Urquia, who wasn’t involved with this study, has researched adverse birth outcomes among immigrants, as well as refugee maternal and perinatal health. He and his colleagues found that refugee mothers had higher maternal health risks and more adverse birth outcomes.

To read the full story, please visit Medscape Medical News.

CRCs are world leaders in their field funded by the Government of Canada in the areas of natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. “These symposia were a wonderful opportunity for researchers to get to know each other’s specialties, and to spark new collaborations with students and the wider community,” says Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “I thank all the CRCs for their groundbreaking contributions to address the issues faced by society today.”

This thought-provoking look at current UM research is available to view online, each featuring a brief presentation from the gathered CRCs followed by a question-and-answer period with the audience.

CRC Symposium 1, February 2, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Heather Armstrong, Chair in Integrative Bioscience; Guozhen Zhu, Chair in Mechanical and Functional Design of Nanostructured Materials; Trust Beta, Chair in Grain-Based Functional Foods; Eric Collins, Chair in Arctic Marine Microbial Ecosystem Services; Britt Drögemöller, Chair in Pharmacogenomics & Precision Medicine; Ned Budisa, Chair in Chemical Synthetic Biology and Xenobiology; Lori Wilkinson, Chair in Migration Futures; Jason Kindrachuk, Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health; Sabine Mai, Chair in Genomic Instability and Nuclear Architecture in Cancer; Jörg Stetefeld, Chair in Structural Biology and Biophysics; Carl Ho, Chair in Efficient Utilization of Electric Power; and Nandika Bandara, Chair in Food Proteins.

CRC Symposium 2, February 27, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Tracie Afifi, Chair in Childhood Adversity and Resilience; Robert Lorway, Chair in Global Intervention Politics and Social Transformation; Janilyn Arsenio, Chair in Systems Biology of Chronic Inflammation; Puyan Mojabi, Chair in Electromagnetic Inversion for Characterization and Design; Annette Desmarais, Chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty; Zulma Rueda, Chair in Program Sciences & Global Public Health; and Kathryn Sibley, Chair in Integrated Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation Sciences.

CRC Symposium 3, March 28, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Ties Boerma, Chair in Population and Global Health; Kiera Ladner, Chair in Miyo we’citowin, Indigenous Governance & Digital Sovereignties; Rotimi Aluko, Chair in Bioactive Peptides; Zahra Moussavi, Chair in Biomedical Engineering; Terry Klassen, Chair in Clinical Trials; and Galen Wright, Chair in Neurogenomics.

CRC Symposium 4, April 24, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Lisa Lix, Chair in Methods for Electronic Health Data Quality; John Ataguba, Chair in Health Economics; Nicole Wilson, Chair in Arctic Environmental Change and Governance; Lorrie Kirshenbaum, Chair in Molecular Cardiology; Meghan Azad, Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease; and Kristine Cowley, Chair in Function and Health after Spinal Cord Injury.

CRC Symposium 5, May 16, 2023 – Fort Garry Campus

Featuring presentations from: Kristina Brown, Chair in Arctic Marine Biogeochemistry; Nicole Rosen, Chair in Language Interactions; Robert Mizzi, Chair in Queer, Community & Diversity Education; Samar Safi-Harb, Chair in Extreme Astrophysics; and Susan Logue, Chair in Cell Stress and Inflammation.

CRC Symposium 6, June 19, 2023 – Bannatyne Campus

Featuring presentations from: Andrew Halayko, Chair in Chronic Lung Disease Pathobiology and Treatment; Colin Gilmore, Chair in Applied Electromagnetic Inversion; James Blanchard, Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health; Marcelo Urquia, Chair in Applied Population Health; and Souradet Shaw, Chair in Program Science & Global Public Health.

UM has an allocation of 50 CRCs funded by the Government of Canada in the areas of natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. CRCs are frequently recognized in Manitoba and around the world, for their leadership in wide-ranging fields, such as maternal and infant health, in Canada and the United States, and overseas in Uttar Pradesh, India.

