UPEI appoints new associate vice-president research and dean of graduate studies
Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, professor of biology, has been appointed associate vice-president research and dean of graduate studies at UPEI, effective January 1, 2023.
Dr. Sweeney-Nixon joined UPEI’s biology department in 1997, serving as chair from 2012 to 2019. In that role, she led the development of the department’s strategic plan and the biotechnology and paramedicine programs, as well as a seven-year MPHEC quality assurance review of academic programs in biology. In 2011, she received the UPEI Hessian Merit Award for Excellence in Teaching. From 2005 to 2008, she held the Jeanne and J.-Louis Lévesque Research Professorship in Nutrisciences and Health.
Her research interests include cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, antioxidants from berries, and diabetes. She has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters in these fields, and she has received over $1.8 million of research funding. Dr. Sweeney-Nixon has contributed to the supervision of eight Master of Science (MSc) students, one post-doctoral fellow, and six research assistants, and she has served on numerous other MSc and PhD supervisory or examination committees.
Dr. Sweeney-Nixon replaces Dr. Rabin Bissessur who was interim vice-president research and dean of graduate studies since 2020.
“I congratulate Dr. Sweeney-Nixon in her new role, and also thank Dr. Bissessur for his many valued contributions to research and graduate programs at UPEI,” said Dr. Greg Naterer, vice-president academic and research at UPEI.
Dr. Naterer also thanked the members of the search committee—Dr. Christian Lacroix, Maria Hernandez, Dr. Marya Ahmed, Ziad Ghaith, and Dr. Don Desserud—for their dedicated and thorough work.
