Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  Linkedin  Youtube  
Keeping Our Members Informed and Connected

April 2024

Member Highlights and Successes

Letting us know about the accomplishments of you and your colleagues let’s us celebrate the great work being done in our region, build further collaborations, and ignite excitement about research in Windsor-Essex! Here are just a few of your latest successes.

New Projects


Jalal Ahamed, University of Windsor ($180,000) NSERC and MITACS. Design of an adaptable, customizable, and multi-user microfluidic process platform for fluidic applications.


Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor ($24,960) SSHRC. Partnering with the Windsor Police Service to measure the prevalence of distracted driving in Windsor, ON.


Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor ($90,000) NSERC. Validating novel methods for assessing the cognitive load of using Atlas Copco's tools and workstations.


Kathy Pfaff, Adrian Guta, University of Windsor, Jennifer Bondy, CMHA Health Centre ($59,903) SSHRC IDG. Affirming 'value-based' care in a shelter health initiative: Understanding stakeholder perspectives about what data matters and why.


Lisa Porter, Elizabeth Fidalgo da Silva, Bre-Anne Fifield, Martin Bakht, Frank Stringer, Fred Dick, University of Windsor, Sindu Kanjeekal, Windsor Regional Hospital ($30,000) Prostate Cancer Fight Foundation and Ride For Dad. Preclinical Testing of Novel Reagents to Prevent the Progression to Treatment Resistant Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer.


Lisa Porter, Otis Vacratsis, Simon Rondeau-Gagné, University of Windsor ($150,000) JELF/ORF. Virus and Cell Fraction Isolation and Characterization.


Munir Rahim, University of Windsor ($100,000) CIHR. Regulation of natural killer cell-mediated immune response in breast cancer.


Simon Rondeau-Gagné, John Trant, University of Windsor, Konrad Walus, University of British Columbia, Jennifer Voth, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK Health Institute, Stephanie Willerth, University of Victoria, Balraj Jhawar, Windsor Regional Hospital ($250,000) NFRF. Implantable Electronics and E-Theranostics: A Paradigm Shift in Brain Cancer Management.


Publications / Articles / Presentations


Agarwal A, Salahuddin A, Ahamed M J (2024). Demonstration of a Transparent and Adhesive Sealing Top for Microfluidic Lab-Chip Applications. Sensors.


Biondi F N (2024). Adopting Stimulus Detection Tasks for Cognitive Workload Assessment: Some Considerations. Human Factors.


Biondi F N (2024). Human error may have contributed to the Key Bridge disaster - changing our approach to design can help reduce accidents. The Conversation.


Biondi F N, Jajo N (2024). On the impact of on-road partially-automated driving on drivers' cognitive workload and attention allocation. Accident Analysis and Prevention.


Biondi F N, McDonnell A, Cooper J, Strayer D L (2024). Using the ISO Detection response task to measure the cognitive load of driving four separate vehicles on two distinct highways. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.


Calandra J, Ladak R, Sementilli M, Lazo-Langner A, Siegal D, Wang T F, Luo R, Cervi A (2024). A Survey of Physician Practice Patterns on the Use of Inferior Vena Cava Filters for Venous Thromboembolism, presented as a poster presentation at the 2024 Thrombosis and Hemostasis Summit of North America (THSNA).


Drouillard K G, Campbell L, Otieno D, Achiya J, Getabu A, Mwamburi J, Sitoki L, Omondi R, Shitandi A, Owour B, Njiru J, McKay R M, Otiso K M, Tebbs E, Barker K, Beal M, Brown K, Bryne A, Kiteresi L I, Lomeo D, Mohney S, Natwora K, Owino O A, Stoll J, Swaleh M N, Varga E, Wagner R, Zepernick B (2024). Increasing mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification rates of Nile perch (Lates niloticus L.) in Winam Gulf, Lake Victoria, Kenya. Science of the Total Environment.


French M, Miklas M, Hussein A, El-Abed Y, Moudgil D, Abdel-Nabi R, Touma K, Hossami M, Nassar R, Zaib F, Rim S C, Hirmiz R, Hilal O, Paunic M, Cavallo-Medved D, Hamm C (2024). Identifying and addressing a new barrier to community-based patients accessing cancer clinical trials. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications.


Kashash D, McArthur E, Hamm C, Gupta R, Kanjeekal S, Jarrar M, Porter LA, Hudson JW, Renaud A, Woldie I (2024). Presentation and Outcome of Patients with Multiple Myeloma (MM), Single Centre Experience from Windsor Essex Regional Cancer Centre. Journal of Blood Medicine.


Kuo B C H, Rappaport L M (2024). A prospective longitudinal study of depression, perceived stress, and perceived control in resettled Syrian refugees' mental health and psychosocial adaptation. Transcultural Psychiatry.


LaBute B, Fong J, Ziaee F, Gombar R, Stover M, Beaudin T, Badalova M, Geng Q, Corchis-Scott R, Podadera A, Lago K, Xu Z, Lim F, Fu M, Nie X, Wu Y, Quan C, Hamm C, McKay R M, Ng K, Porter L A, Tong Y (2024). Evaluating and optimizing Acid-pH and Direct Lysis RNA extraction for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in whole saliva. Scientific Reports.


