Grants and Awards Recipients
Through our annual Grants and Awards Program, Health Sciences Centre Foundation seeks to advance and recognize the work of the extraordinary medical professionals and researchers at HSC. The following are the HSC Foundation’s Grant and Award recipients for 2009 / 2010.
General Operating Grants
Dr. Sam Kam-Pun Kung $34,535
Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen presenting cells that initiate and shape antigen-specific immune responses. Delivery of antigens to DC in the forms of soluble proteins or cDNA in expression vectors has been demonstrated to be effective in inducing antigen-specific immune responses in primate and rodent models. However, the current lack of an effective HIV -1 vaccine candidate highlights a need to develop novel strategies that will induce efficient, and appropriate humoral and cellular immune responses. This study proposes to develop pseudotyped lentiviral vector particles-based vaccine that can both present HIV -1 viral protein antigens and immuno-regulate DC functions.
Dr Maxine Holmquist $25,413
Chronic insomnia is a common and debilitating problem. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is an effective treatment for insomnia and demands for this service at Health Sciences Centre are high. Currently, there are limited treatment options for rural Manitobans unable to attend treatment sessions in Winnipeg. This pilot study will compare the effectiveness of two brief (6 week) psychological interventions delivered using Telehealth or an interactive Internet-based platform. This program of research will evaluate and compare health outcomes and will help to determine whether these innovative methods of patient care service delivery are efficacious and satisfactory to rural participants.
Dr. Xin-Min Li $32,500
Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population worldwide. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown, although human studies suggest that abnormalities in myelin underlie the development of schizophrenia. Previous research with animal models of schizophrenia has shown that the breakdown of myelin sheath and damage to oligodendrocytes cause schizophrenia-like behavior. The current proposal is to determine the causal relationship between oligodendrocyte dysfunction and schizophrenia-like behaviors, and to understand the mechanism by which atypical antipsychotics prevent OL death and demyelination. This project will provide insight into the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and the mechanism of action of atypical antipsychotics.
Drs. Silvia Alessi-Severini & James Bolton $19,260
This study will describe how psychotropic agents are prescribed in Manitoba and will help evaluate the effectiveness of these agents by highlighting the incidence of adverse events in chronically treated patients. Patterns of inappropriate use and specific trends of dose escalation that can lead to increased incidence of adverse events will be identified. While pharmacotherapy represents the key to an independent and productive life for patients affected by mental illness, only “real world” data can answer questions regarding appropriate use and effectiveness.
Dr. Boyd McCurdy $35,000
Radiation treatments require complex computer software to optimize the customized radiation energy pattern deposited in the patient. Stereotactic radiosurgery especially pushes the limits of current techniques. This proposal seeks to develop and evaluate a unique approach never-before applied to radiosurgery, where radiation beam or treatment arc orientations are optimized while accounting for the multi-objective nature of clinical requirements. Multiple, best-quality solutions will be provided from which the clinician can select that most appropriate for the patient. This contrasts currently available methods where only one solution is provided, with no guarantee that it is the best solution.
Dr. Allen Kraut $12,537
Competent adults have the right to leave the hospital even if their physicians think it is premature, or even unsafe. A small number of hospitalized individuals leave against medical advice (LAMA). Health care providers worry that people who LAMA might suffer harm as a result of that decision. This study will evaluate all LAMA discharges from hospitals in Manitoba from January 1, 1989 to March 31, 2008. It will describe the characteristics and diagnostic profile of individuals who LAMA and compare clinical outcomes and resource utilization of patients who leave LAMA from hospital with those that do not LAMA.
Dr. Laurence Katz $33,900 ($8,900 from HSCF; $25,000 from the Winnipeg Foundation)
Despite that thousands of children and adolescents are in the care of Child and Family Services (CFS) in Manitoba there has been little research describing their health outcomes. A research group in Sweden has looked at the outcomes of this cohort but their studies have had significant limitations on the conclusions that can be drawn. We will utilize the anonymous health outcome information housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy to describe physical and mental health outcomes for the population of children and teenagers in CFS care in Manitoba in a manner that addresses shortcomings of the previous studies.
Dr. Duane J. Funk $35,000
During surgery, anesthesiologists give intravenous fluid to maintain adequate blood flow to vital organs. It is unknown how much fluid to give a patient. Too little results in organ dysfunction (such as kidney failure). Too much results in poor wound healing and the inability to tolerate oral foods. Both of these consequences increase length of stay. This study will use a new fluid monitor to evaluate the optimal amount of fluid to give patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. It is hoped that the use of this monitor will decrease length of stay and cause an earlier ability to eat after surgery.
Dr. Sadeesh K. Srinathan $24,606
Surgery clearly helps many people. However, it is associated with risks of strokes and heart attacks. This study will quantify the risk and determine if a simple blood test helps us diagnose people with a heart attack after surgery and if it affects survival. We will study 40,000 adults worldwide undergoing surgery with 2000 of them at HSC. This study will help us predict who is at higher risk so we can adjust how we care for them. Because they may be at higher risk, we will take a closer look at patients undergoing lung surgery and the Aboriginal population.
Dr. Julie Ho $35,000
Dialysis patients have an annual mortality rate of >20% and rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are 10-100 fold higher than the general population. We hypothesize that intravenous iron induces oxidative stress in these patients that contributes to CVD. We will measure oxidative stress markers and correlate it with iron dose and CVD. We will also study the blood protein composition to identify patients at risk of CVD. We hope to determine if intravenous iron induced oxidative stress is a modifiable risk factor for CVD in dialysis and to identify those at risk of CVD so prevention strategies can be developed.
Health Sciences Centre Foundation Designated Awards
Ms Karen Lynn Throndson $3,962 from the Dolly & Michael Gembey Nursing Research Award
Cardiovascular disease is a serious health problem. Patients who have elective angioplasty to treat their heart disease often seem to believe this procedure cures them, however angioplasty is not a cure. Patients need to adopt healthy lifestyles in order to live healthier and longer. Interviews with elective angioplasty patients will be used to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence their decision making around lifestyle choices. The goal is use this information to develop strategies aimed at supporting these patients with the difficult job of improving their health.
HSC Department of Research Awards
Ms Alicia Berard $17,850 ($8,925 from HSC Department of Research; $8,925 from MHRC)
The objective of this study is to observe alterations in the host cell preoteome after infection with a virus. The hypotheses are that there will be protein level changes in the host when it is infected with a virus, and these protein changes will differ depending on the infecting virus type. This approach will be used to delineate the few proteins from the thousands in a host cell that are associated with viral infections. The significance of this research is that those host proteins and pathways identified may then be focused on to assess their role in infections as possible anti-viral therapeutic targets. In this study three subtypes of the dsRNA mammalian reovirus (T1L, T3D and T3Dc), and a dsDNA virus, Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) will be used to infect HEK 293 cells.
Ms Ahn Tran $17,850 ($8,925 from HSC Department of Research; $8,925 from MHRC)
Influenza viruses are an important cause of human morbidity and mortality worldwide: 200,000 individuals in the United States are hospitalized each year, and ~ 35,000 succumb to disease; in Canada more than 12,200 confirmed influenza cases are reported to Health Canada annually. This study proposes to use a genome-wide RNAi screen to inhibit specific host proteins and observe their affect on viral replication. This method allows for rapid identification of host proteins that are vital for influenza virus infection. This would accelerate the development of new classes of antiviral drugs for treatment, which are urgently needed given the obstacles to the development of an effective vaccine against emerging strains.