Congratulations to the CHRIM investigators and their teams who were awarded over $7,800,000 in funding through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant Fall 2023 Competition!
Many other CHRIM members were also successful in this year’s competition both as co-investigators on projects and through priority and bridge funding.
Project Grants

Heather Armstrong, MSc, PhDMED
Profiling the microbiota-mediated effects of specific dietary fibres on gut barrier and immune cell populations in IBD
Funding amount: $814,725
Term: 5 years

Prashen Chelikani, PhD and Robert Schroth, DMD, MSc, PhD
Oral mycobiome and caries risk in young Indigenous children in Manitoba
Funding amount: $1,319,625
Term: 5 years
CHRIM Co-Investigators: Drs. Kangmin Duan and Anil Menon

Soheila Karimi-Abdolrezaee, PhD
Harnessing the potential of CNS progenitor cells for repairing progressive multiple sclerosis
Funding amount: $1,143,675
Term: 5 years

Nathan Nickel MPH, PhD
The Manitoba STBBI Epidemiology Platform (MB-STEP): Leveraging Epidemiology to Transform Public Health Responses to Sexually Transmitted and Bloodborne Infections
CHRIM Co-Investigators: Drs. Tracie Afifi, Jason Kindrachuk, Lyle McKinnon
Funding amount: $883,576
Term: 4 years

Nathan Nickel MPH, PhD
Equity in Childhood Vaccinations during Public Health Emergencies: Experiences of Red River Métis Families in Manitoba
Funding amount: $577,574
Term: 3 years

Chris Pascoe, PhD
Impact of exposure to hyperglycemia during pregnancy on offspring airway smooth muscle contractility and the activity of RhoA
CHRIM Co-Investigators: Drs. Shyamala Dakshinamurti, Bradley Doble, Vern Dolinsky, Andrew Halayko, Adrian West
Funding amount: $784,125
Term: 5 years

Joel Pearson, PhD
Identifying strategies to therapeutically target the unique epigenetic landscape of small cell lung cancer
Funding amount: $983,025
Term: 5 years

Shannon Scott, PhD, RN, FCAHS, FCAN
Embracing diversity: a multi-phased project to advance the science of knowledge mobilization for Canada’s culturally diverse groups
CHRIM Co-Investigator: Dr. Lisa Knisley
Funding amount: $459,000
Term: 4 years

Roberta Woodgate, PhD
Partnering for Young Carers’ Health and Well-Being: Co-Designing Policy Recommendations and Research Priorities for Young Carers Across Canada
Funding amount: $768,824
Term: 4 years
Additional CHRIM members listed as Co-Investigators:
Meghan Azad, PhD
Optimizing Nutrition and Milk for the Very Preterm Infant-Gut Brain Axis (Opti-NuM Gut)
Andrew Hatala, PhD
Trauma and Violence-Informed Research Practices with Indigenous and Indigenous 2SLGBTQQIA+ People
Richard LeDuc, PhD
Impact of novel ubiquitin-based Galphas regulation on receptor signaling and trafficking
Deepak Louis, MD, DM / Michael Narvey, MD, FRCPC
Post-extubation pressures on non-invasive respiratory support in preterm neonates: A prospective comparative effectiveness research study
Lyle McKinnon, PhD
Identifying immune markers of HPV viral clearance
Christy Pylypjuk, BSc, MD, MSc, FRCS(C)
Piloting the EAGER trial: Expectant management versus induction At 38 weeks among individuals with GEstational diabetes mellitus – a Randomized controlled trial
Christiaan Righolt, PhD
An international repository of individual patient data to predict development of chronic post-surgical pain after knee replacement surgery
Kellie Thiessen, RM, RN, PhD
Examining drivers of disparities in experiences and outcomes of perinatal care in Canada through community participatory action research
Priority/Bridge Grants
Project Grant – Priority Announcement: Population and Public Health

Tracie Afifi, PhD
Child Abuse, Sex, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Mental Health and Substance Use in Canada: A Nationally Representative Canadian Study
Funding amount: $100,000
Term: 1 year