Research chairs and fellowships

Dr. Jian Pei

Professor, School of Computing Science
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Big Data Science
Area of research: Big data analysis as applied to health care, social sciences and many other applications
Think big data, and you might imagine exploding volumes of digital information as vast, faceless statistics. But for SFU computing science professor Jian Pei, people are at the heart of big data. Dr. Pei is one of the Top 10 authors in the world—and the only from Canada—in the field of data mining, according to Microsoft Academic Search. Dr. Pei's other prestigious awards include induction as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and NSERC’s Discovery Accelerator Supplements Award. An ACM Distinguished Speaker, Pei is a highly sought-after lecturer with SFU’s new professional master’s degree in big data program.

Dr. Cenk Sahinalp

Professor, School of Computing Science
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Computational Genomics
Area of research: Computational Genomics
Dr. Sahinalp has enhanced the university's reputation as an international research centre in the area of computational biology. This is a complementary field to bioinformatics, which focuses on using algorithms to define problems in the life sciences. Since arriving at SFU, Dr. Sahinalp has set up a world-class computational biology lab to complement the existing life sciences-based research efforts already existing at SFU, as well as in the region. He works with top life scientists in the Pacific Northwest on challenging algorithmic problems in bioinformatics, and was recently involved in the international 1000 Genomes Project.

Dr. Ryan D'Arcy

Professor, Schools of Computing Science and Engineering Science
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation BC Leadership Chair in Multimodal Technology for Healthcare Innovation
Dr. D'Arcy explores new frontiers in neurotechnology to further understand the brain and help patients with devastating brain illness and traumatic brain injuries. He is leading the development of a diverse and prosperous medical technology sector in the province. This is one of five SFU research chairs supported by the Government of British Columbia through the Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF). LEEF contributed $2.5 million toward this Chair, and SFU and Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation each contributed $1.5 million. The Fraser Health Authority is also a strategic partner that provides lab space for the Dr. D'Arcy, as well as access to clinical facilities and resources at Surrey Memorial Hospital and other healthcare facilities.

Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Fedorova

Associate Professor, Computing Science
Sloan Fellowship
Dr. Fedorova received a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2012, placing her among the next generation of scientific leaders. Sloan Fellowships support fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These two-year fellowships are awarded to 126 researchers each year for distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Dr. Fedorova leads SFU’s Systems Research Group and her research focuses on finding new algorithms that can more efficiently allocate a computer system’s hardware resources.

Dr. Pavol Hell

Professor, Computing Science
SIAM Class of 2012 Fellows
Dr. Hell has been named to the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics' (SIAM) Class of 2012 Fellows. Dr. Hell is considered one of Canada’s leading graph theorists and is currently managing editor of the Journal of Graph Theory. Nominated by the SIAM community, the 2012 Class includes 35 academics and professionals from the fields of applied mathematics and computational science. They are recognized for their exemplary research in the field, as well as outstanding contributions to the community.