The 2024 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award is an initiative of The Gairdner Foundation, recognizing some of the world’s most significant biomedical and global health research and discoveries. Laureates are mid-career investigators recognized for exceptional scientific research contributions with continued potential for impact on human health.

Azad is a Canada Research Chair in Early Nutrition and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease and is a Research Scientist at Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. She is recognized for her innovative research in human breast milk and infant microbiome as Director of the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), the THRiVE Discovery Lab, and the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium. Dr. Azad was recently featured on the Big Idea podcast.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this award to highlight the foundational impacts of breast milk in early childhood nutrition and the developmental origins of health and disease,” said Azad. “Although this award is presented to an individual, I would like to recognize the many colleagues, mentors and trainees I have the privilege of working alongside and thank them for their many contributions to this research.”

The Azad Research Team

Azad’s team of innovative researchers in breastfeeding, human breast milk and the microbiome are supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

By studying thousands of children in Canada and internationally, her team has shown that longer and more exclusive breastfeeding is associated with reduced risk of asthma and healthier body composition. Her research has engaged organizations such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Health Canada to foster support for evidence-based policy-making.

Azad’s interest in breastfeeding began during her post-doctoral studies at the University of Alberta while training with the CHILD Cohort Study, working on a research project studying the infant gut microbiome to answer questions about the development of allergies and asthma. “The microbiome was a pretty new thing at the time and we found that one of the key variables in the study turned out to be whether babies were fed by formula or breast milk,” said Azad.

“Having found that breastfeeding was so important, I started my own lab at UM to better understand the butterfly effect of early nutrition, where the first few months have a lifelong impact on health and the immune system. We are also exploring how breastmilk works as a complex system. Previously, researchers focused on the nutrients, hormones, or cells in breastmilk would all be working independently. My approach has been to build multi-disciplinary teams to better understand how all these components interact and function together.”

Through MILC, Azad’s team works to connect scientists with healthcare providers and community members to co-design research projects about breastfeeding and lactation. More recently the international IMiC Study extends these community partnerships and research network in Burkina Faso and Tanzania and Pakistan.

“By working with diverse populations to develop strong evidence that breastfeeding is fundamentally important to infant health, we can help promote policies and programs to support breastfeeding – such as paid maternity leaves or lactation rooms in workplaces,” said Azad. “We also want to support parents who have trouble with breastfeeding. We are proud to collaborate with the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Center, Shared Health Manitoba, and the new Milk Mentors peer support program to enhance lactation support programs in our province. In the coming years we hope to see these resources expanded to improve access to rural and Indigenous communities.”

“This award is a tremendous achievement for Dr. Azad and the entire University,” said Mario Pinto, Vice President (Research and International). “We are honoured that she has selected the UM as her home and continue to celebrate her career milestones together. This award is a testament to the impact of her research, which is helping to improve maternal and child health outcomes in Canada and around the world.”

On Nov. 18, UM alumni, partners, faculty members, students and friends of the college will celebrate the 140th anniversary at a gala at the RBC Convention Centre. The event will raise funds for MD and grad student bursaries.

While the medical college has educated generations of physicians and served the community, it has also been a thriving centre for the advancement of medical science.

“We’re known for punching above our weight in terms of our research achievements,” says Peter Nickerson [B.Sc.(Med.)/86, MD/86], vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of the Max Rady College of Medicine and the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

“Each year, the college brings in more than $100 million in external research funding. Our investigators, including master’s and PhD students, conduct multidisciplinary research that influences health policy, improves patient care and saves lives.”

From innovative disease research carried out in labs and at hospital bedsides, to studies that give a voice to under-represented patient groups, to findings gleaned from one of the world’s richest storehouses of health data – the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository – the Max Rady College of Medicine is constantly generating new knowledge.

“Our strengths include being exceptionally collaborative, forging effective external partnerships and reaping the benefits of intergenerational chains of research mentors and mentees,” says Nickerson, a kidney specialist who is himself a distinguished research scientist.

In addition to the acclaimed faculty members and alumni who are laureates of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame – we’re spotlighting them in a list on Nov. 16 – here are 10 Max Rady College of Medicine research highlights that have made an indelible impact.

Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum

• In 1948, a cardiologist convinced nearly 4,000 air force veterans to enrol in a study of their cardiovascular health. The extraordinary project, based at UM and known as the Manitoba Follow-up Study, is one of the world’s longest-running health studies of a specific cohort. One of its findings in the 1990s was that shorter men are at greater risk of dying of heart disease than taller men. The study, now led by Robert Tate [M.Sc./75, PhD/00] and marking 75 years, is still tracking a handful of surviving participants. Meanwhile, UM scientists like Lorrie Kirshenbaum [B.Sc./86, M.Sc./88, PhD/92], Canada Research Chair in molecular cardiology, are engaged in leading-edge cardiovascular research. Kirshenbaum has earned international recognition for his work on cardiac cell death and its impact on the development of heart failure.

Dr. Edward (Ted) Lyons

• In the mid-1960s, UM radiologist Edward (Ted) Lyons [B.Sc./63, B.Sc.(Med.)/68, MD/68] became one of the earliest pioneers of ultrasound. His groundbreaking research helped to establish ultrasound as safe for fetuses and mothers, and his findings influenced hospitals across the globe to adopt the technology. Lyons led the first lab in Canada to perform general ultrasound. For years, he worked with manufacturers to evolve the technology from a machine the size of a refrigerator to a portable device no larger than a cellphone. He has called himself “a traveller on a stream of new imaging technology.”

Dr. Stephen Moses

• Frank Plummer [MD/76], who passed away in 2020, was a key member of a multigenerational chain of researchers who have worked for more than 40 years in partnership with the University of Nairobi, making high-impact discoveries in the area of sexually transmitted infections. In the late 1980s, Plummer led a UM team in discovering that some Kenyan women sex workers who had been exposed to HIV infection were naturally immune to it. This breakthrough provided vital new information for HIV vaccine and drug development. In 2007, UM’s Dr. Stephen Moses co-led a study showing that circumcision reduced the risk of HIV infection by 50 to 60 per cent in men who had heterosexual sex. This insight was named one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the year by Time magazine.

Dr. Heather Dean

• In the late 1980s, when Type 2 diabetes was considered an adult-only disease, UM pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Heather Dean and her colleagues made the startling discovery that some First Nations children in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario had the disease. They published the first paper about these children in 1992. Dean went on to work closely with First Nations communities to better understand the disease. Today, UM researchers continue to study many aspects of youth-onset Type 2 diabetes, including following a cohort of offspring of First Nations individuals who were first diagnosed as children.

Dr. Ryan Zarychanski (Photo: Doctors Manitoba)

• In 2012, a breakthrough by UM and CancerCare Manitoba scientists made the cover of Blood, the world’s top medical journal on blood disorders. The study, led by Dr. Ryan Zarychanski [B.Sc./95, B.Sc.(Med.)/00], identified the genetic mutation responsible for the hereditary blood disorder xerocytosis. Groundwork for this discovery had been laid 40 years earlier by UM hematologist Lyonel Israels [MD/49, M.Sc./50], founding father of CancerCare Manitoba. Zarychanski now holds the Lyonel G. Israels Research Chair in Hematology. This year, he was named Physician of the Year by Doctors Manitoba for leading international clinical research to rapidly assess potential treatments for COVID-19.

Dr. Gary Kobinger

Dr. Jason Kindrachuk

• During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, UM’s Dr. Gary Kobinger was chief of special pathogens at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. His team of UM and PHAC researchers co-developed an experimental antibody cocktail called ZMapp. In 2014, it was used in saving the life of an American doctor with Ebola – a dramatic event that made international headlines. Today, Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, Canada Research Chair in the molecular pathogenesis of emerging viruses, is keeping UM on the map as a virus centre through his work on viruses such as Ebola, mpox and coronaviruses.

Dr. Marcia Anderson

• UM is a national leader in partnering with Indigenous communities in health research. In 2019, for example, a landmark joint study by the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba and the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy in the Max Rady College of Medicine illuminated the worsening health gap between First Nation people and all other Manitobans. This year, UM’s Marcia Anderson [MD/02] took a leadership role in making Manitoba the first province to systematically ask hospital patients to voluntarily declare their race, ethnicity or Indigenous identity. The purpose of collecting this data is to address racial inequities in health care.

Dr. James Blanchard

• In 2022, health research and programming in India led by James Blanchard [B.Sc.(Med.)/86, MD/86], executive director of the UM Institute for Global Public Health, received a major injection of support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding of US$87 million will support reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In total, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested US$280 million in international UM projects. The Institute for Global Public Health has been a world leader in forming partnerships to strengthen health systems and influence health policy, particularly in countries in Asia and Africa, says Blanchard, who holds a Canada Research Chair in epidemiology and global public health.

Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie

• An internationally renowned multiple sclerosis (MS) researcher at UM, neurologist Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie, directs the MS Clinic at Health Sciences Centre. This year, Marrie received a prestigious U.S. prize for her trailblazing body of work. She and her team were the first to explore the implications of comorbidities such as high blood pressure and heart disease in people with MS. She has also shown that the disease may have a “prodromal phase” that precedes the onset of specific MS symptoms. Her ongoing research is laying important groundwork for both prevention and improved treatment of MS.

Dr. Meghan Azad

• Meghan Azad [PhD/10] is a worldwide expert on the science of breast milk. She holds a Canada Research Chair in developmental origins of chronic disease at UM and is also a researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. This year, she and her team landed a grant of US$2.5 million from a prestigious U.S. funder, the National Institutes of Health. The project will include in-depth lab analyses of milk samples from 1,600 mother-child pairs, looking at breast milk in a way that is unique in the world. The data will then go to machine-learning experts at Stanford University, who will use artificial intelligence to explore it. The study is expected to generate the world’s largest and most detailed dataset of mothers, infants and breast milk.

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.

The Steacie Prize is awarded by the trustees of the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fund, a private foundation dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering in Canada. The prize is awarded annually to a young scientist or engineer who has made notable contributions to research in Canada.

Dr. Meghan Azad.

Azad is the third UM recipient of the Steacie Prize and the first since 1971, 52 years ago. She is the first woman from UM to ever be selected for this esteemed award since it was created in 1964.

“I am honoured to receive this award and highlight the importance of research about early nutrition and the developmental origins of health and disease,” said Meghan Azad. “Although these types of awards are given to an individual, I believe they are the result of a team science approach. I would like to thank the many colleagues, mentors, and trainees I have had the honour of working with for their support and contributions to our research.”

Azad is a globally recognized leader in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, a concept that emphasizes the long-term impact of early life experiences. She is uniquely investigating how breast milk and breastfeeding influences later health and disease in children. Her groundbreaking work continues to uncover the role of breast milk in the infant microbiome, with the goal of preventing chronic disease and promoting healthy growth in early development.

Azad is a research scientist with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba and holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease. Her innovative research has earned funding nationally and internationally from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has published 144 peer-reviewed articles, which have been cited more than 11,000 times.

Azad’s work has already been recognized with several awards to date. In 2020, Azad was selected for the Ken Hughes Young Investigator Award in Medical Research, the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Joe Doupe Young Investigator Award, and the International Milk Genomics Consortium Outstanding Mid-Career Investigator Award. She has also named among Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women (2020), and Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2021).

Dr. Azad being awarded the Steacie Prize by Committee selection member Dr. Digvir Jayas.

On March 28, colleagues from across the university community gathered to celebrate her accomplishment at an award ceremony presented by Steacie Prize selection panel representative Dr. Digvir Jayas.

“This Steacie Prize is an important recognition of the successes of Dr. Azad and her world-leading research in the developmental origins of health and disease and a testament to the extraordinary research talent here at UM,” said Dr. Mario Pinto, UM Vice-President (Research and International). “We are deeply honoured that she has chosen the University of Manitoba as her home and welcome the opportunity to celebrate her incredible achievements together. Her work serves as a wonderful example of discovery research, as well as knowledge mobilization and translation for societal and economic impact, which will continue to be felt both at home and around the world for generations to come.”

Azad’s goal is to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy growth during critical periods of early development. To achieve this, she co-founded the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC) with Dr. Nathan Nickel. MILC is the first facility dedicated to the interdisciplinary research of breast milk and breastfeeding in the world.

Leveraging the success of MILC, Azad has extended the scope of the organization globally, establishing the International Milk Composition Consortium (IMiC). IMiC facilitates collaboration between four research groups studying maternal nutrition and infant growth in Tanzania, Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Canada.

“I’m fueled by the excitement of doing cutting-edge science, and the drive to translate discoveries to make a meaningful impact on child and maternal health globally,” said Meghan Azad. “It’s gratifying to see our research and advocacy around breastfeeding and breast milk recognized as an important field on the national stage. This work involves many colleagues, trainees and research participants. I am grateful to them all and excited about the new projects we have in the pipeline together.”

Azad and collaborators recently launched the International Perinatal Outcomes in the Pandemic (iPOP) Study, to study the impact of pandemic lockdowns on preterm birth rates. iPOP represents the work of more than 100 researchers spanning 42 countries; the results were recently published in Nature Human Behaviour. She is also the co-director of the multidisciplinary THRiVE Discovery Lab, together with Natalie Rodriguez, and is deputy director of the CHILD Cohort Study which follows 10,000 participants across some 3,500 households to learn how early experiences shape lifelong health.

In addition to her many active research projects, Azad serves on the joint US/Canada Human Milk Composition Initiative. She is also a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation, where she co-developed the Trainee Expansion Program, a global exchange initiative for research trainees.

Drs. Meghan Azad, Sara Israels and Soheila Karimi at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences are receiving the honour in three categories, respectively: Emerging Leaders, Professionals, and Science and Technology.

“In a difficult year, we’ve been inspired by Canada’s highest achieving women who unite those around them and help us all rise above our challenges,” said Sherri Stevens, owner and CEO of WXN. “These powerful women continue to lead the way, which is why it’s important to celebrate their achievements.”

The trio join 17 UM recipients named Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 since the awards began.

“These women are incredible leaders who are achieving inspiring accomplishments,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and UM Distinguished Professor. “Their diligent, passion-fueled activities are innovative and impactful, and they have each transformed research, medical education and care in our province and around the globe.”

Launched in 2003, WXN is Canada’s national organization that propels and celebrates the advancement of women at all levels, in all sectors and of all ages. The winners range from rising stars to top of their fields to advocates to champions for others to community leaders to teachers and students. They are breaking ground for future generations. WXN is hosting Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Awards Program, which includes a virtual two-day Leadership Summit and Gala on December 2 and 3.

“It’s gratifying that these outstanding women, true role models, are being formally recognized for their many achievements as leaders, researchers, and in academic medicine, ” said Dr. Brian Postl, dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. “Their contributions demonstrate our commitment as a faculty to empower and advance women and members of under-represented groups and I sincerely congratulate all three faculty members on this prestigious award.”

The honourees

Meghan Azad (pediatrics and child health, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), awarded in the Emerging Leaders category, which celebrates the professional achievements of women aged 30 to 45 who are at the mid-level stage of their careers. These women are seen as high-potential contributors within their organizations, are passionate about learning and innovating, and have accomplished a great deal in their chosen field.

Sara Israels (pediatrics and child health, cell biology, Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology, Health Sciences Centre), vice-dean (academic affairs), awarded in the Professionals category, which recognizes women who are professionals in practice and are leaders within their organizations.

Soheila Karimi (physiology and pathophysiology, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), awarded in the Science and Technology category, this award celebrates female leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) roles who are challenging the status quo for knowledge and female empowerment.

