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UM receives $2.5 million for research infrastructure

August 29, 2023 — 

The federal government recently announced the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) recipients of the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) for fall 2022 and spring 2023. Among the recipients are UM researchers who were awarded $2.5 million for nine research infrastructure projects in fields ranging from internal medicine to biochemistry to food and human nutritional sciences, and much more.

“Congratulations to these UM researchers who are pushing the scientific boundaries to improve the quality of life for Manitobans and people across the world,” said Dr. Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “Through this funding, UM will continue to attract and retain outstanding researchers equipped with the cutting-edge tools and facilities they need to tackle society’s most pressing challenges.”

JELF is a funding initiative by CFI that supports universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions across Canada. The program provides infrastructure funding to enhance the research capacity of institutions by assisting in acquiring state-of-the-art equipment and facilities necessary for world-leading research and innovation.

UM Spring 2023 JELF Recipients:

Dr. Myrle Ballard, assistant professor, department of chemistry
Project: “Aki and Mino-pimatiisiwin” – Land and Water are needed for All of Our-Relations’ Well-being
Funding: $153,000

Dr. Chyngyz Erkinbaev, assistant professor, biosystems engineering
Project: Smart Sensing Technologies and Data-driven Innovations: The Future of Food Processing
Funding: $160,000

Dr. Ute Kothe, professor, department of chemistry
Project: RNA And Protein Integrated Discovery (RAPID) Platform
Funding: $530,000

Dr. Peter Thompson, assistant professor, physiology and pathophysiology
Project: An integrated high-throughput tissue imaging and cell sorting platform
Funding: $318,000

UM Fall 2022 JELF Recipients:

Dr. Heather Armstrong, assistant professor, internal medicine
Project: From bench to bedside: uncovering molecular mechanisms of inflammation, biomarkers, and novel therapeutics in RA and IBD
Funding: $343,000

Dr. Fuat Balci, associate professor, biological sciences
Project: NeVRo: Combining calcium imaging, optogenetics and virtual reality to investigate internal clock in autism
Funding: $160,000

Dr. Britt Drögemöller, assistant professor, biochemistry and medical genetics
Project: Precision Genomics Suite
Funding: $514,000

Christian Kuss, assistant professor, department of chemistry
Project: In Situ Battery Materials Characterization Suite
Funding: $154,000

Maneka Malalgoda, assistant professor, department of food and human nutritional sciences
Project: Infrastructure to advance the development of healthy grain-based food products
Funding: $160,000

For more information on the CFI-JELF fund, please visit Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

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