October 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:

$760,000 in grant funding

8 publications

3 Awards

New Projects

Opeyemi Lawal, University of Windsor ($120,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Science/Environment] - Doctoral Award in Food and Water Security.

Afshin Rahimi, University of Windsor ($120,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Engineering/Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering] - Doctoral Award in Advanced Digital Technologies (AI, quantum, and cybersecurity).

Mehrdad Saif, University of Windsor ($140,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Engineering/Electrical and Computer Engineering] - Postdoctoral Award in Advanced Digital Technologies (AI, quantum, and cybersecurity).

Vijendra Sharma, University of Windsor ($120,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Science/Biomedical] - Doctoral Award in Health, including Biotechnology.

John Trant, University of Windsor ($140,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Science/Biomedical] - Postdoctoral Award in Health, including Biotechnology.

Guoqing Zhang, University of Windsor ($120,000) Canada Impact+ Research Training Award [Engineering/Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering] - Doctoral Award in Clean Technology and Resource Value Chain.

Publications / Articles / Presentations

Alqaisi O, Tai P, Thachuthara A, Wong K, Yu E, Souied O, Pan M, Joseph K (2026). Adjuvant radiotherapy after surgical excision of desmoplastic melanoma: A systematic review of local control and survival outcomes, presented at the 2026 Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) Annual Scientific Meeting.

Amiri M, Huang Y, Thai L, Ottey S, Patterson W, Delau OR, Yadav S, Soucie K, Partridge T, Buyalos RP, Azziz R (2026). Health utility, work productivity, and total economic burden of polycystic ovary syndrome. Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Bhinder K (2026). From innovation to accountability: a risk-based paradigm for safe artificial intelligence adoption in general surgery. Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives.

Fernández-Codina A, Bartlett SJ, Thorne C, Hazlewood G, Valois MF, Allard-Chamard H, Bessette L, Hitchon CA, Kuriya B, Bykerk VP, Pope JE, the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) Investigators (2026). Use of parenteral compared with oral glucocorticoids in early rheumatoid arthritis for chance of being off steroids and escalation of therapy at 1 year. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Gupta G, Podolsky S, Liu N, Cheung MC, Bankar A (2026). Frailty and health resource utilization in 5450 adults with acute myeloid leukaemia: A population-based study from Ontario, Canada. British Journal of Haematology.

Krishnan S, Fernández-Codina A (2026). The Emerging Role of IgG4 in Rheumatology. Canadian Rheumatology Today.

Lawal OU, Rubin IMC, Castruita JAS, Peterson AM, Mollerup S, Pedersen MS, Camoez M, Faria NA, Westh H, Pinholt M, Miragaia M (2026). Recombination and accessory genome turnover shaped the rise and decline of vanA Enterococcus faecium ST80 in Denmark. Genome Medicine.

Lawal OU, Parreira VR, Overton AK, Knapp JJ, Gibson R, Arts EJ, Zhang L, Rizvi F, Precious M, Charles TC, Goodridge L (2026). Wastewater-Based Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral Resistance Determinants in Ontario: Towards a Scalable Framework for Population-Level Antiviral Resistance Monitoring. Viruses.

Pinal-Fernandez I, Pak K, Casal-Dominguez, Muñoz-Braceras S, Wigerblad G, Dell'Orso S, Naz F, Islam S, Gutierrez-Cruz G, Kinder TB, Ogbonnaya-Whittlesey SA, Fernández-Codina A, Giannini M, Ellezam B, Laverny G, Gilbart V, Landon-Cardinal O, Hudson M, Troyanov Y, Randazzo D (2026). Spatial transcriptomics reveals mechanism of autoimmunity driven by internalised autoantibodies. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Sun W, Pan M (2026). Outcome of multimodality treatment for Merkel cell carcinoma in a large regional cancer centre: a cohort study, presented at the 2026 Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) Annual Scientific Meeting.

Appointments and Awards

Dr. Jennifer Bondy was the recipient of the 2026 Award of Excellence from the Ontario College of Physicians (see image on the right).

Dr. Brian DeVeale, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, received second place at the WE-Tech Alliance Innovative Fellowship Final Pitch Competition.

Dr. Catherine Febria, Department of Integrative Biology, has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Dr. Andreu Fernández-Codina has been appointed to Assistant Professor in Rheumatology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in Barcelona, Spain.

Dr. Ian Mazzetti has been appointed as the Inagural Vice President, Medicine, Research & Academics and Deputy Chief of Staff at Windsor Regional Hospital.

Dr. Dan Xiao, Department of Physics, received first place at the WE-Tech Alliance Innovation Fellowship Final Pitch Competition.

Congratulations Everyone!

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

Join Dr. Jim Woodgett, President and Scientific Director of the Terry Fox Research Institute, on October 30th for a talk on The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network: The Next Generation. Learn how this national initiative is advancing cancer research and how Windsor-Essex is contributing to this collaborative effort. Registration required!

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

Join us for our next Think Tank scheduled for Friday, February 12, 2027 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM via Zoom. Register for free today! Enjoy great discussions and new research ideas! Have an idea you'd like to present? Let us know!

Share your news with us!

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

Send news to wesparknews@uwindsor.ca