CIHR Fall 2024 Project Grants Announced: Advancing Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Aging, and Stroke at TDRA Sites

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant program supports a wide range of health-related research, from discovery to application. It funds projects led by researchers at any career stage and encourages innovation across disciplines. This program promotes collaboration, the use of knowledge translation, and the creation of health-related knowledge, with a focus on priority areas like global health, Indigenous research, and commercialization.

We are excited to announce that several projects focused on neurodegeneration, aging, and stroke have been funded across TDRA sites in the fall 2024 cycle. Descriptions are provided below:

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

• Exploring the Feasibility of Formalizing Digital Navigator Roles to Facilitate Patient Access to Digital Healthcare Services in Canada – $313,650
  Principal Investigator(s): Gillian Strudwick, Sean A. Kidd
  Term: 2 years, 6 months
• Novel markers of risk for age-related neurodegeneration, senescence, and cognitive decline in adults with substance use disorders – $1,181,924
  Principal Investigator(s): Yuliya S. Nikolova, Lena C. Quilty, Erica L. Vieira
  Term: 4 years

Sinai Health*

• Collaborative Innovation in Dementia Care: Co-Creating and User-Testing a Person-Centred Dementia Navigator Mobile Tool for Enhanced Support – $520,473
  Principal Investigator(s): Marianne Saragosa, Rebecca Brookham, Mary Chiu, Kristina M. Kokorelias, Michelle L. Nelson, Nathan M. Stall, Winnie W. Sun
  Term: 3 years

*Sinai Health is not a TDRA site, but this project is associated with TDRA’s Caregiver Research Working Group

Sunnybrook Research Institute

• Cognitive Outcomes after Dexmedetomidine sedation in Cardiac Surgery: CODEX RCT –$2,620,125
  Principal Investigator(s): Stephen Choi
  Term: 5 years
• Development of a novel catheter-based ultrasound device and methods for enhancing aspiration mechanical thrombectomies in acute stroke – $726,750
  Principal Investigator(s): David E. Goertz
  Term: 5 years
• Focused ultrasound-mediated regenerative strategies for Alzheimer's disease – $1,290,555
  Principal Investigator(s): Isabelle Aubert
  Term: 5 years
• Rapid Diagnostic Imaging of Brain Metastases using Computational Accelerated MRI – $642,600
  Principal Investigator(s): Mark Chiew
  Term: 5 years

Unity Health Toronto

• Development and Testing of the Cervical Myelopathy Severity Index: A Patient-Centered Outcome Measurement Tool – $302,175
  Principal Investigator(s): Jefferson Wilson
  Term: 5 years

University Health Network

• Behavioural health analytics of social connection and rest-activity rhythms using clinical safety systems for older adults* – $290,699
  Principal Investigator(s): Andrea Iaboni
  Term: 3 years

*This project builds on the study that TDRA provided seed funding for in our 2024 Seed Funding Competition.

• Co-creating an equity-informed protocol to screen for traumatic brain injury in underserved populations – $294,526
  Principal Investigator(s): Vincy Chan
  Term: 3 years
• Investigating the role of vesicular trafficking in oligodendrocytes to maintain myelination – $849,150
  Principal Investigator(s): Shuzo Sugita
  Term: 5 years
• Transcranial Ultrasound Neuromodulation of Deep Brain Nuclei in Parkinson's Disease – $1,290,225
  Principal Investigator(s): Robert E. Chen
  Term: 5 years

University of Toronto

• Elucidating Remote Memory Engram Networks Across the Lifespan – $1,124,550
  Principal Investigator(s): Maithe Arruda Carvalho
  Term: 5 years
• Evaluating the impact of an aged hematopoietic system on grey matter injury – $1,180,970
  Principal Investigator(s): Jennifer L. Gommerman
  Term: 5 years
• Identifying Risk Factors and Informing Preventative Strategies to Reduce the Incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Subsequent Dementia by Analysing the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging Using Advanced Statistical Methods and Machine Learning – $371,025
  Principal Investigator(s): Geoffrey M. Anderson
  Term: 2 years
• Mechanisms of spontaneous prion formation – $990,675
  Principal Investigator(s): Joel C. Watts
  Term: 5 years
• The gut microbiota-astrocyte axis in stroke – $1,143,675
  Principal Investigator(s): Maryam Faiz
  Term: 5 years

We encourage TDRA investigators to continue taking advantage of the CIHR Project Grant Program to advance dementia and related research. The application deadline for the Spring 2025 Project Grant Competition is March 5, 2025. For more details, please refer to the competition guidelines.