Competition 1 Review Process
For this first competition in Fall 2017, each of the four HBHL Research Themes was invited to submit an application based on a series of workshops held in Summer 2017 in which research priorities were identified. A panel of fourteen peer reviewers from primarily international universities was established based suggestions provided by all applicants. Three to four reviewers evaluated each application and provided scores and comments. Applicants were asked to provide written responses to the reviewers' comments to improve the research proposals. Reviewer comments and applicant responses were discussed by the HBHL Strategic Steering Committee, which approved funding for all four applications. Individuals expressing conflicts of interest withdrew themselves from the evaluations and discussions as necessary. Disbursement of the funds began in Spring 2018.
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Funded Projects
Theme 1: Integrative analytics for multi-modal, multi-scale neuroscience
Brain function depends on a delicate balance between physiological, genetic and environmental factors. How these factors interact and influence the brain and mind remains unknown. However, advances in technology and analytical methods, as well as the more widespread assessment of expressed traits in individuals, have created new opportunities to address this question. This project aims to develop an analytical framework using genetic data, different types of imaging and behaviour to understand and predict biological progression in healthy individuals and those suffering from neurological disorders. This involves using existing analytical tools to look at factors related to brain function and dysfunction. The research team is working together with other groups within HBHL to develop tools that can be used to research neurodegeneration, neurodevelopment and learning
Principal Investigator: Bratislav Misic
Co-PIs: Doina Precup (Â鶹AV), Celia Greenwood (Â鶹AV), Alan Evans (Â鶹AV), Jean-Baptiste Poline (Â鶹AV)
Collaborators: Alain Dagher (Â鶹AV), Julien Doyon (Â鶹AV), Lana Vasung (Harvard University), Pedro Valdes Sosa (Cuban Neurosciences Centre), Michael Hawrylycz (Allen Institute), Lesley Fellows (Â鶹AV), Michael Meaney (Â鶹AV), Karim Jerbi (Université de Montréal), Yasser Iturria-Medina (Â鶹AV)
Funding received: $1,500,000
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Theme 2: A platform for biocomputational models of neurodegenerative disease
Recent research has caused us to re-think how we understand most, if not all, neurodegenerative diseases. It suggests that toxic misfolded proteins can travel through the brain's neuronal networks, but this idea remains controversial. This project seeks to answer several outstanding questions about Parkinson's Disease (PD) using an approach that combines cell biology, genetics, animal studies, clinical studies and computer research. Funding from HBHL will establish a platform to study PD and other neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases that involve the spread of toxicity through brain networks. Specifically, the project will: (i) look into how proteins can spread and become misfolded; (ii) collect data from patients with Parkinson's Disease and early-stage conditions; and (iii) create computer models to better understand protein spreading.
Principal investigator: Alain Dagher
Co-PIs: Edward Fon (Â鶹AV), Thomas Durcan (Â鶹AV), Peter McPherson (Â鶹AV), Ziv Gan-Or (Â鶹AV), Mallar Chakravarty (Â鶹AV), Louis Collins (Â鶹AV), Ronald Postuma (Â鶹AV)
Collaborators: Stefano Stifani (Â鶹AV), Gerhard Multhaup (Â鶹AV), Kelvin Luk (University of Pennsylvania), Bratislav Misic (Â鶹AV)
Funding received: $1,499,430
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Theme 3: Brain plasticity mediating improved memories through online and offline stimulation methods in healthy adults and patients with a chronic neurological condition
Memories are a fundamental part of our identity because they guide our behaviour in everyday life activities. When the ability to form and maintain memories is disrupted, life becomes increasingly difficult and isolating. Many studies have been carried out to understand the mechanisms of memory formation, but there is still a lot we still don’t know about the brain processes by which this occurs or why it sometimes fails. This project intends to fill these knowledge gaps; advances in the field are extremely important because memory problems caused by ageing and disease have significant personal and economic consequences.
Principal investigators: Julien Doyon
Co-PIs: Robert Zatorre (Â鶹AV), Sylvain Baillet (Â鶹AV), Mallar Chakravarty (Â鶹AV), Étienne de Villers Sidani (Â鶹AV), Lesley Fellows (Â鶹AV), Madeleine Sharp (Â鶹AV), Julie Carrier (Université de Montréal), Adrian Owen (Western University)
Collaborators: Geneviève Albouy (KU Leuven), Philippe Albouy (Â鶹AV), Emily Coffey (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen), Nir Grossman (Imperial College London), Bradley King (KU Leuven), Bratislav Misic (Â鶹AV), Stephan Swinnen (KU Leuven)
Funding Received: $1,499,850
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Theme 4: Translational neuroscience and Canadian society
This project aims to advance the position of neuroscience in the development of Canadian government policy by creating research programs that focus on important issues facing society. Its objective is to develop evidence-based public policy built around neuroscience research that can be used by all levels of Canadian government, agencies and businesses. The project consists of four sub-projects that each focus on a different population: (1) Brain health in the workplace and university; (2) A First Nations regional biobank; (3) Maternal mental health; and (4) SES mobility and brain health. It will provide important infrastructure for collecting data, which will be used as the basis for future and ongoing interventions.
Principal investigators: Michael MacKenzie
Co-PIs: Laurence Kirmayer, Xiangfei Meng, Kieran O’Donnell (currently at Yale University), Tuong-Vi Nguyen, Sonia Lupien (UdeM), Isabelle Ouellet-Morin (Université de Montréal), Michael Kobor (University of British Columbia), Gerald McKinley (Western University), Gustavo Turecki (Â鶹AV), Robert Hemmings (Â鶹AV), Celia Greenwood (Â鶹AV)
Collaborators: Amy Bombay (Dalhousie University), Candice Odgers (University of California, Irvine), Carl D’Arcy (University of Saskatchewan), Hymie Anisman (Carlton University), Kimberly Matheson (Ottawa Institute of Mental Health)Anita Benoit (University of Toronto), Robyn Jane McQuaid (Royal Institute of Mental Health), Mindy Denny (Union of Nova Scotia Indians)
Funding received: $1,499,270
