaire

La motilité cellulaire joue un rôle central dans un grand nombre de processus physiologiques : la réponse immunitaire, le développement neuronal, le développement des cancers… pour ne citer qu’eux. Comprendre les mécanismes à l’origine des migrations cellulaires, ainsi que les réactions d’interaction est donc crucial. Il est établi que certaines protéines y jouent un rôle central. L’expérimentation en laboratoire est difficile, tandis que les techniques informatiques donnent actuellement de très bons résultats dans la compréhension des interactions protéiques. Le projet consiste à développer des modèles de système de réaction-diffusion, pour investiguer la dynamique et l’importance des certaines protéines dans la motilité cellulaire. Il s’agit de maîtriser les équations différentielles, non linéaires ou stochastiques, qui régissent le système, puis d’implémenter informatiquement la résolution, par simulations aléatoires entre autres. Les différents modèles seront confrontés à la réalité et validés par des techniques « Markov Chain Monte Carlo », et le projet permettra in fine une meilleure compréhension des interactions protéiques.

Cannabis legalization in Canada: examining the effect of provincial policies on transitions to the legal retail market

Evaluating the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on Canadian public health is critical. The proposed project will focus on the cannabis legal market in the three years post-legalization in Canada (2019-2021). I will examine five aspects of the legal market: 1) how much money was spent in the legal market; 2) prices of cannabis and number of retail stores; 3) perceptions of legal cannabis; and characteristics of consumers who: 4) grow their own cannabis; and 5) purchase in the legal market. The study consists of two data sources: 1) an environmental scan of the cannabis market to collect ‘objective’ data; 2) population-level data conducted with repeat cross-sectional samples of Canadians. Outcomes will be examined nationally, by provinces, and sociodemographic characteristics.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) is the leading non-governmental organization in substance use in Canada, and cannabis policy is a core area of focus. Collaboration will provide the CCSA with evidence on the legal market and legislative impacts on public health. The project will contribute scientific evidence to the Government of Canada’s legislative review of legalization. By working with the CCSA,

Technology Development to Support Drinking Water Treatment Response to Climate Change and Increasingly Variable Source Water Quality – Year two

The physico-chemical processes of coagulation, flocculation, clarification, and filtration, collectively referred to as “chemically-assisted filtration” (CAF), are integral to resilient drinking water treatment—their use to ensure the provision of safe drinking water is therefore a regulatory requirement across North America. Treatment credits are assigned based on achievement of filtered water turbidity targets. Recent work has shown that turbidity is inadequate for assessing protozoan pathogen removal by CAF in high quality source water systems because it does not reliably reflect the adequacy of particle destabilization achieved by coagulant addition—this is critical for effective filtration. Zeta potential analysis (ZPA) indicates particle destabilization; however, it is not widely used in the water industry, despite the increasingly urgent need for real-time coagulant dosing support in response to climate change-exacerbated landscape disturbances (e.g., wildfires, floods). This project will advance Malvern Panalytical’s delivery of customer-focused solutions that deliver tangible economic impact through physico-chemical analysis of materials by (1) demonstrating ZPA integration with conventional indicators (e.g., turbidity) to optimize water treatment performance/pathogen removal, (2) evaluating ZPA as a climate change adaptation tool for informing coagulant dosing during severe disturbances/flooding, and (3) developing and validating operational guidance for ZPA implementation and identification of system-specific performance targets.