“Researchers are motivated by the impacts of their work to improve lives of people in our communities, and around the world,” says Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “These symposia are an opportunity to spark new and exciting collaborations across disciplines between researchers, students, and the wider community. I hope that everyone will join us for this thought-provoking look into the groundbreaking research taking place every day at UM.”

RSVP by June 15 to join the sixth CRC Symposium

Monday June 19, 2023, at 2pm

Theatre C / Buhler Atrium, Basic Medical Sciences Building, Bannatyne Campus

This is a hybrid event, with both in-person and online options to attend. All are welcome.

Presenters at the upcoming June 19 Symposium will include:

• Andrew Halayko, Tier 1 Chair in Chronic Lung Disease Pathobiology and Treatment, Max Rady College of Medicine (Physiology)
• Colin Gilmore, Tier 2 Chair in Applied Electromagnetic Inversion, Price Faculty of Engineering (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
• James Blanchard, Tier 1 Chair in Epidemiology and Global Public Health, Max Rady College of Medicine (Community Health Sciences)
• Marcelo Urquia, Tier 2 Chair in Applied Population Health, Max Rady College of Medicine (Community Health Sciences)
• Souradet Shaw, Tier 2 Chair in Program Science & Global Public Health, Max Rady College of Medicine (Community Health Sciences)

On June 2, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, announced an investment of more than $102 million, in support of 119 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 35 Canadian research institutions.

“Congratulations to our Canada Research Chairs on this most prestigious appointment or reinstatement,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor at the U of M. “Their successful appointment recognizes them among the best in Canada in their respective fields, enhancing our collective effort to drive discovery, and greatly benefiting the experience of their students.”

The Research Chairs

Lori Wilkinson

Lori Wilkinson, Faculty of Arts, Sociology and Criminology, Peace and Conflict Studies, Canada Research Chair in Migration Futures, Tier 1

Dr. Wilkinson’s research as a public sociologist is profoundly integrated with the communities with which she works, and her results have demonstrable, significant impact both within the academy and far beyond. As a founder of Immigration Research West, she has undertaken significant research on the settlement experiences of immigrants and refugees. Some of these findings have been used to change national immigration policies, inform governments internationally, and most importantly, has helped introduce new programing in the immigration community.

Marcelo Urquia

Marcelo Urquia, Max Rady College of Medicine, Community Health Sciences, Canada Research Chair in Applied Population Health, Tier 2 (Renewed)

Dr. Urquia has advanced his research program focusing on the social determinants of health by building research infrastructure, attracting talented trainees, expanding collaborations, and continuing productivity. He has made various contributions to social epidemiology, reproductive health and understanding of immigrant-specific determinants of health, such as the environments of origin and destination, gender inequities, and the role of partners in shaping health behaviors. He acquired a database of all legal immigrants to Manitoba since 1985 and is completing acquisition of rich and unique family data with the potential to advance multisectoral family- and population-based research in the next five years.

Robert Lorway

Robert Lorway, Max Rady College of Medicine, Community Health Sciences, Canada Research Chair in Global Intervention Politics and Social Transformation, Tier 2 (Renewal)

Dr. Lorway has made significant contributions to the social study of global health through a dynamic blend of community-based and critical ethnographic studies. Through the lens of “evidentiary sovereignty”, a novel conceptual framework he developed, his research sheds light on how knowledge production regimes in global health interventions transform (and become transformed by) the sociopolitical realities of disenfranchised people. His international research program attracted funding from

SSHRC, CIHR, and the Gates Foundation and engages a diversity of global health actors ranging from health activists, community leaders, and health officials to social scientists, epidemiologists, and microbiologists in Canada, South Asia, and Africa.

