Dean's Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity Award Recipients

2026 recipients

Fahad Ahmad

Faculty of Arts

Dr. Fahad Ahmad is globally recognized for his outstanding scholarly and community-engaged research on Islamophobia, security, philanthropy, and civil society. Over the past year, he has published and submitted multiple articles in leading international journals, secured nearly $200,000 in new external funding for the Voices of Palestine project, and continued groundbreaking SSHRC-funded work on philanthropy and right-wing populism. His scholarship has informed national policy discussions, including consultations with the federal Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Through his publications, mentorship, and public engagement, Dr. Ahmad exemplifies TMU’s commitment to rigorous, socially impactful, and equity-driven research.

Martin Antony

Faculty of Arts

Dr. Martin M. Antony, Professor of Psychology, is an internationally recognized leader in research on the nature and treatment of anxiety and related disorders. Over the past year, he advanced this field through major CIHR-funded collaborative research, the publication of a book, ten peer-reviewed journal articles and a book chapter (published or in press), with additional work under review. His contributions continue to shape clinical science and practice in Canada and beyond. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Dr. Antony was inducted into the Order of Ontario in January 2025.

Joseph Aversa

Ted Rogers School of Management

Dr. Joseph Aversa achieved an exceptional record of research productivity and impact in 2024–2025. He published three peer-reviewed journal articles in leading outlets, including Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Urban Geography, and The Professional Geographer, and has one accepted and two additional papers under review. As Principal Investigator on a SSHRC Insight Development Grant, he leads the project Understanding Commercial Vitality through Smartphone Data. Dr. Aversa also serves as Associate Editor for Papers in Applied Geography and organized the Spatial Big Data mini-track at the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, demonstrating national and international research leadership.

Aidan Brown

Faculty of Science

Dr. Aidan Brown heads an interdisciplinary theoretical and computational research program that probes the physical basis of cell biology. Dr. Brown has recently published on mitochondrial networks in multiple high-profile scientific journals. Dr. Brown’s multifaceted research approach includes both close collaboration with experimental researchers to explain their measurements and theory-focused work to use biological examples to expand physical understanding. Dr. Brown has recently obtained funding from two NSERC and two CIHR grants that each support a collaboration with a different experimental researcher. Dr. Brown organizes research for a for TMU students, local research groups, and for a national audience.

Elsayed Elbeshbishy

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Dr. Elbeshbishy is an outstanding and exceptional scholar who made significant contributions to advance the field of waste into energy and greenhouse gas emissions. He is attracting significant funding from industry and government with 30 individual grants and totaling over $12.0M. He secured $2.4M grant for monitoring and modeling the greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants. He has an impressive publication record with over 100 refereed journal publications and more than 150 conference presentations. His commitment to HQPs training is remarkable, five of his former HQPs are currently faculty members at different universities.

ChungHyuk Lee

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

ChungHyuk Lee is an expert in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Lee has 11 years of experience in hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolyzer technologies, and worked in both academia and federal agencies in the US and Canada. Lee is currently training 15 HQPs in Lee’s research laboratory, and collaborating with federal agencies, academia, and industry to advance clean electrochemical energy systems. He has secured $2.5M in research funding, and has 42 publications (h-index: 22) in journals including Nature Energy, Advanced Functional Materials, and Science Advances. He was recognized with 2022 CLS Young Investigator Excellence Award.

Nemoy Lewis

Faculty of Community Services

Dr. Nemoy Lewis is an emerging national leader in housing justice research whose work embodies the Faculty of Community Services’ mission to create knowledge for action and build with communities. His groundbreaking research on the financialization of housing, infrastructure investment, and artificial intelligence in rental markets are reshaping public and policy understanding of racial inequities in Canada’s housing system. Through innovative, community-engaged research and public scholarship, Dr. Lewis informs national policy, supports empowers tenants, and prepares the next generation of planners to challenge the status quo to advance a more just and equitable urban future.

