Sunnybrook researchers awarded $7M in CIHR Fall 2022 Project Grants competition

February 24, 2023

Sunnybrook researchers have been awarded nearly $7M in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2022 Project Grants competition. 11 projects and 34 per cent of SRI applications were funded in the round.

The Project Grant program supports 'ideas with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes.’

Congratulations to all the successful Sunnybrook-led projects:

Project: Regulation of programmed cell death by BH3-proteins Bim and Puma
Principal investigator: Dr. David Andrews
Funding: $879,750 over 5 years


Project: Objective Measures of Real-World Cochlear Implant Outcome Using Psychoacoustics and Electrophysiology
Principal investigator: Dr. Andrew Dimitrijevic
Funding: $619,650 over 5 years


Project: Evaluating the Feasibility of Training and Deploying Peer Champions to Support Healthcare Workers Psychosocial Needs Utilizing the STEADY Wellness Program Framework
Principal investigators: Dr. Janet Ellis, Dr. Mark Sinyor
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Janet Bodley, Tracey Dasgupta, Dr. Alexander Kiss, Lisa Di Prospero, Dr. Ari Zaretsky, Dr. Larry Robinson, Dr. Rosalie Steinberg, Melissa Korman
Funding: $100,000


Project: Modernizing Classic Tests of Cognition using Computerized Tablets, Eye-tracking and Functional Neuroimaging
Principal investigators: Dr. Simon Graham
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Sandra Black, Dr. Fa-Hsuan Lin, Dr. Bradley MacIntosh
Funding: $1,328,230 over 5 years


Project: Neuroplasticity-dependent anti-fear and anxiolytic mechanisms of Deep Brain Stimulation
Principal investigator: Dr. Clement Hamani
Funding: $100,000


Project: Charting the dedifferentiation roadmap of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours
Principal investigator: Dr. Iacovos Michael
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Jesse Chao, Dr. Robert Screaton
Funding: $100,000


Project: A collaborative, One Health approach to zoonotic virus detection and risk assessment at the wildlife-human nexus
Principal investigator: Dr. Samira Mubareka
Funding: $1,377,000 over 5 years


Project: Perioperative vitamin C to reduce persistent pain after total knee arthroplasty: a pilot randomized controlled trial
Principal investigator: Dr. Raman Mundi
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Stephen Choi, Dr. Harman Chaudhry
Funding: $100,000


Project: Establishing the chronic safety profile of focused ultrasound-mediated blood-spinal cord barrier opening in a large animal model
Principal investigator: Dr. Meaghan O'Reilly, Dr. Fa-Hsuan Lin
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Nir Lipsman, Dr. Arjun Sahgal
Funding: $100,000


Project: Validation of a novel biomarker classifier that predicts radiation response following breast-conserving surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Principal investigator: Dr. Eileen Rakovitch
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Larry Paszat, Dr. Sharon Nofech-Mozes, Dr. Rinku Sutradhar
Funding: $1,981,352 over 4 years


Project: Co-Designing a Cross-Continuum Peer Support Program for Trauma Survivors
Principal investigator: Dr. Marina Wasilewski
Sunnybrook co-investigators: Dr. Larry Robinson, Dr. Lesley Gotlib Conn, Monica Cassin, Dr. Robert Fowler, Dr. Sander Hitzig, Dr. Christine Sheppard, Dr. Robert Simpson, Dr. Amanda Mayo, Dr. Barbara Haas
Funding: $210,376 over 2 years