February 2, 2024
A total of 46 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded $31.3 million in combined funding through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant: Fall 2023 competition.
- UBC researchers are leading 30 projects awarded Project Grants totaling $29.5 million
- 16 projects led by UBC researchers were awarded Priority Announcement Grants totaling $1.8 million
On a national level, CIHR approved a total of 374 research grants, plus 6 bridge grants, for a total investment of approximately $325 million. In addition, 150 priority announcement grants were funded for a total amount of $16,400,000 and 14 supplemental prizes were awarded for a total of $450,000
CIHR PROJECT GRANT AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT
UBC-Led Project Grants
- Developing and evaluating a digital knowledge translation toolkit: Increasing mental health service use decision-making at integrated youth services in Canada
Principal Investigator: Ben-David, Shelly (Social Work, UBC Okanagan)
- Functional characterization of genomic DNA elements regulating epigenetic silencing
Principal Investigator: Brown, Carolyn J (Medical Genetics)
- Blood based biomarker for the early detection of recurrent oropharyngeal cancer
Principal Investigator: Garnis, Cathie (Surgery)
- Non-inferiority of (6S)-5-MTHF as compared to synthetic folic acid in increasing maternal folate status during pregnancy: A randomized controlled trial
Principal Investigator: Karakochuk, Crystal D (Faculty of Land and Food Systems)
- Mitophagy as a target for antifungal therapy
Principal Investigator: Kronstad, James W (Microbiology and Immunology)
- Evolving Criminal Legal System Approaches, Women, Substance Use, Violence & HIV - A Qualitative Study
Principal Investigator: Krüsi, Andrea B (Department of Medicine)
- Personalized drug safety and targeted drug therapies for individuals with truncating titin variants
Principal Investigator: Laksman, Zachary (Department of Medicine)
- Accelerated Lung Aging in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Principal Investigator: Leung, Janice (Department of Medicine)
- Dissecting the gustatory and mechanosensory basis of feeding and egg-laying behaviour in disease-vectoring mosquitoes
Principal Investigator: Matthews, Benjamin J (Zoology)
- Cultural Considerations to Improve Treatment Engagement, Retention, and Satisfaction among Asian Canadian Families of Children with ADHD
Principal Investigator: Mikami, Amori Y (Psychology)
- Development of clinical candidate hypoxia-activated DNA-PK inhibitors
Principal Investigator: Minchinton, Andrew I (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
- Elucidating the novel role of Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in presynaptic assembly
Principal Investigator: Mizumoto, Kota (Zoology)
- "How far is too far?" Creating an evidence base to support safe provision of medication abortion for people living far from emergency services
Principal Investigator: Norman, Wendy V (Obstetrics and Gynaecology); Henry, Bonnie J (School of Population and Public Health); Munro, Sarah B (Obstetrics and Gynaecology); Schummers, Laura (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
- Toward Effective Policy and Clinical Care in the Context of Track 2 MAID in Canada
Principal Investigator: Pesut, Barbara K (Nursing, UBC Okanagan); Mckenzie, Michael R (Surgery / BC Cancer Agency); Plewes, Laurel (Nursing, UBC Vancouver); Thorne, Sally E (Nursing, UBC Vancouver)
- Advancing research excellence, building capacity, and mobilizing knowledge for equity in Canada's global health research ecosystem
Principal Investigator: Plamondon, Katrina M (Nursing, UBC Okanagan); Bisung, Elijah (Queen's University); Elliott, Susan J (University of Waterloo); Nouvet, Elysee A (Western University)
- Investigating altered sensorimotor processing in Huntington disease
Principal Investigator: Raymond, Lynn A (Psychiatry)
- How do flaviviruses orchestrate viral RNA replication and virion assembly?
Principal Investigator: Sagan, Selena M (Microbiology and Immunology)
- Anti-Platelet Therapy in Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (APT-SCAD) Trial
Principal Investigator: Saw, Jacqueline (Department of Medicine)
- Optogenetic stimulation after spinal cord injury in rodents
Principal Investigator: Shahriari, Dena (Orthopaedics)
- A synthetic biology approach to unlocking the role of the ribosome in cell competition
Principal Investigator: Shakiba, Nika (Biomedical Engineering)
- Targeting metabolic vulnerabilities in childhood cancers using immunotherapy
Principal Investigator: Sorensen, Poul H (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
- Using locally developed computer-assisted detection to promote social justice for a population with a high burden of lung disease: A participatory equity-sensitive approach
Principal Investigator: Spiegel, Jerry M (School of Populaton and Public Health)
- The Cedar Project: Strengthening Our Spirit Intervention for Indigenous peoples who use drugs in Vancouver, BC
Principal Investigator: Spittal, Patricia (School of Populaton and Public Health)
- Cytokine receptor common beta chain alterations in mediastinal lymphomas
Principal Investigator: Steidl, Christian (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
- Defining mechanisms for TBP-independent transcription
Principal Investigator: Teves, Sheila (Biochemistry)
- Impact of endoscopy bowel preparation on microbiota-mucosal interactions in inflammatory bowel disease
Principal Investigator: Tropini, Carolina (Biomedical Engineering, Microbiology and Immunology)
- Examining drivers of disparities in experiences and outcomes of perinatal care in Canada through community participatory action research
Principal Investigator: Vedam, Saraswathi (Family Practice)
- A systems glycobiology platform for revealing new immunotherapy targets in acute myeloid leukemia
Principal Investigator: Wisnovsky, Simon (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
- Targeting the Exercise-Inducible Signalling Factor FGF21 as a Novel Approach to Mitigate the Side Effects of Antipsychotics