Technology Development to Support Drinking Water Treatment Response to Climate Change and Increasingly Variable Source Water Quality

The physico-chemical processes of coagulation, flocculation, clarification, and filtration, collectively referred to as “chemically-assisted filtration” (CAF), are integral to resilient drinking water treatment—their use to ensure the provision of safe drinking water is therefore a regulatory requirement across North America. Treatment credits are assigned based on achievement of filtered water turbidity targets. Recent work has shown that turbidity is inadequate for assessing protozoan pathogen removal by CAF in high quality source water systems because it does not reliably reflect the adequacy of particle destabilization achieved by coagulant addition—this is critical for effective filtration. Zeta potential analysis (ZPA) indicates particle destabilization; however, it is not widely used in the water industry, despite the increasingly urgent need for real-time coagulant dosing support in response to climate change-exacerbated landscape disturbances (e.g., wildfires, floods). This project will advance Malvern Panalytical’s delivery of customer-focused solutions that deliver tangible economic impact through physico-chemical analysis of materials by (1) demonstrating ZPA integration with conventional indicators (e.g., turbidity) to optimize water treatment performance/pathogen removal, (2) evaluating ZPA as a climate change adaptation tool for informing coagulant dosing during severe disturbances/flooding, and (3) developing and validating operational guidance for ZPA implementation and identification of system-specific performance targets.

How are rapid environmental changes influencing Canadian-origin Yukon River Chinook declines? – Year two

Yukon River Chinook salmon have experienced devastating declines in recent years, leading to significant impacts on Yukon First Nation citizens. To address this growing conservation issue, we have collaborated with Yukon First Nations to understand their desires for improving salmon conservation capacity, and how we can support them in this endeavour. Together, we have identified some key avenues for research: first, what is responsible for salmon declines – climate change, fishing pressure, habitat loss, too many hatchery fish, or a combination? Armed with this extra information, we will create watershed-specific conservation strategies to help protect salmon and their habitats from future impacts. These strategies will be developed in collaboration with local First Nations to make sure that they are 1) desirable, 2) feasible, and 3) scientifically supported. Finally, as downstream fishing and increased climate change over the Alaskan border have been rising concerns for Yukon First Nations, we will use our data to determine if current harvest rates should be lowered in a warmer and more variable climate. Together, these actions will help Yukon First Nations maximize their local conservation impact, while also supporting their advocacy goals on the International stage.

How are rapid environmental changes influencing Canadian-origin Yukon River Chinook declines?

Yukon River Chinook salmon have experienced devastating declines in recent years, leading to significant impacts on Yukon First Nation citizens. To address this growing conservation issue, we have collaborated with Yukon First Nations to understand their desires for improving salmon conservation capacity, and how we can support them in this endeavour. Together, we have identified some key avenues for research: first, what is responsible for salmon declines – climate change, fishing pressure, habitat loss, too many hatchery fish, or a combination? Armed with this extra information, we will create watershed-specific conservation strategies to help protect salmon and their habitats from future impacts. These strategies will be developed in collaboration with local First Nations to make sure that they are 1) desirable, 2) feasible, and 3) scientifically supported. Finally, as downstream fishing and increased climate change over the Alaskan border have been rising concerns for Yukon First Nations, we will use our data to determine if current harvest rates should be lowered in a warmer and more variable climate. Together, these actions will help Yukon First Nations maximize their local conservation impact, while also supporting their advocacy goals on the International stage.

Supporting adaptive grizzly bear population management in British Columbia using dietary profiles

Stable isotope analysis is an important tool for identifying the primary foods present in wildlife diets. This project will use stable isotopes, collected from approximately 1000 hair samples, to develop dietary profiles of grizzly bears in British Columbia, Canada. The dietary profiles, representing the proportion of meat, fish, other marine fods, and vegetation in an individual bear’s diet, will be used to understand how the availability and quality of different foods, topography, climate and human pressures combine to influence bear diet throughout the province. The project goal is to support grizzly bear population monitoring and conservation programs developed by the BC Conservation Foundation by providing information on dietary patterns associated with different regions and habitats throughout the province.

