UPEI welcomes Island native Dr. William Whelan as CRC in Biomedical Optics
The University of Prince Edward Island officially welcomed Island native and UPEI graduate Dr. William Whelan as Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Biomedical Optics at a reception in the Duffy Science Centre recently.
'We are delighted that Dr. Bill Whelan has joined UPEI as a Canada Research Chair, and that this honour is going to a UPEI graduate,' said UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan. 'In addition to being recognized as a potential international leader in research, Dr. Whelan will be an inspirational colleague and teacher.'
As Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Optics, Whelan is developing more reliable ways to treat prostate cancer, a disease that will affect one of nine Canadian men. Prostate cancer is undetectable in its early stages, making it the number three killer among all cancers for men.
He is working on a minimally invasive technique that uses light and sound, instead of surgery or radiation, to deliver, monitor and assess treatment. During treatment, small flexible optical fibres are inserted into the cancerous tissue. Heat from a laser that is connected to the fibres destroys the cancerous cells. To ensure healthy cells are not damaged, sensors are implanted in the surrounding tissue, providing real-time feedback to make sure the laser is hitting its mark.
Whelan is also working on innovative ways of monitoring treatments; his remedy is to create ultrasound waves in the body by delivering nanosecond pulses of light at affected areas of tissue. This new technique, called optoacoustic imaging, offers higher-quality images than conventional ultrasound imaging. To complement these new medical techniques, he will also map the relationship between light and tissue, which will give researchers better models of how tissues work.
A native of Summerside, Whelan received a BSc (Physics) from UPEI in 1988, followed by an MSc (Health and Radiation Physics) and PhD (Medical Physics) from McMaster University. He spent 11 years with the Department of Physics at Ryerson University (Toronto). In January 2008, he joined UPEI full-time as an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Optics.
'We are very proud to welcome Dr. Whelan to the Faculty of Science,' says Dr. Christian LaCroix, Dean of the Faculty of Science, 'and we look forward to his leadership and contribution to the development of our research capacity in the Health Sciences.'
Whelan's designation marks the sixth Canada Research Chair awarded to UPEI - the third in the Faculty of Science - since the program was established the nationwide program in 2000. The Canada Research Chairs program was created to assist universities in attracting top researchers in Canada and abroad to solve the country's most important medical, scientific and social problems.
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Photo: Dr. William Whelan (centre), CRC in Biomedical Optics at UPEI, is congratulated on his appointment by Dr. Christian LaCroix, Dean of Science (left), Dr. Katherine Schultz, Vice-president of Research and Development (second left), Dr. Carmen Gervais, Acting Director of the Canada Research Council Secretariat (second from right), and H. Wade
MacLauchlan, President of UPEI (right).
