Dr. Tracie Afifi, UM Canada Research Chair in childhood adversity and resilience and professor of community health sciences, and Dr. Marni Brownell, senior scholar, community health sciences, are among the 47 new CAHS fellows for 2025.

“Congratulations to Drs. Afifi and Brownell,” said Dr. Peter Nickerson, UM vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of the Max Rady College of Medicine. “As a CAHS fellow myself, it is my honour to welcome you into this nationwide group of world-class scientists and scholars working to advance the health of Canadians and people around the world.”

Dr. Trevor Young, CAHS president, said that election to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences acknowledges outstanding contributions to the health sciences.

“We are proud of these fellows’ accomplishments, and we are honoured to welcome them to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences,” Young said.

Afifi is an international leader in childhood adversity and resilience research. Afifi, who has published more than 245 peer-reviewed journal publications, has built her research program using a public health approach.

Afifi is the recipient of several awards and honours, including the Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Gold Leaf Award and the Alexander Leighton Award in Psychiatric Epidemiology.

“It is a great honour to have been selected as a 2025 Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences,” Afifi said. “The CAHS does excellent evidence-based work to improve health for all Canadians. I look forward to contributing to the academy in the area of childhood adversity and resilience with the aim of promoting health and well-being for child and families in Canada.”

Brownell conducts research using whole population administrative health and social services databases to examine child health and well-being, focusing on social and structural influences on health. She leads research projects focusing on the health and well-being of children in the child welfare and youth criminal justice systems.

Brownell is the founding director of SPECTRUM, a large research partnership between representatives of community organizations, government staff, academics and trainees from multiple disciplines who work together to address complex social challenges. She is the 2019 recipient of the Canadian Pediatric Society’s Geoffrey C. Robinson award honouring excellence in population health research.

View the full list of UM CAHS fellows.

“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.

The study by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) in the University of Manitoba’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences focused on a cohort of Manitobans who were born in 1994.

It found that more than one-third of children who spent any time in the care of Child and Family Services (CFS) were charged with at least one crime in their youth (between ages 12 and 17).

By the age of 21, nearly half of those who had spent any time in care had been charged with a criminal offence.

In fact, a 21-year-old who had spent any time in care was more likely to have been charged with a crime than to have completed high school.

“We found a very strong association between being taken into CFS care and becoming involved in the youth criminal justice system,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Marni Brownell, professor of community health sciences and senior research scientist/associate director of research at MCHP.

“This does not prove that being in care causes justice system involvement. But it quantifies the substantial overlap between the two systems, which Indigenous leaders have been talking about for decades.”

Dr. Lorna Turnbull, professor and former dean of the UM Faculty of Law, and Dr. Nathan Nickel, associate professor of community health sciences, were co-principal investigators for the project.

The study showed that Indigenous children and youth are greatly over-represented in both the child welfare and youth criminal justice systems. First Nation youth are many times more likely to be involved in both systems than other youth in the province.  

Manitoba has the highest rate of children in care of any Canadian province. It also has the highest rate of youth incarceration. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has called on governments to address the over-representation of Indigenous children in these systems.

Brownell’s team focused on more than 18,000 children who were born in 1994. The researchers conducted the study by analyzing de-identified (anonymous) child welfare and justice system data stored in a repository at MCHP.

The data showed that the more times a child was taken into care, the higher his or her risk of being charged with a crime later on. A child placed in a group home was more likely to be charged with a crime as a youth than a child placed with foster parents.

“Children in care with mental disorders were also more likely to be charged with a crime, which could suggest that these interactions with the justice system point to unaddressed mental health issues,” Brownell said.

Almost half of the charges laid against youth in care from the 1994 cohort were for breaches such as drinking alcohol or staying out past curfew while under certain restrictions, such as probation – teenage activities that are not usually considered criminal.   

“Part of the problem is that being criminally charged for these administrative offences can send CFS kids into a downward spiral of justice system involvement,” Brownell said.

