Charles Bernstein (pictured) and Laura Targownik will look at how gut bacteria and diet affect the course of inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome
Researchers funded to improve lives of chronic disease patients
Four University of Manitoba research teams have received funding for studies investigating kidney disease, diabetes, children’s brain development and inflammatory bowel disease, Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen announced today.
“This type of research is unique in that it engages patients in all aspects of study and ensures results are relevant to the priorities that they have identified,” said Pedersen. “By working together and investing in these networks, we are helping Manitoba’s research institutions create the innovative solutions needed to support patients across this province and beyond.”
Pedersen noted these four Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) projects connect researchers, health professionals, patients and policy makers across the country to improve the health of Canadians living with chronic diseases. The networks received a combined total of $10.1 million including $3.1 million in provincial funding through Research Manitoba, $6 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and an additional $1 million from local research partners.
“We thank our funding partners for providing the support our researchers need to engage in the demanding clinical research these complicated matters require,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and distinguished professor, University of Manitoba. “Today’s announcement means the University of Manitoba is even better positioned at the forefront of these crucial fields of inquiry. I would like to congratulate the scientists on their successful research programs to date and wish them all the best as they now delve deeper into these topics of great importance to so many of us.”
There is a strong University of Manitoba presence across SPOR networks and this latest significant long-term funding will enhance the university’s success in chronic disease research.
ABOUT THE NEWLY FUNDED SPOR RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Inflammation, Microbiome, and Alimentation: Gastro-Intestinal and Neuropsychiatric Effects: the IMAGINE-SPOR chronic disease network
Principal Investigators: Drs. Charles Bernstein and Laura Targownik, Internal Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
This network is a national collaboration of patients and scientists that will look at how gut bacteria and diet affect the course of inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, and at the anxiety and depression associated with these disorders.
Listening, Learning, Leading: Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD)
Principal Investigators: Drs. Allison Dart (Pediatrics & Child Health/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), Paul Komenda (Internal Medicine) and Navdeep Tangri (Internal Medicine), Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
This network will improve care for people with kidney disease. It aims to reduce the number of people who require dialysis or organ transplants, or who develop related illnesses that are debilitating or deadly.
CHILD-BRIGHT: Child Health Initiatives Limiting Disability – Brain Research Improving Growth and Health Trajectories
Principal Investigators: Drs. Kristy Wittmeier (Pediatrics & Child Health/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), Gina Rempel (Pediatrics & Child Health) and Ana Hanlon-Dearman (Pediatrics & Child Health/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
This network will achieve brighter futures for children with brain-based developmental disabilities and their families by creating novel interventions to optimize development, promote healthy outcomes, and deliver responsive and supportive services across the life-course.
SPOR Network in Diabetes and its Related Complications
Principal Investigators: Drs. Paul Fernyhough (Pharmacology & Therapeutics/St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre) and Jon McGavock (Pediatric & Child Health/Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba), Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
This network will transform the health outcomes of people with diabetes and its related complications. It will facilitate important and meaningful connections between patients, their primary healthcare providers, and specialists to achieve improved health care and significant cost savings within the health system.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.