November 25, 2005 Source: Carleton University:
http://www.carleton.ca/duc/News/news11250502.html Ontario Government Names Carleton University Professors as Two of the Best and Brightest Researchers in the Province (Ottawa)—Carleton University Computer Science Associate Professor Prosenjit Bose and Shawn Hayley, Canada Research Chair (Neuroscience Tier 11) were both awarded $100,000 from the McGuinty Government earlier today as part of the newly created Early Researcher Award program. Dr. Bose’s research focuses on designing more efficient routing methods to improve speed and reliability for wireless devices such as cellphones, computers, and personal digital assistants. Dr. Hayley is researching how psychological and physical stress may disturb communication between the brain and immune system resulting in the development of pathological states, such as clinical depression or Parkinson’s disease. Under the Early Researcher Award program, the government is investing $30 million over three years. In this round of awards, $6.4 million will support 64 researchers working at 13 universities in 10 communities across the province. Recipients receive up to $100,000 from the Ontario government and an additional $50,000 from their institutions. "We need to attract and retain the best and brightest people to ensure that Ontario can compete in the marketplace of ideas," said Premier McGuinty. "Now it will be easier for outstanding researchers to stay in Ontario and recruit promising young researchers to their teams. Their discoveries will be made right here at home, providing jobs and prosperity for Ontarians well into the future." Dr. Prosenjit Bose
Anyone who depends on wireless devices--cellphones, PDAs, computers--can appreciate the importance of Dr. Bose's research. That's because Dr. Bose, former Director of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Computer Science (2000-2002), is focused on designing more efficient routing methods to improve the speed and reliability of wireless communications. "When a message is sent between two devices, that message travels over a network from one 'node' or terminal to another until it reaches the destination device," explains Dr. Bose. "The more steps there are in the route taken by the message in the network, the more likely a user is to experience problems, like losing a call or taking a long time to receive a message. With wireless devices it's even more challenging because they're on the move all the time, so the network keeps constantly changing." Dr. Bose aims to develop new methods for routing messages on wireless networks that are more reliable by analyzing and using the geometric properties inherent in a wireless network. His research will ultimately assist companies to increase the efficiency and dependability of their networks. Dr. Bose has won many awards including the Carleton University Research Achievement Award (2001), Best Paper Award at SIROCCO Conference (2001), a Killam and NSERC Postdoctoral award which he held at the University of British Columbia (1995), and the D.W. Ambridge Award at McGill University for Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate in Science and Engineering. He has published over 150 journal and conference articles. Dr. Shawn Hayley
Are there any similarities between stress related illnesses like depression and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's? Dr. Hayley, a researcher at Carleton University, believes there are and hopes that his research will contribute to the development of treatment strategies for both. Dr. Hayley, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Neuroscience, is focusing on the communication between the brain and the immune system and how imbalances can cause psychiatric and neurological conditions. "My interest, specifically, is with cytokines, which are the immune system's messengers," explains Dr. Hayley. "I'm exploring how cytokines increase when an individual is exposed to two different types of stress, the psychological stress associated with depression and environmental toxins linked to Parkinson's." Researchers know that in the case of depression, the imbalance of cytokines causes changes in mood, sleep and appetite. When it comes to Parkinson's, cytokines accumulate in the brain and cause damage to certain brain cells, which, in turn, cause things like loss of motor control. How does it all work and what role does genetic predisposition play? That's what Dr. Hayley is investigating. Dr. Hayley's work has the potential to impact the lives of people who are affected either directly or indirectly by these diseases. Dr. Hayley holds NSERC and other research grants that allow him to pursue studies aimed at better understanding the causes of psychiatric and neurological conditions associated with stressors and environmental toxins. He is the author of 64 journal articles, book chapters and conference abstracts. Of these, several peer-reviewed articles appeared in prominent journals including, The Journal of Neuroscience and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has also received many awards. -30- For more information:
Dr. Prosenjit Bose
Associate Professor, Computer Science
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext. 4336
jit_bose@carleton.ca Dr. Shawn Hayley
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext. 6314
shawn_hayley@carleton.ca
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