My research interests include parent-child relationships, child development, early childhood education and care, child and family well-being, family relations, various aspects of work-life integration (as well as school-life or school-work-life integration), and the experiences of non-traditional students in formal post-secondary education, in particular mature students and student parents.
The goal of my research is to improve the life of cancer patients by identifying tools to make better treatment decisions. This can possibly improve several important aspects of the life of a cancer patient, including treatment response, the quality of life, and the overall survival following treatment.
Our research is mainly focused on studying ultrafine biopolymeric and synthetic fibres produced by electrostatic spinning techniques. These versatile materials are being exploited in our laboratory for the encapsulation and triggered release of bioactive compounds.
Immigrant families settling the land, quilting bees, and ploughing matches are examples of some of the social and economic topics of early Ontario that link my work to the larger expertise of this University concerning agriculture and rural communities.
Graduate students joining my team at Guelph get unrivalled opportunities to work in the lab and field answering research questions at the cutting edge of science with direct environmental and societal relevance. This important research is exciting, challenging and rewarding for the student, for me as the supervisor and for everyone else in the team.
My research focuses primarily on the genetic regulation of innate immunity in animals, with a particular focus on innate immune pattern recognition proteins.