> Children's health policy and industrial math chairs named
Children's health policy and industrial math chairs named
Contact:
- Fadil Santosa, 612.626.0528, santosa@math.umn.edu
- Charlotte Waddell, 604.268.7769
- Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, 604.291.5151
May 25, 2007
Two leading researchers, one a specialist in the development of children's health policy and the other an industrial mathematician who takes math to the marketplace, are Simon Fraser University's newest Canada Research Chairs (CRC).
Fadil Santosa, currently at the University of Minnesota, will hold the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada CRC in industrial mathematics, a seven-year, Tier 1 senior chair, worth $1.4 million.
Charlotte Waddell, who heads the Children's Health Policy Research Centre, based at SFU's Vancouver campus, will be the Canadian Institute for Health Research CRC in children's health policy. This is a Tier 2 appointment of $500,000.
Fadil Santosa says that math is industry's secret weapon, from the bar code on your box of cereal to planning an investment strategy, to treating disease. One of Santosa's latest projects will help treat arterial fibrillation, a potentially deadly heart disease affecting three out of five people over the age of 65. Santosa is refining a device that takes detailed heart measurements and then, using complex mathematical equations, provides real-time images of the electrical activity of the heart. He is also using applied mathematics to improve manufacturing of computer chips and collaborating on a new, more accurate, barcode scanner.
Nearly 800,000 Canadian children are unable to thrive and enjoy childhood because they suffer from serious mental health problems, says Charlotte Waddell. Equally disturbing, a majority do not receive intervention programs that are known to be effective. Mental health problems then often persist into adulthood with an annual cost exceeding $14 billion. Waddell, working with policy makers and public groups, will be seeking more effective ways to reach more children early in life. She plans to look beyond the health-care system, evaluating public health approaches such as parenting programs, which can dramatically reduce the number of children who develop problems. She'll also ask why, despite proven effectiveness and value, these approaches are not used much more widely.
SFU has received funding for 36 CRCs since the 2000 launch of the federal government program designed to attract and retain some of the world's most accomplished and promising researchers for Canadian universities.
Fadil Santosa, currently at the University of Minnesota, will hold the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada CRC in industrial mathematics, a seven-year, Tier 1 senior chair, worth $1.4 million.
Charlotte Waddell, who heads the Children's Health Policy Research Centre, based at SFU's Vancouver campus, will be the Canadian Institute for Health Research CRC in children's health policy. This is a Tier 2 appointment of $500,000.
Fadil Santosa says that math is industry's secret weapon, from the bar code on your box of cereal to planning an investment strategy, to treating disease. One of Santosa's latest projects will help treat arterial fibrillation, a potentially deadly heart disease affecting three out of five people over the age of 65. Santosa is refining a device that takes detailed heart measurements and then, using complex mathematical equations, provides real-time images of the electrical activity of the heart. He is also using applied mathematics to improve manufacturing of computer chips and collaborating on a new, more accurate, barcode scanner.
Nearly 800,000 Canadian children are unable to thrive and enjoy childhood because they suffer from serious mental health problems, says Charlotte Waddell. Equally disturbing, a majority do not receive intervention programs that are known to be effective. Mental health problems then often persist into adulthood with an annual cost exceeding $14 billion. Waddell, working with policy makers and public groups, will be seeking more effective ways to reach more children early in life. She plans to look beyond the health-care system, evaluating public health approaches such as parenting programs, which can dramatically reduce the number of children who develop problems. She'll also ask why, despite proven effectiveness and value, these approaches are not used much more widely.
SFU has received funding for 36 CRCs since the 2000 launch of the federal government program designed to attract and retain some of the world's most accomplished and promising researchers for Canadian universities.