Funded Grants

The project provides state of the art mouse brain imaging to researchers in Canada working on models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

The overarching aim of Ms Morena’s research is to investigate the role of the endocannabinoid system in the modulation of memory processes and its interaction with stress and emotional arousal in animal models of cognition, at a cellular, circuit and behavioural level.

Motor neurons are extremely complex cells. Not only do they have an intricate set of inner workings, but they have a long wire-like portion called an axon that connects the central nervous system to muscles called an axon.

This project is a Phase II study involving 100 participants across 8 ALS clinics across Canada. The trial, led by the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Registry (CNDR) and the Chair of the Canadian ALS Research Network (CALS) will examine whether pimozide, a drug already approved by Health Canada for use in psychoses like schizophrenia and Tourette’s syndrome, might slow progression of ALS.

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the accumulation of toxic Tau protein in neurons leads to the formation of neurofbillary tangles, cell death, and cognitive impairments.

Mitochondrial dysfunctions are observed before and during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Dr. Peter McPherson, professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University will receive one year of support to work on the connection between the most prominent known cause of ALS, a mutation in a gene called C9ORF72, and a previously unrelated critical cellular function called endosomal membrane trafficking.

For this project Dr. Sanjay Kalra and his team aims to improve on current techniques to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a readily available way to examine if a potential new treatment is working to slow down progression of ALS.

This project will focus on unique roles of FUS (an ALS gene/protein) at the junction where neurons connect, called the synapse.