Uma Yakandawala

Last fall, Yakandawala joined the College of Pharmacy master’s program to begin her research studying medications in breast milk and has recently received the 2020 Canada Graduate Scholarships – Masters (CGS M) award which will support her in her studies. The value of the award is $17,500 for 12 months.

“Through communicating with people at community engagement events, I’ve found that there’s a limited amount of knowledge that they have on making a decision whether or not to take a medication and how much medication to take,” says Yakandawala.

She will be working at the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), led by Dr. Meghan Azad, Dr. Nathan Nickel, and Dr. Lauren Kelly. All three are assistant professors in the departments of pediatrics and child health and community health sciences and research scientists at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. Nickel is an associate director at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.

She will be supervised by Kelly and Dr. Christine Leong, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy.

MILC is a research centre building a novel biorepository to study breast milk linked to administrative data.

“Manitoba has a unique opportunity to lead medication in breast milk research in Canada with the development of MILC,” says Yakandawala.

There are two components to Yakandawala’s project. The first part will be a systematic review to understand the collection methods and analytical techniques used to study medications in breast milk. This will help to inform the development of analytical techniques in order to quantify levels of medications excreted in breast milk.

The second part is a scoping review and a questionnaire. This will help researchers to understand the preference factors of mothers that contribute to their decisions to take medications during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Yakandawala started down this research path last summer while doing an undergraduate research award project with Leong. She decided to continue studying the topic.

“I’m especially interested in the knowledge translation piece, how we’re able to translate the research we do in the lab to the community,” she says.

The community engagement aspect is something Yakandawala enjoys most about the project, which allows her to go out and speak with people about the subject face-to-face.

“We hold a lot of community engagement events to understand what people know about medication in breast milk and how they want to be involved in the research. There’s a holistic approach to our research which I really love,” she says.

Yakandawala hopes her study will one day help people who are pregnant and breastfeeding make more informed decisions about medications.

“There’s isn’t a lot of existing research in the literature,” she says. “It’s important to ensure that future research will study patient outcomes and what’s important to mothers and pregnant people when it comes to medications and breast milk. This study will hopefully lead to the development of a decision aid that may be used in clinical practice.”

Yakandawala says she was excited to find out the news that she received the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) award, which aims to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in early graduate studies.

“I was honoured and appreciative to be one of the students at UM that got chosen to receive this scholarship,” she says.

The CGS M program provides financial support for to up to 3,000 graduate students annually in all disciplines. It is administered jointly by Canada’s three federal agencies: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. More info: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/students-etudiants/pg-cs/cgsm-bescm_eng.asp

The teams are two out of seven research groups from across Canada to be awarded funding as part of CIHR’s initiative to better understand the role of the microbiome in human health and disease.

Microbiome in cervical cancer

One Rady Faculty of Health Sciences research team received funding for a five-year project to allow the scientists to perform studies of the vaginal microbiome in cervical cancer to better understand its role in the disease.

“Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women globally, causing more than 250,000 deaths per year and affecting more than half a million women each year,” said co-lead Dr. Adam Burgener, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, and medical microbiology and infectious diseases. “The HPV vaccine is the most effective prevention tool we have against cervical cancer. But for those with advanced disease, where treatment options are more limited, finding new therapeutic interventions that could help existing treatments would be very helpful. We are very excited and grateful for the support from CIHR to help with this effort.”

(Left to right) Dr. Adam Burgener, Dr. Vanessa Poliquin and Dr. Thomas Murooka.

Along with Burgener, the project will be co-led by the Rady Faculty’s Dr. Thomas Murooka, assistant professor of immunology and medical microbiology and infectious diseases, and Dr. Vanessa Poliquin, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, and Dr. Roger Paredes, from the IrsiCaixa Institute for AIDS Research in Spain.