The study team also looked at other birth cohorts to detect trends. Over time, the two-system overlap worsened: children who had been in care made up an increasing proportion of youth charged with a crime, from 28 per cent in the 1988 cohort to 45 per cent in the 1998 cohort.

The disproportionate involvement of First Nation youth also increased. First Nation youth went from making up 41 per cent of all Manitoba youth with criminal charges in the 1988 cohort to 54 per cent in the 1998 cohort.

The study includes input from First Nation youth. One is quoted as saying, “Governments need to be more aware of preventions, rather than just punishments.”  

The researchers agree. Their recommendations include:

• Increase funding, supports and services to prevent children from being removed from their families and placed in care.
• Recognize that Indigenous children are greatly over-represented in these systems because of factors that include historical and ongoing colonial policies, systemic racism, chronic underfunding of services to Indigenous communities, and social determinants such as poverty, inadequate housing, and food and water insecurity.
• Acknowledge the resilience of Indigenous people and empower them to deliver their own services, in line with their own values and policies.
• Continue to monitor and report on the two-system overlap and other key statistics related to child welfare and youth criminal justice.

Read the full study here.

“These researchers are doing cutting-edge studies that will benefit individuals coping with disabilities, distress, and many serious life-threatening conditions,” says Dr. Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor, University of Manitoba. “Their work is testament to the outstanding calibre of transformational research conducted at the University of Manitoba and at our affiliated partner organizations.”

The researchers and their projects are:

Benedict Albensi

Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
Project: Sex-based differences associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease
Funding: $725,985

Women have a higher risk of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and it’s not known why. Differences in cellular mechanisms (genetics, metabolism), hormonal changes, and/or lifestyle factors between men and women may be at the root cause, but no one knows for sure. This study aims to bring a clearer picture into view of the biological processes underway in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Michael Czubryt

Physiology and Pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre
Project: Targeting scleraxis to combat cardiac fibrosis
Funding: $1,017,450

Heart disease is the primary cause of death in the western world. Cardiac fibrosis is a stiffening of the heart caused by many forms of heart disease. Fibrosis dramatically increases the risk of death and disability independently of other risk factors (up to 17 times), yet no treatments for cardiac fibrosis are available to patients. Czubryt’s laboratory has identified a protein (scleraxis) as a powerful cause of fibrosis, and initial data indicates that interfering with scleraxis can reduce fibrosis. This study will further probe this relationship in the hop of finding new treatments for fibrosis.

Ian Dixon

Physiology and Pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre
Project: Ski is a negative regulator of cardiac fibrosis
Funding: $684,675

Patients surviving a heart attack or those with hypertension develop chronic heart disease. These patients make too much collagen in their heart muscle, wherein non-muscle cells called myofibroblasts secrete excessive collagens, which stiffens the heart. Most of the “glue” (extracellular matrix) between muscle cells in healthy hearts is made of tough collagen proteins. Too much collagen leads to cardiac fibrosis, which results in weak muscle contraction and relaxation. Despite this, there is currently no treatment for cardiac fibrosis, nor are there any specific cardiac drugs approved to fix cardiac fibrosis. In recent years, we have found a new protein called Ski. Ski turns off this over-deposition of matrix, in diseased heart cells. Further, we have made progress of how Ski actually achieves this positive change. We are now poised to extend our understanding of how Ski corrects cardiac fibrosis and this study aims to bring about the design new Ski-based therapies to treat cardiac fibrosis, for the prevention of heart failure.

Paul Fernyhough

Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre
Project: Muscarinic receptor antagonism as a novel mechanism for sensory nerve repair
Funding: $1,090,125

Objective Diabetic sensory neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by loss of nerve fibers in the skin. Both diseases cause significant pain and eventually lead to sensory loss. The impact of these diseases on human health is enormously damaging and there are no therapies. Recent work in Fernyhough’s lab has uncovered an endogenous signaling pathway in neurons that negatively modulates nerve fiber growth of sensory neurons. This study will enable the lab to broaden in scope and permit this therapeutic approach to be performed in a wide range of distal dying back neurodegenerative diseases.

