$11.6 Million Awarded London Medical Researchers

By Communications Staff
October 13, 2005

Scientists at The University of Western Ontario and its research partners, the Lawson Health Research Institute and Robarts Research Institute, will benefit from $11.6 million in support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
The funding, announced Wednesday in Vancouver, will support 56 research projects across fields including genetics, AIDS, local health care, arthritis, maternal health and imaging.

Highlights include:

* Christine Wekerle will receive almost $900,000 over five years to analyze the impact of child maltreatment and partner violence on girls, as well as to develop gender-specific treatments. Child maltreatment is one of the most preventable and modifiable contributors to mental illness, yet up to 43 per cent of youth will experience at least one trauma event in their lifetimes. The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) Longitudinal Study seeks to address the developmental trajectories of youth aged 14-17 on four key outcomes: substance abuse, mental health, risky sexual practices and dating violence. This data will be used to determine whether different trajectories exist for females involved in the child-welfare system.

* Dr. Peter Kvietys has received a CIHR operating grant for a fourth consecutive term - the longest continuously funded group in Canada. The grant, $1.4 million over five years, will allow five scientists from the Centre for Critical Illness Research (CCIR) at Lawson to continue their study of remote organ injury during the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, also known as sepsis, which accounts for the majority of deaths Intensive Care Units around the world. According to Dr. Rick Potter, program leader at Lawson's CCIR, this research will not only test the mechanisms leading to remote organ injury, but will explore specific approaches to control it.

* Dr. Geoffrey Pickering, Co-Director of the Vascular Biology Research Group at Robarts Research Institute, was awarded $670,000 over five years to further his research on the growth of stable new blood vessels in damaged areas of the heart. A practicing cardiologist at London
Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Pickering also investigates the genetic factors and cellular mechanisms that influence the growth and stability of fatty plaques inside arteries. Developing better ways to predict and ensure the stability of these plaque deposits can improve the odds for millions of people at risk of heart attack and stroke.

"London has long been a leader in Canadian and international medical research circles," says Ted Hewitt, Western's Vice-President (Research and International Relations).

"Federal government support has enabled us to look at creative ways to further health research through not only medicine and health sciences, but also through other disciplines, including education and social science."

The full list of CIHR-funded projects is available at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca