Four researchers in UBC’s faculty of medicine are leading projects that received nearly $1 million from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF).
They are amongst twelve UBC-led projects that were awarded over $2.8m through the NFRF’s 2021 Exploration and Special Call Streams.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced a total of over $45 million in support for research projects through the NFRF. This combined investment is supporting 751 researchers, including 245 early career researchers. The projects were part of two competitions under the banner of the NFRF: the 2021 Exploration competition; and the NFRF special call on innovative approaches to research in the pandemic context.
Launched in 2018, the NFRF funds high risk-high reward, interdisciplinary, and transformative research led by Canadian researchers. The NFRF is designed to support world-leading innovation and enhance Canada’s competitiveness and expertise in the global, knowledge-based economy.
The faculty of medicine researchers are:
Dr. Joanne Matsubara
Professor, department of ophthalmology & visual sciences
Project: In Vivo Imaging for Investigating Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Brain and Eye Cell simulator: a computer-driven approach to genetically programming cells
$250,000 – Exploration stream
Dr. Nika Shakiba
Assistant professor, school of biomedical engineering
Project: Cell simulator: a computer-driven approach to genetically programming cells
$250,000 – Exploration stream
Dr. Ying Wang
Assistant professor, department of pathology and laboratory medicine
Project: Beyond morphology: Convert disease-related gene networks to pixels in digital pathology to solve the puzzle of “vulnerable plaques” that lead to cardiovascular events
$250,000 – Exploration stream
Dr. Michael Kobor
Professor, department of medical genetics
Project: Developing an integrated, innovative platform for retrospectively quantifying the prenatal and early child exposome using deciduous teeth
$237,708 – Special call