Jason Kindrachuk

Jason Kindrachuk, Max Rady College of Medicine, Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Canada Research Chair in Molecular Pathogenesis of Emerging Viruses, Tier 2 (Renewal)

Dr. Kindrachuk established a multidisciplinary research program for characterizing emerging virus pathogenesis. This includes: i) identifying the mechanisms underlying Ebola virus testicular persistence and establishment of a disease survivor network in Sierra Leone for assessing long-term reproductive health impacts; ii) established kinome platform providing insights for the role of dysregulated host responses in  influenza-bacterial co-infections; and iii) creation of an international emerging virus consortium for studying emerging virus surveillance at the human-wildlife interface in equatorial Africa. Since 2017, this program has resulted in 19 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 2 book chapters, 2 federal reports, 13 grants and 8 highly qualified personnel trained.

Kristina Brown

Kristina Brown, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources, Canada Research Chair in Arctic Marine Biogeochemistry, Tier 2

As an observational oceanographer, Dr. Brown is motivated by an interest in understanding the role of freshwater in the Polar ocean carbon cycle, and seawater sensitivity to Ocean Acidification, two societally relevant features of the ocean’s inorganic carbon system. Her research integrates the novel application of isotope geochemistry to understand carbon sources, trajectories, and transformation along the land-ice-ocean continuum to address questions that bridge the earth and ocean sciences. Dr. Brown focus has been on the Kitikmeot region of the southern Canadian Arctic Archipelago and has been working with partners in Nunavut to conduct year-round monitoring in local river systems.

Heather Armstrong

Heather Armstrong, Max Rady College of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Canada Research Chair in Integrative Bioscience, Tier 2

Dietary interventions remain an untapped field of research, and while the field typically focusses on the positive impacts of dietary factors in healthy individuals. Dr Armstrong’s work has highlighted a novel twist: the pro-inflammatory impact of select dietary factors in patients with dysbiosis (altered abundance and diversity of gut microbes). With a strong collaborative approach to research, she has established herself as an emerging leader in the development and implementation of organoid and ex vivo biopsy models for use in exhibiting patient response in a highly interdisciplinary laboratory setting. Results from her program will provide innovative opportunities to develop novel dietary and microbe-altering therapeutic interventions based on personalized precision medicine.

For the few who are married, is being in that legal partnership linked with health benefits, perhaps because of various kinds of spousal support?

Or could marriage be associated with negative health effects, possibly because a minor who is married may lack autonomy, options or human rights?

Those are among the questions that prompted Dr. Marcelo Urquia to conduct a study of nationwide U.S. birth data, published today in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Dr. Marcelo Urquia

Urquia, associate professor of community health sciences in the Max Rady College of Medicine and researcher with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, holds a prestigious Canada Research Chair in applied population health. He is an expert at analyzing population-based databases to uncover evidence that would otherwise remain hidden.

He is interested in understanding health risks using a family perspective. “As a social epidemiologist, I look for sociocultural factors that affect health,” says the professor, who earned his doctorate at the University of Toronto before joining UM in 2016.

For the just-published study, Urquia and a postdoctoral fellow, Andrée-Anne Fafard St-Germain, collaborated with a researcher at the University of South Florida.

“We knew that in low- and middle-income countries, child marriage has negative implications for women’s health and well-being, compared with marrying older,” Urquia says.

“We also knew that in high-income countries like the United States, marriage is associated with positive reproductive health outcomes among adult women. But we wanted to know: Does the protective effect of marriage in a high-income country also apply to mothers under 18?”

The researchers analyzed more than 5.5 million U.S. birth registrations for mothers aged 24 or younger in the period 2014 to 2019. They compared three age groups: under 18, 18 to 19, and 20 to 24.

Most U.S. states permit marriage under the age of 18, but fewer than 4 per cent of the mothers under 18 were married.

The study found that marriage was associated with an increased likelihood of prior pregnancy termination, repeat childbearing, maternal smoking and infant morbidity (health problems) among births to mothers under age 18. The association of marriage with these indicators was weaker or reversed among births to older mothers.

Marriage was associated with more positive outcomes when looking at factors such as preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age birth, prenatal care initiation and breastfeeding among births to mothers aged 20 to 24. But for births to mothers under 18, or 18 to 19 years old, these beneficial health associations were weaker or absent.

Overall, Urquia says, the findings suggest that the favourable health effects associated with marriage are greatly reduced or absent for mothers under 18.

“Our study wasn’t able to reveal the reasons for these child marriages,” he says. “The reasons might include family pressure, or traditional or religious practices of minority groups.

“One of our striking findings is that in the U.S., a girl under 18 who has a child is much more likely to have another child before turning 18 if she is married.”

The study points to the need for further research on the drivers and consequences of marriage and pregnancy before age 18 in high-income countries, the scientist says.

“Girls under 18 are less empowered than adult women,” Urquia says. “Qualitative research in Latin American countries has shown that many girls in very poor households there may not receive adequate parenting. They may see marriage as a way out of that environment. We don’t know how common that is in North America.”

The study published today is the first in a series led by Urquia, examining the same topic in Canada, Brazil and Ecuador.

“In Canada, marriage under the age of 16 is illegal, but ages 16 and 17 can marry if they meet certain legal requirements,” Urquia says.

“In our Canadian study, which we hope to publish in a few months, we were able to include the age difference between the wife and her husband when the under-18 wife gave birth. That’s another important variable.”

“Congratulations to the successful applicants in the Fall 2020 round of funding. This is an impressive showing by UM investigators,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-dean research of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. 

“Some of these projects focus on improving the lives of people with conditions such as kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and mental health disorders. Others are lab studies that will advance knowledge about illnesses such as Ebola, leukemia, HIV and metabolic diseases.

“Our researchers are also analyzing data to reveal new evidence about interlinked social and health factors in Manitobans’ lives. And they’re studying areas such as Indigenous-led wellness programs and children’s rehabilitation knowledge sharing in order to identify and build on strengths.”

UM Today recently reported on two of the funded projects, which relate to COVID-19: a randomized trial of a home monitoring platform for patients with chronic kidney disease, led by Dr. Claudio Rigatto, and a study of the lived experiences of families with children who are immunocompromised, led by Dr. Roberta Woodgate.  

Here’s a look at the other projects:

Dr. Clara Bohm, associate professor, internal medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $439,874

Bohm’s team will conduct a randomized trial to assess whether stationary cycling during kidney dialysis treatments reduces heart “stunning” (poor pumping, which can cause heart damage) and improves symptoms such as fatigue. The trial involves participants in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

Dr. Shay-Lee Bolton, assistant professor, psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $100,000

Bolton will evaluate whether a psychotherapy and mindfulness program that is delivered virtually helps public safety personnel, such as police officers and firefighters, cope with stress, maintain mental wellness and remain resilient.

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

Dr. Marni Brownell, professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; associate director, research, and senior research scientist, MCHP; researcher, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)

Grant: $432,226

Chateau’s team will use health data to investigate the effects of prescription opioid and psychotropic medication use during pregnancy, looking at patterns of prescription opioid use, short-term effects on children exposed in the womb, and longer-term outcomes for these children.

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

Grant: $100,000

Collister’s project is a trial comparing oral and topical nabilone (a synthetic form of cannabis) to placebos to determine whether nabilone is safe and effective at reducing itching in patients who are on dialysis for kidney disease.

Dr. Shyamala Dakshinamurti, professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $784,125

This study looks at newborn pulmonary hypertension, which prevents some babies from getting enough bloodflow to their lungs. By focusing on a system of signals in the body called the adenylyl cyclase pathway, Dakshinamurti aims to help these infants’ lungs relax and hearts pump strongly.

Dr. Allison Dart, associate professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Dr. Brandy Wicklow, associate professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $1,300,500

Dart and Wicklow will study biopsychosocial risk factors for worsening kidney disease in children and teens with Type 2 diabetes. They will also test a skills-based mental health program to help Indigenous youth with Type 2 diabetes manage their emotions and their disease.

