March 8, 2007 - Issue Nineteen
:: David Speert Awarded CFI Funding CFRI congratulates Dr. David Speert, Head of the institute’s Infectious & Inflammatory Diseases Research Program, who’s been awarded $3,226,617 in funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s New Initiatives Fund. The funding will go toward infrastructure for the Centre for Understanding and Preventing Infection in Children (CUPIC), a unique research facility bringing together a team of biomedical, clinical and population health scientists to focus on childhood infectious diseases. According to the World Health Organization, infectious diseases are now the world’s leading killer of children and young adults. The CUPIC program is unique in its focus on innate immunity – the first line of host defence – in children. While children are exposed to a myriad of infectious microbes, serious infections in individuals and epidemics of childhood infection are rare. CUPIC researchers will address the hypothesis that susceptibility to infection in childhood is related to dysfunction of innate immunity. One goal of the CUPIC researchers is to prevent infections by identifying specific host defence pathways, and then manipulate cellular function to improve the crucial first steps of innate immunity. Through its New Initiatives Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) funds 40% of total infrastructure funding for successful projects, with the remaining funding coming from other partner contributions. An application has been made to the BC Knowledge Development Fund to match the CFI award. This means that the total infrastructure funding for the CUPIC project is estimated at just over $8 million. The CFI New Initiatives Fund is designed to support infrastructure initiatives that enable institutions to develop capacity in promising areas of research or technology development, and improve research competitiveness and international leadership. Funding for 46 successful projects across Canada was announced in November 2006. Seven projects totalling almost $27 million were funded in BC. |
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| :: CFRI Announces Clinician Scientist Awards The Child & Family Research Institute is pleased to announce the recipients of its first Clinician Scientist Awards: Drs. William Gibson, Constadina Panagiotopoulos, and Peter van den Elzen. The program, made possible through generous support from the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and the BC Children’s Hospital, is intended to increase capacity for clinical research, by supporting and enabling recruitment of clinician researchers in both the basic and clinical sciences who’ve developed a reputation for excellence in research. The salary awards are for three years. Dr. Gibson is a clinical geneticist whose current research focuses on obesity, specifically the neuropeptides and peripheral metabolites that control energy balance. Using insights gained through studies into mouse models of human obesity, and detailed physiological testing on patients with mutations that affect energy intake and expenditure, he aims to identify key pathways of body weight regulation. He is with the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and is affiliated with four research areas at CFRI: Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics; Diabetes, Nutrition, and Genetics. Endocrinologist Dr. Panagiotopoulos’ is currently lead on a project studying the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndromes in remote First Nations communities, and another looking at prohormone levels as predictors of type 2 diabetes in children. As well, she is co-investigator on clinical studies focused on detecting beta cell specific T cells in type 1 diabetes. She is with the UBC Department of Pediatrics, and is affiliated with CFRI’s Diabetes and Immunology programs. Dr. van den Elzen is a recent recruit who is an expert in the role of lipids – specifically lipid-reactive T cells and lipid antigen presentation – in a number of diseases, including type 1 diabetes, atherosclerosis (which is often seen in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients), and multiple sclerosis. Dr. van den Elzen is with the UBC Department of Pathology. CFRI’s Associate Director, Clinical, Dr. Anne Junker says, “I’m delighted that CFRI is able to support these individuals who can translate research findings in a clinical setting, and who, through their work, demonstrate the importance of research to everyday care in the hospital.” She adds that one of CFRI’s strengths has always been its clinical research, and that there has recently been growth in the site’s clinical research activities. In the last year there was a 40% increase in total submissions to the Hospital Research Review Committee, 10% of which were new applications. “CFRI, BC Children’s Hospital, and the BC Childrens’ Hospital Foundation are committed to supporting clinical research. CFRI’s Clinician Scientist Awards are one part of a strategy towards its development. In addition to continuing with the awards program this coming year, we’re developing other programs to provide even greater support to clinical research on site,” she says. The application deadline for the next CFRI Clinician Scientist Awards competition is September 30, 2007. Application forms are available through the Research & Education Services office at resinfo@cw.bc.ca |
