UBC faculty of medicine researchers are leading 48 projects that were recently funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grants: Fall 2021 competition.
The CIHR Project Grants Fall 2021 competition approved 417 research grants, plus 1 bridge grant, for a total investment of approximately $325 million. In addition, 105 priority announcement grants were funded for a total amount of $12,292,500 and 13 supplemental prizes were awarded for a total of $400,000.
In total, UBC researchers are leading 48 projects awarded Project Grants totaling $34.7 million. A further 13 UBC-led projects were awarded priority announcement grants totaling $1.3 million.
The Project Grant program funds projects with the potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes.
UBC faculty of medicine-led project grants
- Improving cardiovascular risk prediction in patients with glomerular disease
Principal Investigator: Sean Barbour, Department of Medicine
Co-PIs: Christopher Fordyce, Division of Cardiology
Research Institution: Providence Health Care Research Institute - Association between Complement C4 and Synaptic Pathology in Schizophrenia
Principal Investigator: Clare Beasley, Department of Psychiatry
Research Institution: BC Mental Health and Addiction Services - Placental sex as a biological determinant in trophoblast function and trophoblast-directed immune activity
Principal Investigator: Alexander Beristain, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Co-PIs: Wendy Robinson, Department of Medical Genetics
Research Institution: UBC - Upstream determinants of effective COVID-19 response: learning from comparisons across Canada’s provinces
Principal Investigator: Peter Berman, School of Population and Public Health
Research Institution: UBC - Evaluating the utility of adult-defined prognostic biomarkers: Are they appropriate in childhood onset primary chronic vasculitis?
Principal Investigator: Kelly Brown, Department of Pediatrics
Co-PIs: David Allan Cabral, Department of Pediatrics
Research Institution: UBC - A spatial analysis of inequality in road trauma outcomes in British Columbia.
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Brubacher, Department of Emergency Medicine
Research Institution: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute - Targeting the VPS13 family of lipid transport proteins to membrane contact sites
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Conibear, Department of Medical Genetics
Research Institution: UBC - Glycocalyx plasticity as an adaptive response to AR pathway-inhibition in prostate cancer
Principal Investigator: Mads Daugaard, Department of Urologic Sciences
Research Institution: UBC - Decoding human cis-regulatory logic in development and disease*
Principal Investigator: Carl De Boer, School of Biomedical Engineering
Research Institution: UBC - Mixed-methods study investigating the efficacy and acceptance of a seated exercise program delivered virtually to improve mobility in older adults living with stroke*
Principal Investigator: Janice Eng, Department of Physical Therapy
Research Institution: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute - The importance of smooth muscle foam cells in atherosclerosis development and treatment
Principal Investigator: Gordon Francis, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - A Phase I first-in-human trial of CLIC-2201, a VHH-CD22 CAR-T cell product for the treatment of relapsed/refractory CD22 positive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Principal Investigator: Kevin Hay, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: BC Cancer - Teaching by Texting to Promote Health Behaviours in Pregnancy
Principal Investigator: Patricia Janssen, School of Population and Public Health
Research Institution: UBC - Light and Ion Maintenance In Treatment of Depression (LIMIT-D) Trial: Feasibility Study
Principal Investigator: Raymond Lam, Department of Psychiatry
Research Institution: UBC - Moving More: Supporting Uptake of Evidence for Physical Activity in Older Adults with Complex Health Care Needs
Principal Investigator: Linda Li, Department of Physical Therapy
Co-PIs: Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Department of Physical Therapy
Research Institution: Arthritis Research Centre Society of Canada - PSMA/CAIX-targeting radioligands to improve the management of clear cell renal cell carcinoma
Principal Investigator: Kuo-Shyan Lin, Department of Radiology
Research Institution: BC Cancer - Simultaneously targeting cancer cells and tumor stroma to improve detection sensitivity and therapeutic efficacy of radiopharmaceuticals
Principal Investigator: Kuo-Shyan Lin, Department of Radiology
Research Institution: BC Cancer - The interplay of apoptosis proteins, mitochondria and premature senescence in beta-cell fate and diabetes
Principal Investigator: Dan S Luciani, Department of Surgery
Research Institution: BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute - Discovery of HPV-associated genomic alterations in cervical cancer
Principal Investigator: Marco Marra, Department of Medical Genetics and Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre
Research Institution: BC Cancer - Regeneration at your fingertips: mechanisms determining mesenchymal tissue repair versus fibrosis
Principal Investigator: Freda Miller, Department of Medical Genetics and Michael Smith Laboratories
Research Institution: UBC - Metabolic manipulation of hypoxia for improved radiotherapy response
Principal Investigator: Andrew Minchinton, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: BC Cancer - Storytelling about Options and Reproductive access for Youth (The STORY Project): A Pan-Canadian Integrated Knowledge Translation Study to Improve Contraception Health Services
Principal Investigator: Sarah Munro, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Co-PIs: Wendy Norman, Department of Family Practice
Research Institution: UBC - 3-dimensional representation of mouse movement and rapid interaction with cortical brain activity to describe and shape behavior to improve outcome from stroke: insights from real and synthetic data approaches.
