Six research teams from the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CR-HMR) affiliated with the University of Montreal (UdeM) have obtained funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) totaling more than 4 M $. Their vision health and immunology-oncology projects stood out among other projects across the country. The CR-HMR also stands out by positioning itself at the top of the list of centers affiliated with UdeM by obtaining the best approval rate for projects submitted to the CIHR.
"I would like to warmly congratulate all the research teams who have obtained this prestigious funding thanks to their commitment and hard work. I am also particularly proud to see an exceptional success rate of 67% for projects submitted to the CIHR", underlines Dr. Sylvie Lesage, Ph.D., Scientific Director of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center and also a professor at the University of Montreal. " This success reflects on the entire research center and thus demonstrates the quality and relevance of the research projects carried out there ", she adds.
Vision Health Axis
- Dr. Christos Boutopoulos, Ph.D., supported by Dr. Bruno Larrivee, Ph.D. and Dr. Renaud Duval, aims to develop a system allowing the injection of drugs under the retina, without damaging vision.
Immunology-oncology axis
- Dr. Elliot Drobetsky, Ph.D., supported by Dr. Santiago Costantino, Ph.D, and Dr. Hugo Wurtele, Ph.D., will study the cause of resistance to chemotherapy treatments in ovarian cancer. Chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat ovarian cancer can initially be extremely effective, often resulting in clinical remission. Nonetheless, a great majority of patients eventually relapse, at which point their cancer exhibits strong resistance to these drugs and is essentially incurable. Our lab has discovered a previously unknown biochemical mechanism that can explain how such resistance develops. Our intention is to comprehensively understand how this mechanism works. This will allow the development of new strategies aimed at improving therapy of ovarian cancer, thereby very significantly prolonging the lives of women afflicted with this deadly disease.
- Dr. Bruno Larrivee, Ph.D., supported by Drs. Manem and Joubert, will exploit a new molecule to improve cancer immunotherapy approaches.
- Dr. Éric Milot, Ph.D., supported by Dr. Hugo Wurtele, Ph.D., and Dr. El Bachir Affar, Ph.D., aims to understand the role of the Ikaros gene in the response to treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
- Dr. Nathalie Labrecque, Ph.D., manipulates CD8+ T cells to improve their ability to eliminate pathogens and cancers. In previous work, the researchers identified a key role for the Notch signaling pathway during the response of CD8 T cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a critical role in infection and cancer control. The CIHR-funded project aims to determine the molecular events controlled by the Notch signaling pathway during the CD8 T cell response and to exploit the manipulation of this signaling pathway to enhance the elimination of infectious agents and cancer cells by CD8 T lymphocytes.
- Dr. Heather Melichar, Ph.D., will support Dr. John White, Ph.D., in defining the role of vitamin D in the development of T cells, a type of white blood cell important for the control of pathogens and cancers. More specifically during this research project, the researchers will characterize the impact of vitamin D on the thymic microenvironment in which the differentiation of T lymphocytes takes place in order to assess its importance in their development. They will assess whether this ultimately influences their function as well as their propensity to lead to the development of autoimmune diseases.
About the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
As the federal agency responsible for investing in health research, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research works with partners and researchers to support discoveries and innovations that improve population health and the health care system. from Canada. CIHR was created in 2000 under the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Act. They are an independent body that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Health. Comprised of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to health researchers and trainees across Canada.