Canada Research Chair renewal

The federal government has renewed two Rotman Research Institute scientists’ Canada Research Chair (CRC) through the University of Toronto.

Dr. Cheryl Grady, Canada Research Chair in Neurocognitive Aging (Tier 1), received $1.4M to renew her seven-year term and continue her research in the application of brain imaging to the study of aging.  Dr. Grady received an outstanding peer review for scientific excellence, research productivity, partnerships and collaborations and her role in training future scientists. As a CRC, Dr. Grady will move her research forward by looking at how brain networks function together to produce behavioural changes in aging.

Dr. Jennifer Ryan received $500,000 in funding for her second 5-year term as Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory. Dr. Ryan will continue her research in the innovative and unique combination of imaging techniques to study human memory, and will connect her theoretical work with translational research, to help develop treatments for memory reductions in older adults, as well as with patient groups with memory problems. Dr. Ryan is recognized for her leadership in training the next generation of scientists at the Rotman Research Institute.

Distinguished Career Contributions Award

Dr. Morris Moscovitch, a senior scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, is the 2012 winner of the inaugural Distinguished Career Contributions Award by the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS). The award honours senior cognitive neuroscientists for their distinguished career, leadership and mentoring in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Moscovitch has built an impressive body of research in the areas of memory, attention, and face-recognition and is currently conducting research on face and object recognition in young and old adults and in people with specific brain injuries that selectively affect their ability to recognize faces, objects or words. Dr. Moscovitch, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and holds the Glassman Chair in Neuropsychology and Aging.