Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital awarded 13 CIHR grants worth $10 million

Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have been awarded $10 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to lead 13 cutting-edge research projects. These projects will advance science and improve health in areas such as neuromuscular disease, kidney disease, lung disease, brain development, depression, trust in health care, heart failure, stem cells, cancer, prehabilitation, patient engagement and infection prevention.

Another four grants are also being co-led by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital, but administered at another institution.  

 “By fueling bold ideas and the people behind them, these grants will accelerate cutting-edge health research and the translation of results to the bedside — bringing new diagnostics, therapies, and prevention strategies to patients and ensuring that we are delivering the most effective and efficient care,” said Dr. Rebecca Auer, Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at The Ottawa Hospital, CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and professor at the University of Ottawa. “This investment in Canadian research and innovation is recognition of the importance of Canada’s health research industry in the evolving global landscape.” 

Successful CIHR Project Grants administered at OHRI

OPMDx  Canadian Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy Biomarkers Study – $1,212,525

• Principal Investigator(s): Warman Chardon, Jodi
• Co Investigator(s): Brais, B; Gagnon, C; Melkus, GE; Osman, H; Perkins, TJ; Sampaio, M; Smith, I

Cellular and molecular pathogenesis of renal tuberous sclerosis complex – $1,191,105

• Principal Investigator(s): Stanford, William Lloyd

Lung specific AAV gene therapy for inherited disorders of surfactant metabolism – $1,071,000

• Principal Investigator(s): Thebaud, Bernard
• Co Investigator(s): Wootton, S

Defining the requirement of the ATRX chromatin remodeling protein for the specification and development of the entorhinal cortex hippocampal circuitry – $1,051,875

• Principal Investigator(s): Picketts, David John

Targeting neuroplasticity to overcome treatment resistant depression – $960,075

• Principal Investigator(s):  Albert, Paul R

Building and sustaining trust in healthcare: Co developing a compendium of equitable strategies for building, rebuilding and maintaining trust – $956,248

• Principal Investigator(s): Presseau, Justin; Auer, RC; Meyer, S; Smith, MM
• Co-Investigator(s): Albers, B; Brehaut, JC; Corace, KM; Desveaux, L; Dogba, MA; Dombrowski, S; Etherington, C; Fontaine, G; Heer, C; Hsu, AT; Ivers, NM; MacPherson, PA; Manuel, DG; Marques, MM; Nicholls, SG; Olson, JL; Powell, BJ; Vesnaver, E; Wilson, K; Wilson, MG

Small molecule induction of physiologic hypertrophy to limit/reverse heart failure – $864,450

• Principal Investigator(s): Megeney, Lynn Arthur

Muscle stem cell dysfunction in cancer cachexia – $833,850

• Principal Investigator(s): Rudnicki, Michael Anthony

Establishing C. elegans Ventral Nerve Cord Formation as a Model for Cell Positioning and Sorting – $772,650

• Principal Investigator(s): Colavita, Antonio

STRIVE before surgery trial: a pragmatic multicenter randomized trial of Structured TRaining to Improve fitness in a Virtual Environment before surgery – $765,001

• Principal Investigator(s): McIsaac, Daniel I; Gillis, CA; Hallet, J; Kidd, GD; Lee, SM; Mayson, KV; Taljaard, M; Tandon, P; Wallace, T; Wijeysundera, DN
• Co Investigator(s): Amado, LA; Andrews, M; Aucoin, SD; Auer, RC; Barnes, K; Boland, LS; Breau, RH; Bryson, GL; Chesney, T; Eskander, A; Fergusson, DA; Gagné, S; Hedlin, P; Hladkowicz, E; Khadaroo, R; Lalu, MM; Lavallée, LT; Ma, G; Martel, G; Nicholls, SG; Scheede Bergdahl, C; Serrano, PE; Thavorn, K; Van Walraven, C; Vogt, KN

LabPartners-Nexus: Embedding patient engagement in preclinical research across Canada’s Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Support units. – $100,000