Dr. Andrew Hatala, associate professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Dr. Sabina Ijaz, family physician; Giigewigamig health advisor

Elder Dave Courchene, founder, Turtle Lodge

Grant: $1,748,025

This team will conduct an Indigenous-led study of the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation as a model of Indigenous education, wellness and flourishing. The objectives include developing a framework for stronger relationships between Indigenous Knowledge Holders and biomedical practitioners.

Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, assistant professor, medical microbiology and infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine; Canada Research Chair in molecular pathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging viruses; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $726,750

Kindrachuk’s project focuses on the fact that some men who have recovered from Ebola continue to carry the virus in their reproductive tracts. The study will investigate how the virus persists in the testes and is sexually transmitted. It will also look at Ebola’s long-term effects on reproductive health.

Dr. Ted Lakowski, associate professor, College of Pharmacy

Grant: $699,975

Lakowski’s study aims to develop new cancer therapies that target the specific genes involved in a type of leukemia. These treatments are expected to be more effective and cause fewer side effects than current therapies. The strategy could lead to gene-specific treatments for other cancers.

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

Grant: $100,000

McKinnon will study the role of regulatory T cells, a type of immune cell, in controlling female genital inflammation. Because this inflammation puts women at higher risk of HIV infection, the study is relevant to finding better prevention strategies for women who are at risk of HIV exposure.

Dr. Suresh Mishra, professor, internal medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $100,000

Mishra will focus on prohibitin, a protein that plays an important role in sex differences in fat and immune cells. Using mouse models, he will investigate why men and women display differences in susceptibility and resistance to metabolic and immune diseases.

Dr. Rae Spiwak, assistant professor, surgery, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $60,000

Spiwak will use Manitoba data to investigate what social factors place children at greater risk for physical injury. The study will look at a cohort of children who were hospitalized for traumatic physical injury and compare them with uninjured children, examining factors such as parental socioeconomic status and education.

Dr. Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, assistant professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; research scientist, MCHP; Canada Research Chair in population data analytics and data curation

Dr. Marilyn Bennett, assistant professor, Faculty of Social Work

Dr. Marni Brownell, professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; associate director, research, and senior research scientist, MCHP; researcher, CHRIM

Dr. Marcelo Urquia, associate professor, community health sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine; research scientist, MCHP; Canada Research Chair in applied population health

Grant: $393,976

Wall-Wieler’s team will analyze Manitoba data to determine whether parents with specific health conditions are more likely to have a child taken into care, and how having a child taken into care affects parents’ health. The study will compare First Nations, Métis and all other Manitoban parents.  

Dr. Jun-Feng Wang, associate professor, pharmacology and therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $623,475

Wang will investigate the role of a protein, Txnip, in chronic stress-induced neuronal dysfunction. The research will use an animal model for depression, aiming to determine if inhibiting Txnip could be used in treating human depression.

Dr. Brandy Wicklow, associate professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $100,000

Wicklow will examine beta cell and kidney function in First Nations children whose mothers were diagnosed as children with Type 2 diabetes. The offspring will be studied in early childhood and compared with children not exposed to Type 2 diabetes in the womb. The results will contribute to strategies for early intervention.  

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

Grant: $100,000

Wittmeier’s team will study how knowledge about research and treatments is shared via networks between researchers, therapists and families of children with development or rehabilitation needs. The goal is to identify strengths and gaps in these knowledge-sharing networks and make recommendations to improve them.

Dr. Roberta Woodgate, distinguished professor, College of Nursing; Canada Research Chair in child and family engagement in health research and healthcare; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $761,176

Woodgate’s study will involve young immigrants and refugees in co-designing culturally sensitive mental health supports for youth like themselves. Parents and community-based organizations will also participate. The researchers will develop a digital mental health self-management prototype.

