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Seed Fund Grants

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GHP-MI4-Steinberg Seed Fund Grant (SFG)

This Spring 2024, the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4) and ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Global Health Programs (GHP) co-sponsored two new Seed Fund Grants with support from the Steinberg Fund for Interdisciplinary Global Health Research. A total of 9 applications were received and were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Enabling adaptive West Nile virus surveillance by simulating the expected benefit of collected data.Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌý

Dr. Alton Russel

Promoting Indigenous Canadians’ Self-determination in the Adoption of Liquid Biopsy in Cervical Cancer Screening.

Dr. ShukÌýOn Annie Leung

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MI4-Microbiomes and Rheumatic Diseases (M-RD) Seed Fund Grant (SFG)

In April 2024, MI4 invited the researchers withing the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community to apply for MI4 Microbiomes and Rheumatic Diseases (M-RD) Duthie Saunders Seed Fund Grant Program. One application was received and successfully peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded project is as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Investigating the role of the gut microbiota in mediating pain hypersensitivity in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌý

Dr. Yoram Shir

Dr. Arkady Khoutorsky

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MI4-Pathy Seed Fund Grant (SFG)

In April 2024, MI4 was thrilled to announce the Pathy SFG winners of the MI4 Seed Fund Grants Program. A total of 8 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Integrated sample processing and analyte enrichment serving real-time quantitative Plasmonic PCR for infectious pathogen point-of-care diagnostics.

Dr. Jesse Papenburg

Dr. Dan Nicolau

The gut-testis axis: Establishing associations between the microbiome metabolome and male infertility.

Prof. Jianguo (Jeff) Xia

Prof. Cristian O'Flaherty

Ultrasensitive rapid test for influenza A

Dr. David Juncker

Dr. Cedric Yansouni

All-Trans-Retinoic-Acid in Influenza as a Vaccine Adjuvant and Adjunct Therapy

Dr. Leo Liu

Dr. Brian Ward

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MI4 Seed Fund Grants – Round 5

In April 2023, MI4 was thrilled to announce the Round 5 winners of the MI4 Seed Fund Grants Program. A total of 8 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Reducing antibiotic abuse at the primary care level using locally adapted, digitally delivered, clinical decision support tool: a pilot, intervention study in India

Samira Abbasgholizadeh Rahimi

Madhukar Pai

Investigating the impact of impaired immune responses on viral diversity in humans and mice

Judith Mandl

Abhinav Sharma

Targeting the gut microbiome to mitigate cholesterol-related diseases

Lisa Munter

Irah King

Early life BCG vaccination shaping gut microbiome and subsequently host defense against tuberculosis

Corinne Maurice

Maziar Divangahi

Erythrocyte Biphosphoglycerate Mutase (BPGM) as a novel Anti-Malarial Drug Target

Philippe Gros

Momar Ndao

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MI4 Seed Fund Grants – Round 4

In March 2022, MI4 was thrilled to announce the winners of Round 4 of the MI4 Seed Fund Grant Program.ÌýA total of 17 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

A multidisciplinary approach to tackle multidrug resistant - tuberculosis (MDR-TB)

Michael Reed

Jesse Shapiro

Discovering Novel Antimicrobials from the Canadian High Arctic

Dao Nguyen

Karine Auclair

Point-of-care Rapid Test for Rogue Anti-Cytokine Auto-Antibodies in COVID-19 Patients

Donald Vinh

David Juncker

The impact of viral infection on the initiation and development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Joyce Rauch

Judith Mandl

Targeting soluble CD109 in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) secretome for the treatment of fibrosis in scleroderma

Anie Philip

Dieter Reinhardt

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Ludmer - MI4 Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

In February 2022, theÌýLudmer CentreÌýand MI4 were pleased to announce the results of the Ludmer-MI4 Collaborative Seed Fund Grant Competition! This grant aimed at supporting a new health research project focusing on the role of infection, immunity and/or the microbiome in the development, prevention or treatment of mental health disorders.

Congratulations to Dr. Patricia Silveira and Dr. Nicolas Cermakian!

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Maternal immune activation and circadian disruption as risk factors for mental disorders – using transcriptomics to identify individual differences in susceptibility

Patricia Silveira

Nicolas Cermakian

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MRM-MI4 Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

InÌýJuly 2021, the Ìýand MI4 were pleased to announce the result of the MRM-MI4 Collaborative Seed Fund Grant Competition! This grant aimed to support a new health research project focusing on stem cell or regenerative medicine within the domains of either infection or immunity.

Congratulations to Dr. Alex Gregorieff!

Project Title

Principal Investigator

Creation of a patient-derived enteroid biobank to study the role of intestinal stemcells in inflammatory bowel disease.