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| :: Institute Researchers Receive CIHR Operating Grants At the end of January, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research announced the results of the September 2006 Operating Grants competition. Given the across-the-board reduction in funding available through the competition (the overall success of applications was 16.4%, compared to past years where the national average was approx. 25%), CFRI investigators – who had a success rate of 19.2% – still fared very well. CFRI is proud of the success of both those researchers who received funding, and those who submitted applications to this tough competition, many of whom scored extremely high in their categories. The three- and five-year awards to CFRI investigators are worth more than $2.6 million. Congratulations to: Dr. Jan FriedmanProject: Recurrent novel copy number variants in children with mental retardation Dr. Peter LeungProject: Autocrine and paracrine control of ovarian granulosa cell function Dr. Peter Leung and Dr. Colin MacCalmanProject: Biological actions of GnRH in human implantation and placentation Dr. Glen TibbitsProject: Ontogeny of mycardial excitation – contraction coupling mechanisms Dr. Wyeth Wasserman Project: Discovery and discrimination of functional clusters of transcription factor sites in the human genome |
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CFRI congratulates: • Dr. Bruce Verchere, who received the Canadian Diabetes Association’s 2006 Young Scientist Award, sponsored by Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life. This award encourages outstanding research conducted in Canada by young scientists in the field of diabetes. Dr. Verchere is Head of the CFRI Diabetes Research Program, and Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. The Canadian Diabetes Association is a charitable organization that promotes the health of Canadians through diabetes research, education, service and advocacy. • Dr. Angela Devlin, Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Pediatrics and Scientist with CFRI’s Nutrition Research Program, who received a five-year New Investigator Award from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSF). As the top-ranked new investigator in Canada, she was also given the HSF McDonald Scholarship Award. The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s New Investigator award is a salary award supporting new investigators who’ve demonstrated excellence in their pre- and post-doctoral training and wish to establish their own research laboratory. • Dr. Michael Hayden, Director and Senior Scientist, CFRI’s Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, and Professor, UBC Department of Medical Genetics, who is recipient of the 2006 Chairman’s Award for Career Achievement from the BC Innovation Council (BCIC). This award recognizes an individual who has made important and sustained contributions to innovative science or technology throughout his or her career. BCIC is the province’s lead organization responsible for innovation and commercialization, and provides support to high technology companies, educational institutions, technology industry awareness groups, federal science and technology agencies, and university research labs. • Dr. Mary H. H. Ensom, who received the 2006 Russell R. Miller Publication Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, an international organization comprised of approximately 9000 scientist and clinician members. The annual award is given in recognition of sustained and outstanding contributions to the literature of clinical pharmacy, thereby advancing both clinical pharmacy practice and rational pharmacotherapy. Dr. Ensom’s body of work includes more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles, books and book chapters. Dr. Ensom is a Senior Associate Clinical Scientist with CFRI’s Clinical Investigation research area, Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the Children's and Women's Health Centre of BC. • Dr. Bob Armstrong, who was given an Outstanding Alumni Award by Simon Fraser University (SFU) and its Alumni Association. The honour was bestowed in recognition of Dr. Armstrong’s professional achievement for advancing health care for children. Dr. Armstrong is the Chief of Pediatric Medicine at BC Children’s Hospital, Head of the UBC’s Department of Pediatrics, and a senior scientist with CFRI’s Centre for Community Child Health Research. Each year, SFU and the Alumni Association honours its most accomplished graduates with Outstanding Alumni Awards.For a listing of grants and awards to members of the CFRI’s community for the period May to October 2006, see our Grants & Awards posting. |
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CFRI extends a warm welcome to: • Ms. Jennifer Kohm, who joined the institute as Communications Director on January 22. She comes to Vancouver from Toronto where she was Senior Public Affairs Advisor with the Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network. Jennifer has nine years experience in media relations and internal communications in healthcare and has worked for Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network and Homewood Health Centre in Ontario. She is also a contributing writer for Triathlete Magazine Canada and has published articles in the Toronto Star, Health Management Forum and The Medical Post. Jennifer can be reached at 604-875-2401 or jkohm@cw.bc.ca • Ms. Joanna Marier, who has assumed the role of CFRI’s Animal Care Facility Lab Manager. Ms. Marier has many years of animal care facility experience, and her most recent position was with the Jack Bell Research Centre. She also sits on the UBC Animal Care Committee and is actively involved with the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS). • Ms. Victoria Lam, who is filling in for Angela Seldner, Program Assistant, Research and Education Services (who is on maternity leave as of November 30). Her role will include assisting with tasks related to funding opportunities and trainee programs. She can