Using PDAs to study alcohol and aggression

New federal funding will enable psychology professor Peter Hoaken at the University of Western Ontario to explore the ties between alcohol and human aggression by collecting information using PDAs. The new approach will allow participants to record responses in natural settings, instead of in laboratories or through recall.

Hoaken is one of eight researchers from Western awarded funding by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. More than $1.2 million will come to Western in the latest round of CFI's New Opportunities Fund.

"This funding enables some of the nation's best young minds to do cutting-edge, research in a variety of fields - from the life sciences, to science and engineering, and social sciences and the humanities - right here in London," says Ted Hewitt, Western's Vice-President Research.

Other recipients include:

Marita Kloseck, (Faculty of Health Science, Lawson Health Research Institute Scientist), will lead an interdisciplinary study of problems affecting the health and independence of the elderly;

Susan Scollie, (Faculty of Health Sciences, National Centre for Audiology), will continue research into pediatric hearing aid technology, and the needs of infants and children with hearing impairments;

Kathleen Hill, (Department of Biology), is assessing the threshold and critical parameters of DNA damage that accelerate aging and predispose people to disease;

Sean Hinchberger, (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering), studies the engineering behavior of clay and soil in Ontario, with the hopes of strengthening embankments, including for highways and dams;

Bob Kiaii, (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics, Lawson Health Research Institute), is developing minimally-invasive surgical techniques and technologies using state-of-the-art robotics;

Savita Dhanvantari and Sung Kim, (Department of Medical Biophysics, Lawson Health Research Institute), are developing ways to treat and prevent disease like Type 1 diabetes through examination of specialized cells;

Megan Davey and David Edgell, (Department of Biochemistry) are studying basic cellular processes, such as DNA replication, which are critical to understanding cellular health and factors that lead to diseases such as cancer.