McGill pair capture NSERC prizes

Two McGill researchers, Prof. Brenda Milner and Prof. Guy Moore, have been recognized for their exceptional contributions to science from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), and Dr. Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), announced the winners of the medals and fellowships in Ottawa on June 1.

For the second year in a row, Dr. Milner, the Dorothy J. Killam Professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill is a finalist for the Herzberg Medal, Canada's most prestigious science prize. She garnered this honour by pioneering a new field of research, a combination of psychology and neurology known today as cognitive neuroscience. Her research helped this emerging field develop and was invaluable for learning about the human brain. Dr. Milner began her research at the MNI in 1950 as a graduate student designing and carrying out rigorous tests of neurosurgical patients, including the famous patient H.M., whose surgery left him unable to form new memories. Her work with H.M. and other patients defined different types of memory and helped to characterize functional areas of the brain.

Prof. Guy Moore, Department of Physics will be awarded with an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship for his research in quantum physics in exploring the fundamental questions about the origins of the universe. Prof. Moore's work involves research into the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), a component of theoretical physics that explains the interactions of quarks and gluons, the fundamental elements that make up matter.

Provided by McGill University