Other Initiatives

The Alberta Initiative was developed in partnership with the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). Its purpose was to retain excellent young neuroscience researchers at three Alberta universities: University of Calgary, University of Alberta and University of Lethbridge. Through this program, Brain Canada (Formerly NeuroScience Canada) provided $597,650 to fund eight fellowships and 22 studentships. These funds were matched by the AHFMR at a ratio of 7:3. An additional $125,000 was allocated to support a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary. A further $75,000 was directed to support a research project led by Dr. James R. Dunn and Dr. Paula Goering: Feasibility Study for a Two-City Demonstration of Supportive Housing for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness.

This annual prize (2001-2015) was supported through a partnership between the Barbara Turnbull Foundation, Brain Canada, and the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The award, in honour of Barbara Turnbull, supported Canadian research in spinal cord injuries. This prestigious award was presented to the top ranked spinal cord researcher identified through CIHR’s investigator-initiated grants competition. Brain Canada and the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research each provided $25,000, which was added to the $300,000 operating grant provided by the CIHR to the researcher over three years.

Grant Recipients

2015 – Dr. Samuel David, McGill University
2014 – Dr. Yves De Koninck, Laval University
2013 – Dr. Frédéric Bretzner, Laval University
2012 – Dr. Stephen Scott, Queen’s University
2011 – Dr. Simon Gosgnach, University of Alberta
2010 – Dr. Robert Brownstone, Dalhousie University, Dr. James Fawcett, Dalhousie University
2009 – Dr. David Bennett, University of Alberta
2008 – Dr. Kenneth Rose, Queen’s University
2007 – Dr. Richard Stein, University of Alberta
2006 – Dr. Pierre Drapeau, Université de Montréal
2005 – Dr. Joseph Culotti, Mount Sinai Hospital
2004 – Dr. David Bennett, University of Alberta
2003 – Dr. Mohamad Sawan, École Polytechnique de Montréal
2002 – Dr. David Kaplan, University of Toronto

The Dr. Norma Calder Schizophrenia Post-Doctoral Fellowship, was a partnership between Brain Canada (formerly NeuroScience Canada) and the Dr. Norma Calder Schizophrenia Foundation in British Columbia, to fund a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia who was conducting research on schizophrenia, within the CIHR’s Health Partnership Program. The award recipient received $41,500 per year for three years. Brain Canada’s contribution was $10,375 per year.

Grant Recipients

2003 – Dr. Clare Beasley, University of British Columbia

The Saskatchewan Schizophrenia Research Program was a $1-million, five-year program whose funding partners included AstraZeneca Canada Inc., the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Royal University Hospital Foundation, the Schizophrenia Research Foundation Saskatchewan Inc., the Saskatoon chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine. Brain Canada (formerly NeuroScience Canada) provided an additional $30,000 to this program. The goals of the program, entitled Schizophrenia Research Program: From Genes to Clinic to Community, were to strengthen, expand and increase research productivity to hasten the understanding of schizophrenia and lead to earlier diagnosis and improved treatment.

Grant Recipient

2005 – Dr. Xin-Min Li, Professor and Director of the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan.