UM Knowledge Exchange is an important opportunity for UM researchers to share emerging knowledge with members of the public and the wider UM community. UM Knowledge Exchange is hosted by the Associate Vice-President Research, with support from the UM Learning for Life Network.

Each year more and more children in Manitoba present with the life-disrupting disease type 2 diabetes. Why is this happening, which children are at highest risk how it impacts health and quality of life, and what can be done to best care for children living with disease? 

Moderator

Allison Dart MD, MSc FRCPC or Vern Dolinsky PhD, associate professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine

Panelists

Brandy Wicklow MD, MSc FRCPC Associate Professor, pediatrics and child health, Max Rady College of Medicine

Christine Doucette PhD, Associate Professor, Physiology and Pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Meaghan Jones PhD, Assistant Professor Type 2 diabetes in children, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine

Samantha Bonneteau, Parent Advisor, Next Generation DREAM study

Diabetes in Children, May 8, 7pm-8:30pm (CDT) at Degrees Diner. UM Knowledge Exchange is a hybrid event with in-person and online options to attend.

Please register by May 3 to join the discussion.

Add Diabetes in Children to your calendar. Coffee and other refreshments will be provided, and the kitchen at Degrees Diner will be open for specialty coffee and full food service. Parking is available with registration.

Or join us for online viewing 7 pm CDT to watch the live stream. Participate during the live session by asking your questions via email to: Research [dot] Communications [at] UManitoba [dot] ca

The seven-part UM Knowledge Exchange panel-discussion series is ongoing until May 2024. More details can be found on the UM Knowledge Exchange webpage.

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

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

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

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

Here are the funded studies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discovery Grant: $33,000

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

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

Discovery Grant: $18,000

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

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

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

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

Dr. Oleg Krokhin, associate professor, internal medicine

Discovery Grant: $24,000

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

Dr. Sam Kung, professor, immunology

Discovery Grant: $32,000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discovery Grant: $56,000

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

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

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

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

Dr. Jiuyong Xie, professor, physiology and pathophysiology

Discovery Grant: $32,000

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

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

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

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

Since Labouta began working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she spends most of the daytime caring for her two young children. Throughout the day, she is also writing emails and taking part in meetings over Zoom, a videoconferencing service.

Dr. Hagar Labouta, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, is collaborating on COVID-19 research with teams around the world while she works from home.

However, her focused research time takes place after she puts her children to sleep. Labouta, who is also a research scientist with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), has been scheduling meetings with her team at 9 p.m. and working until 2 a.m.

“It took some time at the beginning to get a rhythm, but it’s something we have to accept and we are doing our best to deal with the changes,” she said.

Like Labouta, researchers across the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences are adapting to working from home.

For Dr. Meaghan Jones, assistant professor of biochemistry and medical genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, her research looking at the impact of pre-natal exposure to inhaled particulate matter, like cigarette smoke or air pollution, has been put on hold with the temporary shuttering of her lab. But there is still plenty to do.

“My work really hasn’t changed at all,” said Jones, who is an investigator with CHRIM. “I’m still writing papers, writing grants and reading literature. I also have a couple of presentations coming up that I’m preparing for.”

To keep in touch with her team, Jones is holding weekly individual meetings and three lab meetings each week via Zoom. This is up from one weekly lab meeting because it’s a chance for everyone to check-in with each other, she said. It is also a chance to have a bit of fun. They are holding cooking contests where the team members each prepare the same recipe for lunch and they judge the dishes based on presentation.

While Jones has adjusted to working from home, one thing she misses about her Bannatyne campus office is her huge whiteboard. To adapt, she is using a large window in her home office to write on.

“I don’t know what the people who walk by my house think – a bunch of weird drawings and stuff on it – but it works,” she said.

Dr. Christina West, associate professor in the College of Nursing, (bottom) in a Zoom meeting with colleagues Dr. Kendra Rieger, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, (left) and Dr. Amanda Kenny, professor of rural health at LaTrobe University in Australia.

Dr. Christina West, associate professor in the College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, has had to put the data collection of her main project on hold. Her research uses expressive arts activities and digital storytelling to help children and families express their experiences of going through pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant. This qualitative research requires her team to spend time with children and their parents in the hospital, which they currently can’t do.

However, West has data that has already been collected to analyze, so she is focusing on that part of her research. She is also working on several systematic reviews, research papers and the creation of a new research website where family members, clinicians and administrator partners will be able to interact with her team in a private area of the website.

“It’s a very difficult situation for everybody,” said West, who is an investigator with CHRIM. “I think we have to think about how we care for ourselves in the midst of continuing on with our work so that we’re emotionally well enough to do that work, and to support others.”

To do that, West is building yoga and mindfulness practices into her day. She maintains a work routine and non-work routine, and has a space in her home dedicated to her work life.

For Labouta, an expert in using nanoparticles for drug delivery, her work relies on conducting experiments in her lab so her research is on hold. However, she has shifted her focus to work on COVID-19-related research with scientists at the University of Manitoba, in the United States and in Germany. One project she is working on is with a group from Georgia Tech on simulation experiments that hopefully can help with the creation of a new therapeutic strategy for COVID-19.

“Not everyone is a virologist, but all scientists have something they can contribute,” Labouta said. “What we really need right now from the scientific community is that everyone should contribute their own expertise. I see it as a cross-disciplinary initiative and collaboration in order to find a solution for this crisis.”

“Traditional parameters are limiting as Canada strives for new discoveries and innovation,” said Ted Hewitt, chair, Canada Research Coordinating Committee and President of SSHRC. “As society evolves, so must our means of doing research. The New Frontiers in Research Fund is supporting leading-edge research and promoting ideas that would have traditionally been unsupported. Through this program, we are truly paving the way for our emerging researchers to expand their horizons, take risks and deliver outcomes that will benefit Canadians.”

