April 2026

Every edition of The Spark captures the momentum of our growing research community. By sharing accomplishments - from new grants and publications to awards and appointments - we celebrate the impact of your work, foster collaboration and amplify research excellence across Windsor-Essex. This edition brings together recent research activity and member successes that continue to move our region forward. This edition highlights:

$16,174,924 in grant funding

66 publications

35 awards

New Projects

Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor ($14,077) INAGO. User Experience Assessment of INAGO's Mutualism Fleet System.

Bruce Gaulin, Patrick Clancy, McMaster University, Meigan Aronson, University of British Columbia, Marcella Berg, University of Regina, Alannah Hallas, University of British Columbia, Alejandro Marangoni, University of Guelph, Drew Marquardt, University of Windsor, James Noel, western University, David Novog, Zin Tun, McMaster University, Ming Pan, Windsor Regional Hospital ($13,457,369) Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering - Part 2.

Scott Harroun, Munir Rahim, Phillip Karpowicz, University of Windsor ($137,000) Ontario Research Fund. Innovative Platform for Rapid and Cost-Effective Biomolecular Synthesis and Characterization.

Sylvain Iceta, Université Laval, Jessica Kichler, University of Windsor ($100,000) Diabetes Canada: End Diabetes Award. EASE the Burden - Empowering PwT1D, Caregivers and HCPs Against Eating Disorders.

Dana Menard, University of Windsor ($199,983) SSHRC - Partnership Development Grant. Creation of the Ontario Rainbow Sports Network to Collect Data and Mobilize Knowledge.

Dana Menard, University of Windsor ($29,992) SSHRC - Knowledge Synthesis Grant. The Art of Drag as Lived Practice: A Knowledge Synthesis on Its Transformative, Educational, and Community Value.

Dana Menard, University of Windsor, Juliana Simon, Trans Wellness Ontario, Vanessa Oliver, Wilfrid Laurier University, Paul Kwon, University of Nevada, Partner - Trans Wellness Ontario ($25,000) SSHRC - Partnership Engage Grant. From Knowledge to Access: Mobilizing Information on Sexuality for Trans and Non-Binary Youth and Adults.

Camisha Sibblis, Richard Douglass-Chin, Vasanthi Venkatesh, University of Windsor ($45,098) CIHR - Connection Grant. "Futuring Black Thriving": Black Activism in a Border City.

John Trant, University of Windsor ($50,000) Ontario Grape and Wine Research Institute. Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Grapevine Red Botch and Leafroll Diseases Diagnostics.

John Trant, University of Windsor ($1,759,500) NSERC, MITACS, Crop Defenders. Indigenization of additional biopesticides and development of new semiochemical solutions.

Anna Triandafyllidou, Toronto Metropolitan University, Tanya Basok, University of Windsor, Partner - Fairtrade Canada ($24,865) SSHRC - Partnership Engage Grant. Cultivating Fair Farmwork.

Jasime Zine, Wilfred Laurier University, Naved Bakali, University of Windsor, Khaoula Zoghlami, Université Laval, Siham Elkassem, University of Windsor ($332,040) SSHRC Insight Grant. Examining The Impact of Heightened Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism in Canada after Oct. 7th.

Publications / Articles / Presentations

Abwai Z, Bakali N (2026). People studying to become teachers speak about Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in Ontario schools. The Conversation.

Adekanmbi AO, Oladipo OO, Lawal OU, Parreira VR, Oyeyemi BF, Jimoh OA, Akinyemi A, Ologunde CA, Olaoye AB, Oloruntola AD, Soni M, Kaur H, Goodridge L (2026). Draft genomes of three Enterococcus species recovered from the gastrointestinal microbiota of healthy domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Microbial Resource Anncouncements.

Adu J, Wong JPH, Boakye P, Owusu MF, Etowa EB, Gyamfi S (2025). Exploring anti-Black racism and mental health equity in Canada: A scoping review of current literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations.