Professors Joan Durrant and Thomas Nesmith have been named new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and professor Marcelo Urquia has been elected as member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

“These scholars are fitting additions to the RSC, representing the best of the best in Canada,” says Digvir Jayas, UM vice-president (research and international). “I congratulate professors Durrant, Nesmith and Urquia on this meritorious honour.”

Election to the RSC is considered the highest honour an academic can achieve in the arts, social sciences and sciences. The RSC’s mission is to recognize scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to advise governments and organizations and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world.

Dr. Joan Durrant

Joan Durrant
Community health sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr. Joan Durrant is a world-renowned scholar in child maltreatment prevention whose research has revolutionized professional practice and public policy, while also supporting families in their local communities. Her transformative research and engagement has promoted children’s wellbeing on six continents; has been cited by the United Nations, the Senate and the Supreme Court of Canada; and has influenced law, policy, education and social norms around the world.

Dr. Tom Nesmith

Thomas Nesmith
Senior scholar, history, Faculty of Arts

Dr. Thomas Nesmith has had an impact on scholarship in Canada by leading the transformation of the study of archives from a marginal academic subject into a vibrant body of complex theoretical and applied research. His work forms a basis for university-level professional education for archivists, and has had an influence on international archival scholarship. It continues to demonstrate that society’s central concerns are being shaped by archives as never before.

Dr. Marcelo Urquia

Marcelo Urquia
Canada Research Chair in Population Health; community health sciences/Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr. Marcelo Urquia is internationally recognized for his contributions to the reproductive health of immigrants and the social determinants of marginalized groups’ health and well-being. His innovative research uses large linked multi-sectoral population-based databases. His current collaborative work with immigrant communities focuses on the health consequences of female discrimination and child marriage. These inequities may hinder immigrant girls and women from achieving their full potential.

Fellows, members and award winners from across the country will be officially inducted and honoured during the annual Celebration of Excellence and Engagement, Nov. 23-29, in Toronto. The event will be a weeklong scholarly, scientific and artistic exploration combining in-person activities with enhanced digital engagement. 

These new inductees bring UM’s number to: 51 RSC Fellows and 10 Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

This investment will support 251 researchers leading 186 projects at 43 universities across Canada. JELF aims to help universities attract and retain top talent from around the globe by providing researchers with the highly specialized infrastructure they require to be leaders in their field.

“Since 1997, the Canada Foundation for Innovation has been ensuring Canadian researchers have the tools they need to push the frontiers of knowledge in all disciplines,” the minister said. “The stable, long-term funding we are celebrating today will help Canada continue to be an international destination for research and innovation.”

As part of this funding, the University of Manitoba is receiving more than $1.1 million in support of seven projects in areas such as disease, food processing and supercomputers. Dr. Janilyn Arsenio, for example, will use the funding to help with her research in developing new strategies for vaccine design and in improving the treatment of infections, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

“I congratulate these researchers on their exceptional work being recognized today with this new investment. The advancements they make will contribute to health and economic well-being in Manitoba and beyond,” says Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba

The U of M recipients are:

Janilyn Arsenio

Janilyn Arsenio

Canada Research Chair in Systems Biology of Chronic Inflammation, Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, is receiving $156,834 for project titled: Single-cell transcriptomics analysis of the immune system during infection and chronic inflammation.

An effective immune system provides protection against infection and prevents immune dysregulation. Dysregulation can lead to conditions of chronic inflammation. This includes heightened immune responses in autoimmune diseases and transplant rejections, or to a loss of immune function (exhaustion) in chronic infections and cancer. This research aims to understand how single T cells become functional immune regulators. Single-cell transcriptomics will be used to define the molecular programs which form functional versus dysfunctional T cells during infection and conditions of chronic inflammation. Information from this research will be used to develop novel vaccines and immunotherapies to prevent and treat infectious and non-infectious diseases. Advancing single-cell systems based research in biomedicine to be transformative into the development of next generation therapeutic strategies to treat diseases will positively impact the economic, health, and training sectors in Canada.