Edward Giesbrecht

College of Rehabilitation Sciences
Project: Evaluation of a peer-led eHealth wheelchair skills training program: Training to Enhance Adaptation and Management for Wheelchair users (TEAM Wheel)
Funding: $566,099

Mobility impairment is the third most common disability; nearly 300,000 Canadians use a wheelchair or scooter because their disability makes walking difficult. Many Canadians receive their wheelchair while in hospital and must learn to contend with the social and environmental challenges of use when they return home. Because of shorter hospital stays and reduced access to outpatient rehabilitation services, wheelchair users often receive little training in how to operate and manage their mobility device. Without the appropriate skills, wheelchair users can experience health declines, diminished physical activity, and restricted participation in activities of life. The impact of reduced independence can have social and financial costs for the individual, their caregivers, and the health care system. Training to Enhance Adaptation and Management for Wheelchair users (TEAM Wheel) is a novel intervention designed to address this important transition to wheelchair use.

Tiina Kauppinen

Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Health Sciences Centre and Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
Project: Microglia and cognitive impairments in offspring exposed to gestational diabetes mellitus
Funding: $1,051,875

Maternal diabetes is the most common complication in pregnancy affecting up to 18 per cent of pregnancies. Maternal diabetes increases offspring risk for developing various health problems. Population studies have demonstrated that maternal diabetes increases offspring risk to have learning and memory deficits, and behavioral issues. Maternal diabetes is associated with elevated inflammation status, which can be detrimental for the developing brain. This study will identify the role of brain immune cells and the mechanism by how they can impair brain cells function. It will also assess whether maternal gestational diabetes differentially affects male and female offspring. The ultimate goal is to identify targets for drug development and promote healthy brain development and, thus prevent cognitive impairments in children of mothers with gestational diabetes.

Alyson Mahar

Community Health Sciences, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Max Rady College of Medicine
Project: Understanding cancer burden and outcomes for Canadians living with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Funding: $298,352

Not all Canadians have the same cancer risk, receive the same quality of healthcare after a cancer diagnosis, or have the same prognosis. This may be the result of many things including how much money someone has, their education, where they live, or discrimination within the healthcare system that causes people to be treated differently, regardless of how sick they are. Although cancer is a leading cause of death for Canadians living with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities (IDD), they may be less likely to receive high quality cancer treatment compared to other Canadians. Because people living with IDD are more likely to live in vulnerable circumstances (such as those described above), this may impact how quickly their cancer is diagnosed, their access to life-saving treatment and result in worse outcomes. The goal of this project is to determine whether or not Canadians living with IDD are more likely than Canadians who do not have IDD to be 1) diagnosed with cancer; 2) diagnosed with incurable cancer; 3) not receive the right cancer treatment; and 4) to die of their cancer. This study will highlight ways to improve the quality of care provided. We will work with our policy partners to ensure this information is usable and informative to the care of underserved cancer populations.

Brian Mark

Microbiology, Faculty of Science
Project: Development of a therapeutic modality to treat GM2 gangliosidoses
Funding: $547,740

Tay-Sachs disease and Sandhoff Disease (also knows as the GM2 gangliosidoses) are inherited neurodegenerative diseases that result from genetic mutations that inactivate an enzyme known as HexA. HexA is a protein in our cells that degrades GM2-ganglioside (GM2), a molecule found primarily on neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system. HexA degrades GM2, and if it is not active, GM2 rapidly accumulates and causes severe neurological disease.The rate of GM2 accumulation depends on how severely the genetic mutations impact HexA activity. Mark’s lab has recently engineered HexA to markedly improve its stability and function for enzyme replacement therapy. This study will use the engineered enzyme, known as HexM, to develop an enzyme replacement therapy that will be evaluated in models of GM2 gangliosidosis in combination with a drug known to rescue residual HexA activity in cells. The approach holds promise to reduce GM2 accumulation and reverse the progression of this debilitating family of neurological diseases.