Alex Gregorieff

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MI4 Seed Fund Grants - Round 3

In March 2021, MI4 was thrilled to announce the Round 3 winners of the MI4 Seed Fund Grant Program. A total of 16 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

MI4 would like to acknowledge that support for this round of itsÌýSFG Program was provided by the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), The Montreal General Hospital (MGH) Foundation, and the Doggone Foundation donation to ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University. In addition, MI4 was pleased to collaborate withÌýÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Global Health Programs (GHP) to co-sponsor an additional grant with support from the Steinberg Fund for Interdisciplinary Global Health Research whose aim was to catalyze innovative and impactful infection- or immunity-focused global health research.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal Investigators

Biomarkers associated with infections in Canadians 45-85 years of age with and without diabetes: analysis of metabolomic and clinical data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Elham Rahme

Robert Sladek

MENELIC-1 - Impact of mobile clinical decision support tool on prescription behaviour and patient outcomes in low-resource settings: A pilot trial of self-stewardship in Ethiopia

Makeda Semret

Nicole Basta

A colorimetric nanosurface fluidic platform for rapid phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing

Sara Mahshid

Dao Nguyen

At the heart of the matter - Speckle tracking echocardiography in lupus mothers and their offspring

Evelyne Vinet

Lawrence Rudski

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MI4 - MNI Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

Project Title Co-principal Investigators

Inflammation-mediated white matter injury in pediatric encephalopathies

Myriam Srour

Jack Antel

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MI4 - MGH Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

Project Title Co-principal Investigators

A Rabbit Prosthetic Joint Infection Model for Evaluation of Nano-Layered Antimicrobial Surface Coatings

Maryam Tabizian

Adam Hart

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GHP-MI4 Steinberg Seed Fund Grant

Project Title Principal Investigator

The contribution of stigma among sexual minority men to HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa

Mathieu Maheu-Giroux

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MI4 Seed Fund Grants - Round 2

In May 2020, MI4 was thrilled to announce the Round 2 winners of the MI4 Seed Fund Grant Program. A total of 23 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title Principal Investigators

CCR5 gene editing with antiviral genes to cure HIV-1 infection

Anne Gatignol

Jean-Pierre Routy

Integrating polygenic risk scores, machine learning and mouse models to develop predictive tools and therapeutics for severe dengue disease

Jamie EngertÌý

Silvia Vidal

The Pragmatic Observation of Labor, Exercise Tolerance, and Respiratory Impairment After Treatment of TB

Faiz Ahmad KhanÌý

Dennis Jensen

A stem cell-based microfluidics approach to mine the immunomodulatory activity of the gut epithelial secretome

Irah KingÌý

Christopher Moraes

Targeting oncosome educated neutrophil subsets to curtail breast cancer metastasisÌý

Peter Siegel

Janusz Rak

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MI4 Seed Fund Grants - Round 1

In June 2019, MI4 was thrilled to announce the Round 1 winners of the MI4 Seed Fund Grants Program. A total of 43 applications were received. All applications were peer reviewed by an independent Scientific Review Committee composed of researchers external to the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ community.

MI4 was also pleased to collaborate with the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and the Goodman Cancer Research Centre (GCRC) in this round of the MI4ÌýSeed Fund Grant Program. This allowed the funding of two Collaborative Seed Fund Grants: one in neurological disease and the other in immuno-oncology.

The awarded projects are as follows:

Project Title

Co-principal investigators

Nature-inspired nanostructures: designing next generation antimicrobial biomaterials

Nathalie Tufenkji

Dao Nguyen

Integration of genomics and metagenomics for the surveillance of the Lyme diseaseÌývector Ixodes scapularis in Canada and the USA

Michael B. Reed

Ioannis Ragoussis

A Deadly Combination: Air Pollution and TB in India

Madhukar Pai

Scott Weichenthal

Design of a Rapid Point-of-Care PCR device for the diagnosis and management of HIV, HCVÌýand other infectious diseases for key vulnerable populations in real-world settings

Bluma Brenner

Nadine Kronfli

Investigation of the functionality of anti-Respiratory Syncytial Virus specific antibodies

Selena Sagan

Nicole Bernard

The impact of the microbiome in shaping host defense against tuberculosis

Maziar Divangahi

Jianguo Xia

Apta-Nanosurface Fluidic Assay for Specific and Rapid Detection of Parasites via a Labelfree Electrical Readout

Sara Mahshid

Momar Ndao

Targeting the MNK1/2-eIF4E axis in postpartum breast cancer liver metastasis

Sonia del Rincon

Pnina Brodt

Targeting the mitophagy pathway to treat sepsis-induced organ dysfunction

Sabah Hussain

Heidi McBride

The combi-targeting concept: Engineering small molecules to target cell signaling,Ìýkill tumour cells and stimulate the immune system

Bertrand Jean-Claude

Moulay Alaoui-Jamali

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MI4 - MNI Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

Project Title

Co-principal investigators

Unraveling the microbial contributions to Parkinson’s Disease

Heidi McBride

Erwin Schurr

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MI4 - GCRC Collaborative Seed Fund Grant

Project Title

Co-principal investigators

Humanized Mouse Models to Untangle Mechanisms of Immune CheckpointÌýInhibitors- Immune Related Adverse Events and Effects of their treatment in Tumor Biology

Ines Colmegna

Logan Walsh

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