Congratulations to the UBC Psychiatry members awarded funding in the 2023 spring CIHR Project Grant competition

As the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced the results of its spring 2024 project grant competition, we wish to congratulate our faculty members and principal investigators Dr. Sophia Frangou and Dr. Erin Michalak, along with their teams, who were awarded grant funding to support their respective projects below:


Network-Brain Age: Enhancing spatial precision of accelerated aging

While everyone ages chronologically at the same rate, some individuals experience accelerated age-related biological changes. The application of machine learning algorithms to brain imaging data enables the calculation of the biological age of the brain (brain-age); individuals with accelerated aging have a higher brain-age than their chronological age. This application pioneers the study of Network-Based Brain Age Gap Estimation (brainAGE) that examines the rate of age-related changes within defined brain networks. READ MORE


Evaluating the efficacy of the PolarUs app on quality of life outcomes in people with bipolar disorder

  • Co-investigator: Colin A Depp; Carolyn S Dewa; Kendall Ho; Rachelle D Hole; Raymond W Lam; Denise (Denny) Meyer; Emma Morton; Jill Murphy; Gregory W Murray; Heather L O’Brien; Martin D Provencher; Lakshmi N Yatham

Over half a million Canadians live with bipolar disorder (BD), a long-term and potentially disabling mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings from depression to mania. Suicide rates are disturbingly high – up to 15% of people with BD will end their own lives. This evidence paints a bleak picture. Yet, with optimal support, care and empowerment, people with BD can experience good health and quality of life (QoL). READ MORE

If you are a PI who was awarded funding in the fall 2024 CIHR Competition, but was not mentioned in this post, please reach out to Megan Rollerson (megan.rollerson@ubc.ca)