The Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, is thrilled to announce $480,000 in funding that will be used to support child health research projects happening at CHRIM.

This funding comes from the research institute’s annual 2024 Operating Grant competition and will support eight highly skilled researchers and their labs in a variety of health areas that are seeking to improve outcomes for children in Manitoba and beyond.

“Through the generous contributions from our donor community, the Foundation can support the tremendous and imperative work being done at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute that will make an impact on the health of children across Manitoba today and future generations to come,” said Stefano Grande, President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

This grant competition is an important step in bringing interdisciplinary research teams together on projects that will later go on to compete for funding at the national level.

2024 Operating Grant recipients:

Abdullah Maruf, PhD, M. Pharm
Assistant Professor of Pharmacogenomics, College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba
Project: Pharmacogenomics of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Induced Behavioural Activation in Children and Adolescents (PGx-SImBA)

Alicia Berard, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Manitoba
Project: Identification of a role of the vaginal microbiome in intra-amniotic inflammation

Galen Wright, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Manitoba
Project: Implementation of a human brain organoid platform to study neurodevelopmental disorders

Henry Dunn, PhD
Assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Manitoba
Project: Investigating a novel trans-synaptic complex of molecules independently-implicated in neurodevelopmental disease

Jeffrey Wigle, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba
Project: Identifying mechanisms leading to congenital heart defects in Mowat Wilson Syndrome

Lily Lim, MBBS, MRCPCH, FRCPC, PhD
Head Of Section, Pediatric Rheumatology, Health Sciences Centre
Project: Are There Others Like Me? Discovering Juvenile Arthritis Patients in Manitoba Using Machine Learning Derived Patterns of Healthcare Encounters

Meaghan Jones, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of ManitobaProject: Identifying synergistic epigenetic effects of early and later life cigarette smoke exposure on the lung

Sherif Eltonsy, PhD
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of ManitobaProject: Antiseizure medications during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children

“Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the operating grant competition,” says Nichola Wigle, Acting CEO at CHRIM. “We are pleased to make this critical funding investment in a wide range of research to support these incredible researchers and their teams to create new knowledge and fuel discoveries that will better children’s health in Manitoba and beyond.”