Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont. – Internationally recognized scholar Dr. Langis Roy has been named Lakehead University’s next Vice-President, Research and Innovation. 

Dr. Roy brings more than 20 years of academic and leadership experience to the position, having held academic appointments at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, and most recently at Ontario Tech University, where he served terms as Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (2015–2021) and Deputy Provost (2020–2023).

“Dr. Roy’s leadership comes at a pivotal time,” expressed President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Gillian Siddall. “As a vital economic anchor in the regions we serve, Lakehead is poised to expand our impact through expanding partnerships and innovative collaborations. I am confident that with Dr. Roy’s vision and experience, Lakehead will continue to drive a culture of research excellence across our campuses, create new opportunities for students to be at the forefront of real-world cutting-edge research, and drive progress that matters–for people and the betterment of society.”

As Vice-President, Research and Innovation, Dr. Roy will lead the university’s extensive research and economic development portfolio, championing industry and expert engagement, working closely with faculty to secure research funding, creating the new strategic research plan, and advancing the national and global reputation of Lakehead research and scholarship.

“Lakehead is clearly ahead of the curve in terms of sustainability mindset and community engagement, and has unique synergies in its STEM Hub and interdisciplinary programming across central and northwestern Ontario,” said Dr. Roy, who has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Engineering and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University. “I look forward to joining this dynamic institution and contributing to Lakehead’s upward trajectory.” 

With more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and three patents in radio-frequency system-on-package designs, Dr. Roy’s interdisciplinary research spans microwave components, wireless sensor and power harvesting technologies, and next-generation system integration with applications in 5G/6G, autonomous vehicles, biomedical monitoring, and more. His recent work focuses on AI-assisted design and control, and he co-leads the France-Canada GRACE (Generative Reconfigurable Adaptive Communications Electronics) consortium.

“With the rise of AI not only accelerating the pace of discovery but also democratizing business entrepreneurship, the possibilities for growing Lakehead’s research and innovation enterprise are limitless,” Dr. Roy added.

A globally engaged researcher, Dr. Roy has held visiting appointments at institutions in Finland and France, including the XLIM Institute at Université de Limoges in 2024. He was also involved in the Oshawa/Durham node of the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), playing a vital role in research and innovation initiatives in Ontario.

As a leader, Dr. Roy is known for his collaborative spirit, approachability, and deep commitment to supporting students, faculty, and industry partners. During his time at Ontario Tech, he led the transformation of the Office of Graduate Studies into the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and contributed to expanding experiential and work-integrated learning opportunities across the institution.

“There is a strong history of research and innovation at Lakehead,” said Dr. Siddall. “Although Lakehead is a primarily undergraduate university, the impact and importance of research happening across the university places us among the top research-intensive universities in the country. I look forward to supporting Dr. Roy as we continue to build on this incredible momentum.”

Dr. Roy will begin his five-year appointment on August 24, 2025.

Around the world, individuals and groups are rallying to draw attention to the climate emergency. Curated by Dr. Pauline Sameshima, professor in the Faculty of Education, and Robin Faye, One Cell, The World is a research-art catalogue on climate action from the Lakehead Galleries featuring essays, poetry, art, videos, music, and more, from diverse communities on the climate crisis.

One Cell, The World includes a keynote speech by Seth Klein on how we might mobilize climate action at a university level and essays as diverse as the role of salt in bio alcohols, to native species gardening. Select artworks respond to the floods in British Columbia, water resources in Lake Superior, and ocean surges in Ayetoro, Nigeria. A cello piece was created using NASA global climate data.

Local and international, the selected works demonstrate the possibilities for what climate action can look like. They contain insights and inspiration for climate activists, artists, educators, and policy makers; as well as for all those who care about the planet.

