Funded Grants

Depression and bipolar disorder, known as mood disorders, significantly impact the lives of many Canadians, especially women and the LGBTQ+ community. Although many treatments are available, it is often challenging for clinicians to determine which treatment is the right one for a particular individual.

Brain and nervous system disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, autism, and brain cancers are among the most devastating health challenges of our time. They affect over 600,000 Canadians and millions worldwide, with cases expected to rise sharply in the coming decades.

The Neuro’s Virtual Integrated Patient Platform (NeuroVIP) is an innovative initiative designed to accelerate the discovery of new treatments for brain and nervous system disorders. Many neurological conditions such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, and ALS, remain poorly understood and lack effective therapies. NeuroVIP addresses this challenge by bringing together patient data, biological samples, and powerful research tools into a single, open science platform that is accessible to scientists in Canada and worldwide.

RNA medicines—short strands of nucleic acids that can turn genes “up” or “down”—have changed how we treat brain diseases. For example, nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and tofersen for ALS are given by spinal injection to reach the brain and spinal cord. These breakthroughs show that RNA drugs work in the nervous system. However, before these treatments can reach patients, they must be tested in living systems to ensure safety and effectiveness.

The Centre for Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA) transforms routine neurosurgical procedures into valuable research opportunities to advance brain science and treatment. Currently, when patients undergo procedures like deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease or surgery for epilepsy, the unique brain data captured during these interventions often remains isolated in specialized hospitals, limiting scientific discovery.

Brain-based disabilities, such as autism, ADHD, cerebral palsy, and rare genetic conditions, affect one in five children and often lead to lifelong challenges. These conditions are complex and vary widely from child to child, making it difficult to find treatments that work for everyone. Despite years of research, we still lack the tools to understand this diversity and provide personalized care. To address this, we propose WONDER (Whole-Child Open Neuroscience Data for Empowering Research), a new national research platform that will securely connect and analyze data from across Canada.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is well known for its essential diagnostic role in modern medicine, but it is also an invaluable tool in studying the structure, function and metabolism of the brain for fundamental research and clinical translation.

Chronic pain affects millions of Canadians and is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Neurological and psychiatric conditions more broadly represent an immense burden, affecting one in three people and costing billions each year. Yet progress in developing new treatments has been slow.

Understanding how the brain works at the molecular level is one of the outmost important challenges. Tiny structures inside brain cells are constantly changing to support learning, memory, and behavior, in health and disease. To see and study these structures, scientists use powerful microscopes that go far beyond what standard microscopes can achieve and perform molecular scale imaging. This field is called optical nanoscopy, and it allows researchers to visualize individual proteins and molecular events inside living brain tissue.

Therapeutic breakthroughs in Huntington Disease (HD), Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Parkinson Disease (PD), and other neurodegenerative disorders have been accelerated by access to generously donated human samples. The HD Biobank at the University of British Columbia focuses on neurodegenerative disorders and is a leader in the collection of HD samples globally.