Five McMaster scholars recognized as among Canada’s brightest young researchers

Five McMaster researchers will take on everything from senior isolation to antimicrobial resistance as Vanier Canada Graduate Scholars and Banting Fellows.

Rachel Weldrick, Steven Liang, Kaitlin Blanchard and Elizabeth Culp have all been named Vanier Scholars, and Ana Duggan has been named Banting Postdoctoral Fellow.

The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships are Canada’s most prestigious awards for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows (respectively), working in the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities.

Vanier Scholars receive $50,000 a year for up to three years of research, while Banting Fellows receive $70,000 a year for up to two years of research.

Vanier Scholars

Name: Rachel Weldrick, Health, Aging and Society
Area of study:Senior isolation

Name: Elizabeth Culp, Biochemistry and Biomedical Science
Area of study:Finding new antibiotics

Name: Steven Liang, Pathology and Molecular Medicine
Area of study: Evaluating a new vaccine for chlamydia

Name: Kaitlin Blanchard, English and Cultural Studies
Area of study: Social and environmental decay

Banting Fellow

Name: Ana Duggan, Anthropology
Area of study:The history of the aboriginal people of Newfoundland and Labrador