Meghan Azad

Meghan Azad and Nathan Nickel

Azad is Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and Scientist with Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, is receiving $165,464 for project titled: Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC): a provincial infant feeding database and human milk biorepository.

Nickel is assistant professor, community health sciences; Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Nathan Nickel

Funds will be used to establish a new one-of-a-kind research centre: the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC). MILC will combine a provincial infant feeding database and a human milk biorepository that will be linked with a wealth of health and social services data at the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository.

MILC will provide unrivaled opportunities to conduct interdisciplinary research on the impact of policies on breastfeeding, the biology of human milk, and the influence of social factors on breastfeeding biology and behaviours.

Filiz Koksel

Assistant Professor, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, is receiving $160,000 for project titled: Tailoring quality during processing of protein rich plant-based food materials.

Filiz Koksel

The proposed innovative research program aims to develop techniques to manufacture high quality plant protein-rich foods under a wide range of process conditions and to

formulate nutritionally dense and palatable foods with appealing, novel structures. Through value added processing of Canadian cereals and pulses into products such as meat extenders, meat analogs and protein-rich snacks, the findings of this program will increase the availability of healthy alternatives to animal-based foods. Trainees involved in this research will receive exceptional interdisciplinary training in food engineering and materials science, so they are skilled to non-destructively characterize and assess the structure and texture of foods and then be able to control food quality in real-time during processing.

Lyle McKinnon

Lyle McKinnon

Assistant Professor, Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease with a cross-appointment in Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences is receiving $155,942 for project entitled: Enhancing capacity for cellular phenotyping for HIV prevention and cure research.

Understanding the underlying biology of virus entry at a mucosal level is believed to be key to designing better HIV prevention. This research will focus on defining the cellular determinants of HIV transmission and pathogenesis, with the goal of improving HIV prevention options that are available in the clinic. This research will lead to the training of personnel at multiple levels, from undergraduate students to principle investigators, including Canada’s future leaders in HIV prevention research. The benefits to Canadians and world-wide extend beyond fighting HIV, by increasing knowledge of immunology that is “taught by viruses” — advances in HIV have frequently provided insight into the host immune system that the virus attacks, shedding light on other medical conditions with an immunological basis.

Gerd Prehna

Gerd Prehna

Assistant Professor, Microbiology, Faculty of Science is receiving $159, 028 for project titled: High-yield Protein Production Suite for Structural Biology.

Gram-negative bacteria have evolved a macromolecular machine termed the type VI secretion system (T6SS) to communicate directly with each other, competing micro-organisms, and with eukaryotic hosts. The human gut flora use the T6SS to maintain a mutualistic relationship with their host, whereas pathogens such as Salmonella use it as a weapon. At the molecular level the T6SS is adaptable and modular to allow bacteria to perform numerous functions. As Salmonella species have multiple divergent T6SS adapted for specific hosts (human, chicken, reptile), the research program will investigate T6SS versatility in detail at the molecular level. A detailed molecular understanding of the Salmonella T6SS will not only reveal targets for the development of new antibiotics, but given its versatility further research could allow it to be developed into a tunable drug delivery system.

Robert Stamps

Robert Stamps

Professor and Head, Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science is receiving $114,046 for project titled: Desktop Supercomputers for the Design of Advanced Functional Materials.

This research will create a resource essential for the development of advanced functional materials. The focus will be on materials with potential to enable new opportunities for next generation energy efficient information and communication technologies, nanoscale sensing devices for biomedical applications, and novel quantum technologies. This research will provide needed computational tools for the design of next generation multifunctional and smart materials whose unique electric and magnetic properties do not exist in the current stockpile of material options. Useful models for the design and exploitation of these materials require a multi-scale modelling approach that poses enormous computational challenges. These challenges can be addressed with computational resources recently available in low-cost desktop platforms and moderate sized clusters made possible with accelerations using the multiple cores of high end graphics cards.

