BCKDF funding awarded to the campus’s newest Canada Research Chairs
Photo credit: Margo Yacheshyn
Two UBC Okanagan researchers have received a combined $440,221 in infrastructure support from the Government of BC.
The funding came from the latest round of the BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) awards, which help support expanding research capacities at BC post-secondary institutions. At UBC Okanagan, these funds are supporting research projects from UBC Okanagan’s newest Canada Research Chairs.
Dr. Alanaise Ferguson from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is the Canada Research Chair in Health, Healing and Community Revitalization: Indigenous Approaches to Overcoming Intergenerational Trauma and Loss (Tier 2). Her BCKDF-funded project is a communication centre for health and cultural revitalization that prioritizes Indigenous lived experiences.
From the School of Engineering, Dr. Will Hughes is the Canada Research Chair in DNA Engineering (Tier 1). His BCKDF funding will go towards the DNA Nanotechnology Laboratory, where Dr. Hughes and his team are studying storing data in synthetic DNA, or nucleic acid memory (NAM).
“I am delighted to see this investment in research infrastructure, which will support UBC Okanagan’s newest Canada Research Chairs and their colleagues,” says Dr. Lesley Cormack, Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. “I’m grateful to the Province of BC for helping enable our researchers’ cutting-edge and important work in DNA nanotechnology and developing Indigenous approaches to overcoming intergenerational trauma and loss.”
The most recent round of BCKDF funding gave approximately $52.3 million to support 25 research projects at five BC post-secondary institutions. Across both campuses, UBC researchers were awarded more than $47 million for 21 projects.