Adu J, Wong JPH, Boakye P, Etowa EB, Gyamfi S, Owusu MF (2025). Effects of negative psychosocial experiences and sociodemographic factors on mental health literacy: A community-based inquiry among Black Canadians. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.

Ahmad HM, Morle D, Rahimi A (2025). LayerMix: Enhanced Data Augmentation for Robust Deep Learning. Pattern Recognition.

Ahmad HM, Rahimi A (2025). Dynamic Focal Loss for Imbalanced Learning. SN Computer Science.

Ahmad S, Mirza MU, Nazir M, Kee LY, Rahman NBA, Abdullah I, Trant JF (2025). A comprehensive review of the structural basis for the selectivity of sulfonamide-based inhibitors for carbonic anhydrase isoforms IX and XII over carbonic anhydrase II based on the available high quality crystallographic data. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Bakali N, Abwai Z, Fakih F, Ahmed A, Qaisi R (2026). Barriers to Belonging: Navigating Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Racism in Ontario Public Schools. Social Sciences.

Barzegar A, Rahimi A, Kharrati H (2025). Hybrid Fault-Tolerant Cooperative Control for a Class of Nonlinear Heterogenous Clustered Multiagent System. IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems.

Citron N, Biderman C, Tapp K, Kichler JC, McMurphy S, Williams SL, Soucie K (2026). "It Opens the Conversation and Makes You Feel Less Alone...": The role of disclosure and social support in managing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Journal of Health Psychology.

Coyne P, Copeland L, Murphy D, Redding A, Johnson CC, Kippen KE, Santarossa S (2025). The Patient Engaged Research Center's Sustainable Funding Framework: A Path Towards Sustainable Patient Engagement in Care and Research Within a Health System. Learning Health Systems.

Coyne P, Gough P, Santana-Garces M, Susick L, Schults L, Rice S, Brewster N, Zreik M, Behrendt R, Bilicki V, Santarossa S (2026). A case study from a senior care navigator program: helping older adults address health and social care needs. Frontiers in Public Health.

Coyne P, Jennings MB, Santarossa S, Murphy D, Zreik M, Bryans H, Drake C, Walch O, Cheng P (2025). Using night shift worker and employee health stakeholder perspectives to inform the development of Arcashift™, a digital precision circadian medicine intervention for shift work disorder. BMC Digital Health.

Coyne P, Leone R, Meng Z, Leach RE, Santarossa S (2025). Associations Between Physical Activity and Age-Related Anti-Mullerian Hormone Decline: Insights from All of Us Research Program. International Journal of Medical Students.

Davis KM, Kim E, Knauft K, Rappaport LM, Luca F, Levy P, Cutchin MP, Fritz H, Joseph NT, Engeland CG, Ziliolo S (2026). Age, stress, and markers of inflammation among middle-aged to older African American adults: Findings from The Heart of Detroit Study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Dhillon K, Potocek D, Lopez J, Popovski S (2026). Empowering Equity in STEM: A Research-Based Robotics Camp for Equity-Deserving Youth in Southwestern Ontario, presented at the 2026 NARST Annual International Conference.

Downie D, Daros AR, Wilks CR, Quilty LC (2026). Multilevel associations between skill use, engagement, and treatment outcome in self-guided internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy for substance use disorders. PLOS Mental Health.

Ebrat D, Ahmadian S, Rueda L (2026). End-to-End Personalization via Unifying LLM Agents and Graph Attention Networks for Entertainment Recommendation. Information.

Fifield BA, Baker A, Elkhidir O, Philbin N, Hinch I, McVinnie N, Llancari A, Pecoraro C, Rahimi M, Visconti T, Shoust A, McMurphy S, Soucie K, Hamm C, Porter LA (2026). Patient perspective of Hesitancies and strategies to increase cancer clinical trial participation. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.