The study will investigate whether healthy vaginal bacteria, such as lactobacillus species, or the products they produce, such as metabolites and proteins, are important for slowing the progression of cervical cancer. The project will not only study the microbiome, but also immune responses that are important for clearance of the disease, using the tools of systems biology. Burgener’s team hopes that by examining this ‘cross-talk’ between the immune system and the microbiome it could lead to useful therapeutic interventions.

“The microbiome is very important for the susceptibility to many diseases,” Burgener said. “It is being explored for treatments in disease, including cancer. For example, the absence of some microbial species in the gut have been shown to determine whether certain cancer therapies are effective or not. This is truly remarkable, as it indicates they could act as partners in therapy. It may be that the vaginal microbiome may hold similar potential against cervical cancer, and we hope to find it.”

Co-investigators on the project include Dr. Alicia Berard (University of Manitoba), Dr. Christina Farr (University of Manitoba) and Dr. Melanie Murray (University of British Columbia). Clinical partners working in Uganda include Dr. Lisa Frenkel (University of Washington), Dr. Tom Uldrick (University of Washington), Dr. Carolyn Nakisige (Uganda Cancer Institute), Dr. Constance Namirembe (Uganda Cancer Institute) and Dr. Corey Casper (University of Washington). Dr. Jiafen Hu (Penn State Cancer Institute), Dr. Jake Estes (Oregon Health and Sciences University), Dr. Rafick Sekaly (Case Western Reserve University) and Dr. Alberto Severini (PHAC) are collaborators on the project.

Microbial causes of asthma

The other team, made up of CHILD Cohort Study researchers, received funding for a five-year project to allow the scientists to examine the trillions of microorganisms living inside the human body and uncover the role they play in causing asthma.

“Asthma affects about one in 10 children and it is the most common reason why children miss school or end up in hospital,” said co-lead Dr. Meghan Azad, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease at the University of Manitoba and a research scientist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba. “We are truly delighted to receive this funding, which will ultimately help us to improve the lives of Canadian children.”

Dr. Meghan Azad and Dr. Padmaja Subbarao.

The study is co-led by Azad and Dr. Padmaja Subbarao at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

The project, Causational Roles of the Gut Microbiome in Childhood Asthma: Leveraging the CHILD Co-hort Study, will mine the extensive environmental, clinical and microbiome data, and biological samples available from CHILD to investigate how an infant’s genetics, sex and early-life exposures influence the microbiome-immune system co-development. The project will also look at the importance of breastmilk and antibiotics in shaping the infant gut microbiome; the impact of the microbiome on the risk of asthma; and microbiome-targeted interventions for asthma in mice.

“CHILD has shown that breastfed babies have higher levels of beneficial gut bacteria and a lower risk of developing asthma as they get older,” Azad said. “This research will use new technologies to find out how gut bacteria are causing or preventing asthma and the role that early-life exposures, such as breastfeeding, play in modifying those bacteria.”

Launched in 2008 by CIHR and AllerGen NCE, the CHILD Cohort Study (CHILD) is tracking nearly 3,500 Canadian infants and their families, including 1,000 in Manitoba, to help determine the root causes of chronic diseases such as asthma, allergies and obesity. CHILD spans four provinces, involving over 140 multidisciplinary researchers, students and research staff.

Principal Investigators on the project include Dr. Qingling Duan (Queen’s University), Dr. Jeremy Hirota (McMaster University), Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj (University of Alberta), Dr. Wendy Lou (University of Toronto), Dr. Kelly McNagny (The University of British Columbia), Dr. Michael Surette (McMaster University), and CHILD co-director Dr. Stuart Turvey (The University of British Columbia).

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

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

Here’s a look at the projects:

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

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

Project Grant: $1,220,940

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

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

Project Grant: $726,750

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

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

Project Grant: $707,625

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

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

Project Grant: $321,300

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

Dr. Jillian Stobart, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy

Project Grant: $504,900

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

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

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

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

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

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

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

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

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

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

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

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

Priority Announcement Bridge Grant: $100,000

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

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.

