Western Research Chairs
Part of Western's Clusters of Research Excellence Program, the Western Research Chairs Program is designed to enhance collaborative and interdisciplinary research and produce research results with global implications. The Faculty of Health Sciences is home to two Western Research Chairs.
Cognitive Neuroscience
Ingrid Johnsrude, PhD (School of Communication Sciences and Disorders)
A part of Western's Brain and Mind Institute, Ingrid Johnsrude and her research team are employing methods such as brain imaging and recording electrical brain activity to investigate the neural basis of speech understanding, how people understand speech in challenging listening situations, diagnosing and treating hearing problems, and brain disease in the aging and elderly.
Public Health Ethics
Maxwell Smith, PhD (School of Health Studies)
A bioethicist, Health Studies professor Maxwell Smith’s program of research is in the area of public health ethics – a subfield of bioethics – which examines key ethical issues that arise in public health policy, practice and research. Specifically, his research focuses on ethical controversies in the management of infectious diseases, in addition to the demands that social justice and health equity place on governments and institutions to protect and promote the public’s health.
