Call for Applications: AACR-CIHR Scholar-in-Training Awards 2025

As part of its longstanding partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) is delighted to announce the launch of the inaugural AACR-CIHR Scholar-in-Training Awards (SITA) competition. An expansion of the highly prestigious and successful AACR SITA competition, these awards will support young investigators from Canada, particularly from underrepresented groups, to present their research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, the world's largest cancer research conference.

Objectives:

The AACR-CIHR SITAs aim to promote capacity building in the Canadian cancer research landscape by:

• Enhancing the education and professional development of young investigators, particularly from traditionally underrepresented groups in cancer research, and encourage them to pursue careers in cancer research;
• Providing scholars with an opportunity to share their research with the international cancer research community at the AACR Annual Meeting and network with leading experts in the field; and
• Recognizing outstanding young investigators presenting meritorious proffered papers at the AACR Annual Meeting.

Recipients of the award will receive complimentary registration and a stipend towards travel, subsistence expenses, and poster printing costs to participate in the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, happening from April 25-30, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. Awardees are responsible for making their own travel arrangements.

How to Apply:

Submit an online application form using the AACR portal. Please ensure that you respond 'Yes' to being a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in the application form to be considered for this award. Applications from all areas of cancer research are encouraged.

Please consult the AACR website for all other details regarding application requirements for the SITAs. Note: Application instructions on the AACR website are available in English only.

Applicants must apply for AACR Associate Membership by October 28, 2024, to be eligible.

Applicants must submit their AACR-CIHR SITA application by November 26, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.

INSPIRING MINDS | Hooman Kheshti, PhD candidate, Faculty of Engineering

Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Hooman Kheshti
PhD candidate, Faculty of Engineering

Healing Hips: A Journey into Joint Health

Imagine waking up one day with a nagging pain in your hip, making even simple movements difficult. This is the reality for many suffering from femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), a condition that leads to early osteoarthritis. My research aims to change that story. Using cutting-edge robotic technology, we recreate human hip movements with remarkable precision, testing cadaveric hips to understand how different surgical techniques affect joint health. We measure the bone pressures and soft tissue deformation on the hip joint before and after surgery to discover which methods work best. This journey into the biomechanics of the hip not only helps surgeons improve their techniques but also brings hope for better recovery and pain free lives. By combining science with a passion for healing, we strive to rewrite the story of hip pain and offer a future where mobility is restored and life is lived fully.

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Participants needed for research in EDID Certificate Program

 

We are looking for volunteers to take part in a study entitled Examining the Effectiveness of an EDI Certificate Program.

Inclusion Criteria: current student, staff, or faculty at Western University, who has not completed the Anti-Racism Foundations Certificate Program.

If you are interested and agree to participate you would be asked to: complete the Anti-Racism Foundations Certificate Program (4 online modules and a workshop).

In appreciation for your time, you will be offered the opportunity to be entered into a draw where you can win one of five $100 Amazon gift cards.

To learn if you meet the inclusion criteria and learn more about this study, scan the QR code below or contact Ana Boller, Office of EDI, 519-661-2111 Ext. 8274, email: [email protected]

You can also contact the Principal Investigator, Erica Lawson, Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Western University, X8694, email: [email protected]

INSPIRING MINDS | Paige McGarry, MSc candidate, Faculty of Science

Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

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Paige McGarry
MSc candidate, Faculty of Science

Rapid, Reliable, and Risk-Free Detection of Fentanyl

Canada is in the midst of an opioid crisis: potent drugs like Fentanyl have been responsible for over 42,000 overdoses across the country each year. Canadians are consuming street drugs underhandedly cut with cheap and deadly fillers designed to increase their potency. To combat the increasing number of misrepresented narcotics, drug analysis can be performed at safe consumption sites, alerting users of the presence of dangerous fillers and verifying the chemical composition of each substance before consumption. My research is focused on creating an analytical technique that offers rapid, reliable, and risk-free methods for drug investigation, implementing Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to detect trace amounts of Fentanyl in street drugs. I have designed a highly sensitive SERS method that is calibrated to reveal the molecular fingerprint of Fentanyl in under 5 minutes using arrays of raspberry-shaped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on a glass coverslip as the drug loading platform.

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SSHRC's Storytellers Challenge

SSHRC's Storytellers Challenge supports efforts to disseminate work in the social sciences, arts and humanities and provides opportunities to develop skills for communicating it clearly and effectively. In up to three minutes or 300 words, students are asked to show how social sciences and humanities research funded by SSHRC is affecting our lives, our world and our future for the better.

In 2024, 20 finalists were awarded $3,000 and a chance to travel to Saskatoon to tell their story to a panel of judges at the showcase, with the five winners being awarded an additional $1,000.

We expect the 2025 competition to open the first week of November 2024, with details about awards and deadlines to be confirmed at that time.

We are offering two streams of optional support for submissions to the 2025 Storytellers competition:

Stream 1

In-depth, hands-on training provided by participating in the Storyhouse throughout the fall term.

• The Storyhouse helps craft accessible, engaging narratives to communicate new information with people who can implement, inform or act upon it
• Participation requires a commitment of approximately 2-3 hours weekly for the term.
• Students must be available to attend weekly, one-hour workshops (either 10:30 or 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays)
• Fall term registration deadline is September 23.

Students can register through this form.

Stream 2

A series of workshops focused on how to translate your research for lay audiences, with the possibility of technical video production and editing training and support, depending on numbers.

• Based on interest, these workshops will happen in the latter half of the term.
• Additionally, depending on numbers, students have the chance to receive feedback from the communications team at Western Research.

Students can voice their interest in this stream through our form.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Will Kinchlea, Communications Coordinator, Western Research.