May 12, 2022
Canada’s Stem Cell Network (SCN) announced funding of $19.5 million for 32 stem cell and regenerative medicine research projects and clinical trials across Canada.
UBC researchers are leading seven projects awarded a total of $2.85 million from the Stem Cell Network. A further three projects involving UBC co-investigators and collaborators were awarded a combined $6.3 million.
This investment is SCN’s largest funding injection into the sector in its 20-year history, made possible through increased funding by the Government of Canada in 2021. With in-kind and cash support from 34 partner organizations valued at $22.4 million, this investment allows Canada’s regenerative medicine research community to harness a total of $42 million for research activities and clinical trials over the next three years.
UBC-led ProjectS
- Elucidating the competitive advantage of aberrant pluripotent stem cells in suspension bioprocesses
Principal Investigator: Nika Shakiba (School of Biomedical Engineering)
Co-Investigators & Collaborators: Ivana Barbaric (University of Sheffield), Sidhartha Goyal (University of Toronto)
Program Name: Early Career Researcher Jump-Start Awards
- Modulating activity of RNA regulating proteins to preserve long-term regenerative potential of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Principal Investigator: Ly Vu (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Co-Investigator & Collaborator: Connie Eaves (Medical Genetics / School of Biomedical Engineering / BC Cancer Research)
Program Name: Early Career Researcher Jump-Start Awards
- Decoding human cis-regulatory logic in development to treat disease
Principal Investigator: Carl de Boer (School of Biomedical Engineering)
Program Name: Early Career Researcher Jump-Start Awards
- Transcription regulation of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes during maturation and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Principal Investigator: Sheila Teves (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Co-Investigator & Collaborator: Glen Tibbits (Simon Fraser University)
Program Name: Early Career Researcher Jump-Start Awards
- Pathways of Cell Identity in Human Liver Organoids
Principal Investigator: Pamela Hoodless (School of Biomedical Engineering / Medical Genetics / BC Cancer Research)
Co-Investigators & Collaborators: Francis Lynn (School of Biomedical Engineering), Gareth Sullivan (University of Oslo), Geoffrey Schiebinger (Mathematics), Nozomu Yachie (School of Biomedical Engineering)
Program Name: Impact Awards
- Clinical Trial of the First Gene-Edited Cell Replacement Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
Principal Investigator: David Thompson (Medicine)
Co-Investigators & Collaborators: Graydon Meneilly (Medicine), James Lan (Medicine), Megan Levings (School of Biomedical Engineering / Surgery / BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute), Peter Kim (Surgery), Tania Bubela (Simon Fraser University), Timothy Kieffer (Cellular & Physiological Sciences / School of Biomedical Engineering)
Program Name: Clinical Trial Awards
- Novel therapeutic strategies to promote liver regeneration
Principal Investigator: Michael Underhill (School of Biomedical Engineering / Cellular & Physiological Sciences)
Co-Investigator & Collaborator: Pamela Hoodless (School of Biomedical Engineering / Medical Genetics / BC Cancer Research), Biotech Partner: Mesintel Therapeutics Inc.
Program Name: Fueling Biotechnology Partnership
Projects with UBC Co-Investigators & Collaborators
- Deciphering cell competition during iPSC differentiation towards lung epithelia
Amy Wong (The Hospital for Sick Children)
Co-Investigators: Bo Wang (University of Toronto - University Health Network), Nika Shakiba (School of Biomedical Engineering)
Program Name: Early Career Researcher Jump-Start Awards
- Engineered hematopoietic stem cells (eHSCs) as vehicles for next generation therapies
Principal Investigator: Guy Sauvageau (Université de Montréal)
Co-Investigators & Collaborators: Bernhard Gentner (San Raffaele Hospital), Bernhard Lehnertz (ExCellThera Inc.), Brad Nelson (BC Cancer), Etienne Gagnon (Université de Montréal), Gabriel Tremblay (Geneconomics Inc.), Jean-Sébastien Delisle (Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont), Josée Hébert (Hopital Maisonneuve-Rosemont), Keith Humphries (British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch), Ma'n Zawati (McGill University), Nika Shakiba (School of Biomedical Engineering), Peter Zandstra (School of Biomedical Engineering / Michael Smith Laboratories), Philippe Roux (Université de Montréal), Vincent-Philippe Lavallée (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine)
Program Name: Horizon Awards
- Autologous iPSC-Islets for Personalized Diabetes Therapy: a First-in-Human Implantation and Scale-up Manufacturing
Principal Investigator: James Shapiro (University of Alberta)
Co-Investigators & Collaborators: Andrew Pepper (University of Alberta), Anna Lam (University of Alberta), Blaire Anderson (University of Alberta), Gregory Korbutt (University of Alberta), Khaled Dajani (University of Alberta), Michael Kallos (The University of Calgary), Peter Senior (Alberta Diabetes Institute), Timothy Kieffer (Cellular & Physiological Sciences / School of Biomedical Engineering)
Program Name: Horizon Awards