The U of M research projects will investigate ways to reverse frailty, allay anxiety using virtual reality, find new antibiotics, and assess the safety of northern infrastructure in the context of climate change. All projects will receive up to $250,000 in funding over two years.

“I congratulate these four early career researchers and their collaborators on their success in this inaugural national competition,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor at the U of M. “They are each pushing the boundaries of existing knowledge and methods as they seek innovative ways to solve problems that affect every member of society.”

The funded projects are:

Ayesha Saleem

Meaghan Jones

Principle investigators (PI): Meaghan Jones, biochemistry and medical genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine; and Ayesha Saleem, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Project: “Reversing frailty through transmission of epigenetic age by extracellular vesicles.”

The aging population in Canada and around the world requires the development of therapeutic strategies aimed at improving health span (the length of time a person is healthy) to keep pace with the increase in lifespan. In theory, effective anti-aging therapeutics must be capable of altering innate cellular hallmarks of aging such as changes in metabolism and epigenetics. Previous research has shown that transfusing old animals with blood from young animals reverses some aspects of aging, leading to the hypothesis of “youthful” factors in young blood. We propose that these factors are packaged in a type of secretory vehicle called extracellular vesicles (EVs), and that treating old cells with EVs isolated from younger people would reverse physiological markers of aging such as the epigenetic clock and impaired metabolism.

Renee El-Gabalawy

PI: Renee El-Gabalawy, anesthesia, Max Rady College of Medicine
Co-PIs: Rakesh Arora, Pamela Hebbard, surgery, Max Rady College of Medicine; and fellow Max Rady College of Medicine faculty, Natalie Mota, clinical health psychology; William Mutch, anesthesia; Thomas Mutter, anesthesia; and Kristen Reynolds, psychology, Faculty of Arts.
Project: “A targeted preoperative virtual reality intervention with artificial intelligence integration for anxiety in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery.”

Preoperative state anxiety (PSA) occurs in approximately half of breast cancer surgery patients and is associated with several negative mental and physical health postoperative outcomes, which incur costs to both individual patients and the health care system as a whole. Despite this, few targeted and feasible PSA interventions have been developed. The most promising PSA interventions to date involve poorly feasible initiatives where patients are given the opportunity to tour operating rooms (OR) and wards prior to surgery and gain information about the perioperative process in a classroom setting. Immersive virtual reality (VR) is a technologically advanced interface that allows antecedent exposure to simulated stressful environments such as the OR and allows for the integration of interactive artificially intelligent (AI) avatars who can provide information to patients on the perioperative process. We aim to develop and evaluate a novel virtual reality (VR) preoperative intervention with AI avatars to reduce PSA, and mitigate poor postoperative health effects in breast cancer surgery patients

Reducing PSA and preventing poor postoperative outcomes using VR may have significant patient health and financial implications such as reducing levels of acute and chronic postoperative pain and length of stay. This novel research will form the basis of investigating the utility of VR with AI in other surgical cohorts, which may lead to broad implementation of this low cost intervention.

Sabine Kuss

PI: Sabine Kuss, chemistry, Faculty of Science
Title: “Investigation of antibiotic resistance by electrochemistry.”

Antibiotic resistance has developed into a global problem and has led to a dire need for innovative strategies that are able to quantify efflux and influx of agents into bacterial cells for the assessment of potential new and reliable antimicrobial candidates. The overall goal of the work described in this proposal is the development of an electro-bio-analytical tool that can detect and quantify antibiotic drug resistance and assess newly developed investigational antibacterial therapeutics.

The increase of resistance in Gram-negative bacteria in particular is a major cause for concern, as many Gram-negatives cause serious infections, such as pneumonia, and few antibiotics effective against Gram-negatives have been developed. Studying the influx into and efflux from single bacteria and across populations of antibacterial drugs will provide a numerical quantitative measure for drug resistance leading towards the development of a resistance biosensor. Furthermore, by monitoring the bacterial response time to antibiotics this research will help to better understand resistance adaptation and progression, leading towards the development of new agents and strategies to ultimately overcome drug resistance.

Ahmed Ashraf

Pooneh Maghoul

PI: Pooneh Maghoul, civil engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Co-PIs: Faculty of Engineering – Ahmed Ashraf, electrical and computer engineering; Hartmut Hollaender, civil engineer; Ahmed Shalaby, civil engineering
Title: “Threat assessment for northern civil infrastructure affected by climate change using an AI-based geomechanical model”

Civil infrastructure (roads, dams, etcetera) in Northern Canada was originally designed based on our understanding of frozen soil properties as of the last century, to rely on the properties of ice-rich frozen soil for stability. Climate change has forced us to revisit this understanding. Specifically, in recent years, this infrastructure has been suffering from irregular settlements due to the adverse effects of climate warming, degradation of permafrost, and reduced strength of foundation soils due to thawing. With earth’s temperature predicted to increase within the lifetime of this infrastructure, structural integrity risks will be further compounded. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop innovative solutions and strategies that will enable engineers and decision-makers to use these investments for implementing effective, long-term solutions for mitigating adverse impacts of hazards from the effects of climate warming on Canadian infrastructure.

The main objective of this research project is to develop innovative solutions to predict and enhance the structural integrity of existing critical infrastructure as well as future structures built on permafrost areas under different climate warming scenarios. In addition, it is aimed to create a new publicly available portal that will continuously monitor and predict the displacement of critical northern infrastructure subjected to climate warming hazards. This can be achieved by a multidisciplinary research that combines Geo-mechanical and Hydrogeological Modeling, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, and Computer Vision for Remote Sensing, and Asset Management and Life-Cycle Cost Assessment of Climate Change Adaptation Measures as proposed in this study.