Principal Investigator: Wright, David (Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Kinesiology)
- Psilocybin Assisted Therapy (PAT) for Treatment Resistant Depression in Bipolar II Disorder (TRD.BD-II): A Randomized Controlled Trial
Principal Investigator: Yatham Lakshmi N (Psychiatry); Ha, Kyooseob (Psychiatry); Husain, Muhammad I (University of Toronto); Keramatian, Kamyar (Psychiatry); Rosenblat, Joshua D (University of Toronto); Saraf, Gayatri (University of Ottawa)
FULL LIST OF PROJECT GRANT AWARDEES
UBC Led-Priority Announcements
- Health Effects of Wood Smoke And Traffic-Related Air Pollution Exposures: A Necessary Comparison
Principal Investigator: Carlsten, Christopher (Department of Medicine); Brigham, Emily P (Department of Medicine)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Health and Climate Change
External funding partner(s): Health Canada (Ottawa)
- Defining the molecular assembly mechanism of bacterial amyloid from single protein molecules to mature fibrils
Principal Investigator: Dee, Derek R (Faculty of Land and Food Systems)
Project Grant - PA: Antimicrobial Resistance (Bridge Grant)
- Implementation research to improve scale-up of the delivery of evidence-based community exercise programs for stroke
Principal Investigator(s): Eng, Janice J (Physical Therapy); Manyanga, Taru (Physical Therapy); Pollock, Courtney L (Physical Therapy); Sakakibara, Brodie M (Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, UBC Okanagan)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Patient-Oriented Research
- Development and Commercialization of a Safe and Effective Mpox Subunit Vaccine with Global Impact
Principal Investigator(s): Foster, Leonard J (Biochemistry / Michael Smith Labs)
Project Grant - PA: Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies Research
- Pro-inflammatory platelet signaling: identifying novel therapeutic targets for periodontitis
Principal Investigator: Kim, Hugh (Biochemistry)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: IMHA: Oral Health
- Prenatal Exposure to Wildfire Disasters and their Association with Early Childhood Health, Development, and Epigenetics
Principal Investigator(s): Kobor, Michael S (Medical Genetics / Biochemistry & Molecular Biology); Henderson, Sarah (School of Population and Public Health)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Health and Climate Change
- EPIC Health: Exercise in Perimenopause to Improve Cognitive Health
Principal Investigator: Liu-Ambrose, Teresa Y (Physical Therapy); Barha, Cindy (Physical Therapy); Galea, Liisa A (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health); Li, Linda C (Physical Therapy)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Aging
- Perinatal Opioid Exposures, Trajectories, Insights and Concentrations: The POETIC Network
Principal Investigator(s): Patricelli, Charissa (UBC Family Practice); Alcorn, Mary-Jane (University of Saskatchewan); Colantonio, David (University of Ottawa); Drogemoller, Britt I (University of Manitoba); Gartner, Kali (University of Saskatchewan); Kelly, Lauren (University of Manitoba); Kerpan, Serene T (Vancouver Island University); Knight, Erin (University of Manitoba); Leong, Christine (University of Manitoba); Lyons, Laura M (Western University); Oberlander, Timothy F (UBC Pediatrics); Turner, Suzanne (McMaster University)
UBC Co-Applicants: Vilte Barakauskas (UBC Pathology & Laboratory Medicine) Katelynn Boerner (UBC Pediatrics); Nicole Carter (BC Women’s); Matthew Carwana (UBC Pediatrics); Vanessa Paquette (UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences);
Project Grant - PA: Research in First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis Health
- A platform for developing mutation-resistant vaccines and antibodies for future viral variants, using SARS-CoV-2 as a model
Principal Investigator: Plotkin, Steven S (Physics & Astronomy)
Project Gr. PA: Res. on Prevention/Response to Covid-19/Similar Future Pandemics
Funding Partner: Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)
- Probing the Role of Claudin-11 Mutations in Hypomyelinating Leukodystrophy
Principal Investigator: Pouladi, Mahmoud (Medical Genetics)
Operating Grant - PA: Genetics (Bridge Funding: Research Priorities)
- Harnessing infection-associated modifiers of paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia progression for therapeutic benefit
Principal Investigator: Reid, Gregor (Pediatrics)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Early Detection/Cancer Prevention
- Effect of an educational radio campaign on contraception use in Nigeria
Principal Investigators: Schummers Laura (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences); Law, Michael R (School of Population and Public Health)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Global Health Research
- Characterization of the ESX-3 and ESX-4 secretion systems in Mycobacterium abscessus
Principal Investigator: Tocheva, Elitza (Microbiology and Immunology)
Project Grant - PA: Antimicrobial Resistance (Bridge Grant)
- Characterizing diacetylspermine as a biomarker of drug response and precision treatment in triple-negative breast cancer
Principal Investigator: Velenosi, Thomas J (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Project Grant - PA: Breast Cancer Research
- The Stop Osteoarthritis (SOAR) Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Type 1 Randomized Controlled Trial for Young People at-High-Risk of Early Onset Knee Osteoarthritis
Principal Investigator: Whittaker Jacqueline L (Physical Therapy)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Female Athlete Health
Funding Partner: Sport Canada (Gatineau QC)
- Advanced Raman Spectroscopy for Exhaled Breath Analysis for Lung Cancer Detection
Principal Investigators: Zeng, Haishan (Dermatology & Skin Science / BC Cancer Research Centre); Lam, Stephen (Department of Medicine / BC Cancer Research Centre)
Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Early Detection/Cancer Prevention
*conditional award at time of announcement