“I congratulate these successful Rady Faculty researchers and their partner networks whose work is contributing to the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right here in Manitoba and around the world,” said Dr. Mario Pinto, UM’s vice-president (research and international). 

“It is wonderful to see Manitoba leading the nation with the highest average and median grant values, a testament to the outstanding quality of research conducted at the University of Manitoba.”  

Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said that the funded projects in the Spring 2024 competition show the diversity of health research taking place across the faculty.  

“The researchers are examining a wide range of topics – from new drug combinations to treat blood cancer to determining how the communication between astrocytes and neurons occurs. This CIHR funding is crucial for advancing science and will inevitably have an impact on the health of patients both locally and globally,” Nickerson said.  

One of the 11 Rady Faculty grant recipients is Dr. Jude Uzonna, professor of immunology at the Max Rady College of Medicine and vice-dean (research) at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. He and his team received $1,005,976 over five years to study what could one day lead to new treatments for leishmaniasis.  

Leishmaniasis is an understudied parasitic disease spread by sand flies that can cause skin sores and even fatal damage to internal organs. The disease affects more than 12 million people worldwide, Uzonna said, and it’s starting to spread to non-endemic countries like Canada.  

“It’s coming,” he said. “It’s really coming because of global warming, increased immigration from endemic countries to Canada and soldiers coming back from peacekeeping duties. The numbers are growing, but if we can develop a vaccine for it, then it becomes a magic bullet used to prevent it.”  

The team has found that leishmaniasis triggers the production of a molecule called pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in infected people. PTX3 weakens a specific part of the immune system that normally helps fight the parasite, so Uzonna suggests that targeting PTX3 might be a good way to develop new treatments for the disease.  

This study aims to better understand the role of PTX3 in the disease. It will also look at whether the level of PTX3 can predict if someone will benefit from treatment or not, which is important because the current drugs used can be toxic.  

“If we can show that PTX3 is causing a problem, then we can develop a molecule that can target and block PTX3 production. We can combine the molecule with a drug to make treatment more efficient and better. That will have a significant impact,” Uzonna said.  

Rady Faculty of Health Sciences CIHR project funding recipients 

Dr. Marissa Becker, professor of community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine 

Grant: $100,000 (one year)  

Using a program science approach, Becker and the team will develop a deeper understanding of how physical, organizational, social and relational dimensions of place shape ecologies of risk and safety for adolescent girls and young women, female sex workers and their male sexual partners in Nairobi County, Kenya. This work will generate contextualized knowledge for prioritizing place-based strategies to optimize sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection prevention program coverage and address unmet needs. 

Dr. Sanjiv Dhingra, professor of physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre 

Grant: $1,067,176 (five years)  

Dhingra will lead a study focused on understanding the reasons for rejecting transplanted donor-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the heart. This research will help to develop strategies to prevent rejection and improve the survival of implanted stem cells in the heart. 

Dr. Jody Haigh, professor of pharmacology and therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, Research Institute in Oncology and hematology, CancerCare Manitoba 

Grant: $1,071,000 (five years) 

Haigh aims to identify new drug combinations to treat aggressive forms of blood cancer and to determine ways to avoid drug resistance to these treatments that can sometimes occur during cancer therapy. This project will be important in identifying and confirming new drug approaches that can be used in personalized medical care for childhood and adult blood cancer patients in Canada. 

Dr. Julie Lajoie, assistant professor of medical microbiology and infectious diseases, and Francis A. Plummer Professorship in Global Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine 

Grant: $1,132,200 (five years)  

Lajoie and the team will follow female sex workers from Nairobi, Kenya, who are using an injectable contraception called depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) for six months and determine the immune activation and inflammatory profile in the blood and at the female genital tract. They will also examine whether using DMPA impacts the capacity to respond to previously exposed viruses and affects the cells’ capacity to respond to the stress hormone cortisol. 

Dr. Aaron Marshall, department head and professor of immunology, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology, CancerCare Manitoba 

Grant: $1,151,326 (five years) 

Marshall’s project deals primarily with B lymphocytes, the immune system cells responsible for producing antibodies. The research aims to define the cellular reprogramming signals that either switch on or switch off B lymphocytes and how these networks are altered in chronic autoimmune disease. 

