From investigating the mechanisms of cancer cells and chronic pain to shaping new policies for microbiome health, nine University of Guelph researchers have received over $7.1 million in federal grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) [1]. 

Insights from these projects could lead to new treatments for life-threatening diseases such as breast cancer, chronic kidney disease, leukemia, and more.  

College of Biological Science 

• Dr. Shaun Sanders [2], Department of Microbiology and Cellular Biology (MCB) [3], will receive $808,349 to better understand ion channels in neurons. 

• Dr. Graham Holloway [4], Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences [5], has received $791,776 to study dietary nitrate and how it might mitigate the consequences of physical inactivity. 

• Dr. Nina Jones [6], MCB, has been granted $879,750 to study specialized kidney cells called podocytes, whose functions are disrupted during early kidney disease. 

• Dr. Siavash Vahidi [7], MCB, has received $1,143,375 to investigate acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. 

College of Social and Applied Human Sciences 

• Dr. Kieran O’Doherty [8], Department of Psychology [9], has received $707,624 to investigate society’s relationship to the human microbiome. 

Ontario Veterinary College 

• Dr. Giannina Descalzi [10], Department of Biomedical Sciences [11], has received $1,086,300 to understand the mechanisms and networks in the brain that cause chronic pain, which is experienced by one in four Canadians over the age of 15. 

• Dr. Samuel Tekeste Workenhe [12], Department of Pathobiology [13], has received $925,650 to investigate the process of cell death and the cellular alarm signals that alert the immune system to destroy cancer cells. 

• Dr. Roger Moorehead [14], Department of Biomedical Sciences, has received $100,000 to study a protein shown to reduce the growth and spread of breast cancer cells to the lungs. 

• Dr. Sarah Wootton [15], Department of Pathobiology, received $761,176 to enhance and expand her group’s patented alternative vaccine system, which has been shown to be effective against a range of infectious diseases, including Ebola and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 

Read the full news release on the U of G News site: U of G Researchers Receive Federal Funding to Study Cancer, Chronic Pain and More [16].