$4.6M investment powers health, environmental, aerospace, financial research

Seventeen University of Calgary researchers recently received more than $4.6 million in funding to build research infrastructure from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). 

From research on human immunology and aerospace to using AI in environmental monitoring and market training, the awards support up to 40 per cent of a project’s funding providing the foundational research infrastructure they need to lead in their respective fields and produce transformative work. This year’s awards were announced on Aug. 20.

Building Canada’s first neurofinance lab

A project led by Dr. Marius Zoican, PhD, of the Haskayne School of Business is an example of the type of work that is being made possible thanks to the JELF.

Trading Robots: Human-Algorithm Interaction in Modern Markets will establish a state-of-the-art experimental neurofinance laboratory at UCalgary to investigate how people interact with automated financial tools. Through controlled market experiments enhanced with biometric sensing, the project examines how algorithmic traders and gamified platform features affect investor psychology, attention and decision making. It explores how AI and real-time biofeedback can mitigate cognitive biases and improve financial literacy, particularly for vulnerable investors.

“Today, millions of Canadians manage their own investments through digital platforms on their phones: many of them are young, inexperienced investors putting their life savings on the line. Yet we still do not fully understand how the design of these platforms shapes the decisions people make with their money,” says Zoican. “Our lab will combine experimental trading simulations with biometric sensors such as eye-tracking, galvanic skin response monitors, and EEG headsets to observe, in real time, how investors react cognitively and emotionally when they interact with algorithmic traders, AI-powered advisors and gamified interfaces.

“I am thrilled to receive funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. It will allow us to build the first neurofinance laboratory in Canada, right here at the Haskayne School of Business.”  

Investing in research infrastructure across disciplines

In addition to the funding from the CFI, funding for these projects may be matched dollar for dollar the through the Government of Alberta’s Research Capacity Program.

“The JELF program gives UCalgary researchers the opportunity to discover new solutions that will benefit everyone,” says Dr. William Ghali, MD’90, UCalgary vice-president (research). “Together with our provincial government’s matching program, this funding enables our scholars to adopt cutting-edge innovations and build the research infrastructure needed to tackle challenges across health care, industry and the environment. Ultimately, it helps our researchers advance ideas that matter to Canadians.”

2026 JELF recipients

Schulich School of Engineering

Dr. Xiaohang Fang, PhD, Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering: A Multipurpose Shock-tube Facility for Aerospace and Energy Research

Dr. Clinton Potts, PhD, Department of Electrical and Software Engineering: Flux-Coupled Superconducting Devices for Quantum Sensing and Computation

Dr. Roberto Souza, PhD, Department of Electrical and Software Engineering; member. Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI); associate member, McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health: Computational Infrastructure for Multimodal, Longitudinally Integrated MRI (LI-MRI) for Glioblastoma Monitoring

Faculty of Science

Dr. Erik Bakkeren, PhD, Department of Biological Sciences; member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases: Gut microbiome editing across scales of ecological complexity

Dr. Allyson Menzies, PhD, Department of Biological Sciences: Mobile Operations for Bridging Indigenous and Land-based Ecologies (MOBILE), PhD, Department of Geomatics Engineering: AI-Driven UAV Hyperspectral Imaging System for Advanced Environmental Monitoring

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Samia Hannaoui, PhD: CWD Prion Pathogenesis: From Gut to Brain to Environment

Dr. Alyson Kelvin, PhD, member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases: Influenza Pathogenesis and the Development of Anticipatory Universal Vaccines for Canadian Pandemic Preparedness

Cumming School of Medicine

Dr. Nathan Bracey, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine; member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Immunology Research Group: A human immunology program to define and repair lymphocyte interactions during immunosuppression

Dr. Maryam Faiz, PhD, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy; member, HBI; researcher, ACHRI, and Dr. Deborah Kurrasch, PhD, Department of Medical Genetics; member, HBI, researcher, ACHRI: HOT Brain – Human Organoid Transplant for Brain Research

Dr. Chathura Kumaragamage, PhD, departments of Radiology and Pediatrics; member, Hotchkiss Brain Institute; researcher, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Owerko Centre: Next-generation technology for pediatric MRI: a platform for structural, functional, and metabolic brain assessment

Dr. Nathan Peters, PhD, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases; member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases; researcher, ACHRI: High Parameter Imaging Cell Sorting for the Identification, Imaging, and Isolation of Pathogen Niche-Adapted Host Cells

Dr. Candice Poon, MD, PhD, Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Oncology; member HBI, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute; researcher, ACHRI: The Calgary Glymphatics Laboratory (C-GLYMPH)

Dr. Cameron Semper, PhD, member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases: Integrative Platform for Studying Fungal Pathogens and Engineering Fungal Cell Factories

Dr. Karolina Skibicka, PhD, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology; member, HBI, Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education; researcher, ACHRI: The Calgary Metabolic Health Suite

Faculty of Kinesiology

Dr. Brittany Edgett, PhD: The role of endogenous erythropoietin in regulating mitochondrial function and exercise-induced metabolic adaptations

Haskayne School of Business

Dr. Marius Zoican, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Financial Technology: Trading Robots: Human-Algorithm Interaction in Modern Markets

Faculty of Science

Dr. Erik Bakkeren, PhD, Department of Biological Sciences; member, Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases: Gut microbiome editing across scales of ecological complexity

Dr. Allyson Menzies, PhD, Department of Biological Sciences: Mobile Operations for Bridging Indigenous and Land-based Ecologies (MOBILE)