Dr. James Nagy, professor of physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine 

Grant: $898,876 (five years)  

Using experimental mouse models, Nagy and the team will determine how spinal neurons, called V0c neurons, contribute to force level control in the limbs. He expects the results will challenge current textbook knowledge on force generation during movement and reveal new concepts on how command signals to motoneurons are converted to desired levels of muscle activity. 

Dr. Zulma Rueda, associate professor of medical microbiology and infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine; Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection – Resistance and Control 

Grant: $688,501 (four years)  

Rueda will lead a study that will generate a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and practices about HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) among people living with HIV and people who face disproportionate risk of acquiring HIV/STBBI (people experiencing houselessness, people who inject drugs) and health and service providers in Manitoba. 

Dr. Tabrez Siddiqui, associate professor of physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Health Sciences Centre; researcher, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba 

Grant: $1,143,676 (five years)  

Neurexins are essential proteins that help nerve cells in the brain communicate with each other, and changes in the genes for these proteins can increase the risk of developing autism. Siddiqui’s research highlights the possibility of fixing certain brain communication issues by targeting specific proteins, offering hope for new treatments. 

Dr. Jillian Stobart, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy 

Grant: $944,776 (five years)  

Stobart’s project aims to determine how the communication between astrocytes and neurons occurs. This will be the first evidence that astrocytes can change brain circuits responsible for the sense of touch and is important because astrocyte-neuron communication changes in disease. Problems with astrocytes and their communication with neurons could be the missing link in these disorders. 

Dr. Geoffrey Tranmer, associate professor, College of Pharmacy  

Grant: $730,576 (five years)  

Tranmer and the team plan to create new and improved versions of the ALS drug edaravone and test the drug-like properties of these molecules in test tubes and ALS animal models. This will allow the team to determine and optimize the drug properties of the new ALS drug and will enable them to develop an optimized drug candidate ready for advanced clinical trials. 

A total of more than $12 million was awarded in the form of project and bridge grants, with study durations ranging from one to five years.

“Congratulations to all the dedicated UM researchers who were successful in this Spring 2021 funding competition,” said UM Vice-President (Research and International) Dr. Digvir Jayas.

“These professors have shown leadership in their fields and are advancing knowledge in several important areas of Indigenous health, as well as in illnesses such as kidney disease, heart disease, HIV, diabetes, cancer and psychiatric disorders.”

The UM project that received the largest grant, more than $1.9 million over five years, is titled Qanuinngitsiarutiksait.2: Developing tools for the wellness and safety of Inuit.

DR. JOSEE LAVOIE

Led by Dr. Josée Lavoie, professor of community health sciences and director of Ongomiizwin Research, the project builds on a previous study of service use by the thousands of Inuit from Nunavut who come to Manitoba to access services.

The new study will focus on how Inuit concepts of wellness can be used to create healing programs in Winnipeg that reflect Inuit values. The researchers plan to develop and implement several programs, such as one tailored to the needs of Inuit families involved with Child and Family Services.

A five-year grant of more than $1.4 million was awarded to the project Oral microbiome and caries risk in young First Nations and Métis children in Manitoba.

DR. ROBERT SCHROTH

A team led by Dr. Robert Schroth, professor of preventive dental science in the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry and researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), will examine the dental microbiome that is associated with the severe form of baby-tooth decay that affects many First Nations and Métis preschoolers.

The aim is to understand why only some dental microorganisms cause tooth decay, and the environmental factors that may influence this process.

Here’s a look at the other funded studies and lead investigators. More information on the studies and research teams is available here.

Dr. Marissa Becker, associate professor, medical microbiology & infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $200,000 (two years)

Becker’s team will study sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) among military personnel in Ukraine, examining how they contribute to broader STBBI epidemics amid the armed conflict in that country.

Dr. David Collister, assistant professor, internal medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $321,300 (three years)

Collister seeks to determine which uremic toxins are responsible for individual disease symptoms in advanced chronic kidney disease, and which symptoms respond to dialysis. The findings will inform dialysis decision-making.

Dr. Kevin Coombs, professor, medical microbiology & infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

Coombs will examine human cells’ susceptibility to the Zika virus, which is transmitted by a mosquito that is becoming known in Canada. He aims to understand how cellular genes and proteins work to allow or inhibit Zika growth.

