CIHR Project Grant: Spring 2021 Competition Awards

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research announced the results of the Project Grant: Spring 2021 competition.

Awards included 422 research grants, plus 4 bridge grants, for a total investment of approximately $325 million. In addition, 59 priority announcement grants were funded for a total amount of $9,815,000 and 11 supplemental prizes were awarded for a total of $555,000

CIHR summary

A total of 59 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded funding of $41.1 million

  • 50 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded Project Grants totaling $39.2 million 
  • 7  projects led by UBC researchers were awarded Priority Announcement funding totaling $1.7 million 
  • 2 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded Bridge Grants totaling $0.2 million 

UBC-led Projects awarded Project Grant Funding

  1. Evaluating and Informing Canada's Proposed Pharmaceutical Price Regulations
    Principal Investigator: Anis, Aslam H (School of Population and Public Health  / CHEOS)
    Research Institute: Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences 
    Other PI(s): Zhang, Wei
    $581,400 (4 years) 
     
  2. Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Long-term Health Consequences
    Principal Investigator: Ayas, Najib (Medicine / CHEOS)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,445,850 (5 years)
     
  3. A Novel Formulation of the Anticancer Drug Candidate CX5461 that Relies on Metal Chemistry and Liposomal Nanotechnology: Development for use in Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer's with BRCA Deficiencies; an Orphan Indication
    Principal Investigator: Bally, Marcel B (Experimental Therapeutics)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    $765,000 (5 years)
     
  4. Options for Increasing Plasma Supply in Canada: A Health Economic Preference and Modelling Study (HEMO-CAN)
    Principal Investigator: Bansback, Nicholas (School of Population and Public Health)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $328,950 (3 years)
     
  5. Targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumour hypoxia with angiotensin II receptor blockers
    Principal Investigator: Bennewith, Kevin L (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
    Research Institute: BC. Cancer
    $979,200 (5 years)
     
  6. Circumstances and Outcome of Active Transportation Injuries: An Inception Cohort Study.
    Principal Investigator: Brubacher, Jeffrey R (Emergency Medicine)
    Research Institute: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
    $823,141 (4 years)
     
  7. A new potential therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes: Delineating the mechanisms of its actions
    Principal Investigator: Conway, Edward M (Center for Blood Research)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $765,000 (5 years)
     
  8. Predictive modeling in multiple sclerosis: using real world data to inform practice, policy, and research
    Principal Investigator: Cragg, Jacquelyn J (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Lynd, Larry D
    $470,475 (4 years)
     
  9. Design a Double-Bolt Lock to Control Cancer Cell Growth
    Principal Investigator: Dong, Xuesen (Urologic Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $910,350 (5 years)
     
  10. Indispensable Amino Acid Requirements in Pregnancy and Lactation
    Principal Investigator: Elango, Rajavel (Pediatrics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $726,750 (5 years)
     
  11. Peptidoglycan remodeling in Campylobacter jejuni: effects on shape and pathogenesis
    Principal Investigator: Gaynor, Erin C (Microbiology and Immunology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $956,250 (5 years)
     
  12. Addressing key knowledge gaps in testing to inform STI prevention & control strategies
    Principal Investigator: Gilbert, Mark P (School of Population and Public Health)
    Research Institute: B.C. Centre for Disease Control (Vancouver)
    Other PI(s): Wong, Jason Lavoie, Martin
    $306,000 (2 years)
     
  13. The contribution of sex differences to small airways disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
    Principal Investigator: Hackett, Tillie-Louise (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $730,576 (5 years)
     
  14. Age-associated B cells in viral infection and autoimmune diseases
    Principal Investigator: Horwitz, Marc S (Microbiology and Immunology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,128,376 (5 years)
     
  15. Translation initiation via factorless internal ribosome entry site mechanisms
    Principal Investigator: Jan, Eric (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia 
    $918,000 (5 years)
     
  16. Making an impact on rural health: Scaling-out and evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an evidence-based diabetes prevention program across Interior British Columbia
    Principal Investigator: Jung, Mary E (School of Health and Exercise Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $585,224 (4 years)
     
  17. Side by Side: Identifying strategies to address the health and social needs of youth who use stimulants
    Principal Investigator: Knight, Rodney E (Medicine)
    Research Institute: British Columbia Centre on Substance Use 
    Other PI(s): Fast, Danya
    $512,550 (3 years)
     
  18. Prediction of Cognitive and Motor Symptom Progression in Multiple Sclerosis Using Myelin Imaging
    Principal Investigator: Kolind, Shannon (Medicine/Neurology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Traboulsee, Anthony
    $504,900 (3 years)
     
  19. Rise & Shine: Promoting Sleep Quality in Chronic Stroke with Exercise
    Principal Investigator: Liu-Ambrose, Teresa Y (Physical Therapy)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $573,751 (5 years)
     
  20. Understanding the effects of ERK hyperactivation in cancer: implications for therapy
    Principal Investigator: Lockwood, William W (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    $956,250 (5 years)
     
  21. Circulating Tumour DNA Analysis Informing Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage III Colorectal Cancer: A Multicentre Phase II/III Randomised Controlled Trial (DYNAMIC-III)
    Principal Investigator: Loree, Jonathan M (Medicine)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    Other PI(s): O'Callaghan, Christopher J
    $1,426,724 (6 years)
     
  22. Devices for Image-Guided Biopsy of Peripheral Lung Nodules
    Principal Investigator: Macaulay, Calum E (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    $386,326 (3 years)
     
  23. Building and rebuilding brain white matter with endogenous neural stem cells
    Principal Investigator: Miller, Freda D (Michael Smith Laboratories)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $826,200 (5 years)
     
  24. FLASH radiotherapy - mechanisms and translational studies
    Principal Investigator: Minchinton, Andrew I (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    $918,000 (4 years)
     
  25. Evaluating Microdosing in Emergency Departments: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effectiveness of Buprenorphine/Naloxone Microdosing vs. Standard Dosing (EMED Study)
    Principal Investigator: Moe, Jessica (Emergency Medicine)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Lock, Kurt Slaunwhite, Amanda K Nosyk, Bohdan P Davison, Carolyn Wong, Hubert H Hohl, Corinne M Carter, Connie I Holroyd, Brian R
    $1,184,681 (3 years)
     
  26. Uptake and gaps in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among HIV-negative gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in Metro Vancouver, Canada before, during and following COVID-19
    Principal Investigator: Moore, David M (Medicine)
    Research Institute: St. Paul's Hospital
    Other PI(s): Lachowsky, Nathan J
    $180,000 (3 years)
     
  27. Improving access to family planning services for Indigenous peoples through storytelling
    Principal Investigator: Munro, Sarah B (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Malhotra, Unjali Jubinville, Danette S Kelly, Miranda D
    $715,275 (4 years)
     
  28. Detection of early relapse using circulating miR371a-3p in patients with clinical stage I testicular germ cell tumors
    Principal Investigator: Nappi, Lucia (Urologic Sciences)
    Research Institute: Vancouver Prostate Centre 
    $76,500 (1 years)
     
  29. 'Real-time' measures of anxiety and physical activity in 15-18 year olds with prenatal antidepressant exposure
    Principal Investigator: Oberlander, Timothy F (Pediatrics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $730,576 (4 years)
     
  30. Overcoming Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitor Resistance Using Pyrimethamine-inspired Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras
    Principal Investigator: Page, Brent (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $812,814 (5 years)
     
  31. Antibiotic Use and Asthma Incidence: Population Based Retrospective Cohort Investigations in BC and Manitoba.
    Principal Investigator: Patrick, David M (School of Population and Public Health)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $175,951 (2 years)
     
  32. Leveraging Trans-Canada Expertise and Resources to Design and Evaluate Novel Auger Electron-Emitting Radioimmunotherapies (RIT) for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
    Principal Investigator: Radchenko, Valery (Chemistry)
    Research Institute: TRIUMF
    Other PI(s): Reilly, Raymond M
    $562,275 (4 years)
     
  33. Role of altered endoplasmic reticulum calcium regulation and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor signaling in cortico-striatal synaptic dysfunction: Opportunities for therapy in prodromal Huntington disease
    Principal Investigator: Raymond, Lynn A (Psychiatry)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,105,426 (5 years)
     
  34. The ASSET Study: Assessing economic transitions and their impacts on health and well-being
    Principal Investigator: Richardson, Lindsey (Sociology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $818,550 (3 years)
     
  35. Role of cardiac lipoprotein lipase in diabetic heart disease.
    Principal Investigator: Rodrigues, Brian B (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $696,150 (5 years)
     
  36. Advancing virtual care in stroke rehabilitation: A randomized controlled trial investigating the TeleRehabilitation with Aims to Improve Lower Extremity Recovery Post-Stroke (TRAIL) program
    Principal Investigator: Sakakibara, Brodie M (Occupational Therapy)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Tang, Ada
    $279,224 (3 years)
     
  37. Illuminating the genetic forces driving development by profiling with single cell transcriptomics at thousands of time-points
    Principal Investigator: Schiebinger, Geoffrey (Mathematics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $849,150 (5 years)
     
  38. Graded exposure therapy for fear avoidance behaviour (GET FAB) after concussion
    Principal Investigator: Silverberg, Noah (Psychology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $761,176 (4 years)
     
  39. A Novel Approach to Discover Therapeutic and Biomarker Targets and Enable Precision Health in COPD: TORCH (Towards Omics and imaging to Revolutionize COPD Health)
    Principal Investigator: Sin, Donald (Medicine)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia 
    $952,426 (5 years)
     
  40. Comprehensive characterizations for the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms of beta-lactam 'resistome'
    Principal Investigator: Tokuriki, Nobuhiko (Michael Smith Laboratories / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,032,750 (5 years)
     