Forooghi A, Sadeghi S, Rueda L, Ngom A (2026). A survey of contrastive learning methods in molecular representation. Briefings in Bioinformatics.

Freer JRR, Sabourin BM, Cobb C (2025). Reinvigorating the Notion of Becoming "Scholars Before Researchers": Experiences with Systematic Literature Reviews. Brock Education Journal.

Giannotti N (2026). Tears, Suffering and System Failure: What My Father's Pain Revealed About the Canadian Healthcare System. Healthcare Policy.

Godfrey M, Menard D, Renaud L, Carmichael T (2025). Hot and Cold: Campus Climate for Students with Minoritized Identities and Sexuality and/or Gender in Science, Technology, and Mathematics Disciplines. Journal of Critical Race, Indigeneity, and Decolonization.

Gurram S, Fajardo CA, Lee KS, da Silva O, Lemyre B, Yoon EW, Shah PS, Mohammad K, ..., Augustine S, ..., on behalf of the Canadian Neonatal Network Investigators (2026). Neonatal Outcomes in Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Exposed to Chorioamnionitis, a Retrospective Cohort Study. Pediatric Neurology.

Gyamfi S, Forchuk C, Booth R, Mohammed K, Luginaah I (2026). Correlates of Rejection Sensitivity: Examining Influences of Anticipated Discrimination, Internalized Stigma, and Injustice Experiences Among Persons With Mental Illness. Sage Open.

He S, Meister D, Khan S, Mohammadzadeh A, Silva LD, Rutter GA, Trant JF, Lim GE (2025). A high-throughput screening approach to discover potential colorectal cancer chemotherapeutics: repurposing drugs to identify novel disruptors of 14-3-3 proteins. Cell Death & Disease.

Homon A, Laramie J, Hayward JJ, Trant JF (2026). We Licked the Toads so You Don't Have to: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Chemical Syntheses of the Classical Psychedelics Bufotenin(e) and 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine. ChemMedChem.

Hosie WC, Banerjee A, Egbuta MA, Razmkhah K, Bolandi B, Dehvari K, Homon A, Kappadakunnel A, Simone JJ, Trant JF (2025). Hemp Proteins Conjugated with Green Tea Polyphenol Extract Form De Novo Plant-Sourced Emulsifiers Suitable for Nanodelivery Systems Bearing Lipophilic Psychopharmaceuticals. Advanced Therapeutics.

Huang OCH, Daros AR, Southward MW, Wardell JD, Quilty LC (2025). Multilevel Structure of Emotion Regulation Strategies and Daily Associations with Treatment Outcomes During Virtual Psychotherapy for Depression: An Experience Sampling Study. Cognitive Therapy and Research.

Hussein A, Ding L, Lee KS, Mammen, C, Beltempo M, Shah PS, Cheung PY, Morgan C, Ting JY, ..., Augustine S, ..., on behalf of the Canadian Neonatal Network Investigators (2026). Neonatal acute kidney injury: a survey of practices in Canadian neonatal intensive care units. Journal of Perinatoloty.

Jerome E, McLean CP, Van Ameringen M, Whittal ML, Rappaport LM (2026). The Association of Perceived Stress with Anxiety-related Symptoms during Use of the MindShift app. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science.

Johnson S, Natarajan P (2026). A review of the Age-friendly University Global Network in Canada. Educational Gerontology.

Keenum I, Berendonk TU, Bonnedahl J, Cytryn E, Dagot C, Karkman A, Fatta-Kassinos D, Hayes A, Kirschner A, Kreft JU, Manaia CM, Merlin C, Rahman N, Tipper H, Vass M, Zastepa A, ..., Lawal OU, ..., on behalf of the EDAR7 Working Group (2026). Towards One Health action for addressing antimicrobial resistance in the age of polycrisis. Nature Sustainability.