• Principal Investigator(s): Fergusson, Dean A; Lalu, MM; Nicholls, SG; Richards, D
• Co Investigator(s): Crawley, AM; Fiest, KM; Gerber, E; Macala, K; Mendelson, AA; Mróz, LW; Parrilla Lopez Santana, M; Presseau, J; Thebaud, B

Oral Vancomycin for the Prevention of C. difficile Infection in High Risk HCT and CAR T Patients (VAPOR HCT): A Pilot Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial – $100,000

• Principal Investigator(s): MacFadden, Derek Robert; Atkins, HL; Buchan, CA; Cheng, MP; Climans, T; Coburn, BA; Daneman, N; Gauthier, K; Hay, A; Kabbani, D; Kekre, N; Kennah, M; McIntyre, LA; Mertz, D; Monteith, BE; Mortimer, LM; Purssell, A; Taljaard, M; Tsang, C
  Co Investigator(s): Carroll, A; Kain, T; Schweitzer, L; Vinh, DC; Yan, A

The Canadian Prehabilitation Network Review: a living systematic review to support advanced knowledge synthesis informing prehabilitation design and evaluation – $100,000

• Principal Investigator(s): McIsaac, Daniel I; Boland, LS; Gillis, CA; Hutton, BE; Kidd, GD; Martel, G; Veroniki, A
• Co Investigator(s): Aucoin, SD; Auer, RC; Beaule, PE; Brindle, ME; Bryson, GL; Eskander, A; Fergusson, DA; Fiore Jr, JF; Holroyd Leduc, JM; Khadaroo, R; Lalu, MM; Nelson, G; Poitras, S; Scheede Bergdahl, C; Taljaard, M; Tandon, P; Wijeysundera, DN

Successful CIHR Project with OHRI PIs - administered at another institution 

The effectiveness of alcohol warning labels on consumer knowledge and perceptions of alcohol’s health risks and on alcohol use: a randomized field experiment to inform alcohol labelling policy – $761,176

• Principal Investigator(s): Hobin, Erin P; Corace, Kimberly M
• Co-Investigator(s): Britz-Mckibbin, P; Cukier, S; Cunningham, JA; Hammond, DG; Li, Y; Meyer, S; Naimi, T; Sherk, AN; Smith, B; Stockwell, TR; Thompson, KD; Vanderlee, LM
• Note: This grant is administered at Public Health Ontario (Toronto)

Environmental Surveillance in Hospitals of Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns (ESHARP) – $604,351

• Principal Investigator(s): Wong, Alex; Fralick, Michael P; Hug, Laura A; Kassen, Rees; MacFadden, Derek R; Nott, Caroline
• Co-Investigator(s): Allen, Vanessa G; Bariciak, Erika; Buchan, Catharine A; Castellani, Lucas; Cheung, Matthew C; Doukhanine, Evgueni; Husain, Shahid; Johnstone, Jennie; Kharrat, Ashraf; Shah, Prakeshkumar; Sholzberg, Michelle
• Note: This grant is administered at Carleton University

Severity weighting of health outcomes for economic evaluation: from methods to application– $684,676

• Principal Investigator(s): Ali, Shehzad; Haines, AG; Mittmann, N; Thavorn, K; Whitehurst, DG
• Co-Investigator(s): Baker, RM; Barra, MH; Cipriano, LE; Guertin, JR; Keetharuth, AD; Ollendorf, D; Paulden, M; Sander, BH; Shah, K; Steele, D
• Note: This grant is administered at Western University (Ontario)

EAST-STROKE: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Rhythm Control vs. Standard of Care for Atrial Fibrillation in Acute Ischemic Stroke – $971,550

• Principal Investigator(s): Sposato, Luciano Alberto; Hill, MD; Shoamanesh, A; Yogendrakumar, V
• Co-Investigator(s): Andrade, JG; Buck, BH; Cipriano, LE; Field, TS; Gladstone, DJ; Gula, LJ; Ha, AC; Healey, JS; Khan, H; Pikula, A; Ramirez, FD; Rajendram, P; Singh, N; Wilton, SB
• Note: This grant is administered at London Health Sciences Centre Res. Inc. (Ont.)