Seed funding strengthens collaborative research

Nearly $300,000 in new research funding has been granted to eight research projects underway at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. The funding is part of the Collaborative Research Seed Grant competition, a pilot project at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. It provides seed funding for the formation and development of new interdisciplinary collaborative research teams. The intent is to promote new collaborations that build on different scientific and scholarly backgrounds, to facilitate breakthroughs in solving research questions in a collaborative manner and to position the School's researchers to successfully respond to targeted RFP's from Tri-Council or other funding agencies.

"New funding initiatives from CIHR and other agencies are increasingly focused on collaborative and multidisciplinary activities as opposed to single investigator awards. We felt it was important to provide the base for our researchers to start building their track records in alignment with this approach," said Denise Figlewicz, vice-dean Research & Innovation.

In total 38 proposals were submitted and reviewed by an internal panel of Schulich Medicine & Dentistry faculty. In the end, eight projects were selected. Congratulations are extended to the following researchers:

Collaborative Research Seed Grant awards

Modulation of Viral Chromatin Structure as a First Line of Defense against Herpes virus Infection
PI: Nathalie Berube (Paediatrics)
Co-Investigator: George Zahariadis (Pathology)

Development of a novel B cell-based biomarker for Multiple Sclerosis
PI: Steve Kerfoot (MNI)
Co-Investigators: Sarah Morrow (CNS), Marcelo Kremenchutsky (CNS)

Ultrasound-guided Mechatronic System for Targeted Delivery of Cell-based Cancer Vaccine Immunotherapy
PI: James Lacefield (Medical Biophysics)
Co-Investigators: Greg Dekaban (MNI), Aaron Fenster (Medical Imaging), Paula Foster (Medical Biophysics)

Establishing the Western Collaboration for Integration of Consumer Technology and Healthcare (CICTH) research group
PI: Eldon Loh (PMR)
Co-Investigators: David Walton (Physical Therapy, Lawson), Ana Luisa Trejos (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lawson), Jim Dickey (Kinesiology), Michael Katchabaw (Computer Science)

Targeted Exercise Intervention to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in Sepsis
PI: Claudio Martin (DOM)
Co-Investigators: Chris Ellis (Medical Biophysics), Gedas Cepinskas (Medical Biophysics), Rob Hammond (Pathology), Tina Mele (Surgery), Michael Sharpe (Anesthesia), Keith St Lawrence (Medical Biophysics), Daniel Goldman (Medical Biophysics), Doug Fraser (Paediatrics), Kevin Shoemaker (Kinesiology)

Towards Improved Detection of Brain Metastases in Breast Cancer Patients: a Pilot Study of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Detecting Vascular Permeable and Non-permeable Brain Metastases
PI: Francisco Perera (Oncology)
Co-Investigators: Paula Foster (Medical Biophysics), Keng Yeow Tay (Medical Imaging), Eugene Wong (Oncology), Ann Chambers (Oncology)

Intratumoral Modulation Therapy for Gliolastoma Multiforme
PI: Susanne Schmid (ACB)
Co-Investigator: Matthew Hebb (CNS)

Beta Blocker Effectiveness in Hemodialysis
PI: Brad Urquhart (Physiology and Pharmacology)
Co-Investigator: Matthew Weir (DOM)