Knauft K, Rodriguez-Stanley J, Davis KM, Rappaport LM, Luca F, Joseph NT, Engeland CG, Ziliolo S (2026). Sex-specific associations between loneliness and hair cortisol among older African American adults. Psychoeuroendocrinology.

Kukhta T, Sharma P, Trant JF (2025). BitterTranslate: A Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Based Framework for Mapping Bitter Taste Receptor Agonism. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

Li CZ, Tse-Chang A, Yoon EW, Paquette V, Roberts A, Afifi J, Yang CL, Khurshid F, Augustine S, Choudhury J, Elsharkawy A, Hamilton C, Hicks M, Joynt C, Wang D, Lee KS, Louis D, Robinson JL, Mohamed A, Mitra S, Shah VS, Srigley JA, Stavel M, Sherlock R, Wong J, Kuan MTY, Madise-Wobo AD, Lemyre B, Joly C, Kharrat A, Gupta-Dhatnager S, Zarembo M, Bacchini F, Beltempo M, Shah PS, Ting JY (2026). Protocol for developing a national approach to surveillance and prevention for neonatal ventilator-associated pneumonia. BMJ Pediatrics Open.

Loree AM, Santarossa S, Coyne P, Haley EN, Boulay M, Pappas C, Braciszewski JM, Miller-Matero LR, Hicks LM (2025). Virtually-delivered prenatal yoga to prevent postpartum depression (PRY-D) in women with a history of depression: Protocol for an exploratory pilot randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials.

Luginaah NA, Alhajsaleh S, Anagnostopoulos G, Paunic M, Inglis D, Boujeke E, Sharma D, Nassar R, Hilal O, Mohamed I, Gupta P, Trieu C, Patel R, Touma M, Sadik G, Jaet A, Kalia S, Rahem AA, Abdel-Nabi R, Arayan L, Almasri L, Shen NZ, Yoo L, McGrath L, Hamm C, Delisle M (2026). Implementing a national clinical trial navigator program: a qualitative CFIR analysis of barriers and facilitators from the perspectives of people with lived cancer experience. Supportive Care in Cancer.

Mahmoodzadeh M, Sunit S, Pillai P, Biondi F, Strayer DL, Cooper JM (2025). Temporal Analysis of Cognitive Workload During Manual and Partial Driving Automation Based on the Detection Response Task. IEEE.

Mastronardi C, Powers J, Menna R, Rappaport LM (2026) Contribution of Emotion Dynamics to Adolescent Psychosocial Well-Being: Protocol for a Longitudinal Study. JMIR Research Protocols.

Menard AD, Balint S, Power J, Nguyen M (2026). Imposter phenomenon, self-efficacy, and resilience: impacts on life satisfaction in a diverse student sample. Social Psychology of Education.

Modak S, Rueda L, Abdel-Raheem E (2026). Integrating Point Cloud Generation and Graph Machine Learning to Reduce False Positives in Pulmonary Nodule Detection. 2025 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS).

Mostafiz MI, Gali N, Ahmed FU, Hughes MM, Simeonova B (2026). Generative Artificial Intelligence and Ethicality in Entrepreneurs' Creativity. Journal of Business Ethics.

Naidoo S, Morrell S, Crawley J, Pittman G, Mulcaster A, Pfaff K, Tay J, Kumar G, Scott K (2026). Barriers Encountered by Migrant Farm Workers When Accessing Health Care Services in Canada: A Scoping Review. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research.

Redding A, Coates D, Cassidy-Bushrow AE, Straughen JK, Santarossa S (2025). Activity tracking devices in pregnancy: Understanding the participant experience in a longitudinal birth cohort. Women's Health.

Rodriguez-Rodriguez S, Sayyed A, Linn SM, Chiarello C, Remberger M, Novitzky-Basso I, Rogalla P, Husain S, Mattsson J (2026). Lung Biopsies in Patients Referred for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Diagnostic Accuracy, Diagnostic Yield, and Clinical Utility. Transplant Infectious Disease.

