Donnelly researchers granted over $5.8 million by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Charlie Boone receives over $1.2 million to study chemical genomics for annotating gene and bioactive compound function in yeast and human cells 

Over a five-year period, the Boone Lab will be studying chemicals targeting specific bioprocesses and proteins, to discover insight into gene function and potential therapeutic tools. Building off yeast cell-based chemical-genetic screening platforms previously developed by the lab, the research hopes to facilitate tool compound and drug discovery. The team plans to apply new gene mutant libraries and generate and integrate a genome-scale network based on a human model cell line, which will allow them to annotate the roles of previously uncharacterized human cells. 

Cindi Morshead receives over $1 million towards developing new therapies for brain injuries and diseases that damage myelin

Damage to myelin—the protective insulating sheath covering nerve fibres—can occur in diseases or trauma events, and there are few treatments to slow or regenerate the loss. The Morshead Lab will be investigating the application of targeted electrical stimulation, which was recently demonstrated to activate the cells responsible for generating oligodendrocytes (myelin-producing glial cells). The team plans to find the optimal setting for stimulation and develop specialized electrodes that will be able to both stimulate repair and monitor healing. 

Molly Shoichet funded to study neuroprotection of the retina  

Funded for four years, the Shoichet Lab will be continuing their investigation into improving eye care through biomaterials. To preserve cells crucial to sight, the team is pursuing a formulation based on the factor produced by the rods of the retina, called the rod-derived cone viability factor, or RdCVF. The team will advance knowledge in this area, and work towards research aimed at keeping photoreceptors alive during the retinal degeneration caused by many diseases. 

Mikko Taipale funded over $1.2 million towards interrogating innate immunity pathways and establishing a powerful screening platform 

The Taipale Lab will investigate pathogenic effectors, a diverse group of proteins employed by many microbes to manipulate host physiology and create a more optimal environment for the pathogen’s survival. The research team aims to functionally profile thousands of known and predicted effector proteins and interrogate prominent targets for pathogenic effectors. 

Shu Wang funded to apply statistical modelling towards better cancer care 

Over the next five years, the Wang Lab will be applying statistical modelling of spatial omics to optimize discovery and diagnosis of key cancer drivers from patient tissue samples. Because tumours are spatially patterned and heterogeneous, regional biopsy samples can fail to encapsulate the properties of the whole tumour. The research team will work to combine statistical theory with large imaging datasets of human tumours, to better diagnose patients and boost the discovery of key cancer drivers. 

Christopher Yip receives over half a million dollars towards studying how bacteria bind to receptor molecules during infection 

The Yip Lab will be investigating how pathogens bind to receptor molecules during infection, to better understand how to develop therapeutics to prevent disease. Over the next five years, the team will be looking at how bacteria hijack the CEACAM family of receptor molecules in live cells and tissues.