Dr. Sanjiv Dhingra, associate professor, physiology & pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; principal investigator, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre

Grant: $960,076 (five years)

Dhingra’s study relates to the potential of using transplanted stem cells from healthy donors to treat heart disease. He will investigate why transplanted stem cells are ultimately rejected by the host’s immune system, and how to prevent this.

Dr. Vernon Dolinsky, associate professor, pharmacology & therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $822,376 (five years)

Dolinsky’s team has found that the offspring of mothers who had gestational diabetes are at risk of later heart failure. His study will investigate the role of a cellular protein that could prevent damage to the heart and allow it to pump better.

Dr. Krista Hardy, assistant professor, surgery, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $470,475 (four years)

Hardy aims to better understand the experiences of Indigenous patients who undergo bariatric surgery in Manitoba as a treatment for obesity. Her project will incorporate and assess Indigenous healing and wellness practices in bariatric surgery care.

Dr. Richard Keijzer, professor, surgery, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $233,324 (three years)

Keijzer’s team has created a database of more than 750 Manitobans who were born with a congenital anomaly that required surgery at birth. By linking this to population data, the team will conduct a follow-up study of the patients’ medical, educational and socio-economic outcomes.

Grant: $749,700 (five years)

Keijzer will also lead an international team of experts on congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) to determine the role of circular RNAs in these infants’ abnormal lung development. The results will help to better predict outcomes in babies with CDH.

Dr. Dylan MacKay, assistant professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

MacKay will enrol patients with chronic kidney disease in a one-year, randomized study comparing methods of reducing dietary acid. Half the patients will take baking soda pills, while the other half will have fruits and vegetables delivered to them to reduce acid through diet.

Dr. Lyle McKinnon, associate professor, medical microbiology & infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $300,000 (three years)

McKinnon’s team has previously found that vaginal inflammation increases a woman’s risk of becoming HIV-infected if exposed. His study focuses on regulatory T cells and their potential to control female genital inflammation as an HIV prevention strategy.

Dr. James Nagy, professor, physiology & pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $742,050 (five years)

Nagy’s study builds on his previous research on how nerve cells in the brain communicate at electrical synapses, how protein components function in this transmission, and how malfunctioning of these mechanisms contributes to neurological disorders.

Dr. Marcus Ng, associate professor, internal medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $548,890 (five years)

Ng will analyze data from patients with epilepsy to compare the brain zone of epileptic activity during rapid eye movement sleep, other stages of sleep, and wakefulness. Better mapping of where seizures arise could allow more patients to undergo life-changing neurosurgery.

Dr. Tabrez Siddiqui, associate professor, physiology & pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $983,026 (five years)

Siddiqui will investigate, in mice, how a type of altered biochemical signaling affects the brain, producing deficits such as those in autism and schizophrenia. The goal is to increase understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders so that drug targets can be identified.

Dr. Jörg Stetefeld, professor, biochemistry, Faculty of Science; Canada Research Chair in structural biology and biophysics

Grant: $742,050 (five years)

Stetefeld will pursue a molecular study of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a protein involved in cancerous tumor development and tissue fibrosis. He aims to develop new therapeutic targets based on understanding the role of CTGF.

Dr. Julia Uhanova, associate professor, internal medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $573,751 (two years)

Uhanova will explore whether adherence to a traditional First Nations land-based diet decreases the severity of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, an aggressive form of fatty liver disease. This inflammatory disease has a high prevalence among First Nations.

Dr. Jude Uzonna, professor, immunology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $990,676 (five years)

Uzonna’s study focuses on how the body maintains immunity after recovery from leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease. Understanding factors that regulate the antigen-specific memory response to the disease will aid progress toward a vaccine.

Dr. Kristy Wittmeier, associate professor, pediatrics & child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $240,976 (two years)

Building on her previous research, Wittmeier will study knowledge-sharing networks in child development and rehabilitation in Canada. Her team will make recommendations to improve these networks to better serve children’s needs.

The funding is made possible by the gift of $30 million made in 2016 by philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady in support of health sciences at the university. The fund will allocate a total of $1 million over three years to support collaborative research by faculty members.

The one-year grants are designed to seed short-term projects that combine the expertise of researchers from various departments and colleges of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“All four of these interdisciplinary teams have proposed cutting-edge science,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty. “These are exciting projects that cover the spectrum from basic to clinical research, each with the potential for high impact in the short term.”