Principal Investigator: Timothy Murphy, Department of Psychiatry
Research Institution: UBC - Subject-Specific Biomechanical Modelling in Adult Spinal Deformity Patients: A Surgical Planning and Failure Prediction Toolkit
Principal Investigator: Thomas Oxland, Department of Orthopedics
Research Institution: UBC - Understanding the requirements of alanine supply and demand in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Principal Investigator: Seth Parker, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research Institution: BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute - Host cell-derived tissue factor as a broad-spectrum basis for viral pathology and infection
Principal Investigator: Edward Pryzdial, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Impact of blood transfusion on cerebral blood flow regulation in experimental and pathological brain hypoxia in humans.
Principal Investigator: Mypinder Sekhon, Department of Medicine
Co-PIs: Ryan Hoiland, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Research Institution: UBC - Design and Preclinical Development of First-in-Class Selective T-type Calcium Channel Blockers for Chronic Pain
Principal Investigator: Terry Snutch, Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Psychiatry
Research Institution: UBC - Schizophrenia treatment adherence and driver responsibility for motor vehicle crash
Principal Investigator: John Staples, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Structure-guided in vitro and in situ analysis of virulence linked secretion systems in drug-resistant bacteria*
Principal Investigator: Natalie Strynadka, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research Institution: UBC - Metabolic treatment for chronic spinal cord injury in rodents
Principal Investigator: Wolfram Tetzlaff, Department of Surgery
Research Institution: UBC - Opioid tapering: Identifying optimal strategies to reduce adverse events among adults on long-term opioid therapy
Principal Investigator: Lianping (Mint) Ti, School of Population and Public Health
Co-PIs: Seonaid Nolan, Department of Medicine, and Amanda Slaunwhite, School of Population and Public Health
Research Institution: British Columbia Centre on Substance Use - Using Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Imaging to Improve Stroke Risk Assessment and Management
Principal Investigator: Teresa Tsang, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Self reactivity as a driver of extranodal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma transformation and progression.
Principal Investigator: Leandro Venturutti, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: BC Cancer - Targeting efferocytosis to reduce risk of cardiovascular events
Principal Investigator: Ying Wang, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Optimization and Validation of MCT4-targeting Small Molecule Inhibitors for Treatment of Advanced Cancers
Principal Investigator: Yuzhuo Wang, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: Vancouver Prostate Centre - Molecular mechanisms of sensing and repairing dysfunctional mitochondrial protein import
Principal Investigator: Hilla Weidberg, Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences
Research Institution: UBC - Refining the clinical utility of circulating tumour DNA in metastatic bladder cancer
Principal Investigator: Alexander Wyatt, Department of Urological Sciences
Co-PIs: Bernhard Eigl, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Research Institution: UBC
A full list of Project Grant recipients is available on the CIHR website.
UBC faculty of medicine-led projects: Priority announcement grants
- Gamifying neuro rehabilitation, can we predict who will benefit?
Priority Announcement: Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
Principal Investigator: Lara Boyd, Department of Physical Therapy
Research Institution: UBC - Novel mechanisms and therapeutic approach for aging-related pruritus
Priority Announcement: Aging
Principal Investigator: David Granville, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing for Neurological Disorders.
Priority Announcement: Genetics (Bridge Funding: Research Priorities)
Principal Investigator: Blair Leavitt, Department of Medical Genetics
Research Institution: UBC - Imaging, Molecular, and Clinical Biomarkers of Accelerated Lung Aging in People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (AGE-HIV)
Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS and STBBI
Principal Investigator: Janice Leung, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - A Study of Reduced Dosing of the Nonavalent HPV Vaccine in Women Living with HIV
Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS and STBBI
Principal Investigator: Deborah Money, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research Institution: UBC - A bioengineering platform to promote safe cell therapies*
Priority Announcement: Genetics
Principal Investigator: Nika Shakiba, School of Biomedical Engineering
Research Institution: UBC - Exploring the potential of type-1 regulatory T cells in treatment and recovery from intestinal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease
Priority Announcement: Infection and Immunity
Principal Investigator: Theodore Steiner, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute - Digital self-tracking for early detection and prevention of endometrial cancer during reproductive aging
Priority Announcement: Equity in Cancer Prevention and Control
Principal Investigator: Aline Talhouk, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Co-PIs: Deborah Money, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology; Michael Anglesio, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology; Anna Tinker, Department of Medicine
Research Institution: UBC - Clinical-biomarker predictors of outcome after endometriosis surgery
Priority Announcement: Patient-Oriented Research
Principal Investigator: Paul Yong, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Co-PIs: Aline Talhouk, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Michael Anglesio, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology; Ali Bedaiwy Mohamed, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research Institution: UBC - Examining Prenatal and Perinatal Factors associated with Developmental Coordination Disorder in a Canadian Birth Cohort
Priority Announcement: Data Analysis Using Existing Databases and Cohorts
Principal Investigator: Jill Zwicker, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
Research Institution: UBC
A full list of Priority Announcement Grant Recipients is available on the CIHR website.
*Conditionally funded at time of posting