{"id":46206,"date":"2017-08-15T16:15:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T20:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=46206"},"modified":"2026-04-28T17:38:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:38:02","slug":"researchers-tackling-allergies-and-climate-change-receive-cfi-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/08\/researchers-tackling-allergies-and-climate-change-receive-cfi-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers tackling allergies and climate change receive CFI funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the peanut that has Adam MacNeil so concerned.<\/p>\n

Thinking back to his schoolyard days, the assistant professor in Brock\u2019s Department of Health Sciences says children with peanut allergies were a rarity \u2014 a far cry from today\u2019s youth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAllergies are absolutely an epidemic,\u201d he explains, adding that up to 50 per cent of school-aged Canadian children suffer from allergic diseases. \u201cIt\u2019s very much a combination of our environment, our immune system and how they interact with one another.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

MacNeil is one of two Brock professors who will be able to take their research further thanks to $311,821 in federal funding announced Tuesday, Aug. 15 by Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan. The research dollars,\u00a0received through the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), will also benefit\u00a0Kevin Turner.<\/span><\/p>\n

The assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies spends his time examining temperature and landscape data gathered on his many research trips to a lake-rich area of the Yukon called Old Crow Flats, the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin

Kevin Turner will use funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to further his work on the impacts of climate change in the lake-rich area of the Yukon called Old Crow Flats.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe North is a very important place to understand how climate is affecting the land, wildlife and natural resources because it is undergoing greater amounts of change than anywhere else,\u201d Turner says.<\/span><\/p>\n

JELF funding is used by the CFI to help Canadian institutions attract and retain top researchers, by providing the infrastructure they need to remain or become leaders in their field.<\/p>\n

MacNeil\u2019s research focuses on <\/span>mast cells<\/span><\/a> \u2014 specialized cells of the immune system that arise from stem cells. They normally play important roles in fighting infection and maintaining healthy tissues where they are found.<\/span><\/p>\n

But mast cells can also act out and react to substances in the environment that pose no real threat. Known as <\/span>allergens<\/span><\/a>, contact with the likes of pollen, mould and certain foods, can cause mast cells to release various biologically potent substances leading to tissue damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

The release of these biological substances causes inflammation, mucus production and other allergy symptoms.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at the molecular and genetic changes that happen to bone marrow-derived stem cells that allow them to ultimately become the mast cells found in other tissues,\u201d MacNeil says. \u201cWe\u2019re interested in how those mast cells then function and whether we can find innovative strategies to target mast cells and block their ability to create allergic inflammation.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To find those strategies is no easy task. Samples that researchers pull from bone marrow contain a huge number and variety of cells that regulate all aspects of immunity. MacNeil says there\u2019s a lot of \u201cbackground noise\u201d that interferes with examining the development of mast cells closely.<\/span><\/p>\n

With his JELF funding, MacNeil will purchase a cell sorting and analysis suite \u2014 a group of instruments that will allow him to suck out and isolate stem cells developing into mast cells for intense examination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s research, on the other hand, documents how the impacts of climate change are transforming the landscape of Old Crow Flats by eroding river shorelines, increasing shrub vegetation and destabilizing lake water levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also of huge concern are the presence and movement of carbon in the area\u2019s water system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rising temperatures are causing permafrost to thaw which, in turn, triggers \u2018thaw slumps\u2019 (landslides) in many areas, especially along river banks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carbon is a chemical element that is an important component of greenhouse gases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Permafrost locks in large amounts of carbon, which can be released to lakes, rivers or the atmosphere, potentially perpetuating changing climate, Turner says.<\/span><\/p>\n

With his JELF funding, Turner will obtain drones and GPS systems that he will use to create three-dimensional maps twice each season over several years. These maps will be used with sampled sediment, vegetation and water to document rates of landscape changes and associated influences on the carbon balance and river and lake environments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for us to continue development of innovative and integrated approaches to monitor landscape changes and impacts across vast northern regions,\u201d he says. \u201cFindings will improve predictions of how these important landscapes will respond to future climate change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s Interim Vice-President Research Joffre Mercier said it is gratifying for the University to receive funding that is earmarked for the country\u2019s most significant research projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will enable two of our researchers to make significant contributions to Canada\u2019s health care and environmental conservation efforts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re all very proud of the exceptional research performed at Brock, and I look forward to seeing the results.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the peanut that has Adam MacNeil so concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":46209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,7,3319,4052,1,4,5,38],"tags":[3668,5688,5014,1696,5505,5689,4201,3325,15125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46206"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109357,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46206\/revisions\/109357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}