Here are the projects chosen for funding in 2019:

Analyzing medications in human milk

Dr. Lauren Kelly

Dr. Lauren Kelly, assistant professor of pediatrics/child health in the Max Rady College of Medicine and scientist with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), will lead a study of breast milk. Mothers who take medications, and their health-care providers, are often concerned about infants’ exposure to drugs in breast milk. This can deter breastfeeding or deny moms safe use of medicines.

Kelly’s team includes researchers from the College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and CHRIM. After reviewing what medicines breastfeeding women in Manitoba use, they will conduct a pilot project to collect and analyze breast milk. The evidence obtained will advance the understanding of medication safety during breastfeeding.

A further goal is to develop methods for storing anonymized medication data with milk samples, allowing for follow-up research.

Applying artificial intelligence to health research

Dr. William Leslie

A team led by Dr. William Leslie, professor of internal medicine and radiology in the Max Rady College of Medicine, has already had success at harnessing artificial intelligence. The team has “taught” a machine to find vertebral fractures on bone-density scans. This helps to identify patients at high risk for another fracture.  

The new study will continue this machine-learning research, enhance the infrastructure for it, and promote machine-learning collaborations within and beyond the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Leslie’s team, which includes researchers from the department of radiology and the College of Pharmacy, will share lessons they have derived from “teaching” machines, in terms of requirements such as image processing and computer programming. A key goal is to help other researchers enter this fast-paced field.

Understanding a non-invasive thyroid tumour

Dr. Sabine Mai

Dr. Sabine Mai, professor of physiology, biochemistry/medical genetics and human anatomy/cell science in the Max Rady College of Medicine, Canada Research Chair in genomic instability and nuclear architecture in cancer, and senior investigator at the Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology, leads a team that will investigate a type of thyroid tumour called a “non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features” (NIFTP).

Because this tumour is non-invasive, it may be over-treated if it is diagnosed as aggressive cancer. This study will compare NIFTP to other sub-types of thyroid cancer in order to predict its behaviour and tailor its clinical management.

With team members from pathology/immunology and surgery, the study will examine NIFTP at the genetic level. It will look, for example, at the 3D organization of telomeres (the ends of chromosomes). The project aims to refine the diagnostic criteria for NIFTP.

Investigating the genetics of HIV risk

Dr. Lyle McKinnon

A study led by Dr. Lyle McKinnon, assistant professor of medical microbiology and community health sciences in the Max Rady College of Medicine, will build on the previous finding that vaginal inflammation in women increases HIV susceptibility. The underlying reasons why some women have this inflammation are unclear.

The team recently analyzed the genetic profiles of more than 200 young women in South Africa. They found several gene variants that are associated with genital inflammation and/or HIV acquisition.

With team members from medical microbiology/infectious diseases, immunology and community health sciences, this study seeks to validate this finding in a larger sample of South African and Kenyan women, and to investigate more precisely how genes influence inflammation and HIV susceptibility. The ultimate goal is to develop new HIV prevention strategies.

VIEW FULL PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.

The 2018 Rady Innovation Fund recipients, Dr. Thomas Klonisch, Dr. James Nagy and Dr. Kathryn Sibley, will present their findings on December 17, click for event info. 

The new fund is part of the $30 million gift made in 2016 by philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady in support of health sciences at the university.  

The fund will allocate a total of $1 million over three years to support collaborative research by faculty members. The one-year grants are designed to seed innovative, short-term research projects that are interdisciplinary, bringing together researchers from various departments and colleges of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“The three leading-edge projects chosen for funding in this first year combine the knowledge and skills of some of our foremost researchers,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty.  

“The Rady Innovation Fund is intended to develop research to the point where projects are well-positioned to receive external funding. These projects are likely to secure federal grants once the initial results are obtained.” 

Dr. Brian Postl, dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and vice-provost (health sciences), congratulated the winners of the inaugural funding competition. “It’s exciting to see the Rady investment driving interdisciplinary research,” he said. “These studies have the potential to directly benefit patients in the vital areas of brain health and chronic disease.” 

A team led by Dr. Thomas Klonisch, head of the department of human anatomy and cell science in the Max Rady College of Medicine, will focus on “pseudo-progression” of glioblastoma, a common brain tumor. In some cases, what appears to be growth of a brain tumor is actually treatment-induced swelling or inflammation.

