2018 Vanier Scholars, Taylor Morisseau and Iloradanon Efimoff.
Two new Vanier Scholars call U of M home in 2018
Two Indigenous University of Manitoba graduate students are recipients of 2018 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships.
These awards, considered the Canadian equivalent of the United Kingdom’s Rhodes Scholarships, help recruit and keep in Canada top doctoral students from across the country and around the world. Each recipient will receive $150,000 over three years towards her research.
The recipients of this prestigious award are Taylor Morriseau and Iloradanon Efimoff.
With her Vanier funding, Morriseau will investigate how a traditional Indigenous diet can quell a gene variant that is strongly associated with Type 2 diabetes in Oji-Cree children.
Efimoff will use her funding to probe a dauntingly large question crucial to Canada’s reconciliation efforts: How can we teach people to be less racist towards Indigenous people in Canada?
“These students, with their exceptional leadership and research skills, stand out amongst their peers across Canada, and their work will undoubtedly advance Reconciliation,” says Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. “We are very proud that they will call the University of Manitoba home.”
Banting Fellow
Also in funding news, Dr. Christopher Pascoe, postdoctoral fellow at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, was awarded a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, valued at $140,000 over two years. He is undertaking research with Dr. Andrew Halayko (Canada Research Chair in Chronic Lung Disease Pathobiology and Treatment Physiology at the University and affiliated with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), investigating the association between artificial sweetener consumption during pregnancy and the increased risk of asthma in offspring.
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program, named for Canadian Nobel Peace Prize winner Sir Frederick Banting, aims to attract and retain top-tier talent and position them for success as the research leaders of tomorrow.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.