Roychoudhury S, Lodha A, Synnes A, Ting J, Augustine S, Afifi J, Bizgu V, Ye XY, Shah PS, Soraisham A, the Canadian Neonatal Network, the Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network (2026). Neurodevelopmental Outcome after Late-Onset Bacteria Sepsis in Infants Born before 29 Weeks' Gestation. American Journal of Perinatology.

Safari A, Rahimi A (2025). Electrical Power Optimization of Cloud Data Centers Using Federated Learning Server Workload Allocation. Electronics.

Sahoo P, Biondi FN (2025). On the effect of using an augmented reality laser projection operator guidance system on cognitive workload and assembly task performance. Applied Ergonomics.

Santarossa S, Haley EN, Coyne P, Pappas C, Braciszewski JM, Miller-Matero LR, Zreik M, Hicks L, Loree AM (2025). Equity-focused barriers and facilitators to implementing a prenatal yoga intervention in a healthcare system: patient and provider perspectives. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

Santarossa S, Wahlman A, van Wyk P, Brawner CA, Ma T, Sitarik AR, Cassidy-Bushrow AE (2025). Database Development and Exploration: Capturing Activity Tracking Device Data During Pregnancy. Journal of Clinical Exercise Physiology.

Schneider SJ, Finley JCA, Daros A, Holcomb MJ, Roth RM, Erdodi LA (2026). Visual Analog Scales of Depression, Anxiety, and Pain as Embedded Symptom Validity Indicators in a Mixed Clinical Sample. Psychological Injury and Law.

Scurto DL, Ouellette JM, Kirincic TA, Crain NG, Marangelli VW, Mozafari A, Milne KJ, Krause MP (2026). Time of day of skeletal muscle injury is a factor in short- and long-term regeneration outcomes. American Journal of Physiology.

Sibblis C (2026). Do enhanced pre-sentence reports protect Black youth or expose bias? The Conversation.

Stinson EA, Lellapalli S, Hawn SE, Merrill N, Rappaport LM, Sheerin CM, Michopoulos V, Bacanu SA, Peterson RE, Powers A, Amstadter AB (2026). Advancing models of PTSD-AUD comorbidity: protocol for a multimethod framework using genetics and ecological momentary assessment. European Journal of Psychotraumatology.

Szalay M, Strange IS, Banwell K, Campana S, Dass A, Hej-Ali S, Mohamed H, Khan S (2026). Counting the CHIPs: The High-Stakes Role of Clonal Hematopoiesis in Multiple Myeloma. Biomedicines.

Tay J (2026). Feeding at the end of life: a pediatric nurse's dilemma. Canadian Nurses Association.

Tay J, Jarrar M, Yeung T, Kichler JC (2026). Perspectives of Adolescents and Young Adults, Caregivers, and Health Care Providers on Regional Cancer Care: Qualitative Study. JMIR Cancer.

Tay J, Rappaport A, Ta J, Crawley J, Kichler JC (2025). Realities of Home Care Systems for Children with Medical Complexity (CMC): A Qualitative Study of Parent Experiences, Barriers, and Alternative Models. Home Health Care Management & Practice.

Tran C, Kane D, Rajacich D, Lafreniere K, Hamm C (2026). Redefining 'normal': A Canadian case study of cancer survivors' experiences remaining and/or returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS One.

Vanner C, Singh M, Alexander V (2025). Virtual Digital Storytelling: Building Solidarity in Transnational Participatory Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

van Wyk PM, Seguin H, Dionigi RA, Weir PL, Horton S (2025). Women participating in sport: tensions rising from negotiations of aging, gender norms, and personal responsibility for health in later life. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.

Walji A, Butt DA, Climie EA, Corkum P, Hechtman L, Bedard ACV, Jiang Y, Grizenko N, Espinet SD, Miller CJ, Rogers MA, Toplak ME, Callahan BL (2025). Top ten priorities identified by healthcare professionals to support the clinical care of individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A Canadian Delphi study. PLOS One.