“These Canada Research Chairs who are receiving this support from the Government of Canada are either developing new technologies and materials that will have applications in every Canadian’s life, or working to literally benefit all our lives through focused health research,” says Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba.

Meghan Azad.

Meghan Azad, Pediatrics and Child Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease (Tier 2)

Dr. Azad studies the early-life determinants of lifelong health. Her current research examines the impact of maternal nutrition and breastfeeding on child health and development. Her overarching objective is to characterize the impact of breastfeeding on the development of childhood asthma and obesity, and to identify the human milk constituents and maternal factors that are responsible for these effects. This research will guide new strategies for health promotion and disease prevention, help optimize nutrition guidelines for mothers and babies, and inform related policies to support maternal child health.

Pourang Irani.

Pourang Irani, Computer Science
Canada Research Chair in Ubiquitous Analytics (Tier 2)

As our reliance on data for sense-making increases, end-user tools need to evolve to allow individuals or organizations to derive insight and make decisions based on large and varied data sources, to manage their daily affairs. The proposed research in ubiquitous analytics will advance information visualization, navigation and manipulation interfaces on the next generation mobile and wearable technologies, to help users derive insight from data. The outcomes will lead to innovative digital systems that, ultimately, will fade into the background as end-users naturally interact with data to arrive at decisions anywhere, and anytime.

Lorrie Kirshenbaum.

Lorrie Kirshenbaum, Physiology and Pathophysiology, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences; St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre
Canada Research Chair in Molecular Cardiology (Tier 1)

Dr. Kirshenbaum’s research objectives are to delineate the biological pathways that underlie cardiac cell death and pathological cardiac remodeling leading to heart failure after myocardial infarction. Currently, there are no therapies to prevent or reverse cell death after injury. To address this important clinical need, Dr. Kirshenbaum will use small and large animal disease models, human iPS cells, adenovirus associated viruses, live cell imaging, chemical structural biology and bioinformatics to investigate the molecular connections between apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis for pre-clinical testing of novel therapies to meet the unmet clinical demand.

Puyan Mojabi.

Puyan Mojabi, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Electromagnetic Inversion for Characterization and Design (Tier 2)

The proposed research develops novel algorithms and techniques to characterize the regions of interest from their external electromagnetic signatures, and to explore new possibilities in tailoring electromagnetic fields. The unique aspect of the proposed research is that all these algorithms and techniques stem from one consistent and flexible framework, called the electromagnetic inversion framework, and are then applied to diverging application areas: antenna characterization, near-field imaging, Arctic remote sensing, and the design of engineered surfaces and materials. This research aims to enhance the achievable accuracy and resolution in characterization, and to provide increased flexibility in design.

Roberta Woodgate.

Roberta Woodgate, Nursing
Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare (Tier 1)

Researchers in children’s health rarely included children’s voices in the research process. To address this silence, Dr. Roberta Woodgate’s pioneering work actively engages children and their families to enhance health policy and practice. She seeks to improve the ways in which children and families participate in health research, focusing on how best to involve vulnerable children across a range of health conditions and their families. Woodgate’s work is critical. Improving children’s health cannot move forward until researchers fully understand and widely share the experiences and needs of vulnerable children and their families with health care professionals and other key stakeholders.

Guozhen Zhu.

Guozhen Zhu, Mechanical Engineering
Canada Research Chair in Mechanical and Functional Design of Nanostructured Materials (Tier 2)

Dr. Guo-zhen Zhu will develop a research program focused on the characterization and design of nanostructured materials. Her work will include the development of new methods for characterizing materials at the atomic scale. Her research will lead to the development of advanced alloys and metal oxides that have vastly superior physical and mechanical properties when compared with current state-of-the-art materials used in industry. These novel materials will ultimately provide a competitive advantage to Canadian companies in the aerospace, automotive and energy sectors.

Tier 1 chairs, tenable for seven years and renewable once, are awarded to outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields. For each chair, the institution receives $200,000 annually for seven years.

Tier 2 chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are awarded to exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. For each chair, the institution receives $100,000 annually for five years.