Search Website
Health researchers secure $4.7M in NSERC Discovery Grants
Emily Leighton
Federal funding powers new discoveries in health and biomedical science
By Emily Leighton
Researchers at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry have received more than $4.7 million in federal funding to pursue new discoveries in health and biomedical science.
The funding, awarded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Discovery Grants program, will support 20 projects advancing research in areas including neuroscience, cancer, medical imaging, artificial intelligence, cardiovascular health and regenerative medicine.
“Discovery Grants provide researchers with the flexibility to pursue curiosity-driven ideas and tackle fundamental questions,” said Robert Bartha, PhD, vice dean of research and innovation. “This investment reflects the depth and diversity of basic science research at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, while helping our researchers build the knowledge, technologies and talent that will shape the future of health research."
The funding is part of $19 million awarded to researchers at Western. The grants were announced on July 7 in Ottawa.
Discovery Grants are aimed at fostering the creativity and innovation needed to drive new discoveries in the natural sciences and engineering. They also support the training of highly qualified personnel, including students, postdoctoral scholars, technicians and research associates who will help shape Canada’s future research enterprise.
Funded projects:
- Molecular domains and residues determining gap junction channel formation and properties
Donglin Bai - Mapping metabolic crosstalk in microbial communities
Stephanie Bishop - Moving when time is of the essence: Assessing the interplay between cortical and subcortical circuits underlying express visuomotor responses in humans
Brian Corneil - Imaging the development of the auditory and language networks – a longitudinal study from fetus to school-age children
Sandrine de Ribaupierre - Cell polarity and cardiogenesis: Roles of microRNAs
Qingping Feng - Redefining 4D-CT: A Motion-Resolved Imaging and Planning Platform for Precision Radiotherapy
Stewart Gaede - Cell lineage transdifferentiation in the islets of Langerhans in response to metabolic stress
David Hill - Multimodal Generative AI for Molecular Foundation Models, Automated Design, and Closed-Loop Discovery
Pingzhao Hu - Open-Source Tool Development for Behavioural Neuroscience
Jibran Khokhar - Integration of Regulatory Kinase Signaling Pathways
David Litchfield - Radio Frequency Pulse Design for Ultra High Field MRI
Ravi Menon - Depth-Sensitive Optical Imaging for Reliable Neuromonitoring in the Adult Human Brain
Daniel Milej - Exploiting a unique predator-prey interaction to discover new mycobacterial biology
Patrick Moynihan - Bioresponsive ECM Microparticles Guiding Dental Stem Cell Behavior in Blood-Induced Microenvironments
Georgia Nikoloudaki - Advances in Hybrid PET/MRI Imaging
Frank Prato - Non-canonical functions of Ku in DNA damage and stress responses
Caroline Schild-Poulter - A Cross-Species Platform for Studying Multisensory Attention and Normalization with Frequency-Tagged fMRI
Taylor Schmitz - Sex-hormone regulation of mechanoreceptors in the intervertebral disc
Cheryle Séguin - Elucidating endogenous substrates for drug transporters and drug metabolizing enzymes
Brad Urquhart - Mechanism of NK cell repertoire development and tolerance
Zhu-Xu Zhang
The funding announcement included Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants, with $150,000 awarded to Ilke Heinemann, PhD, for her project “Advanced Fluorescence Analysis of the Cellular Functions of RNA and Protein Modifications.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who visited Western earlier this month, said backing Canadian talent will strengthen Canada’s economy, and ensure the country remains a global leader in innovation, competitiveness and resilience.
“Canada’s greatest competitive advantage is our people,” Joly said. “By investing in our world-class researchers and innovators right here at home, we are helping turn Canadian discoveries into new technologies, growing companies and good jobs.”