The Government of Canada invests over $21M in innovative health research

Minister Philpott visits Laval University to meet with top researchers who have joined forces in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases

QUÉBEC CITY, Aug. 21, 2017 /CNW/ - Researchers from Laval University and from across the country are working hard to create new scientific knowledge and tackle some of today's most pressing health issues that affect Canadians.

Today, the honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, was at the CHU de Québec – Laval University Research Centre, to highlight a total investment of over $21M in cutting-edge research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Twelve researchers, including two from Laval University, received $2.9M to undertake innovative biomedical and clinical HIV vaccine research projects. Furthermore, Dr. Gary Kobinger, renowned for his work on the world's first effective vaccine against the Ebola virus, received a $3.9M grant to work on a vaccine to prevent HIV. The Minister took the opportunity to commend a further 18 researchers from Laval University who received a total of $14.4M in funding to tackle conditions such as heart disease, asthma and cancer.

The Minister was joined by her Parliamentary Secretary, Joël Lightbound. During their visit, they had an opportunity to meet with researchers to learn about their projects, and participate in a lab tour.

Quotes

"It's always a great experience to meet with researchers who are at the forefront of creating the new scientific knowledge needed to treat illnesses, eradicate viruses like HIV, and improve quality of life. The researchers working at Laval University are a source of great inspiration to Canadians. We all benefit from their hard work."
Jane Philpott
Minister of Health 

"The brilliant researchers working at the CHU de Québec – Laval University Research Centre have helped put Laval University on the international stage for leading-edge scientific research. The projects funded through CIHR will improve the human condition by tackling some of the most devastating health issues of our time. The researchers being celebrated today should be very proud of what they are accomplishing."  
Joël Lightbound
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Member of Parliament for Louis-Hébert

"I wish to congratulate the most recent recipients of CIHR funding working at CHU de Québec – Laval University Research Centre. Each of your projects shows tremendous potential for adding to the scientific knowledge we have about conditions such as asthma, heart disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS. Thank you for your contributions to health research and to building a healthier Canada."
Dr. Marc Ouellette
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity

Quick Facts

• CIHR has provided 12 grants in the area of biomedical and clinical HIV/AIDS research for a total investment of $2.9M. These grants are designed to support cutting-edge biomedical and clinical research related to the development of an HIV vaccine.
• CIHR has awarded a grant of $3.9M to Laval University's Dr. Gary Kobinger to work towards developing a safe and effective HIV vaccine.
• Today's announced research projects are partly funded by the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, which is the research arm of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada. It invests $21 million each year to support research, capacity building and knowledge translation activities in four key areas: Biomedical and clinical research; Health services and population health research; Community-Based Research; and the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN).
• Project Grants are designed to support researchers at any career stage build and conduct health research and knowledge translation projects covering a range of areas, from discovery science and clinical research to strengthening the health care system and examining the social determinants of health. In the most recent Project Grant competition, CIHR provided $14.4M to support 18 researchers affiliated at Laval University.

Related Products
Backgrounder – Biomedical and clinical HIV/AIDS research grants
Backgrounder – Operating Grant: Optimizing the VSV Vector towards an HIV Vaccine
Backgrounder – Project Grants
Backgrounder – Dr. Kobinger's research
CIHR HIV/AIDS Initiative
Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada

At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.

Backgrounder

Operating Grant: Innovative Biomedical and Clinical HIV/AIDS Research

Through new CIHR funding, researchers will undertake innovative biomedical and clinical HIV vaccine research projects in new areas of investigation or take previous discoveries in new directions; promote the development and testing of novel HIV vaccine research tools and methodologies; and support high-risk HIV vaccine research projects with the potential for high impact, breakthrough and/or transformative advances.       

A total of ten researchers and two new investigators from across the country were awarded $2.9M dollars for the following projects:

Researcher	Institution	Project Title	Amount
Dr. Petronela Ancuta	Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)	Targeting mTOR to restore mucosal immunity toward remission in HIV-infected individuals	$250,000
Dr. Eric Arts	University of Western Ontario	Developing the ACT-VEC as an HIV therapeutic vaccine and cure approach	$250,000
Dr. Dimitrios Dikeakos	University of Western Ontario	Nef Inhibitors as Adjuvants Towards a Cure	$247,755
Dr. Jérôme Estaquier	Université Laval	Role of follicular CD8 T cells in the control of HIV/SIV mucosal immunity.	$250,000
Dr. Daniel E Kaufmann	Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)	Influence of pre-existing HIV cross-reactive CD4 T cells on vaccine responses to new Env immunogens	$249,994
Dr. Charu Kaushic	McMaster University	Improving vaginal health to decrease biological risk of HIV-1 infection in Canadian ACB women	$250,000
Dr. Denis Leclerc	Université Laval	Adjuvantization of SIV antigens using a novel toll like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist: A proof of concept in non-human primate.	$250,000
Dr. Lyle R Mckinnon	University of Manitoba	Impact of Vedolizumab on immune cell homing to the female reproductive and gastrointestinal mucosa	$249,460
Dr. Mario A Ostrowski	University of Toronto	Developing a Novel Modular Nanoparticle Vaccine Strategy to Induce Durable Systemic and Mucosal HIV Envelope Specific Antibodies	$250,000
Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy	Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre	Locking out HIV from CD4 T cells: A pilot study of the impact of anti a4b7 antibody (vedolizumab) on viral control following analytical treatment interruption	$247,650
Adam Burgener	University of Manitoba	Mechanisms of metaproteome factors in HIV infection risk in young women	$249,888
Ruey-Chyi	University of Manitoba	Elucidating the role of cell homing pathways in controlling endothelial cell-mediated enhancement of resting CD4+ T cell infection by HIV	$206,600

Backgrounder

Operating Grant: Optimizing the VSV Vector towards an HIV Vaccine

Researcher	Institution	Project Title	Amount
Dr. Gary Kobinger	Laval University	Development of a safe, effective and clinically acceptable VSV-based HIV vaccine	$3,997, 503

Backgrounder

Project Grants

Project Grants are designed to support researchers at any career stage build and conduct health research and knowledge translation projects covering a range of areas, from discovery science and clinical research to strengthening the health care system and examining the social determinants of health.

In the most recent Project Grants competition, CIHR provided $14.4M to support 18 researchers at Laval University.

Researcher	Project	Funding Amount
Dr. Patrick Archambault	Supporting the creation of a LEARNing INteGrated health system to mobilize context-adapted knowledge with a Wiki platform to Improve the transitions of frail Seniors from from hospitals and emergency Departments to the cOMmunity: the LEARNING WISDOM Phase II scale-up project	$1.47M
Dr. Jean-François Bilodeau	Isoprostanes and phospholipases A2: Roles in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia	$662,000
Dr. Elyse Bissonnette	CD200 dysregulation in asthma: potential for therapy?	$643,000
Dr. Mohamed Chahine	Investigating the role of gating pore current in cardiac arrhythmias associated with dilated cardiomyopathy	$1.03M
Dr. Paul De Koninck	Optical nanoscopy of cytoskeletal and synaptic remodeling in neurons	$784,000
Dr. Sabine Elowe	Towards a comprehensive model of Spindle Assembly Checkpoint silencing	$536,000
Dr. Amélie Fradet-Turcotte	Defining the molecular basis of chemoradiation sensitivity in HPV+ head and neck cancers.	$696,000
Dr. Chantal Guillemette	Function of the glucuronosyltransferase pathway in chronic lymphocytic leukemia	$639,000
Dr. Samer Hussein	The role of long non-coding RNAs in defining pluripotent stem cell states	$799,000
Dr. Mathieu Laplante	Molecular mechanisms of adipose tissue development	$696,000
Dr. Jean-Yves Masson	Roles of the tumor suppressor PALB2 at the crossroads of DNA double-strand break repair and synthetic lethal strategies	$968,000
Dr. Donald Poirier	Développement d'un traitement sélectif de l'endométriose : Étude du potentiel du premier inhibiteur irréversible de la 17beta-HSD1 chez le primate	$363,000
Dr. Armen Saghatelyan	Deciphering the role of autophagy in neuronal migration and maturation	$991,000
Dr. François Gros-Louis	Pathogenic Pathways and in-vitro modelization of Intracranial Aneurysms in populations of Inuit and French Canadian descent	$952,425
Dr. Sébastien Hébert	microRNA-132: from underlying mechanism of neurodegeneration to therapeutic application in Huntington's disease	$573,750
Dr. Michel G  Maziade	Intercepting the "childhood risk syndrome" of schizophrenia and mood disorders along the developmental trajectory: A preclinical staging of children and adolescents at genetic risk	$852,975
Dr. Thomas Moss	Mechanism of Ribosomal RNA Gene Silencing and Its Roles in Pluripotency and Cancer	$1,074,060
Dr.  Martin Parent	La modulation des ganglions de la base par les afférences neurochimiques du tronc cérébral: implication dans la physiopathologie des troubles du mouvement	$738,225

SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Andrew MacKendrick, Office of the Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Media Relations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 613-941-4563, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca