February 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 publications

13 awards

Upcoming Funding Opportunity

WE-SPARK Grants Program Launches February 27th

Have an idea worth exploring?

WE-SPARK's annual grants program is here to help you take the next step.

IDEA Grants support small-scale, pilot, preliminary, and quality improvement initiatives that build early evidence and lay the groundwork for future funding and impact (up to $5,000).

Igniting Discovery Grants support innovative health research and education projects aligned with WE-SPARK Health Institute's mission and strategic priorities (up to $30,000).

Both programs launch on February 27

Full program details and submission information will be shared on launch day.

We look forward to reviewing your proposals!

Publications / Articles / Presentations

Albright D, Kichler JC, Voelker K, Tannous A, Pater J (2026). Unveiling the #T1D Community: Content Analysis Across Social Media Platforms. Diabetes, Obesity, and Cardiometabolic CARE.

Bai X, Zhang J, Wang S, Huang K, Pan Z, Liang A, Wu W, Yu Z, Chen Y, Tong Y, Dai S, Chen Z (2026). Novel intermolecular zinc fingers and redox-driven conformational changes dictate tumor suppressor ZMYND11's role in cooperative recognition of diverse targets. Nucleic Acids Research.

Bornais M, McGowan ACM, Bordignon N, Nguyen TD, Jones A, Brush CN, Richards J, Mulcaster A, McGowan CLM (2026). Are the Foundational Guidelines Endorsing Isometric Resistance Training (IRT) as a Blood Pressure-Lowering Intervention Being Cited Within the IRT Literature? A Scoping Review. Critical Revies in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Duan L, Hashemi M, Ngom A, Rueda L (2025). Ligand-receptor dynamics in heterophily-aware graph neural networks for enhanced cell type prediction from single-cell RNA-seq data. Frontiers in Molecular Biology.

Gharasuie MM, Rueda L (2025). Delaunay Triangulations: A New Avenue for Classification of Biomedical Images Using Graph Neural Networks. 2025 IEEE 25th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE).

Guta A, Rudzunski K, Gagnon M, Schmidt RA, Kolla G, German D, Kryszajtys D, Perri M, Sereda A, Sterling-Murphy C, Strike C (2025). "From an HCV and HIV point of view, it's been remarkable": A qualitative study about using prescribed safer supply to support people who use drugs along the HIV and HCV prevention and treatment cascades in Ontario, Canada. Journal of the International AIDS Society.

Hashemi M, Mustafa S, Ngom A, Rueda L (2026). Heterophily-Aware Hypergraph Neural Networks for Cell Type Prediction Using Ligand-Receptor-Informed Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM).

Hashemi M, Mustafa S, Ngom A, Rueda L (2026). HeteroGraphNet: A Ligand-Receptor Informed, Heterophily-Adapted Graph Neural Network for Cell Type Prediction in scRNA-Seq Data. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM).

Lubanska D, Qemo I, Stringer KF, Mahendran HP, Fifield BA, Cieslukowski A, Alrashed S, El-Abed Y, Boujeke E, Rodzinka A, Fidalgo da Silva E, Dinescu S, Sorge A, Kandalam S, Liwanpo D, Brown J, Ghafoor H, Arshad M, Porter LA (2026). Atypical cell cycle regulation over neural stem cell expansion. Stem Cell Reports.

McMunn LE, Cheng T, Bourgonje C, Thompson A, Kerr J, Hellemans K, DiLabio G, Flynn AB, Barrette-Ng I (2026). Preparing for flexible career paths in academia and beyond. University Affairs.

Safari M, Butler J, Randhawa GS, Hill KA, Kari L (2025). Life at the extremes: maximally divergent microbes with similar genomic signatures linked to extreme environments. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics.

Sayyed A. Beyond Prognostic Risk: Time-Dependent Interaction Analysis Identifies ASXL1, RUNX1, and a Mutated ASXL1/RUNX1/BCOR/BCORL1 Cluster as Predictors of Transplant Benefit in AML in First Remission. Accepted oral abstracted to be presented at the European Bone Marrow Transplant Society Conference, March 22-25, 2026, Madrid, Spain.

Sayyed A, Novitzky-Basso I, Remberger M, Clarke S, Chen C, Al-Shaibani E, Kim DDH, Viswabandya A, Kumar R, Lam W, Law AD, Gerbitz A, Pasic I, Michelis FV, Mattsson J (2025). Prolonged length of stay in high-risk patients undergoing allogenic stem cell transplantation: a call to action for addressing healthcare challenges. Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Simanovski J, Ralph J, Crawley J, Bryce K, Sleiman D, Cruz E (2025). The Unsung Heroes: A Scoping Review of the Experiences of Lung Transplant Informal Caregivers. JHLT Open.

Talbo MK, Peters TM, Yale JF, Katz A, Laforest C, Vanasse A, Kichler JC, Rabasa-Lhoret R, Brazeau AS (2026). Screening for fear of Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes: Aligning Clinical Practice With Current Guidelines. Endocrine Practice.

Tapp K, Mok E, Davis D, Guerin-Marion S, Frei J, Gibbon M, Henderson M, Miljanovski M, Da Costa D, Shulman R, Nakhla M, Kichler J (2025). Perspectives of parents/caregivers prior to a pilot intervention trial to improve transition to adult care for adolescents with type 1 diabetes: A qualitative study. BMJ Open.

Tolg C, Price M, Leith S, Miller T, Pavanel H, Nelson AC, Hill KA, McCarthy JB, Turley EA (2026). High hyaluronan binding and RHAMM expression identify an invasive and metastatic subpopulation in androgen-resistant prostate cancer cells. Matrix Biology.

Appointments and Awards

Dr. Dorota Lubanska, Department of Biomedical Sciences, received the Teaching Excellence Award at the annual Science Society gala.

Congratulations to the following members who were recognized at the University of Windsor's 2025 People, Equity and Inclusion Award ceremony:

• Natalie Delia, Department of Sociology and Criminology, received the Impact Award for Leadership.
• Sandra Ondracka, Lancer Recreation Coordinator, received the Impact Award for Community Engagement.
• Dr. Camisha Sibblis and Melissa Lewis, members of the Black Scholars Institute, received the Impact Award for Inclusive Excellence.
• Dr. Nicholas Vukotic, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the Impact Award for Innovation.
• The Indigenization, Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity Decolonization (IJEDID) Circle, received the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award. Members of the IJEDID Circle include Dr. Jamie Crawley, Rachel Elliott, Dr. Sebastian Gyamfi, Dr. Noeman Mirza, and Heather Sweet.

Mashad Hashemi, Sharjeel Mustafa, Dr. Alioune Ngom, and Dr. Luis Rueda, received the Best Paper Award at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM).

Congratulations Everyone!

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

Join WE-SPARK Health Institute on March 4 from 12:00-1:30pm for an information session on the 2026 WE-SPARK Grant Competition. Learn about available funding opportunities, eligibility, application requirements, key dates, and get your questions answered to help strengthen your submission. Registration is required.

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 March 5th @ The Bourbon on Ottawa Street. Registration is encouraged!

Register now! WE-SPARK's annual Health Research Conference is taking place on March 28, 2026. To buy a ticket(s) or learn more, visit the Health Research Conference 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