UBC researchers have been awarded $36.6M for 58 projects at the university and its affiliated health authority research centres through the Project Grant: Fall 2019 Competition from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
As CIHR’s largest funding program, the Project Grant competitions support multi-year grants for researchers at various stages in their careers as they conduct research projects that cover the full range of health research topics.
The Project Grant: Fall 2019 Competition awarded 385 Full Project Grants for a total investment of $275M, including 50 projects led by UBC researchers. An additional eight projects led by UBC were awarded funding through Priority Announcement Grants and Bridge Grants as part of this competition.
FULL PROJECT Grants
50 projects led by researchers at UBC and our affiliated health authority research centres were awarded $35.8M in full Project Grant funding.
- Optic flow processing in midbrain-cerebellar circuits for the control of locomotion
UBC Principal Investigator: Altshuler, Douglas (Faculty of Science)
$631,125 - When Rare Becomes Common: The impact of the AnkB p.S646F variant on heart disease in a Northern BC First Nation
UBC Principal Investigator: Arbour, Laura (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,384,650 - Development of a personalized medicine approach to corticosteroid treatment in IgA nephropathy
UBC Principal Investigators: Barbour, Sean (Faculty of Medicine); Shechter, Steven (Sauder School of Business)
$292,976 - Machine Learning for Flow Cytometry Clinical Data and Trial Analysis
UBC Principal Investigators: Brinkman, Ryan; Weng, Andrew (Faculty of Medicine)
$317,475 - CETP Inhibition as a novel treatment to remove pathogen lipids and improve survival in sepsis
UBC Principal Investigator: Brunham, Liam; Boyd, John (Faculty of Medicine)
$612,000 - Kwiis hen niip - Change: Change for emergency care services in rural and remote Indigenous communities in British Columbia.
UBC Principal Investigators: Christenson, James; Ho, Kendall (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,172,436 - Investigating the Dynamics of Thought using Brain Connectivity and Experience Sampling
UBC Principal Investigator: Christoff, Kalina (Faculty of Arts)
$795,600 - Longitudinal impacts of violence and stigma on HIV care continuum and broader health care access among WLWH: the SHAWNA Project
UBC Principal Investigator: Deering, Kathleen (Faculty of Medicine)
$956,250 - Novel hyperbranched polyglycerol-derived biliary excretable osmotic agents for peritoneal dialysis - preclinical evaluation
UBC Principal Investigators: Du, Caigan; Kizhakkedathu, Jayachandran (Faculty of Medicine)
$474,300 - Development of a peptide-based membrane mimetic for solution studies in membrane protein research.
UBC Principal Investigator: Duong, Franck (Faculty of Medicine)
$864,450 - Long-read sequencing and bioinformatics analysis to identify cryptic genetic mutations in patients with undiagnosed intellectual disability
UBC Principal Investigators: Friedman, Jan; Birol, Inanc (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,063,351 - Functional Studies of Coding Variants in Polycomb Repressive Complex Found in Humans
UBC Principal Investigator: Gibson, William (Faculty of Medicine)
$612,000 - Exogenous signals that drive the Pseudomonas aeruginosa transition to pathogenesis
UBC Principal Investigator: Haney, Cara (Faculty of Science)
$646,425 - A population-level linked data study of the long-term developmental impacts of prenatal antidepressant exposure
UBC Principal Investigators: Hanley, Gillian; Oberlander, Timothy (Faculty of Medicine)
$359,552 - The Effects of In Utero and Neonatal Wildfire Smoke Exposure on Birth Outcomes and Health in Early Life
UBC Principal Investigator: Henderson, Sarah (Faculty of Medicine)
$325,124 - Neuropsychiatric complications of co-morbid illness in people living in homelessness or precarious housing
UBC Principal Investigators: Honer, William; Panenka, William (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,235,475 - Allies in Health: Social-cognitive predictors of everyday health behaviors in older dyads