  41. Understanding Human Primary Atopic Disorders
    Principal Investigator: Turvey, Stuart E (Pediatrics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Biggs, Catherine M
    $765,000 (5 years)
     
  42. Colonic Goblet Cells and Mucus: Defining Their Roles in Host Defense and Mucosal Protection
    Principal Investigator: Vallance, Bruce A (Pediatrics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $918,000 (5 years)
     
  43. Blocking the metastatic spread of uveal melanoma
    Principal Investigator: Van Raamsdonk, Catherine D (Medical Genetics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,021,276 (5 years)
     
  44. A comprehensive study on bone quality for the prediction of second hip fractures
    Principal Investigator: Wang, Rizhi (Materials Engineering)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Guy, Pierre
    $833,850 (5 years)
     
  45. Exploit the metabolic vulnerabilities in SWI/SNF-deficient cancer
    Principal Investigator: Wang, Yemin (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
    Research Institute: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
    $688,501 (4 years)
     
  46. Smart Discharges for Mom+Baby: Saving mother-newborn dyads by developing a predictive risk model to identify vulnerable dyads and guide delivery of evidence-based, locally-informed interventions for targeted post-discharge care.
    Principal Investigator: Wiens, Matthew O (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $566,100 (3 years)
     
  47. Genomic dissection of de novo metastatic prostate cancer prior to treatment
    Principal Investigator: Wyatt, Alexander W (Urologicasl Sciences)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    Other PI(s): Chi, Kim N Ost, Piet
    $734,400 (3 years)
     
  48. Identifying a high-resolution map of dynamic cellular and molecular trajectories during the development of a whole mammalian body
    Principal Investigator: Yachie, Nozomu (School of Biomedical Engineering)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $1,143,676 (5 years)
     
  49. Cannabidiol Adjunctive Therapy for Acute Bipolar Depression: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Trial
    Principal Investigator: Yatham, Lakshmi N (Psychiatry)
    Research Institute: University of British Columbia
    $2,340,900 (5 years)
     
  50. Autofluorescence Imaging Guided Laser Raman Spectroscopy for Non-invasive Oral Cancer Detection
    Principal Investigator: Zeng, Haishan (Dermatology and Skin Science)
    Research Institute: BC Cancer
    Other PI(s): Poh, Catherine
    $742,051 (4  years)

UBC-led Projects awarded Priority Announcement Funding

  1. Host Directed Therapies in Tuberculosis
    Principal Investigator: Av-Gay, Yossef (Medicine)
    Project Grant - PA: Pandemic and Health Emergencies Research
    $750,000 (5 years)

  2. Placental sex as a biological determinant in trophoblast function and trophoblast-diected immune activity
    Principal Investigator: Beristain, Alexander G (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Robinson, Wendy P (Medical Genetics)
    Project Grant - PA: Human Development, Child and Youth Health
    $100,000 (1 year)

  3. Targeting the VPS13 family of lipid transport proteins to membrane contact sites
    Principal Investigator: Conibear, Elizabeth (Medical Genetics)
    Operating Grant - PA: Genetics (Bridge Funding: Research Priorities)
    $100,000 (1 year)

  4. Cutaneous adjuvant conditioning to enhance vaccine responses
    Principal Investigator: Dutz, Jan P(Dermatology & Skin Science)
    Project Grant - PA: Pandemic and Health Emergencies Research
    $450,000 (3 years)

  5. Reducing health disparities among women experiencing imprisonment: an evaluation of the impact of transferring responsibility for prison healthcare to the Ministry of Health
    Principal Investigator: Liauw, Jessica (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Hutcheon, Jennifer A (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Kouyoumdjian, Fiona G (McMaster), Slaunwhite, Amanda K (School of Population and Public Health)
    Project Grant - PA: Equity in Cancer Prevention and Control
    $100,000 (1 year)

  6. A Study of Reduced Dosing of the Nonavalent HPV Vaccine in Women Living with HIV
    Principal Investigator: Money, Deborah M (Obstetrics & Gynaecology)
    Project Grant - Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS and STBBI
    $100,000 (1 year)

  7. Advancing virtual care in stroke rehabilitation: A randomized controlled trial investigating the TeleRehabilitation with Aims to Improve Lower Extremity Recovery Post-Stroke (TRAIL) program
    Principal Investigator: Sakakibara, Brodie M (Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy / Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention), Tang, Ada (McMaster)
    Project Grant - PA: CMA Foundation - Virtual Care
    $75,000 from CMA Foundation (Ottawa, Ontario)

UBC-led Projects awarded Bridge Funding

  1. A.R.T. & Justice: An Arts-Based and Indigenous-Led Intervention for Strengthening Mental Health & Wellbeing for People Affected by the Canadian Carceral System
    Principal Investigator: Brown, Helen J (Nursing)
    $100,000
     
  2. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of a tele-asthma self-management intervention (Canadian Asthma Text Messaging Study - CANATEXTS) on reducing asthma exacerbations
    Prinicipal Investigator: Fitzgerald, J M (Medicine)
    $100,000