As the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced the results of its Fall 2024 project grant competition last week, we wish to congratulate our faculty member and principal investigator Dr. Brian MacVicar, along with his team, who was awarded grant funding to support his project. We would also like to congratulate faculty member Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez who is co-investigator on a project that received funding.
Lipid Nanoparticle-messenger RNA (LNP-mRNA) as a versatile therapeutic platform for brain diseases
- Principal Investigator: Brian A. MacVicar
- Co-investigators: Bernier, Louis-Philippe; Cullis, Pieter R; Lynd, Larry D; Ross, Colin J; Tremblay, Sébastien; Weilinger, Nicholas L
Brain diseases affect around 10% of Canadians, but treating them has been challenging since the brain is difficult to target with regular medicines. Exciting new technologies that carry genetic drugs, similar to those used in COVID-19 vaccines, are changing the way we think about treatments. Our team is working on a unique approach using a novel technology called lipid nanoparticle-messenger RNA (LNP-mRNA) to help heal the brain from within. Decades of research in neuroscience have shown that many brain diseases occur because the brain lacks certain proteins. We believe we can fix this by giving the brain the missing proteins it needs to get better. READ MORE
Understanding the amnestic side effects of electroconvulsive shock
- Principal Investigator: Jason S. Snyder
- Co-investigator: Fidel Vila-Rodriguez
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is widely used as a therapy for mental illness, and is the most effective treatment for patients who suffer from drug-resistant depression. Unfortunately, many patients avoid ECT treatment due to its side effects on memory. Generally, patients reports difficulties remembering information learned around the time of treatment, but the duration of the impairment and the exact types of memory that are impaired remains unclear. Minimizing these side effects not only requires identification of the types of memory that are affected, but also depends upon an understanding of how ECT affects brain circuits involved in memory. READ MORE
Read the complete list of UBC Faculty of Medicine researchers who were awarded more than $26M for transformative health research.
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)