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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rady Faculty of Health Sciences CIHR project funding recipients 

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

Grant: $100,000 (one year)  

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

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

Grant: $1,067,176 (five years)  

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

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

Grant: $1,071,000 (five years) 

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

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

Grant: $1,132,200 (five years)  

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

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

Grant: $1,151,326 (five years) 

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

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

Grant: $898,876 (five years)  

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

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

Grant: $688,501 (four years)  

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

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

Grant: $1,143,676 (five years)  

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

Dr. Jillian Stobart, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy 

Grant: $944,776 (five years)  

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

Dr. Geoffrey Tranmer, associate professor, College of Pharmacy  

Grant: $730,576 (five years)  

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

“Our researchers have demonstrated excellence by securing federal support for a diverse range of innovative health studies,” said UM Vice-President (Research and International) Dr. Mario Pinto.

“Many of our UM experts will be collaborating with community members to help our research have impact and provide solutions for society.”

Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, also noted the involvement of community partners in many of the funded projects. “This is important because community members have valuable expertise to contribute,” he said.

Dr. Jonathan McGavock, professor of pediatrics and child health at the Max Rady College of Medicine in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, was a double recipient, landing two of the 10 grants to UM in the Spring 2023 round of funding.

McGavock, who is also a researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), has a key research interest in youth diabetes, with a particular focus on encouraging physical activity. The professor, who holds a PhD in exercise science, published a study last year demonstrating the cardiovascular health benefits associated with living near a multi-use activity trail.

He and his team have now received a grant of $1,453,500 to lead a five-year study of how Canadian cities can best implement urban trails that are fair for all citizens and generate the greatest possible cardiovascular health benefits. Seven cities, including Winnipeg, Brandon and Selkirk, are partners in the study.

“Our team will be working closely with city planners, and with organizations in all seven cities that support the use of trails, to create an optimal ‘recipe’ for trail creation that can inform the next wave of urban trails in Canadian cities,” McGavock said.  

The second grant to McGavock’s team is for $734,400 over four years. It will fund a randomized trial of a program for adolescents living with obesity. The program will support teens’ social, emotional and psychological needs as well as lifestyle changes, such as better sleep, daily activity and healthier eating.

“Very few treatments aimed at supporting a healthy lifestyle for adolescents with obesity incorporate skills to help regulate emotions and support positive mental health and quality of life,” McGavock said. 

“We want to determine if it’s feasible to deliver a treatment for teens living with obesity that includes emotional skills training.”

Here’s a look at the other CIHR-funded UM projects. More information on the studies and research teams is available here.

Dr. Jeremy Chopek, assistant professor, physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $975,376 (five years)

Chopek’s study seeks to better understand how electrical spinal stimulation can not only improve motor function in people with spinal cord injury, but also improve the body’s autonomic functions, such as regulating heart rate and blood pressure. The long-term goal is to increase exercise capacity, reduce obesity and improve overall health in people living with spinal cord injury.

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

Grant: $1,027,780 (five years)

Dhingra will focus on mesenchymal stem cells (a type of multipotent cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types) derived from bone marrow. Aiming to understand why, in treating heart disease, transplanted stem cells are rejected by the recipient, Dhingra’s team will experiment with modifying the cells to improve their survival in the heart.

Dr. Keith Fowke, professor, medical microbiology and infectious diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

Partnering with community members in Nairobi, Kenya, Fowke’s team will study immune cells from Kenyan women who naturally clear the human papilloma virus (HPV) in the presence or absence of HIV co-infection. Because HPV causes cervical cancer, understanding how the immune system clears it naturally is an important step toward developing a vaccine to clear HPV infection.

Dr. Lauren Kelly, associate professor, pharmacology and therapeutics, Max Rady College of Medicine; researcher, CHRIM

Grant: $749,700 (three years)

Kelly will lead a randomized clinical trial of cannabidiol (CBD) alone versus CBD in combination with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as a treatment to reduce seizures in children and adults with drug-resistant epilepsy. Patient-centred organizations have partnered with researchers in guiding the trial, which will involve 90 participants across eight sites.

Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum, professor, physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine; Canada Research Chair in molecular cardiology; director, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre

Grant: $757,350 (five years)

Doxorubicin is an effective chemotherapy drug with the side effect of inducing heart failure in some cancer survivors. Kirshenbaum’s study will examine the apparent link between cancer patients’ disrupted body clocks, autophagy (the body’s process of “recycling” damaged cell parts to maintain cell quality), and the harmful effects of doxorubicin on the heart.

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

Grant: $481,951 (four years, three months)

Louis will lead a three-province study of how the birth of a preterm baby affects siblings in the family. Parents of a preterm infant often experience stress, isolation, financial difficulties and mental health effects. Louis’s team will be the first to examine siblings’ risk for developing behavioural, socio-emotional, mental and physical health problems in childhood and adolescence.

Dr. Kristin Reynolds, associate professor, psychology, Faculty of Arts

Grant: $351,901 (four years)

Reynolds’ team will partner with community organizations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia to implement and evaluate the CONNECT Program, a group telehealth mental health program for older adults. Working with the organizations, the researchers will assess the program’s effects on participants’ loneliness, social connection and mental health.

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

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

Woodgate’s mixed-methods study will focus on vaccine uptake within families. Her team aims to understand Manitoba childrearing families’ perspectives and decisions about vaccinating their family members against COVID-19 and influenza, with the goal of providing recommendations to promote vaccine uptake.

“This is outstanding and an example of the very best of biomedical science at the University of Manitoba,” says Dr. Peter Cattini, professor and head of physiology and pathophysiology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Upon discovery of the synthesis process and biomedical applications of MXene materials, Dhingra and his team have been approved for three US patents. These published studies prove how the material can be used to make heart transplants easier for patients and improve the battery life of pacemakers.

One of the studies focuses on how MXene can improve the lives of those who receive heart transplants.

After an organ transplant, the recipient’s immune system may try to reject the new foreign organ. Patients have to take anti-rejection pills for the rest of their lives, which come with serious side effects. Anti-rejection drugs suppress immune responses to keep the body from rejecting the new organ, but often cause higher rates of infections in the patient. They can also cause high blood pressure, gout and problems with kidney functions and blood cells.

But with MXene nanomaterials, this could be a thing of the past. Through a combination of engineering and immunology, called immuno-engineering, researchers created tantalum carbide MXene quantum dots which is able to stop body’s automatic immune response.

“When you transplant any organ to the recipient, it leads to activation of immune cells and ultimately rejection of transplanted organ. MXene quantum dots that we have produced in our laboratory have the potential to halt activation of immune cells and prevent rejection of transplanted organ without putting the patient on immunosuppressants for the rest of their lives,” says Dhingra, principal investigator of all three published studies.

The other study focuses on how tantalum carbide MXene could be used as energy storage material.

For those living with a pacemaker or cochlear implant, MXene could keep their device running longer. With a few modifications, Dhingra and his team were able to create a tantalum carbide MXene based microelectrode called TTO MXene, which has the potential to support battery life for up to 20 years. Currently, most pacemakers need to be replaced every three to seven years.

“When we compared our electrode to other capacitors currently in use, the batteries made from our new MXene material showed it would last much, much longer than that,” says Dhingra.

TTO MXene would mean patients would have to undergo replacement surgery much less often, saving them visits to the hospital and recovery time. 

Dhingra’s interest in the material comes from a desire to work with and help people.

“I always knew I wanted to work in health care. It’s what I always had in mind. It’s not nine to five, it’s  seven days a week but I never feel exhausted by it,” he says.

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

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

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

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

DR. JOSEE LAVOIE

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

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

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

DR. ROBERT SCHROTH

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

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

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

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

Grant: $200,000 (two years)

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

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

Grant: $321,300 (three years)

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

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

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

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

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

Grant: $960,076 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $822,376 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $470,475 (four years)

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

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

Grant: $233,324 (three years)

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

Grant: $749,700 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

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

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

Grant: $300,000 (three years)

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

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

Grant: $742,050 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $548,890 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $983,026 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $742,050 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $573,751 (two years)

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

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

Grant: $990,676 (five years)

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

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

Grant: $240,976 (two years)

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