Webeck JA, Biondi FN (2026). THE HUMAN EDGE: Human Factors and the Risks of AI Overreliance in Maritime Defence. Canadian Maritime Security Network Report.

Williams SL, Henry S, Elder L, Soucie K, Parton M (2026). A Gendered Approach to Understanding Hirsutism and Mental Health Risk in PCOS: Comparing Cisgender Women and Gender Diverse Individuals. Sex Roles.

Yaghini HH, Kharrati H, Bagheri P, Rahimi A (2026). Lyapunov-based fractional-order model predictive control for attitude control of satellites using reaction wheels. International Journal of Dynamics and Control.

Zinszer K, Isabirye H, Kalumuna C, Charland K, Katureebe A, Barbosa Da Torre M, van Wyk PM, Nabirye S, Stone J, Levy P, McGowan C (2025). Estimating the efficacy of isometric handgrip training to lower resting blood pressure in patients with stage 1 hypertension in Eastern Uganda compared to standard of care: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials.

2026 WE-SPARK Health Research Conference Awards

*All project team members are acknowledged with project presenters and award recipients indicated in bold.

Rapid-Fire Oral Presentation Awards

Isabelle Hinch, Bre-Anne Fifield, Lisa Porter, University of Windsor. The Role of Spy1 in Mammary Involution and Oncogenesis. Sponsored by the University of Windsor.

Michael Nakhla, Reyad Elzaanoun, Gracie Sun, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Jennifer Bondy, University of Windsor, Western University and Windsor Shelter Health, Mehdi Aloosh, Windsor Essex County Health Unit and Western University. Vaccine Hesitancy Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Determinants and Strategies to Improve Uptake - A Systematic Review. Sponsored by WE-SPARK Health Institute.

Amal Sleiman, Amy Peirone, St. Clair College, Betty Barrett, University of Windsor. Co-Creating a Unified Response: A Cross-Sector IPV Training Initiative in Windsor-Essex. Sponsored by St. Clair College.

Poster Session Awards

Alexander Agostinis, Farinaz Ziaee, Joseph Francis, Yufeng Tong, University of Windsor. Exploring the Molecular Mechanism for Activation of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases by Non-Canonical Speedy/Ringo Protein Family Members. Sponsored by WE-SPARK Health Institute.

Mohamed Ali, Diba Chowdhury, University of Western Ontario, Stephen J Renaud, University of Western Ontario and Lawson Health Research Institute. Investigating the Role of the UPR in Trophoblast Differentiation and Hypoxia-Induced Placental Dysfunction. Sponsored by One Tenacity.

Ryland Corchis-Scott, University of Windsor, Elisabeth Mercier, University of Ottawa, Edgard M Meija, Public Health Agency of Canada, Qiudi Geng, Ethan Harrop, Ana Podadera, University of Windsor, Natalie Lewoc, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Kenneth KS Ng, University of Windsor, Nataliya Santiago, Natalie Knox, Public Health Agency of Canada, Lawrence Goodridge, University of Guelph, Chand S Mangat, Chrystal Landgraff, Public Health Agency of Canada, Karen B Riddell, Windsor Regional Hospital, Jackie Fong, University of Windsor, Mehdi Aloosh, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and McMaster University, Robert Delatolla, University of Ottawa, R Michael McKay, University of Windsor. Wastewater Surveillance to Track a Generational Scale Outbreak of Measles in Ontario, Canada, February - November 2025. Sponsored by INSPIRE.

Rachel Ann Elliott, Heather Sweet, Natalie Bownes, Bayan Nasra, Kelsey Schumacher, Kelly-Anne VanderDoe, Gabriela Digesu, Eunice Kungu, Grace Okello, Emma Crew, Mia Chauvin, Kendall Soucie, University of Windsor. Becoming Culturally Competent: A Narrative Inquiry of Transformative Learning in an International, Interprofessional Nursing Placement. Sponsored by WE-SPARK Health Institute.