Aaron Marshall

Immunology, Max Rady College of Medicine
Project: Control of B cell metabolism by the PI3K pathway: applications for autoimmunity
Funding: $956,250

The immune system is critical to human health. In order to develop vaccines and treatments for diseases where the immune system malfunctions (such as autoimmunity, inflammatory diseases or immunodeficiency), we need to better understand the fundamental mechanisms governing immune responses. Our research deals with the arm of the immune system responsible for producing antibodies, which are specialized proteins that bind to microorganisms and target them for destruction by the immune system. Antibodies are secreted into the blood and mucosal surfaces by cells called B lymphocytes. This study aims to define the molecular signaling pathways that regulate the activities of B lymphocytes during normal immune responses or abnormal autoimmune responses. The work is identifying new molecular pathways that can be targeted to shut down B cells and treat autoimmune disease.

Kirk McManus

Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology, a joint institute of the University of Manitoba and CancerCare Manitoba
Project: Exploring and Exploiting Reduced USP22 Expression in Colorectal Cancer
Funding: $807,075

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Canada, and although advances in treatment options have improved the overall survival for early stage CRCs, about 50 per cent of individuals are still diagnosed with late stage disease that is often incurable. The development of highly specific, anti-cancer treatments is a significant research challenge; however, recent efforts suggest that exploiting the mutated genes and abnormal pathways that drive cancer development may hold tremendous clinical potential. Accordingly, greater insight into the mutated genes and abnormal pathways driving CRC formation is needed so that new treatment strategies and drug options can be developed that exploit them. McManus’s lab will build on its past discoveries to identify novel drug targets and lead chemotherapeutics that will be tested in pre-clinical studies to ideally and ultimately deliver new therapeutic options to individuals diagnosed with CRC.

Leslie L. Roos and Marni Brownell

Community Health Sciences, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Max Rady College of Medicine; Investigator, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
Project: Health, Well-Being, and Disease-Birth to Adulthood in Manitoba
Funding: $244,799

Why are some children healthy and others not? Why do some children perform well in school and others drop out? Why are some youths arrested while others never come near the justice system? The population-based Manitoba data enable research on the consequences of birth, childhood, and adolescent experiences for health and well-being over the first 20 years. This study will explore the degree to which predictors of poor young adult outcomes occur early enough to allow the possibility of intervention. Roos’s lab will analyze Manitoba’s data on several government projects designed to improve children’s wellbeing.

Frank Schweizer

Chemistry, Faculty of Science; Medical Microbiology, Max Rady College of Medicine
Project: Preclinical studies on aminoglycoside-derived antibiotic adjuvants (AGDAAs)
Funding: $646,425

According to the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one the largest threats to public health and economic growth. Recently, the WHO for the first time divided pathogens into three categories according to the urgency of need for new antibiotics: critical, high and medium priority. The most critical group of all includes multidrug resistant bacteria that pose a particular threat in hospitals, nursing homes, and among patients whose care requires devices such as ventilators and blood catheters. To overcome the bottleneck in antibacterial drug discovery, this study aims to develop helper molecules (adjuvants) designed to enhance membrane permeability, reduce efflux of antibiotics and prevent or delay resistance development against these pathogens. The overall goal of this proposal is to identify optimized helper molecules capable of rescuing antibiotics from resistance in animal models of infection against multidrug-resistant priority pathogens and to understand their mode of actions.

Kellie Thiessen and Katherine Whitecloud (Assembly of First Nations)

College of Nursing and Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; and
Project: Welcoming the ‘Sacred Spirit’ (child): Connecting Indigenous and Western ‘ways of knowing’ to inform future policy partnerships to optimize maternal child health service delivery initiatives in remote Canadian regions
Funding: $810,901