Cole Lewis

The Creative School

Cole Lewis is an internationally recognized artist-scholar whose work bridges theatre, artificial intelligence, and interactive storytelling. In the past year, her award-winning project 2021—supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Creation Fund—secured premieres at New York’s Under the Radar Festival and Vancouver’s PuSh Festival. Through this work, Lewis has redefined how live performance engages with emerging technologies, positioning Toronto Metropolitan University at the forefront of creative research and demonstrating how art and inquiry together can imagine more humane and intelligent futures.

Mojca Mattiazzi Usaj

Faculty of Science

Dr. Mattiazzi Usaj’s research made important contributions to the fields of cell biology and biomedical science by revealing new mechanisms that drive cellular ageing. The important impact and significance of this is clearly evident by Dr. Mattiazzi Usaj’s publication in the leading journal in the field, as well publication of a dedicated perspective article highlighting the impact and significance of Dr. Mattiazzi Usaj’s work. Dr. Mattiazzi Usaj has also established herself as a leader in the use of machine learning in biomedical research, provided highly successful supervision to HQP, and secured an impressive collection of external research grant support.

Monique Tschofen

Faculty of Arts

Dr. Tschofen is an internationally-recognized scholar and creator whose work unites artistic innovation with rigorous scholarship, drawing attention to environmental issues from a feminist perspective. In 2025, her award-winning documentary Aquaphoria: Before the Waters Rise and interactive narrative Happenings: A Tragico-Lyrical Philosophical Essay garnered international acclaim for their critical force. Projects such as Solastalgia, Fire and Water, and Water Songs, and influential publications in leading journals developed new ways to approach ecological and social crises. A widely published scholar, SSHRC-funded collaborator, and mentor, Tschofen’s integration of creative practice and critical theory transforms research-creation into a globally influential model of excellence.

Guanghui Wang

Faculty of Science

Dr. Wang is a leading researcher in computer vision with over 210 publications in premier venues with an h-index 44, and i10-index 130. He has secured over $1.7M external funding as a PI and $8.3M as a Co-I. During the past year, he has been leading five NSERC grants as PI and published 26 papers, primarily in highly selective, top-tier conferences, such as CVPR-2025, ICLR-2025, ICML-2025, and IJCAI-2025, and in prestigious journals, including IEEE TMM, IEEE TCI, IEEE TCE, and IEEE JBHI. The team he led won first place among 125 international teams in the CVPR NTIRE 2024 Challenge.

Xingwei (Nancy) Yang

Ted Rogers School of Management

Dr. Xingwei (Nancy) Yang, an Assistant Professor and core member of the Operations & Supply Chain Analytics Research Centre, is an outstanding interdisciplinary scholar advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) research to address business challenges. She has published in leading journals and conferences and secured over $300,000 in external funding, including NSERC Discovery, SSHRC Insight Development, and Mitacs. She has mentored 14 highly qualified personnel, resulting in conference presentations, awards, and full-time job placements. She actively disseminates research to industry and community stakeholders. Her work enhances mental health support, informs tourism decision-making, and facilitates AI adoption, demonstrating significant impacts across multiple disciplines.

Ian Young

Faculty of Community Services

Dr. Young has demonstrated significant research achievements and productivity over the past year. He received a large multi-disciplinary grant in 2024 from CIHR for a national cohort study about the burden of recreational water illness in Canada. The study involves numerous collaborators and knowledge-users and has significant potential to inform future beach water quality guidelines and policies in Canada, ultimately making beaches safer for Canadians. He contributed to 15 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference abstracts and presentations in the past year, disseminated his research through media and infographics, and was highly active in supervising and mentoring graduate students and trainees.

Hadis Zarrin

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Dr. Hadis Zarrin is a leading researcher in 2D multifunctional materials, wearable biosensing technologies, and sustainable water-energy systems. In 2024–2025, she published 8 peer-reviewed papers that have already received 52 citations, secured over $755,000 in research funding, and trained 16 highly qualified personnel, several of whom have advanced to prominent academic and industry positions. She co-organized international conference symposia, delivered invited research talks, and hosted the national NSERC CREATE HyTEM Workshop, fostering cross-institutional collaboration and professional development. Her work demonstrates scholarly excellence, research translation leadership, and a deep commitment to developing Canada’s next generation of scientific innovators.

Past recipients