Investigating WD repeat protein function in the nucleolar biology and cancer – Year two

Ribosome biosynthesis is one of the most multifaceted and energy-demanding processes in biology. It involves over 250 factors that transiently associate with the nascent pre-ribosome in a well-orchestrated manner. Importantly, increased ribosome biogenesis has a critical role in cancer initiation and progression. Owing to the advances in cryo-electron microscopy, this pathway’s detailed mechanism started to be revealed, setting the grounds for new therapeutic interventions. The current project seeks to develop chemical probes for WD repeat proteins, a new drug target class. We are particularly interested in targeting WDR12 and WDR55—key components of a nucleolar complex that affect the large ribosomal subunit’s maturation. In this project, we will combine the latest advances in super-resolution microscopy and cell biology to assess WDR12 and WDR55 protein function and interaction networks in cells. Next, binding of inhibitors to the target proteins will be tested using a variety of techniques to establish compound activity and selectivity. Finally, inhibitors will be used to investigate their biological function in nucleolar regulation and glioblastoma tumorigenesis – the most aggressive type of brain cancer. The development of these inhibitors will reveal insights into the biology of this intricate pathway and may provide clinical-translational opportunity for glioblastoma treatment.

Development of a Privacy-preserving Infection Risk Assessment Protocol

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing has been found an effective measure to mitigate the spread of the corresponding SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of contact tracing is to identify, notify and potentially quarantine persons who have been in close contact with infected individuals, thereby breaking the chain of infections. Next to manual contact tracing usually performed by local health authorities, several automatic, technology-driven contact tracing systems have been proposed throughout the last year, including popular constructions such as the Google/Apple Exposure Notification Framework (GAEN), DP-3T, or PACT. However, recent research has found that most of these constructions are still far from perfect, as they are susceptible to potential attacks (e.g., relay/replay of information) or they disallow collection of valuable data such as statistics or location-information due to privacy concern. Hence, our objective is to propose a novel contact tracing system which overcomes these shortcomings of previous constructions with the help of applied cryptography while maintaining a high degree of user privacy and real-world applicability.

Investigating WD repeat protein function in the nucleolar biology and cancer

Ribosome biosynthesis is one of the most multifaceted and energy-demanding processes in biology. It involves over 250 factors that transiently associate with the nascent pre-ribosome in a well-orchestrated manner. Importantly, increased ribosome biogenesis has a critical role in cancer initiation and progression. Owing to the advances in cryo-electron microscopy, this pathway’s detailed mechanism started to be revealed, setting the grounds for new therapeutic interventions. The current project seeks to develop chemical probes for WD repeat proteins, a new drug target class. We are particularly interested in targeting WDR12 and WDR55—key components of a nucleolar complex that affect the large ribosomal subunit’s maturation. In this project, we will combine the latest advances in super-resolution microscopy and cell biology to assess WDR12 and WDR55 protein function and interaction networks in cells. Next, binding of inhibitors to the target proteins will be tested using a variety of techniques to establish compound activity and selectivity. Finally, inhibitors will be used to investigate their biological function in nucleolar regulation and glioblastoma tumorigenesis – the most aggressive type of brain cancer. The development of these inhibitors will reveal insights into the biology of this intricate pathway and may provide clinical-translational opportunity for glioblastoma treatment.

Epidémiologie des maladies émergentes chez les amphibiens en lien avec la composition de leur microbiome.

Les amphibiens sont la classe animale la plus en danger d’extinction, notamment à cause de maladies émergentes qui se propagent sur tous les continents, en partie à cause du commerce exotique des espèces. Il semble cependant que les bactéries vivant à la surface de leur peau (le microbiome cutané) leur confèrent une certaine résistance face à ces épidémies. Néanmoins, tous les amphibiens ne possèdent pas le même microbiome, et donc pas le même armement contre les pathogènes. Au travers de cette étude collaborative, nous voulons identifier les facteurs qui influencent la composition du microbiome cutané des amphibiens, pour mieux comprendre et prédire leur devenir face aux maladies dans un contexte d’invasion accidentelle. Ce projet s’inscrit directement dans le cadre de ma thèse, et me permettra de revenir en Belgique riche de l’expertise canadienne en matière de recherches sur les maladies émergentes des amphibiens, et d’appliquer les techniques ainsi apprises à mes échantillons belges.