Most of the 14 funded professors lead labs in the basic science departments of the medical college, such as immunology, physiology and pathophysiology, or biochemistry and medical genetics.

Their five-year discovery grants and one-year discovery launch supplements from NSERC total $545,000.

“Congratulations on obtaining these prestigious grants in support of cutting-edge science,” said Dr. Brian Postl, dean of the Max Rady College of Medicine and the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. “We are fortunate to have a wealth of experts at UM whose laboratory discoveries have exciting potential to benefit human health.

“These NSERC grants also make it possible for our professors in medicine to train a large number of undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art research techniques.”

Here are the funded studies:

Dr. Heather Armstrong, assistant professor, internal medicine; Canada Research Chair in integrative bioscience; researcher, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)

Discovery Grant: $28,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Armstrong’s team will focus on dietary fibres from agricultural products. They will examine how certain fibres alter microbial communities in the gut that are needed for the fermentation of fibre, and how this influences immune responses in the gut.

Dr. Robert Beattie, assistant professor, biochemistry and medical genetics

Discovery Grant: $37,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Beattie’s project centres on gene function in the normal embryonic development of brain cells in the cerebral cortex. His team will use new genetic technologies to examine molecular regulators of the proliferation of a specific kind of neural stem cell.

Dr. Britt Drögemöller, assistant professor, biochemistry and medical genetics; Canada Research Chair in pharmacogenomics and precision medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Discovery Grant: $37,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Drögemöller’s team will perform genomic analyses to identify novel genes and genetic pathways associated with variability in human hearing. They will also look at sex-specific auditory differences and how genetic pathways for hearing change as people age.

Dr. Jean-Eric Ghia, professor, immunology; researcher, CHRIM

Discovery Grant: $33,000

Ghia will examine the role of a stress protein in the gut microbiota and in smooth muscle contractions of the colon. In mice bred to lack this protein, his team will test whether a fecal microbiota transfer improves colonic muscle contraction.

Dr. Depeng Jiang, associate professor, community health sciences; researcher, CHRIM

Discovery Grant: $18,000

Jiang, a biostatistician, will develop new statistical models for multilevel data research by using a high-efficiency computer lab for statistical computations and simulations. These new models will provide researchers with new ways to understand their data.

Dr. Meaghan Jones, assistant professor, biochemistry and medical genetics; researcher, CHRIM

Discovery Grant: $31,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Jones will investigate how genes help cells to detoxify after exposure to dioxins, which are environmental pollutants. Her team aims to determine whether cells “remember” exposure to dioxins and mount a stronger response upon re-exposure, and whether this differs between embryos and adult mammals.

Dr. Oleg Krokhin, associate professor, internal medicine

Discovery Grant: $24,000

Krokhin, whose field is proteomics (the large-scale study of proteins), seeks to assist labs in separating peptides, which are produced when proteins are broken down. With the goal of advancing peptide separation science, his team will generate innovative tools and techniques.

Dr. Sam Kung, professor, immunology

Discovery Grant: $32,000

Kung’s project focuses on “natural killer” cells, which are important in maintaining immunity to viruses and tumors. His team will examine how a particular protein regulates natural killer cell biology, in part by studying mice that lack this protein.

Dr. Liam O’Neil, assistant professor, internal medicine; researcher, Manitoba Centre for Proteomics and Systems Biology

Discovery Grant: $28,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

O’Neil’s study centres on neutrophils, which are blood cells on the front line of the immune system. His team will investigate how neutrophils modify their release of proteins to improve their ability to neutralize invading pathogens.

Dr. Deanna Santer, assistant professor, immunology; GSK Endowed Research Chair in immunobiology of infectious diseases; researcher, CHRIM

Discovery Grant: $28,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Santer’s focus is type III interferons – proteins released by the immune system to fight viruses. Her team will study their signaling and receptor biology, illuminating processes such as what happens immediately after these interferons bind their receptor in individual immune cells.

Dr. Tabrez Siddiqui, associate professor, physiology and pathophysiology; principal investigator, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine

Discovery Grant: $56,000

Siddiqui’s team will explore the role of synapse-organizing proteins in synapse development in the brain. They will investigate, for example, how these proteins govern brain lamination (cell layering) and plasticity, and how they control synapse numbers.

Dr. Galen Wright, assistant professor, pharmacology and therapeutics; Canada Research Chair in neurogenomics; principal investigator, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine

Discovery Grant: $28,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Wright uses genomics to study DNA repair processes in the human brain. His team will use computational analyses and human stem cell-derived neural models to identify important DNA repair genes and explore the mechanisms underlying how they are regulated.

Dr. Jiuyong Xie, professor, physiology and pathophysiology

Discovery Grant: $32,000

Xie aims to understand how genes have evolved to produce diverse RNA and protein products through an innate process called “alternative pre-mRNA splicing.” His team will use state-of-the-art techniques to uncover molecular details, helping to predict how splicing will evolve in the future.

Dr. Frederick Zeiler, associate professor, surgery; Rudy Falk Clinician-Scientist Professor

Discovery Grant: $33,000; Discovery Launch Supplement: $12,500

Zeiler will develop new techniques for continuous rapid assessment of cerebral autoregulation (control of blood flow to the brain by cerebral blood vessels) in healthy humans. This will allow for analysis of variations in brain regions and differences based on age and sex.

“Congratulations to the U of M applicants who were successful in this highly competitive national funding process,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“These projects represent a number of colleges and departments across the Rady Faculty. They demonstrate innovative and collaborative approaches to health research. Each of these exciting studies has the potential to advance health care in meaningful ways.”        

Here’s a look at the projects:

Dr. Allan Becker, professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher with Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)

Dr. Meghan Azad, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease; assistant professor, pediatrics and child health; researcher with CHRIM

Project Grant: $1,220,940

Becker and Azad seek to understand why asthma is more common in boys than girls, but shifts to being more common in women than men. The researchers will assess 1,000 children who are part of an ongoing cohort study, measuring whether changes in body fat, inflammation or sex hormones in puberty explain the “sex shift.” This knowledge will contribute to better prevention and treatment of asthma in all children.

Dr. Christine Kelly, assistant professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine

Project Grant: $726,750

Kelly will study directly funded (also known as “self-managed”) home care, which is expanding across Canada. Under this model, individuals receive government funds to pay for their own home care. Kelly will examine policy issues such as the role of home-care agencies in delivering these services and how this kind of home care can best be adapted to rural contexts. The aim is to generate insights about how directly funded home care can most equitably serve users, their families/supporters and home-care workers.

Dr. Gilbert Kirouac, neuroscientist; professor, oral biology, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry

Project Grant: $707,625

Kirouac will study how a region of the brain called the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus interacts with other brain regions to produce excessive anxiety. Using rodent models, Kirouac will apply innovative techniques to better understand the neural circuitry of stress-induced anxiety. The goal is to gain knowledge that will lead to new treatments for anxiety disorders.

Dr. Lily Lim, assistant professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher with CHRIM

Project Grant: $321,300

Lim will study employment experiences and challenges among young adults aged 18 to 30 who have lupus. People with lupus often deal with fatigue, chronic pain and mental health issues that can make working difficult. Lim’s findings will contribute to developing new ways to help young people with lupus obtain and keep employment. Dr. Eleanor Pullenayegum of the University of Toronto is co-principal investigator.

Dr. Jillian Stobart, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy

Project Grant: $504,900

Stobart will use advanced fluorescence microscopes and genetic tools to study pericytes – blood vessel cells – and blood flow in animal models. Blood flow in the brain decreases with age, and this may cause cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Abnormal pericytes may account for these blood flow changes. Stobart’s objective is to understand how pericyte signaling changes with age or during Alzheimer’s disease, and how this affects blood flow.  

Dr. Dan Chateau, assistant professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; research scientist, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

Chateau will use anonymized health data to investigate the effects of prescription opioid and psychotropic medication use during pregnancy. The study will look at patterns of prescription opioid use among pregnant women, short-term effects on children exposed in the womb (such as neonatal abstinence syndrome) and longer-term outcomes for these children, such as readiness for school.

Dr. Robert Lorway, Canada Research Chair in Global Intervention Politics and Social Transformation; associate professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine

Dr. Lyle McKinnon, assistant professor, medical microbiology/infectious diseases and community health sciences; researcher with CHRIM

Dr. James Blanchard, Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health; professor, community health sciences

Dr. Marissa Becker, associate professor, medical microbiology/infectious diseases and community health sciences

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

Lorway’s team will study human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among men who have sex with men in Nairobi, Kenya. Members of this group are stigmatized and are often diagnosed with HPV-related disease, including anal cancer, at a late stage of illness. This research will provide evidence to support a community-led early screening, prevention and treatment program.

Dr. Frederick Zeiler, assistant professor, neurosurgery, Max Rady College of Medicine

Dr. Jai Jai Shankar, professor, radiology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

Zeiler and Shankar will research the use of an advanced type of brain scan, computed tomographic perfusion, to diagnose brain death in patients with severe traumatic brain injury at the time of hospital admission. Currently, patients with this kind of injury often receive intensive treatment because it is not recognized that their injuries are fatal. The goal is to better understand patients’ prognosis and optimize the use of health-care resources.