Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to inform members of the York University community of the appointment of Jennifer Steeves as interim associate vice-president research (AVPR), effective March 1. Professor Steeves will accept the position as we seek a replacement for the AVPR position.
She is a professor in the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health and a member of the Centre for Vision Research. Professor Steeves holds a Tier 1 York Research Chair in Non-Invasive Visual Brain Stimulation and is a core member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA). A longstanding focus of her research has been the study of human patient models to understand how the brain adapts to altered sensory input or to cortical damage. Her lab has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Banting Foundation, Ministry of Transportation, and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund through Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA).
Prior to her current role, Professor Steeves has held various leadership positions, including the associate dean research and graduate education for the Faculty of Science 2018-21 and has also served as the director of the York MRI Facility. She holds adjunct appointments at SickKids and at the University of Toronto Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences.
Please join me in welcoming Professor Steeves to the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. On behalf of our division, we are looking forward to working with her and benefitting from her leadership and experience.
I would also like to recognize and thank Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell who served as associate vice-president research at York, a position she held since 2017. We are very appreciative for all the contributions she has made to the VPRI Division, including Research Commons, SPORT, Sherman Extension, and several other research intensification initiatives. Professor Pillai Riddell was integral to foundational work in developing equity, diversity, inclusion in research, specifically in relation to the Canada Research Chairs program. I thank her personally for all her contributions and would like to wish her the best of success in all future endeavours.
The Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation will begin the search for a permanent position of the associate vice-president research shortly. The advertisement has been posted internally and is available on the York University Research & Innovation website and here.
Amir Asif
Vice-President Research and Innovation