Western University is punching above its weight class

Research is paving the way for a range of breakthroughs, including helping to find a cure for Lou Gehrig disease

By Ursula Leonowicz ©2018 Postmedia Network Inc. ​This article was published in the National Post on Feb 15, 2025

Being boastful isn’t considered polite in Canadian society, but in the world of medical research being unapologetically confident is a must. 

It’s a sentiment echoed by one of the top researchers at Western University in London, Ont., for more reasons than one. 

“We’re all about a knowledge-based economy, and rightly so,” says Dr. Michael Strong, a clinician-scientist at the Robarts Research Institute, part of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. “(This) is based on the training and recruitment of individuals into the country who have that knowledge base and are going to be the generation to create new wealth through investments, discovery and so on.” 

Ranked as one of Canada’s top research universities, the school’s scholars advance knowledge that provides tangible benefits for the economic, social, health and cultural development of citizens locally, nationally and around the world. 

“For every dollar that’s invested in education you see a massive return on investment, just through the knowledge economy. Western University is a large part of making London what it is today, economically and otherwise,” Strong says.

Strong specializes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig disease (named after the legendary New York Yankees baseball player who died from the disease). Thanks to researchers like Strong, Canada is a powerhouse when it comes to ALS research.  

In 2024, Strong’s team published a paper showing they understood the mechanism by which the motor neurons that are involved in Lou Gehrig disease die. They also found they could inhibit the process from happening in some models and significantly slow it down in others.  

Yet, recognition of Canada’s significant contributions to the understanding of the disease has been slow in coming. “Because we’re so Canadian, our light is always under someone else’s barrel,” Strong says. 

Strong says the entirety of the university sector, not just Western, is punching above its weight class. Still, it can be frustrating, as a Canadian researcher, to not be acknowledged as fundamental to building a culture of research – as well as a culture of economic prosperity. 

Western’s research fuels innovation in agri-food, mental health, dementia, environmental sustainability and beyond. The university is home to world-renowned experts at its Bone and Joint Institute, Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, and Western Institute for Neuroscience, driving breakthroughs across a range of fields. 

Breakthroughs include infectious disease research at the university’s Imaging Pathogens of Knowledge Translation (ImPaKT) facility and hyper advanced neuroimaging that explores how the brain functions, responds to injury and can be targeted by specific drugs to promote healing.  

The university’s research centres serve as dynamic hubs of collaboration, bringing together leading minds to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. With a strong track record of impactful discoveries, Western’s research excellence is something to be celebrated on both a national and global scale.  

To find out more about the research being conducted at Western University, visit uwo.ca/research. 

This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of Universities Canada.