CIFAR News

Internationally-respected Canadian researcher and founding CIHR president to fill prestigious advanced research leadership post

President and CEO Chaviva Hosek is delighted to announce the appointment of Denis Thérien as vice-president, research for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

In December 2011, CIFAR program members from Experience-based Brain and Biological Development and special guests are invited to present their research at the prestigious Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia in Irvine California.

NASA's final space shuttle mission last week carried some extra passengers in the form of yeast cell growth experiments. The trials were developed by a research team led in part by CIFAR Genetic Networks program director Brenda Andrews and CIFAR Fellow Charlie Boone. The experiments are testing the effect of microgravity on cell growth in space.

CIFAR is pleased to announce that three of the four winners of this year's Gruber Cosmology Prize are part of the Institute's Cosmology and Gravity program. The CIFAR winners are George Efstathiou, Carlos Frenk, and Simon White.

It was with great sadness that we learned that Allan Griffin passed away on May 19, 2011. Allan was an admired member of CIFAR’s community, not only because of his work in theoretical physics but also because he was a kind and devoted individual to many people around the world.

Successful Societies Program Fellow Ron Levi has been studying the link between immigration and youth crime. His latest research findings are featured in the June 2011 issue of The Walrus.

Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Fellow Alex Haslam and his research collaborators interpret the way people responded to Osama Bin Laden’s death. What does it reveal about social identity and how we relate to different groups and roles?

Fellow and Director of CIFAR's Integrated Microbial Biodiversity program, Patrick Keeling, was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on coral reefs and parasite origins.

Dr. Robert Gibbs, member of the steering committee for CIFAR's Humanities Initiative, appointed to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The work of Irene Bloemraad, a scholar in our Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being program, is shared in a Vancouver Sun article. The piece argues for the importance of multiculturalism in building a better Canadian society.

The Globe & Mail discusses the recent Arab revolutions and the important role of young “social capital,” a concept conceived by Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being advisory committee member Robert Putnam.