Three Brock University Canada Research Chairs have been renewed as part of a recent Government of Canada funding announcement.

Chairs held by Associate Professor of Psychology Paula Duarte Guterman, Associate Professor of Child and Youth Studies Matthew Kwan and Professor of Child and Youth Studies Danielle Sirianni Molnar were each renewed for a second term of five years.

The three renewals total $1.5 million in funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program.

“Drs. Duarte Guterman, Kwan and Sirianni Molnar have used their first terms to engage in excellent high-impact research, team-building and graduate training,” says Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon. “These renewals will enable them to further advance their fields through their scholarship and leadership.”

As Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Neuroscience, Duarte Guterman studies how male and female hormones, parenthood and aging affect the remodelling of brain circuits in the hippocampus, a region of the brain regulating learning, memory, stress and anxiety.

Kwan, Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health and Performance, investigates new theoretical and practical approaches to understanding “movement behaviours” — sleep, sitting and physical activity — in youth and how these movement behaviours impacting mental health and well-being.

As Canada Research Chair in Adjustment and Well-Being in Children and Youth, Sirianni Molnar studies the lived experience of young perfectionists and their parents and investigates the roles of acute and chronic stress in perfectionism and its effects on adjustment and well-being.

“Facilitating children’s physical and mental health and understanding the impacts of life experiences on brain functioning are important for society’s well-being and development,” says Member of Parliament for St. Catharines Chris Bittle.  “We’re pleased to support Brock University researchers in working towards these goals.”

The Canada Research Chairs Program invests up to $311 million per year to attract top scholars and support research in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences.

The program recognizes diversity and inclusion as cornerstones of research excellence, working with participating Canadian institutions to achieve equity and diversity in the program.

Brock currently has 12 active CRCs.