Matteo Frattaroli, Mohammad El-Hindawi, Hannah Chacko, Christina Trieu, Salah Alhajsaleh, Anaam Jaet, University of Windsor, Michael Touma, Renee Nassar, Mahmoud Hossami, Roaa Hirmiz, Swati Kalia, Batoul El Sayed Ali, Clinical Trials Navigator Inc, Alfred Mina, Laurice Togonon Arayan, Western University, Christina Di Carlo, Windsor Regional Hospital, Govana Sadik, University of Windsor, Milcia Paunic, University of Toronto, Olla Hilal, Western University, Depen Sharma, University of Ottawa, Anthony Luginaah, Pratham Gupta, Ria Patel, Gregory Charalambos Anagostopoulos, Western University, Megan Delisle, University of Manitoba and Paul Albrechtsen CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute, Caroline Hamm, University of Windsor, Clinical Trials Navigator Inc and Western University. A Pilot Feasibility Study to Integrate the Clinical Trial Navigator Program into the Lung Cancer Waitlist at a Large Canadian Cancer Centre. Sponsored by Play for a Cure.

Sahar Khan, Windsor Regional Hospital, Sereen Hej-Ali, Halima Mohamed, University of Windsor. Assessing Health Information Needs in CLL/Indolent Non-HL Patients on Surveillance. Sponsored by Play for a Cure.

Tasneem Labak, University of Windsor, Alan Cieslukowski, University of Windsor and University of Pennsylvania, Hema Priya Mahendran, Dorota Lubanska, Lisa A Porter, University of Windsor. Exploring Principles of the Interplay Between Glioma Stem Cells and the Endothelial Component in Glioblastoma. Sponsored by Play for a Cure.

Angela Lockyer, Alexander Daros, University of Windsor. Can Sexual Self-Efficacy be a Preventative Factor Against Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence? Sponsored by the University of Windsor's Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Juhi Maraj, Deven Jhawar, University of Windsor, Al-Retage Al-Bader, Hamza Madhi, Isha Suri, Balraj Jhawar, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. The Windsor Arithmetic Cognitive Tool (WACT): A Pilot Study of Global Cognitive Assessment in Neurological Inpatients. Sponsored by WE-SPARK Health Institute.

Madelyn McGregor, Kristina Marrocco, Megan Smit, University of Windsor, Nicholas Caro, Nicholas Saad, Rapid Assessment and Management Program Clinic, Fatimah Bondok, Marco Sladoje, University of Windsor, Wassim Saad, Rapid Assessment and Management Program Clinic and Windsor Regional Hospital. Evaluating the Diagnostic Yield and Efficiency of the RAAMP Clinic: A 2-Year Retrospective Review of Cancer Diagnosis Pathways. Sponsored by Erie Shores HealthCare.

Aimal Memon, Megan Smit, Omer Elkhidir, University of Windsor, Brittany Hodges, Wayne State University and Western University, Mohammad Alhammoud, Hasan Ghafoor, Alishba Malik, Sami Tayfour, Mehtaab Dhillon, University of Windsor, Pradeepa Yoganathan, University of Windsor, University of Toronto, Wayne State University and Western University. Patient Navigator in Ophthalmology; Outcomes of Additional Support. Sponsored by Windsor Regional Hospital.

Ryan Mutuchky, University of Windsor, Ida-Ehosa Olaye, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Ibrahim Wafai, University of Windsor, Marc-Antoine Roy, Mahmoudreza Taghizadeh, Shahrzad Soleimani Dehnavi, Patrice Brassard, Laval University, Anthony R Bain, University of Windsor. Impairments of Cerebrovascular Function Following One Night of Restricted Sleep in Healthy Young Adults. Sponsored by Windsor Family Health Teams.