Marcelo Urquia

Marcelo Urquia and Alyson Mahar

Assistant Professors, Community Health Sciences and Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences is receiving $240,000 for the project titled: Social Determinants of Health Digital Library.

To effectively address the social determinants of health there is a need for richer information across sectors (combining information from health, education, social services, and the justice systems), a greater focus on families, and development of new analytic tools to optimize the use of the available data.

Alyson Mahar

Urquia and Mahar will create a laboratory to study these important contributors to health and well-being, bringing together new and existing data at the University of Manitoba with key stakeholders to support Canadians who face challenges to achieving optimal health. Urquia will focus on integration to Canadian society, gender equity initiatives, and navigating the health system for Canadian immigrant families working to support the development of solutions to issues affecting their well-being. Mahar will help strengthen Canadian Armed Forces families by studying the short and long-term effects of military service, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, following soldiers’ transition to civilian life. Her program will also work to ensure all Canadians have equal opportunity to benefit from advances in cancer treatment, especially marginalized populations.

This is contrary to what the researchers expected, said Dr. Marcelo Urquia, who led the study that will be published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.

“Most health research finds that differences between immigrants and non-immigrants decrease the longer the immigrants live in their new country,” says Urquia, a research scientist and assistant professor at the U of M’s Manitoba Centre for Health Policy in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, and affiliate scientist at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

“We expected that with longer exposure to Canada’s environment of greater gender equality, immigrants from India would progressively shift toward valuing daughters and sons more equally,” Urquia said. “But our study suggests that the preference for sons remains unaffected.”

The practice of sex or gender selection, often through abortion, is known to occur in India. This study shows that it persists in Canada and is not declining as immigrant families become more established here. The skewed number of sons being born is particularly pronounced among women of Punjabi background.

The findings build on previous research by Urquia and his team. They reported last year that more male babies than expected were being born to Indian-born women living in Canada. Canadian-born women living in Canada give birth to about 105 boys for every 100 girls, consistent with the natural worldwide ratio.

In one 2016 study, Urquia’s team showed that Indian-born women who already had two daughters gave birth to 196 boys in Ontario for every 100 girls. The sex ratio increased significantly if the mothers had one abortion prior to the third birth, had more than one abortion, and if they had an abortion after 14 weeks gestation, when the sex of the fetus can accurately be determined by an ultrasound. 

In another 2016 study, Urquia found that the deficit of baby girls among Indian immigrants was equally evident across all Canadian provinces in the last two decades. 

For the new study, Urquia investigated whether prenatal sex selection declined with time spent in Canada, and whether that happened equally across the most prevalent Indian immigrant subgroups, such as Punjabi- and Hindi-speaking women.

He looked at records of more than 46,000 live births to Indian-born women who immigrated to Ontario between 1985 and 2012 and gave birth in Canada between 1993 and 2014. He used data housed by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada permanent resident database and the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s Discharge Abstracts Database.

In the new study, he reports that among all Indian-born women with two previous daughters, elevated male-to-female ratios were particularly evident among women whose mother tongue was Punjabi. At their third birth in Ontario, they had 240 boys for every 100 girls.

Still looking at women who already had two daughters, the researchers found that Ontario women whose mother tongue was Punjabi gave birth to 213 boys for every 100 girls if they had lived in Canada for less than 10 years and 270 boys for every 100 girls if they had lived in Canada for more than 10 years – a trend opposite to what the researchers expected.

Indian-born women with two daughters whose mother tongue was Hindi gave birth to 163 boys for every 100 girls overall; 130 boys if they had lived in Canada less than 10 years and 217 boys if they had lived in Canada more than 10 years.

While this study did not look specifically at what is causing the gender imbalance, Urquia said the findings suggest it will not be corrected without interventions that include community involvement and education.