be reached at 604-875-2446 or vlam3@cw.bc.ca • Ms. Maryam Ghafouri, the new Administrative Assistant, Research and Education Services. Maryam will assist with areas related to the research review committees and grants. She can be reached at 604-875-3103 or mqhafouri@cw.bc.ca • Ms. Rita Jekabsons, who has taken up a full-time one-year position as Research Development Coordinator in the Research & Technology Development Office (RTDO). Over the past year, Rita has been working part-time as Proposal Coordinator with the RTDO and brings excellent organizational skills to this role. Rita can be reached at 604-875-2000, ext. 5227 or rjekabsons@cw.bc.ca The institute also extends best wishes to Ms. Sheril Gelmon, Research Education Assistant, who begins maternity leave starting March 1, and to Ms. Meghan MacLeod, Research Development Facilitator, who has taken up a new role with Dr. Scott Lear as site coordinator for an international trial to monitor urban and rural influences on lifestyle and risk for cardiovascular disease. |
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Be sure to check out the next issue of Research Reporting Online (May 2007), where we’ll be including the first of new regular features like trainee profiles and spotlights on some of the ongoing studies at the institute. We’ll also be transferring the newsletter to a different e-mail software program to reduce the technical problems that may have previously prevented some subscribers from receiving issues. Have any comments, questions or story suggestions? Be sure to send us an email at researchreporting@cfri.ca |
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Celebrate Research Week Activities From March 3 to 10, the University of British Columbia (UBC) research community has been celebrating its seventh annual Celebrate Research Week. CFRI is proud to have been involved in the week’s activities, which included: Grand Rounds – Department of Pediatrics – Autism and Vaccinations – Mar 98:30 – 9:30 a.m. Chan Auditorium, CFRI Dr. Eric Fombonne, Division Head of Child Psychiatry at McGill University, Director of Psychiatry at the Montreal Children's Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, will present on concerns raised about the role of immunization as a risk factor for autism. Please note, attendance is limited to healthcare professionals and researchers. Rotavirus in Canadian Families: Epidemiology & Preventative Strategies – Mar 910:00 – 11:00 a.m., Chan Auditorium, CFRI CFRI invites health care professionals, researchers, and trainees to join Dr. Elizabeth Lee Ford-Jones, a leading expert on the Rotavirus, who will be sharing her latest research. Dr. Ford-Jones is an Infectious Diseases Specialist and Clinical Researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children, in the Department of Paediatrics and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She has special interests in vaccine preventable diseases, childhood encephalitis, congenital infections, and infections in daycare centre attendees. This event is not open to the public. Focus on CFRI Core Facilities – Mar 6 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., Chan Auditorium, CFRI CFRI houses various unique and highly specialized research instruments and core facilities. This half-day event highlighted some of state-of-the-art technologies being used increasingly by our research community and that are also available to other public and private sector research scientists. These include: a high content screen platform for drug discovery (Cellomics/Array Scan); mass spectrometry for proteomics and metabolite profiling; a ChIP-Chip (chromatin immunoprecipitation and Chip-microarray) resource for gene expression studies; and the Illumina platform for large-scale genotyping. CFRI investigators presented on these pieces of equipment, illustrating how they may be used. A reception with poster displays, demonstrations and lab tours followed. This event was open to members of the scientific community. Healthy Lungs, Healthy Lives: The Latest Research and Care in Lung Health – Mar 6 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., New Lecture Theatre, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver This public information session, moderated by Dr. Rhonda Low (host of “Your Health" daily on CTV News), examined the environmental and genetic contributors to poor lung health, as well as the latest in research and care for three chronic lung conditions: asthma, cystic fibrosis in children, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Panelists included: Dr. David Speert, Director of CFRI’s Centre for Infectious & Inflammatory Diseases, and Professor, UBC’s Department of Pediatrics and Head of the Division of Infectious and Immunological Diseases. Dr. Mark FitzGerald, Head of the Respiratory Medicine Divisions at UBC and Vancouver General Hospital, and Director of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
Dr. Peter Paré, Professor, Department of Medicine and Pathology, UBC and Principal Investigator, James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research This event was co-organized by the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Providence Health Care Research Institute, and the Child & Family Research Institute. The Role of PTP1B in Body Mass Control and Glucose Homeostasis – Feb 28 5:00 – 6:00 p.m., Chan Auditorium, CFRI Dr. Benjamin G. Neel, from the Ontario Cancer Institute and the Department of Medicine, Harvard University presented on the role of PTP1B at a presentation on February 28 at CFRI. He also presented at the UBC Life Sciences Institute on March 1, on the topic of the Shp2/RAS/ERK pathway in health and disease. |
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