$51.4M supports 32 new brain research projects

Toronto, ON – A total of $51.4 million in funding is being provided to 32 research projects under the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF).

The projects are aimed at accelerating our understanding of nervous system function and dysfunction and their impact on health. The research will advance knowledge and support the development of new ways to diagnose and treat all types of neurological and mental illnesses.

Half the funding is being provided by Health Canada and half by private donors, research institutions, provincial funding agencies, and charitable organizations partnering with the Brain Canada Foundation. Funding will be provided over three years (2014-2017).

The following projects were selected through the Multi-Investigator Research Initiative and Platform Support Grants, two key programs under the CBRF. Project name, implementing partner and total funding is shown for each project:

Multi-Investigator Research Initiative:

• Adolescent Mental Health; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary; $1,499,768
• Understanding stress to improve mental health; University of Calgary ; $1,500,000
• Stimulating Endogenous Regeneration of Photoreceptors as a Potential Cure for Blindness; Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital; $1,500,399
• Canadian rTMS Treatment and Biomarker Network in Depression (CARTBIND) Trial; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; $1,499,892
• Modulating memory circuits: focal DBS treatments to improve medial temporal lobe function; York University ; $1,499,778
• Distinct neuro-immune interactions drive sex differences  in chronic pain; McGill University ; $2,338,000
• The Frontier Trial – Field Randomization of NA-1 Treatment In Early Responders; University of Toronto ; $6,578,920
• Targeting the Synaptic Pathway in Neurodevelopmental and Psychiatric Disorders; Brain Research Centre, University of British Columbia; $1,500,000
• Neurobiological correlates of TMS; University of British Columbia ; $935,695
• Biomarkers for Crossing the Translational Divide in Acute Spinal Cord Injury; University of British Columbia ; $3,000,000
• Five MIRI projects focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, details to be released later this fall; British Colombia Alzheimer’s Research Awards; $7,042,580

Subtotal: $28,895,032

2) Platform Support Grants:

• Manitoba Neuroimaging Platform; University of Manitoba ; $300,000
• The Canadian Neurophotonics Platform; Université Laval; $3,330,000
• Le Consortium d’Imagerie en Neurosciences et santé mentale de Québec: leader régional en neuroimagerie humaine; Université Laval; $150,000
• The Experimental Imaging Centre: a Local Brain Canada Platform for Preclinical MR Neuroimaging; University of Calgary ; $300,000
• CBRAIN: Canadian Brain Research and Informatics Platform; Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University; $2,999,961
• Building the Rick Hansen Alberta Spinal Cord Injury Registry; University of Calgary ; $900,000
• A National Biobank and Database for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury; The Hospital for Sick Children; $1,960,000
• A Novel Zebrafish-Based Platform for Anticonvulsant Drug Development; University of Calgary ; $2,953,370
• The Canadian Neonatal Brain Platform; Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre; $2,624,408
• The Ontario Brain Epigenomics Platfrom; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; $832,500
• Human Inducible Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC) Platform; Université Laval; $300,000
• Montreal Functional Brain Imaging Platform; Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University; $300,000
• A Research Platform to Study Animal and Human Cellular Models of Neurological Disorders; McMaster University ; $300,000
• Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank, an essential platform for brain research in Canada; Centre de Recherche de L’Hopital Douglas; $2,028,000
• Integrated Neurostimulation Platform for Neuropsychiatric Research; University of British Columbia ; $277,500
• Z-BRAIN: A Zebrafish Drug Screening Platform Targeting Brain Disorders; St. Michael’s Hospital; $2,620,000
• Regeneration Unit in Neurology: A platform for Research and Training in Advanced Microscopy and Behavioural Approaches; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary; $300,000

Subtotal: $22,475,739