Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., FRSC
Distinguished Research Professor
Email: ellenb@yorku.ca
Campus Location:
Behavioural Sciences Building, 234
York University,
4700 Keele St.
Toronto, Ont. M3J 1P3
News: Professor Ellen Bialystok receives the Research Merit Award (November 2009)
Adapted from the York University Health News Webpage:
“York Psychology Professor Ellen Bialystok , recipient of the Research Merit Award, is a Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology and a leading global researcher in bilingualism and its affects on the aging brain. Bialystok’s six books and over 100 papers in scientific journals extend her research beyond themes and geographical boundaries. “She has investigated bilingualism and literacy from a number of angles and across a number of languages and language learners,” said her nominator, Professor Martha Crago of Dalhousie University.
The award recognizes outstanding research achievement and significant contributions to advance the University’s international reputation for research excellence.
A ceremony to honour the recipients of the President’s Research Excellence Award and Research Awards of Merit will be held Nov. 24th .”
Biographical Note
Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., FRSC, is Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1976. Much of her research has focused on the effect of bilingualism on children’s language and cognitive development, showing accelerated mastery of specific cognitive processes for bilingual children. This research has recently been extended to investigations of adult processing and found that lifelong bilingualism protects older adults from cognitive decline with aging. Other research includes studies of literacy acquisition in young children, models of metalinguistic awareness and second-language acquisition, and the development of spatial cognition and its relation to other cognitive abilities. She is the author of 6 books and over 100 scientific papers in journals and books. Among her awards are a Killam Research Fellowship, Walter Gordon Research Fellowship, Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research, and Language Learning Distinguished Scholar in Residence. She has been invited to lecture in universities around the world, covering four continents and numerous countries.
Research in this lab is supported by grants from:
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Canadian Institute of Health Research
National Institutes of Health