$3M awarded to brain research teams

Montreal, QC – NeuroScience Canada has awarded two grants of $1.5 million each over three years for the study of brain repair.

The first grant was awarded to a team led by Dr Louis-Eric Trudeau, Universite de Montreal, for work on Parkinson’s disease.

The team has united three investigators that are specialized in the molecular biology of neurodegenerative diseases (Dr Edward Fon, Montreal Neurological Institute; Dr David S Park and Dr Michael Schlossmacher, University of Ottawa), one investigator specialized in the genetics of neuronal development (Dr Yong Rao, Centre for Research in Neuroscience), a scientist specialized in the biology of mitochondria (Dr Heidi McBride, Ottawa Health Research Institute) and one expert in the physiology of dopamine neurons (Dr Louis-Eric Trudeau, Universite de Montreal).

The second grant was awarded to a team led by Dr V Wee Yong, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, for work on harnessing beneficial aspects of neuroinflammation for regenerating the central nervous system. The research will extend from laboratory studies to clinical trials where the integrity and possible recovery of the nervous system will be determined by imaging equipment.

In addition to Dr Yong, the research team is composed of Dr Luanne Metz, a neurologist and clinical trialist at the University of Calgary; Dr Christopher Power, a neurologist and neuroimmunologist at the University of Alberta; Dr Peter Stys, a neurologist and neurophysiologist at the University of Calgary; Dr Fiona Costello, a neuro-opthalmologist at the University of Calgary; and Dr Serge Rivest, a neuroimmunologist at the Universite Laval. The approach taken by Dr Yong and his team is transformational, as it promises to deliver new means to enabling CNS regeneration.

The $3 million in grants is part of NeuroScience Canada’s $11.5-million national Brain Repair Fund campaign. These grants were made possible due to a donation of $1.5 million from the WB Family Foundation (T Robert Beamish Family), partnered funding of $500,000 from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) – Institute of Aging, and gifts from the corporate community, as well as from private donors and foundations.

NeuroScience Canada is a nation-wide, nonprofit organization.