Ongoing and historical colonial health practices have systematically diminished the health and well-being of Indigenous communities. One critically important primary healthcare service that shows the impact of colonial relations is maternal/child healthcare. There is the “absence of teachings regarding the ‘Sacred Spirit’ (child) along with the responsibilities and preparation for ‘life-giving’ across the childbearing continuum (preconception, pregnancy, birth and post-delivery). Strategies to embrace and include Indigenous knowledge, values, teachings, and stories are essential for a healthy life in Indigenous communities; the absence of these strategies disrupts the relations among youth, young parents, families, and communities. In this study, we explore maternal healthcare delivery systems and services across 4 remote Canadian jurisdictions. Our exploration includes Indigenous and Western world views and aims to improve the health of communities by bringing back the ‘Sacred Spirit’ [child]. The teaching tells us that achieving this equates to maintaining wellness. We have and will continue to actively engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous members in 4 remote Canadian jurisdictions each involved in delivering or receiving maternal care. Data sources include interviews, focus groups [story-telling], and document analysis. The outcome will be identification of maternity care delivery models that are integrated, cost-efficient, culturally appropriate, and effectively supporting persons to maintain health and wellness within their own community.

Roberta Woodgate

Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare, College of Nursing; Investigator, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba and St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre
Project 1: Designing a Responsive and Integrative Model of Respite Care for Families of Children with Complex Care Needs and Conditions (CCNC) through Patient-Oriented Research
Funding: $458,999

Children with complex care needs and conditions (CCNC) are those with chronic physical and developmental disabilities who require multiple services. Caring for children with CCNC is an immense undertaking for families that involves constantly coordinating multiple needs and services in a complex system with limited supports. As such, family well-being can be greatly impacted. The goal of this study is to provide evidence to inform the design of a new model of respite care that can respond to the diverse and changing needs of families of children with CCNC in Manitoba (MB).

Project 2: Non-suicidal self-injury among youth: Perspectives of youth who self-harm, their families and service providers
Funding: $539,324

Self-harm among youth is a major public health concern. Usually first occurring in early adolescence, it is estimated that 18 per cent of youth engage in self-harming behaviours at some point in their lives. These may include cutting, self-hitting, pinching, scratching, burning, minor overdosing and interfering with wound healing. Recent media reports reinforce that self-harming provokes a great deal of suffering among youth and their families, who struggle to access appropriate care. Likewise, service providers find it difficult to treat youth who self-harm. While self-harming can have a significant impact on a youth’s life, it is poorly understood. Before we can develop effective services and supports, we first need to gain an understanding of self-harm from the perspectives of youth who self-harm and their families as well as service providers who support them. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of the experiences and needs of youth who self-harm and their families. This information is essential in order to design better services and supports for this population.

The Pathways to Health Equity conference, held at the Fort Garry Hotel, brought together over 230 academics, practitioners, decision makers and community organizations to present their knowledge and facilitate opportunities for new partnerships.

The Pathways conference grew out of work performed by Dr. Marni Brownell and the late Dr. Patricia Martens and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Their work involves an ongoing suite of several studies aimed at identifying strategies to improve child health and well-being and interventions that can reduce inequities in child health outcomes.

The conference was dedicated to Dr. Martens who passed away in 2015 as a tribute to her leadership and commitment to health equity. Dr. Martens was a Distinguished Professor in the Max Rady College of Medicine, as well as the former Director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and nominated Principal Investigator of the PATHS Equity for Children Programmatic Grant.

According to Dr. Nathan Nickel, Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences and one of the conference co-chairs, there are several barriers impacting health equity ranging from social determinants of health – like income, housing, and education – to structural determinants like colonization and institutional racism.

“Simply because of where someone was born, an individual can face systematic and unfair barriers to health. These barriers need to be removed,” Nickel says. “However, removing these structural barriers cannot be done in isolation.”

Dr. Marni Brownell, Professor , Community Health Sciences and a Senior Research Scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, also delivered the conference’s keynote address. Brownell said she hoped that participants took away from the conference a message that there are many strategies for reducing inequities and that by working together across sectors meaningful change can be realized.

“The discussions that occurred and the partnerships that were formed will help to move the equity agenda forward toward making policy changes,” Brownell said. “For example, there was session on the idea of the Basic Income Guarantee that generated a lot attention and discussion. The more these ideas are studied and discussed – particularly in venues with audiences from a number of different sectors, including research, policy and practice – the more likely they are to get into the mainstream and engage public attention and practice.”