If doctors fail to recognize that chemotherapy and radiation have caused the apparent worsening of the tumor, they may prematurely stop effective therapy, perform unnecessary surgery or administer more therapy than needed. And because the swelling goes down spontaneously, doctors may misinterpret the effectiveness of additional treatment.   

The team includes professors from radiology, neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, human anatomy/cell science and pharmacology/therapeutics. They will apply new, advanced diagnostic imaging techniques to identify pseudo-progression and examine whether cancer treatments change proteins in cancer cells and thereby cause tumors to swell. They will also look at whether a blood test could be used to detect pseudo-progression.

A study led by Dr. James Nagy, professor of physiology and pathophysiology, will look at communication between neurons in the hippocampus, part of the brain that plays a critical role in forming and retrieving memories. Nagy’s team includes faculty from oral biology (College of Dentistry), pharmacology/therapeutics and physiology/pathophysiology.

The function of electrical (as opposed to chemical) neurotransmission in mammals’ brains has only recently been recognized. Nagy’s team will study “mixed synapses” that transmit information both electrically and chemically.

By manipulating certain mixed synapses in the hippocampus of animal subjects, the team aims to demonstrate for the first time that electrical transmission at these synapses has a functional impact on learning and memory in mammals.

Dr. Kate Sibley, assistant professor of community health sciences and Canada Research Chair in integrated knowledge translation in rehabilitation sciences, will lead a large study team.

It includes faculty from the College of Rehabilitation Sciences (departments of physical and occupational therapy), College of Nursing and Max Rady College of Medicine (departments of community health sciences and family medicine), the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, and partners from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Shared Health Services Manitoba.

This team will examine the current delivery of Winnipeg rehabilitation services (such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy) in community and home-care settings.

The team will then develop a framework for community-based “restorative care,” aiming to help people function as well as possible and stay at home as they age and live with chronic disease. This framework can be used by health-care planners in developing policy, service delivery and research. 

VIEW FULL PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS.

The Government of Canada is the country’s largest investor in health research through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

“Some of Canada’s most important health discoveries are being made right here in Winnipeg. This announcement highlights the bright minds and the strong support for research and innovation at the University of Manitoba,” said Ouellette.

Health research leads to discoveries and knowledge that helps improve the health of Canadians through new treatments, health services and health promotion and disease prevention programs.

The funding will support the work of researchers at the University of Manitoba across the spectrum of health research areas, ranging from microbiology and nanoparticles, to healthcare delivery and population-based wellness strategies.

Two U of M researchers shared snapshots of their collaborative research projects.

Dr. Julie Ho, associate professor of internal medicine and immunology in the Max Rady College of Medicine (Rady Faculty) and a team of researchers at the U of M will lead a new clinical trial led that could change the current standard of care for monitoring kidney transplant patients and potentially increase the longevity of successful kidney transplants.

Ho, Principal investigator on the study, says many Canadians don’t realize that kidney disease is a silent killer. “It’s actually really sad.… When patients tell their families they have kidney disease, it doesn’t have the same implication as if they were to say ‘I have cancer.’ But the mortality rate with kidney disease is actually just as bad as with many cancers, although there is less public awareness about it.” [Read more about this study.]

Marissa Becker [MD/99], an associate professor in community health sciences (U of M) with cross-appointments to internal medicine and medical microbiology,  will lead a project designed to understand how the consequences of conflict, migration and disrupted health services affect risk in the context of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study is being conducted by an international, inter-disciplinary team in order to understand this complex public health issue.

The study will generate important information for its Ukrainian partners, who provide HIV prevention programs in Dnipropetrovsk, and address an important knowledge gap globally.
“We’re working with local program partners, researchers and policy makers,” Becker says. “We’ve been doing work in Ukraine for a number of years now. It’s important to us to sustain and further develop those partnerships for impactful work.” [Read more about this study.]

The following researchers also received funding:

Christopher Anderson | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Keith Fowke | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Spencer Gibson | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Richard Keijzer | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Christine Kelly | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Ayush Kumar | Brian Mark | Faculty of Science
Josée Lavoie | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Brian Mark | Faculty of Science
Lyle Mckinnon | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Donald Miller | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
James Nagy | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Abdelilah Soussi Gounni | Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Jude Uzonna| Rady Faculty of Health Sciences