UBC Principal Investigator: Hoppmann, Christiane (Faculty of Arts)
$432,224 - In Vivo Modeling of EBV's role in the development of Multiple Sclerosis
UBC Principal Investigator: Horwitz, Marc (Faculty of Science)
$918,000 - Unplanned Hospital Readmission Following Critical Illness Survival: An Investigation of the Survivor-Family Dyad
UBC Principal Investigator: Howard, Amanda (Faculty of Applied Sciences)
$348,076 - Modelling the Impact of Government-Led Nutrient Profile Models on Preventable Mortality and Morbidity Burden, and Healthcare Use: A POpulation HEalth Model-Nutrition (POHEM-Nutrition) Microsimulation Study
UBC Principal Investigator: Jessri, Mahsa (Faculty of Land and Food Systems)
$436,052 - Targeting a novel miR-185/PAK6 axis to overcome drug-resistance in human leukemia
UBC Principal Investigator: Jiang, Xiaoyan (Faculty of Medicine)
$902,700 - Mechanisms by which hyperinsulinemia promotes pancreatic cancer
UBC Principal Investigator: Johnson, James (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,090,125 - Mechanisms linking reduced circulating insulin to insulin sensitivity and longevity
UBC Principal Investigator: Johnson, James (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,090,125 - Tumour microenvironment mediated cell surface shedding creates unique targets and markers
UBC Principal Investigator: Lange, Philipp (Faculty of Medicine)
$977,425 (includes $25,000 Priority Announcement Prize: Early Career Investigator in Cancer) - Validation and commercialization of an innovative analgesic for chronic pain
UBC Principal Investigators: Li, Shyh-Dar; Cairns, Brian (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
$524,026 - The effect of exogenous beta-hydroxybutyrate supplementation on glucose control in type 2 diabetes
UBC Principal Investigator: Little, Jonathan (Faculty of Health and Social Development)
$436,050 - Sex Matters: Understanding Sex Differences in Exercise Efficacy on Brain Health in Mild Cognitive Impairment
UBC Principal Investigators: Liu-Ambrose, Teresa (Faculty of Medicine); Galea, Liisa (Faculty of Arts)
$661,724 - The effects of smoking marijuana on lung cancer development: implications for screening and early detection.
UBC Principal Investigator: Lockwood, William (Faculty of Medicine)
$688,500 - Preventable strokes and deaths in atrial fibrillation patients: Understanding the impacts of anticoagulant nonadherence and nonpersistence
UBC Principal Investigator: Loewen, Peter S (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
$260,101 - Non-contact screening technology to expedite cell line development for antibody production
UBC Principal Investigator: Ma, Hongshen (Faculty of Applied Sciences)
$524,026 - Mechanisms that impact the cell division axis and phenotype for BRCA1-mutant mammary epithelial cells.
UBC Principal Investigator: Maxwell, Christopher A (Faculty of Medicine)
$837,675 - How can health benefits of an effective, scaled-up, health promotion model for older adults be sustained?
UBC Principal Investigators: Mckay, Heather; Sims-Gould, Joan (Faculty of Medicine)
$883,576 - Mechanisms of B cell-mediated immunity in human cancer
UBC Principal Investigator: Nelson, Brad (Faculty of Medicine)
$1,193,400 - The CART Mife-Outcomes study: Relating Canada's unique mifepristone regulations to health system events, costs and access to abortion, using linked health administrative data.
UBC Principal Investigators: Norman, Wendy; McGrail, Kimberlyn; Henry, Bonnie (Faculty of Medicine)
$524,024 - A phase III randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) for Comprehensive treatment of OligoMETastatic (1-3 metastases) cancer: SABR-COMET-3
UBC Principal Investigators: Olson, Robert; Tyldesley, Scott (Faculty of Medicine)
$699,380 - Investigating the role of the BH4 pathway in Parkinson's Disease (PD)
UBC Principal Investigator: Penninger, Josef (Faculty of Medicine)
$868,275 - Strategies to Relieve Suffering at End-of-Life (STRS-EOL): A longitudinal qualitative study of healthcare policy and nursing practice.