Tess Ogunjinmi, Ayah Khanafer, Rachel Elliott, Kendall Soucie, Marissa Rakus, Kylie Pazner, Lola Tash, University of Windsor. Exploring Arts Based Approaches to Help Seeking in Intimate Partner Violence. Sponsored by Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare.

Rafaela Passos de Souza, Vahid Dehnavi, Western University, Fabiola Leite, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Sheila Butler, Western University. Nanoparticle-Enriched PEO Coatings for Dental Implants: Comparative Study on CP-T1 and TI-6A1-4V. Sponsored by St. Clair College.

Nick Philbin, Ellen M Laurie, Bre-Anne Fifield, University of Windsor, Mohammed A Bourouh, University of Windsor and Thompson Rivers University, Lisa A Porter, University of Windsor. Dissecting the Differential Role of Cell Cycle Proteins in Breast Cancer Stem Cell Regulation and Treatment Resistance. Sponsored by Play for a Cure.

Isidora Sekaric, Ana Podadera, Mackenzie Beach, Ryland Corchis-Scott, Ethan Harrop, Qiudi Geng, Domenic Varacalli, R Michael McKay, Kenneth KS Ng, University of Windsor. Monitoring Respiratory Syncytial Virus Sequence Variations Using a Novel Tiled Amplicon Sequencing Method Optimized for Wastewater Samples. Sponsored by the Univeristy of Windsor.

Hailey Shiu, Munir Rahim, University of Windsor. Establishing a Mouse Model for the Study of Male Breast Cancer. Sponsored by Play for a Cure.

Jane Simanovski, Harveer Mashiana, Siya Pandey, Jody Ralph, Jamie Crawley, Edward Cruz, University of Windsor. Through the Lens of Those Who Care: Insights from Informal Caregivers of Lung Transplant Recipients. Sponsored by the University of Windsor's Faculty of Nursing.

Appointments and Awards

Dr. Kemi Anazodo, Odette School of Business, received the Linda Ingram Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Mobilization Research Award at the University of Windsor Odette School of Business gala.

Dr. Bre-Anne Fifield, Department of Biomedical Sciences, received the Going Above and Beyond Award from the University of Windsor Faculty of Science.

The WonderBroads Windsor-Essex Dragon Boat Team were the recipients of the Friends of Science Recognition from the University of Windsor Faculty of Science.

Four of our members were awarded for their Excellence with the 2026 Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry - Windsor Campus Awards of Excellence. Dr. Nikesh Adunuri - Windsor Family Medicine, Subspecialty Rotation - Faculty of the Year Award; Megan Cheng and Ashley Truesdale - Learner Peer Award; Dr. Gwori Jayaram - City of Windsor - Family Medicine Resident Award.

Five of our members were awarded for their excellence at the 2026 University of Windsor Research and Innovation Awards ceremony on April 15, 2026. Jalal Ahamed - Outstanding Faculty Research & Innovation Award (Mid-Career); Catherine Febria - Outstanding Impact Award; Adrian Guta - Outstanding Inclusive Excellence Award; Fallon Mitchell - Outstanding Student Award (Graduate Student); Haleh Nazemi - Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow.

At the 2026 University of Windsor Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, Isabelle Hinch received first place, and Alex Stoinescu received third place.

Congratulations Everyone!

Stay informed and involved! This section highlights what's ahead for our members.

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 7th @ The Bourbon on Ottawa Street. Registration is encouraged!

Join us for our next Think Tank scheduled for Friday, June 19, 2026 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM via Zoom. Register for free today! Enjoy great discussions and new research ideas!

Save the Date! WE-SPARK's annual Cheers to Hope event is happening on November 5, 2026 at the Ambassador Golf Club. To learn more about this event, visit our Cheers to Hope website.

Share your news with us!

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

Send news to wesparknews@uwindsor.ca