22 U of T researchers appointed or renewed as CRCs and receive NFRF-Exploration Funding

Karim Bardeesy, parliamentary secretary to Canada’s minister of industry, at the University of Toronto’s Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus (photo by Ania Potyrala)

Fifteen faculty members from the University of Toronto have been named or reappointed as Canada Research Chairs in the spring 2026 cohort.

Awarded by the Government of Canada, Canada Research Chair positions are designed to reinforce academic research and training excellence with a view to improving depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthening Canada’s international competitiveness and helping train the next generation of highly skilled people.

“On behalf of the entire University of Toronto community, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all the faculty members who have been appointed Canada Research Chairs or had their positions renewed,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. 

“From pediatric inflammatory bowel disease and endocannabinoid imaging in mental health to sustainable infrastructure and data-intensive systems, these scholars are leading innovative work that is pushing the frontiers of discovery and strengthening Canada’s position as a global research leader.”

The 2025-1 cycle of Canada Research Chair appointees from U of T includes seven new and eight renewed positions, sharing $15.1 million in funding.

New Canada Research Chairs:

• Sri Mahavir Agarwal of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Metabolic and Cognitive Health in Mental Illness
• Shane Harding of the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Radiation Biology
• Hans-Arno Jacobsen of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 1 in Data-Intensive Systems
• Marianne Koritzinsky of the University Health Network and the department of radiation oncology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Cancer Redox and Radiation Biology
• Kuan Liu of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 2 in Causal Methods for Health Research
• Emily Seto of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Tier 1 in Accessible Virtual Care Innovations
• Daisy Singla of CAMH and the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Transformative Mental Healthcare

Renewed Canada Research Chairs:

• Isabelle Boileau of CAMH and the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Endocannabinoid Imaging in Mental Illness
• Lihi Eder of Women’s College Hospital and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 2 in Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases
• Shiphra Ginsburg of Mount Sinai Hospital and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Health Professions Education
• Tony Lam of the University Health Network and the department of physiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Diabetes and Obesity
• Aleixo Muise of the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of paediatrics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Shoshanna Saxe of the department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Tier 2 in Sustainable Infrastructure
• Valerie Wallace of the University Health Network and the department of ophthalmology and vision sciences in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Retina Regeneration
• Lu-Yang Wang of the of the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of physiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Tier 1 in Brain Development and Disorders

New Frontiers in Research Fund:

Seven University of Toronto faculty members have received support from the Exploration stream of the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF). The Exploration stream aims to support high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research projects.

“I am grateful to the Government of Canada for its generous support of fundamental research at the University of Toronto,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “From health misinformation to climate justice, these faculty members are advancing scholarship in important areas.”

The recipients of the New Frontiers in Research Fund’s Exploration stream at U of T are:

• Earl Woodruff of the department of applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) – Decoding Learning in the Moment: Passive Physiological Signal Fusion for GenAI Tutoring
• Kiriakos Kutulakos of the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science – Computational Photon-Stream Processing for Adaptive Optics in Silico and 3D Scanning Fiber Endoscopy
• Freeman Lan of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Harnessing Microdroplets to Revolutionize Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
• Kuan Liu of the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Urban Environmental Exposures and Cognitive Aging: Machine Learning Exposure Mapping and Causal Modelling of Air Pollution and Heat
• Carmen Logie of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work – Sauti za Vijana: Youth-led Giant Puppets for Animating Climate Justice in Kenya
• Zahra Shakeri Hossein Abad of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – PROOF-Health: Provenance-first, retrieval-only agents for detecting high-harm health misinformation
• Linbo Wang of the department of computer and mathematical Sciences at U of T Scarborough – Transforming Building Energy Solutions with Causal Modeling

Karim Bardeesy (left) and Freeman Lan, assistant professor in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and recipient of a NFRF award (photo by Ania Potyrala)