UBC Principal Investigators: Pesut, Barbara (Faculty of Health and Social Development); Thorne, Sally (Faculty of Applied Science)
$439,875 - Hypoxia mimicry for enhancing peripheral nerve regeneration
UBC Principal Investigator: Ramer, Matthew (Faculty of Medicine)
$807,075 - Genetics and epigenetics of sex differences in placental and fetal development
UBC Principal Investigator: Robinson, Wendy (Faculty of Medicine)
$604,350 - Towards Equitable Sexual Health Care in BC: Centring the Voices of Cis and Trans Feminine Youth and Young Women in Policy and Practice
UBC Principal Investigator: Shannon, Kate (Faculty of Medicine)
$960,075 - Mobilizing early management of mental health complications after mild traumatic brain injury (M4)
UBC Principal Investigator: Silverberg, Noah (Faculty of Medicine)
$749,700 - Neurosteroid regulation of executive function
UBC Principal Investigator: Soma, Kiran (Faculty of Arts)
$956,250 - Effects of added sucrose on hormones, neural circuits, and behaviour
UBC Principal Investigator: Soma, Kiran (Faculty of Arts)
$761,175 - Dissecting the Flow-induced Symmetry-Breaking of Animal Cell Division
UBC Principal Investigator: Sugioka, Kenji (Faculty of Science)
$745,875 - Pre-operative Risk Stratification in Endometrial Cancer to Inform Surgical Management
UBC Principal Investigators: Talhouk, Aline; McAlpine, Jessica (Faculty of Medicine)
$263,925 - The regulation of Cell-Matrix Adhesion in mouse development and tissue homeostasis
UBC Principal Investigator: Tanentzapf, Guy (Faculty of Medicine)
$921,825 - Using cerebrovascular biomarkers to characterize traumatic brain injury associated with intimate partner violence
UBC Principal Investigator: van Donkelaar, Paul (Faculty of Health and Social Development)
$252,450 - Role of transcription factor NFAT5 in viral myocarditis: a novel strategy for therapy
UBC Principal Investigator: Yang, Decheng (Faculty of Medicine)
$604,350 - Investigating the structure and function of the human autophagy regulator EPG5
UBC Principal Investigator: Yip, Calvin (Faculty of Medicine)
$856,800 - The role of the lineage oncogene ASCL1 in treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer
UBC Principal Investigator: Zoubeidi, Amina (Faculty of Medicine)
$841,500
National Project Grant Results
PrioRity Announcement Grants
Six additional projects led by UBC researchers were awarded $600,000 through Priority Announcement grants.
- Phototherapy to modulate regulatory T cells and prevent autoimmune disease
(Priority Announcement: Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes)
UBC Principal Investigator: Dutz, Jan (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000 - Perinatal Anxiety Disorder Screening Study
(Priority Announcement: Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction)
UBC Principal Investigator: Fairbrother, Nichole (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000 - Predicting and Evaluating Anal Cancer in HIV with novel biomarkers: The PEACH Study
(Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS)
UBC Principal Investigator: Grennan, Troy (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000 - Diagnostic and predictive biomarkers for Frontotemporal Dementia with TDP-43 pathology
(Priority Announcement: Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction)
UBC Principal Investigators: Hsiung, Ging-Yuek; Mackenzie, Ian (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000 - Criminalization, Public Health and Incarceration - A participatory qualitative and digital storytelling investigation of the experiences of cis and trans women living with HIV
(Priority Announcement: Patient-Oriented Research: Early-Career Investigator)
UBC Principal Investigator: Krüsi, Andrea (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000 - Using bioengineered human vessels to understand how brain and peripheral apoE affect cerebrovascular functions relevant to Alzheimer's Disease
(Priority Announcement: Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction)
UBC Principal Investigator: Wellington, Cheryl (Faculty of Medicine)
$100,000
National Priority Announcement Results
Bridge Grants
An further two projects led by UBC researchers were awarded $200,000 through Bridge Grants.
- A group-based social connectedness intervention to support sustained physical activity adherence among older adults.
UBC Principal Investigator: Beauchamp, Mark (Faculty of Arts)
$100,000 - Role of cardiac lipoprotein lipase in diabetic heart disease.
UBC Principal Investigator: Rodrigues, Brian (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
$100,000