We are celebrating and raising the profile of scholarly milestones and research impacts from across the SFU research community.
Examples of Scholarly Impacts can include:
- Publishing a paper in a high-impact journal;
- Patenting an invention;
- Debuting a new performance piece;
- Publishing a monograph or book;
- Changing a government policy; and/or
- Changing the way we think about or understand the world around us.
We expect most of the publications that are featured to be recent impacts—however, we will also publish a transformative impact from the past, from time-to-time.
As part of SFU's Scholarly Impact of the Week, selected researchers will work with a member of the VP Research and International Office's communications and marketing team for support. We will also work with researchers to discuss how we can mobilize knowledge on their work by submitting to The Conversation Canada—one of the world's most trusted independent sources of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered directly to the public.
Be sure to keep up-to-date on the latest published Scholarly Impact and other research news by following SFU Research on Twitter and Facebook.
If you have any questions, please reach out directly by emailing vpri-communications@sfu.ca.
Celebrating a milestone: 100th Scholarly Impact of the Week

Celebrating a milestone
Today is a special day marking the 100th installment of Simon Fraser University’s Scholarly Impact of the Week!
Launched in March 2021 to celebrate SFU researchers’ inspiring ideas and discoveries, the series has travelled to the far reaches of the universe, deep into the microscopic world—and many points in between.
Help wanted: the complexities of crowdfunding

Jeremy Snyder
Faculty of Health SciencesCrowdfunding can be a lifesaver, says SFU health sciences professor Jeremy Snyder, but it can also raise privacy concerns and reflect existing inequities in society. His new book, Appealing to the Crowd: The Ethical, Political, and Practical Dimensions of Donation-Based Crowdfunding, explores the wider historical and ethical context of giving practices.
Cree coding decolonizes computer programming

Jon Corbett
Faculty of Communication, Art and TechnologyImagine telling a story in an Indigenous language and having a computer interpret and produce digital images for the story. SFU School of Interactive Art and Technology professor Jon Corbett aims to make this happen by developing computer coding using nehiyawewin, the Plains Cree language.
TL;DR: the world’s shortest writing textbook

Joel Heng Hartse
Faculty of EducationHow should new university students approach their first essay? Do professors really expect students to do all the readings? What exactly is APA Style? SFU Education lecturer Joel Heng Hartse has answers to these questions. His short survival guide to university reading and writing can help new academic writers overcome their fear of long papers.
Illuminating viral protein offers clues to more effective COVID treatments

Mark Paetzel
Faculty of ScienceSFU microbiologist Mark Paetzel and his research team used the brightest light in Canada to study the atomic details of viral protein, work that sheds new light on potential treatments for COVID19.
The paper, X-ray crystallographic characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease polyprotein cleavage sites essential for viral processing and maturation was recently published in Nature Communications.
Award-winning project highlights colonization in Xinjiang, China

Darren Byler
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Guldana Salimjan
Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesSince 2017, the government of China has interned Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other Muslim groups indigenous to the Xinjiang region in northwest China. Researchers estimate that more than one-million people have passed through the state’s re-education camps.
Incoming SFU postdoctoral fellow Guldana Salimjan, international studies professor Darren Byler, and scholars at the University of British Columbia created the Xinjiang Documentation Project to provide a platform for documenting state crimes and the lived experiences of these minorities in China.
Decolonizing global planetary health

Clifford Atleo (Niis Na'yaa/Kam’ayaam/Chachim’multhnii)
Faculty of EnvironmentA viewpoint paper by a group of Simon Fraser University researchers recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health highlights the relationship between the health of the planet and human health. To address climate change and global health inequities, they recommend an anti-colonial, anti-racist and reciprocal approach.
We spoke with co-author Clifford Atleo, Jr. (Niis Na'yaa/Kam’ayaam/Chachim’multhnii), a Tsimshian (Kitsumkalum/Kitselas) and Nuu-chah-nulth (Ahousaht) professor of resource and environmental management about the paper's recommendations.
Understanding schizophrenia in the context of the “China Dream”

Jie Yang
Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesWhy do people diagnosed with schizophrenia in China hear “voices” of state leaders? How do these voices relate to the world depicted by “China Dream” discourse?
Simon Fraser University anthropology professor Jie Yang studies mental health and indigenous and non-indigenous psychology in China. She is fascinated by the ways that different strands of ideologies emerge in language and in people’s emotional lives.
In her recent article, Hallucinations of the “China Dream:” Forbidden Voice, Articulation, and Schizophrenia in China, Yang discusses the contents of voices heard by people diagnosed with schizophrenia in China. From interviews with doctors, caregivers, patients and family members she observed experiences of pressure, subordination and self-preservation by those who felt excluded from the “China Dream.”
Hey Neighbour! Collective builds connectedness in B.C. communities

Michelle Hoar

Meg Holden
Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesSocial connectedness has been shown to strengthen individual and community health and well-being, however, many members of Canadian society are at risk of social isolation.
SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue’s Michelle Hoar and urban studies professor Meg Holden are longstanding advocates of creating social connectedness in B.C.’s urban settings. They work with SFU researchers, housing providers, non-profits, governments and others through the Hey Neighbour! Collective, to address loneliness and isolation while building neighbourly social connections and community resilience.
Harvesting ambient energy to power the future

Vincenzo Pecunia
Faculty of Applied SciencesSFU sustainable energy engineering professor Vincenzo Pecunia led a group of over 100 international scientists to develop the "Roadmap on Energy Harvesting Materials." The roadmap offers guidance on the most promising directions in energy-harvesting technologies to help meet the growing demand for clean energy.