Reviews:

One Cell, the World highlights how arts through research can beautifully raise awareness of climate change and social justice. -- Dr. Andrew Dean, Lakehead University Vice-President Research and Innovation

I like it! A lot! Curriculum specialists need ways to re-form the mind with the languages of the body and the heart. This book invites that work with mind-bending beauty. I just want to gaze more deeply into it. -- Dr. David Greenwood, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Education (2010-2020), Lakehead University

It is inspiring to see in this work the tremendous potential of the arts to express such poignant and ingenious responses to the climate crisis. It is also inspiring to sense such heartfelt and passionate care for our planet. -- Dr. Benjamin Bolden, UNESCO Chair in Arts and Learning

This book of many voices calls into sight the compassionate climate healing we seek with compelling focus on the urgency. Chosen change is first imagined. -- Heather McLeod, podcaster of Something Different This Way Comes, Thunder Bay, Ontario

This book invites us to reflect on the interconnectedness of the climate crisis through a variety of perspectives, centring us back into humility, reciprocity, and oneness. Through the lens of artists, activists, and actions this collection left me feeling grateful and hopeful for our future and reminded of the vastness of solutions that are before us. --Madison Dyck, Activist, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Strengthening emotional connections to our natural surroundings and other beings has never been more critical. As the climate crisis continues to mount, we must come to terms with a lot of complex feelings (e.g., fear, anxiety, guilt)—and we can’t do it alone. For all these reasons and more, we need art. When I look at the collection of artworks in this catalogue, I feel a sense of hope and inspiration, that we’re all in this together. These artworks not only stimulate critical thinking around climate issues, but also illustrate how art can be a catalyst for real and enduring change. I am excited to bring this collection into my classroom! -- Dr. Tiina Kukkonen, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Education, Arts Research Collective, Queens University

This book makes me stop and pause for reflection. The climate crises are changing our psyches. I am moved by the depth of emotions evident in the artistic expressions and the ideas that emerge. There are connections on many levels. -- Graham Saunders, Climatologist, Lakehead University

More information can be found here. One Cell, The World is also available through local and online bookstores.

By: Julio Heleno Gomes

When Bill Heibein was first diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's he was told that within five years his condition would worsen and he could expect to end up in a nursing home. More than two decades later he continues to lead an active and fulfilling life, playing music and keeping busy on his farm.

“In many respects I have credited horses with saving me,” the affable 83-year-old declares. “I don't consider myself special. Anybody could've done it had they the opportunity. Having a farm has made a gigantic difference to me.”

Along with defying daunting odds, Bill is also one of the original members of the North West Dementia Working Group (NWDWG). The independent grassroots advocacy group, the first in Canada for people living with dementia, was formed thanks to Lakehead University researcher Dr. Elaine Wiersma.

“It's about giving voice to people living with dementia, maintaining their rights, living well, free from discrimination,” explains Dr. Nisha Sutherland, the group's co-facilitator.

Started 10 years ago, NWDWG brought people living with dementia and their care partners together to discuss self-care. From that modest beginning, friendships were formed and the desire to do more was born.

“They wanted to continue being an advocacy group, provide activities for people living with dementia, be a political advocate for people living with dementia,” explains Sutherland, who's been with the group for eight years and is associate professor in Lakehead's School of Nursing. “If there are dementia strategies or local, provincial policy issues then we address them.”

The latest project, the Building Capacity Project, examined community resources, such as libraries, to make sure they're inclusive for people living with dementia.

In recognition of these initiatives, last year Wiersma, Sutherland and the NWDWG received Lakehead's Community Engaged Research Award.

With 15-20 attendees at their monthly meetings and large Sunday gatherings at the Dementia Cafe, the NWDWG is firmly established and has plenty to celebrate. Over the years they have hosted conferences and visiting scholars, provided presentations on challenging the stigma of dementia, and have been an integral element in projects supported by the Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health (CERAH).

At its core, though, the essence of NWDWG is companionship, of spending time with people on a similar journey. For Sue Doughty-Smith, introduction to the group came at exactly the right time. Her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in late 2020, during the COVID lockdown.