Niculescu I, Rappaport L M, Romero K (2024). Rumination, but not mood, predicts prospective memory performance: Novel insights from a derived measure of trait rumination. Cognition and Emotion.


Parasram K, Zuccato A, Shin M, Willms R, DeVeale B, Foley E, Karpowicz P (2024). The emergence of circadian timekeeping in the intestine. Nature Communications.


Pillai P, Balasingam B, Jaekel A, Biondi F N (2024). Comparison of concurrent cognitive load measures during n-back tasks. Applied Ergonomics.


Skaf D, Gomes T C, Hussein R N, Nagesh G, Ahamed M J, Carmichael T B, Rondeau-Gagné S (2024). Impact of Mechanical Stress on Shellac-Based Organic Field-Effect Transistors Fabricated on Paper Substrates. ACS Applied Polymer Materials.


Sultana M, Varacalli F, Janisse M R, Sharrow J G, Johnson K, Kumar S, Sehgal N, de Witt L (2023). Factors Affecting the Psychiatric Patient's Wait Time at Erie Shores Health Care: A Qualitative Enquiry. International Journal of Nursing and Health Care Research.


Tadi A A, Alhadidi D, Rueda L (2024). PPPCT: Privacy-Preserving framework for Parallel Clustering Transcriptomics data. Computers in Biology and Medicine.


Vasighizaker A, Hora S, Zeng R, Rueda L (2024). SEGCECO: Subgraph Embedding of Gene expression matrix for prediction of CEll-cell COmmunication. Briefings in Bioinformatics.


Yeung T, Ibrahim J, Mohamed A (2024). Sex-Based Differences in the Sonographic Characterization of Diaphragm Thickness in Preterm Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia at Term Corrected Age. journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.


Zabihi M, Bhawya, Pandya P, Shepley B R, Lester N J, Anees S, Bain A R, Rondeau-Gagné S, Ahamed M J (2024). Inertial and Flexible Resistive Sensor Data Dusion for Wearable Breath Recognition. Applied Sciences.


Appointments and Awards


SecureComputers, Dr. Dima Alhadidi's team at the iDASH2022 competition, were 1 of the 5 teams that successfully completed their tasks out of a total of 18 teams. To learn more about the iDASH competitions, please visit their website.


Victoria Dobrowolski and Keirsten Smith were the award winners of the 2024 Registered Nurses' Foundation of Ontario. Both awards won were scholarships, the RNFOO Undergraduate Scholarship Year 3-4 and the Palliative Care Nurses Interest Group (PCNIG) Baccalaureate Scholarship, respectively.


Dr. Drew Marquardt, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is the recipient of the Early Researchers Award, presented by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. To learn more about the award/recipient, please visit the University of Windsor DailyNews.


From the University of Windsor's Faculty of Science, nine of our members were recipients of various 2024 Science Awards. Dr. Isabelle Barrette-Ng - Robert Thibert Teaching Excellence Award. Jeff Casey, founder of Play for a Cure and Ambassadors of Hope - Friends of Science Recognition. Dr. Jeffrey Dason - Outreach and Community Engagement Award. Dr. Tranum Kaur - Student Mentoring and Engagement Award. Dr. Drew Marquardt - Research Excellence and Impact Award. Aaron Bondy (doctoral), Stephanie Dinescu (undergraduate), Elizabeth Fidalgo da Silva (research associate), and Ali Nadi (masters) - Going Above and Beyond in Research Award for their respective degree levels.


From the Department of Athletics and Recreational Services, three of our student members were recipients of various awards. Lauren Gellner - Lancer Home Events Employee of the Year. Brooke Obermok and Kayden Zanier - Lancer Leader award.


Seven of our student members presented successfully at the 2024 UWill Discover Conference. For the poster session awards: Dami Babs-Olorunfemi - Gold in the Nursing category; Ella Gordon - Gold in the Graduate Studies category. For the oral session awards: Lindsey Boshart - Gold in the Science category; Stephanie Dinescu, Navreen Dosanjh, and Elie Mouawad - Silver in the Science category. For the STEMx Policython category, John Abey and group members - Bronze.

Congratulations everyone!

Submit your news items to The Spark! (Pictures/links encouraged)

Research Toolkit

WE-SPARK Health Institute offers support to our researchers. Here are a few of the tools that you may find useful.

WE-SPARK hosts virtual office hours for students and researchers who need REDCap support. They occur every Tuesday from 2:30 to 4:30pm via Teams. The next office hours are being held on April 23rd. Visit our website for the link!

Want to make some new connections, eat great food, and converse with others involved in health research? Join us for our next WE-SPARK After Dark on May 2nd @ The Bourbon on Ottawa Street.

The next Think Tank is scheduled for Friday, June 21, 2024 from 1:00 to 3:00pm via Zoom. Register for free today! Enjoy great discussions regarding new research ideas to end your week!


Have a new idea that you want to share? Email Karen Metcalfe, WE-SPARK Assistant Director, to reserve your spot to present at Think Tank.

Share your news with us!

We want to hear about your latest projects, grants, publications, awards, and conferences!

Send your great news to wesparknews@uwindsor.ca

401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor ON N9B 3P4



(519) 253-3000 x 4394
wesparkhealth@uwindsor.ca

Support WE-SPARK: wesparkhealth.com/donate
401 Sin