WCVM faculty awarded CIHR research funding
Through its latest round of funding, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research is investing $4,862,701 in 13 projects led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers and research teams — including scientists who are part of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) faculty.
Just over $2 million of the funding will support studies that are led by WCVM faculty based at the veterinary college or at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO). Topics of these health care projects range from infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance to neurobiology and pandemic preparedness.
The CIHR Project Grant program is intended to support ideas to advance health research across all potential subject areas, led by individual researchers or research teams at any stage of their careers.
USask had a 42 per cent success rate for this competition, compared to the national success rate of 24.3 per cent. In addition to WCVM and VIDO scientists, other successful researchers are from the USask College of Medicine, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, and the Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health (CCRAH).
USask’s 13 awarded projects also mark the most successful projects in a single round of the CIHR Project Grant competition in at least the last 15 rounds, as well as the second-highest amount of funding received in a single round.
WCVM-based research ($1,468,800)
Project: Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying sex-specific regulation of energy metabolism through NUCB1 in Drosophila melanogaster.
Principal investigator: Dr. Adelaine Leung (PhD), assistant professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences
CIHR funding: $627,300 for five-year project
Project: Discovery and characterization of overlooked antimicrobial resistance genes and mechanisms.
Principal investigator: Dr. Antonio Ruzzini (PhD), associate professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology
CIHR funding: $841,500 for five-year project
VIDO-based research ($700,000)
Project: Characterizing bat interferon stimulated genes as novel next generation therapy against highly pathogenic coronaviruses.
Principal investigator: Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD), VIDO research scientist and adjunct professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology
CIHR funding: $300,000 for three-year project
Project: Investigating the role of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV transcription regulatory sequence (TRS) in viral gene expression and virulence.
Principal investigator: Dr. Arinjay Banerjee (PhD), VIDO research scientist and adjunct professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology
CIHR funding: $100,000 for one-year project
Project: Characterizing the novel virulence functions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Type-7 secretion system ESX-1 effectors.
Principal investigator: Dr. Jeffrey Chen (PhD), VIDO research scientists and adjunct professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology
CIHR funding: $100,000 for one-year project
Project: Regulation of RIG-I mediated antiviral response upon influenza A virus infection.
Dr. Yan Zhou (PhD), VIDO research scientist and adjunct professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology
CIHR funding: $100,000 for one-year project
Additional VIDO research ($100,000)
Project: Role of phenotypic heterogeneity in mycobacterial persistence to antibiotics: Prospects for more effective treatment regimens
Principal investigator: Dr. Neeraj Dhar (PhD), VIDO (pending)
CIHR funding: $100,000 for one-year project
Additional USask research projects ($2,693,901)
Project: Targeting metastatic breast cancer
Principal investigator: Dr. Deborah Anderson (PhD), Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
CIHR funding: $504,900 for two-year project
Project: Targeting the EGFR/EphA2 crosstalk in triple negative breast cancer
Principal investigator: Dr. Andrew Freywald (PhD) et al., College of Medicine
CIHR funding: $100,00 for one-year project
Project: Shoulder dysfunction and breast cancer treatment: biomechanical analysis of the impact of reconstruction and mastectomy
Principal investigator: Dr. Angelica Lang (PhD), Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health
CIHR funding: $348,076 for four-year project
Project: Defining key players at the host-pathogen interface during Acinetobacter baumannii infection
Principal investigator: Dr. Jessica Sheldon (PhD), College of Medicine
CIHR funding: $868,275 for five-year project
Project: Unravelling the evolution of COVID-19: the impact of variant mutations and ORF8 on virus replication and pathogenesis to enhance pandemic preparedness
Principal investigator: Dr. Joyce Wilson (PhD) et al., College of Medicine
CIHR funding: $100,000 for one-year project
Project: Regulation of intestinal lipid storage and release in metabolic health and disease
Principal investigator: Dr. Changting Xiao (PhD), College of Medicine
CIHR funding: $772,650 for five-year project