“I was in a really bad state,” Doughty-Smith confesses. “I thought my world was turned upside down. You just felt you have nowhere to turn to and then there is this group. So when you meet people whose lives are sort of the same, but we're on different steps in our journey, it was wonderful to be with them. You already have empathy for each other, you get to know each other really well and you become better connected. It's a really good group that my husband and I both belong to.”

Along with the camaraderie and frequent get-togethers, Doughty-Smith praises NWDWG participants as people willing to roll up their sleeves to get things done.

“I like it because it's real work,” she says. “Sometimes you talk about things you wish would happen. But this group, once you start looking at things that we can do, you just get going and everybody pools their resources to work on it.”

The latest example is Dementia Gardens: A Place to Grow. An initiative with CERAH, in partnership with community groups such as Chartwell retirement homes, it's in the fundraising stage right now. But the concept is exciting, says Sutherland.

“People living with dementia and their families can come outside and grow native gardens that encourage pollinators, and this can be respite for the family, for students to learn about engaging with people living with dementia and to conduct research,” she says, adding that they hope to start digging this summer.

This is the kind of effort that makes the group so special, says Bill. From the beginning the focus was on the person living with dementia and what they wanted to see done that would be best for them.

“The approach was not from the top down,” he says. “The approach was from the bottom up. 'What do you think will be beneficial to you?' That was the big difference in the approaches.”

When his decline became noticeable in 1998 and he was given dire scenarios, Bill retired from his position at a major Thunder Bay accounting firm to assist his wife full-time at their quarter horse farm near Kakabeka Falls, regularly baling hay and chopping wood. While he has been on medication, his miraculous ability to keep his condition at bay has drawn the interest of researchers at the University of British Columbia, Waterloo, and Lakehead. The latest batch of MRI and CT scans show his decline is no more significant than normal aging.

What's his secret?

The answer: strenuous physical activity on a 150-acre property and engaging key parts of the brain by performing in a band on bass guitar.

“The doctors said to me they don't know for sure what I'm doing, but whatever it is don't stop,” Bill says. “Just by pure chance I'm doing the things I should be doing, what everybody says that someone living with dementia should be doing.”

Pictured: Bill Mercereau, left, along with Bailey Vandorp, a then-Master of Public Health student, and Bill Heibein accept the Lakehead University Community Engaged Research award on behalf of the North West Dementia Working Group.

Pictured from left are Dr. Jian Deng, Dr. Pauline Sameshima, Dr. Florin Pendea, Dr. Andrew J. Dean, Dr. Charles Levkoe, and Mannila Sandhu. Dr. Deng and Dr. Levkoe received this year's Research Excellence Award, and Sandhu was the recipient of the Research Support Award.

February 29, 2024 – Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.

Lakehead University recognized exceptional students, faculty researchers, and partners during the annual Research and Innovation Awards of Excellence on Thursday, Feb. 29 in Thunder Bay.

The event, hosted by Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, celebrated Lakehead’s significant contributions to research excellence, entrepreneurship, innovation, and community impact.

“Each year we recognize the tremendous accomplishments of our student and faculty researchers,” he stated. “The impact of the work they do on- and off-campus can be felt locally and internationally and helps shape the reputation of Lakehead University as an institution dedicated to research excellence."

“Congratulations to all the winners on this well-deserved honour,” he added.

Two distinguished Lakehead professors were among this year’s honorees: Dr. Pauline Sameshima and Dr. Andrew J. Dean were recognized with the 2024 Distinguished Researcher Award.

Dr. Sameshima, an editor, curator, curriculum theorist, artist, and professor in the Faculty of Education, was recognized for her commitment to mobilizing learning across diverse audiences and fostering innovative university-community learning collaborations. Her contributions in the field have garnered previous recognition, including the 2022 Ontario Art Education Association's Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year Award, a 2022 Lakehead Teaching Innovation Award, and Lakehead's 2020 Building Research Capacity Award. She is also a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada.