Nickel echoed Brownell’s thoughts, noting that the conference attracted a diverse number of attendees from different backgrounds.

“I really appreciated hearing from community organizations and the work they’re doing to impact healthy equity,” Nickel said. “As well as the work that Indigenous people are doing around health and health equity and some of the innovative work being done by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. It made me so glad to see and hear about both the research, but also the front line work being done in this area.”

“Canada is home to exceptional health researchers,” said Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of CIHR. “Our new Foundation Grants will provide stable, long-term support to some of these top minds so that they have the time and resources needed to find new ways of preventing disease, managing chronic conditions and enhancing health care delivery.”

“I congratulate these national leaders in health research on their success in receiving this funding,” says Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International). “This research will have direct impacts on the health of Manitobans and reach beyond the local community to national and international populations.”

Foundation Grants provide long-term support for Canada’s research leaders to undertake innovative and high impact programs of research. The Open Operating Grants invest in research and knowledge translation projects across the full spectrum of health.

Together, these two programs support the best ideas proposed by Canada’s health researchers. Recipients of these grants were selected through a rigorous peer-review process – the internationally accepted benchmark for ensuring quality and excellence in scientific research.

The Foundation Grants awarded

Tracie Afifi (community health sciences) $883,855 for the project titled “Preventing child maltreatment: Changing a child’s trajectory, improving health, and strengthening families.”

Lisa Lix (community health sciences/George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation/Manitoba Centre for Health Policy) $962,920 for the project titled “Advancing the science of data quality for electronic health databases: Applications to chronic disease research and surveillance.”

Jitender Sareen (psychiatry) $1,886,078 for the project titled “Defining the longitudinal course, outcomes, and treatment needs of vulnerable Canadians with posttraumatic stress disorder.”

The Open Operating Grant recipients

Marni Brownell (community health sciences/Manitoba Centre for Health Policy/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $116,250 for the project titled “Neonatal and childhood neurodevelopmental, health and educational outcomes of children exposed to antidepressants and maternal depression during pregnancy.”

Kevin Coombs (medical microbiology/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $657,715 for the project titled “Signaling perturbations during influenza virus replication and pathogenesis.”

Allison Dart (pediatrics & child health/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $881,609 for the project titled “An assessment of psychological factors, inflammatory biomarkers and kidney complications; the improving renal Complications in Adolescents with type 2 diabetes through REsearch (iCARE) cohort study.”

Sanjiv Dhingra (physiology/St-Boniface Hospital Research) $521,185 for the project titled “Preserving the immunoprivilege of transplanted allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells in the ischemic heart.”

Keith Fowke (medical microbiology) $100,000 for the project titled “Understanding HIV-mediated innate immune dysregulation: The role of the immune inhibitory protein LAG-3.”

Phillip Gardiner (Faculty of Kinesiology & Recreation Management) $735,312 for the project titled “Aging effects on components of locomotion, and the impact of increased regular physical activity beginning in late adulthood.”

Jean-Eric Ghia (immunology/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $100,000 for the project titled “Semaphorin 3E and Gut Inflammation.”

Lorrie Kirshenbaum (physiology/St-Boniface Hospital Research) $569,850 for the project titled “Targeting cell death signaling pathways in the heart.”

Donna Martin (nursing) $617,855 for the project titled “The micro- and macro-construction of induced displacement: Experiences, health outcomes and future plans of Little Saskatchewan First Nation.”

Leigh Murphy (biochemistry/medical genetics/cell biology/CancerCare Manitoba) $100,000 for the project titled “Beyond the estrogen receptor: Involvement of kinases in estrogen signaling in normal and malignant human breast epithelial cells.”

Tabrez Siddiqui (physiology) $795,210 for the project titled “Regulation of a neuronal synaptic pathway in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.”

Carolyn Snider (emergency medicine/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $100,000 for the project titled “Wraparound care for youth injured by violence: A randomized control trial.”

Roberta Woodgate (nursing/St-Boniface Hospital Research/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) $428,986 for the project titled “The Journey for survivors of childhood brain tumours: From post-treatment into adolescence and adulthood.”