“I’m humbled by this honour,” said Dr. Sameshima. “I see the award as a big happy high five – a thank you cheer that is a two-way celebration. I think about telling my parents about the award. Whenever anyone thanked my dad, who passed away a year ago, he always said, “My pleasure!” To this award, I say “My pleasure!” because working at Lakehead is a pleasure.”

“I don’t think about changing societies but, because of technology, we affect more than we know,” she said. “The dedicated love we put into our work, whether it’s research for a scientific cure or a poem, goes through to the end product and is gifted to the receiver in a new form, like medicine or learning or emotion. In that way, research or anything we do affects the other.”

For Sameshima, this recognition is a tribute to the collaborative efforts of family, mentors, colleagues, her research teams, graduate students, and university staff.

“It is through research that better futures can be imagined. As we think, imagine, make, and share, we construct the society we hope for.” 

Dr. Dean joined Lakehead University in 1999 after earning his PhD in mathematics following his undergraduate education at Lakehead University. He is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

His primary field of study is closely related to the Elliott program for the classification of amenable C*-algebras. C*-algebras are mathematical objects that combine elements of algebra and analysis and are used in the study of operator theory, functional analysis, and quantum mechanics.

He has published numerous papers on this subject, and has supervised many students and post-docs, some of whom are now in academia.

“I want my students to develop skills that will allow them to thrive in whatever field they choose to work in, whether it is academic research or something else altogether,” he said, describing what he hopes to impart on students and society through teaching and research.

“Receiving the Distinguished Researcher Award is an honour,” Dr. Dean said. “I would like to thank my students, colleagues and coauthors, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for many years of support.”

A full list of the awards and recipients follows:

Distinguished Researcher Award
Dr. Andrew J. Dean, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Pauline Sameshima, Faculty of Education

Research Excellence Awards

NSERC Category
Dr. Jian Deng, Department of Civil Engineering

SSHRC Category
Dr. Charles Levkoe, Department of Health Sciences

Research Support Award
Mannila Sandhu, Quantitative Research Assistant, EPID @Work Institute

Building Research Capacity Award
Dr. Pedram Fatehi, Department of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Stephen Kinrade, Department of Chemistry, for their project, “NMR for advanced research.”

Indigenous Partnership Research Award
Dr. Jian Deng, Department of Civil Engineering, and Marcus Hardy, Chief of Red Rock Indian Band, for their project, “Nipigon River landslides: monitoring, mechanisms, and mitigation.”

Community Engaged Research Award
Dr. Sonia Mastrangelo, Faculty of Education, Dr. Gerardo Reyes, departments of Sustainability Sciences and Biology, and Katherine Killam from Camphill Communities Ontario

Innovation Award
Dr. Deborah Scharf and Dr. Amanda Maranzan from the Department of Psychology

Three-Minute Thesis
First Place: Madeline Fabiano, MSc Kinesiology (Supervisor: E. Pearson)
Second Place: KarLee Lefebvre, MSc Kinesiology (Supervisor: N. Ravanelli)

GRADflix Award
Tristen Brown, PhD Civil Engineering (Supervisor: A. Elshaer)

Graduate Studies Research Excellence Awards

Natural Sciences and Engineering Category
Sana Sharif, PhD Electrical and Computer Engineering (Supervisor: W. Ejaz)

Social Sciences and Humanities Category
Casey Oliver, PhD Clinical Psychology (Supervisor: D. Mazmanian)

Graduate Student Conference Poster Winners

Winner Engineering Category
Eduardo Reis, PhD Software Engineering (Supervisor: T. Akilan)

Winner NSERC Category
Nicholas Bel, PhD Biotechnology (Supervisor: N. Khaper)

Winner SSHRC Category
Crystal Hardy, PhD Health Sciences (Supervisor: R. Schiff and C. Mushquash)

Winner CIHR Category
Chiao-En Joanne Kao, PhD Clinical Psychology (Supervisor: D. Scharf)

Post-Doctoral Fellow Excellence Award
Dr. Yurii Shepelytskyi (Supervisor: M. Albert)

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Media: Please contact Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.