Backed by the River Philip and Trottier Family Foundations and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, this initiative helps researchers maintain momentum, refine their proposals, and strengthen future applications.

This year’s funded projects span a wide range of impactful areas, from lung health and vaping-related disease to infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and innovative therapies. By bridging funding gaps, the program ensures that promising discoveries continue to move forward and contribute to better health outcomes.

Congratulations to everyone, especially our RESP program members:

• Carolyn Baglole is investigating how vaping impairs the lung’s natural defense systems, contributing to respiratory disease.
• Elizabeth Fixman is exploring sex-specific immune responses in the lung, with implications for allergic airway diseases like asthma.
• Tania Janaudis-Ferreira is leading a web-based exercise and education program for mild COPD, improving access to care and self-management tools.

Read More

Sustaining Excellence competition supports top-ranked researchers. Outstanding CIHR applicants maintain research momentum thanks to funding support from generous donors. The Institute News. March 19, 2026.

The post Sustaining Excellence Grants Keep High-Impact Research Moving Forward appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Deborah Assayag (Priority Announcement)
The Longitudinal Use of Oscillometry in Interstitial Lung Diseases

Jonathon Campbell
Co-Investigators: Benjamin Smith, Kevin Schwartzman, Dick Menzies, Andrea Benedetti
Functional Outcomes, Lung health, and Livelihood Outcomes among people With Tuberculosis (FOLLOW-TB): a pan-Canadian prospective cohort study

Maziar Divangahi
Harnessing the power of trained immunity in disease tolerance against influenza virus

Elizabeth Fixman (Priority Announcement)
Sex-specific mechanisms by which environmental triggers promote durable changes to the lung to exacerbate type 2 innate and adaptive immunity

Irah King
Mechanisms of tissue-resident T cell activation for intestinal host defense

Larry Lands (Co-Principal Investigator)
Nominated Principal Investigator: Juan Ianowski (University of Saskatchewan)
Function of pulmonary ionocytes and club cells in human airway and their contribution to cystic fibrosis lung disease

Larry Lands (Co-Principal Investigator)
Nominated Principal Investigator: Sze Man Tse (Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine)
Predicting biologic therapy response in children with severe asthma: the Medication response and Asthma Therapy in CHildren with severe Asthma (MATCHA) Study

Sushmita Pamidi
Co-Investigators: Andrea Benedetti, John Kimoff
Sleep-Disordered Breathing During Pregnancy and Long-Term Postpartum Blood Pressure Pattern

Bryan Ross
Co-Investigators: Jean Bourbeau, Jun Ding, Sabah Hussain, Larry Lands
Enhancing the Clinical Benefits of COPD Chronic Management: The SUPplementation with URolithin-A during Pulmonary Rehabilitation in COPD (SUPRA-COPD) Trial

The post CIHR Project Grant Results – Fall 2025 appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

The Meakins-Christie Laboratories staff would like to extend their congratulations to the following recipients on their CIHR and FRQS 2022-2023 awards:

Bavanitha Thurairajah (PhD with Irah King). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: Déterminants de la fonction des cellules gd17 dans l’intestin.

Jordi Tomer Chaffer (MSc with Sabah Hussain). Formation de maîtrise FRQS. Title: MYTHO: Un nouveau gène dépendant de FoxO qui contrôle l’autophagie et la masse musculaire squelettique.

Eszter Farkas (PhD with Dao Nguyen). Bourses de doctorat en recherche FRQNT. Title: Découverte de nouveaux antibiotiques dans les bactéries canadiennes de l’Arctique extrême.

Lisa Hennemann (PhD with Dao Nguyen). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: L’effet de la pathoadaptation de Pseudomonas aeruginosa sur les interactions hôte- pathogène.

Fatima Hubaishi (PhD with Elizabeth Fixman and Brian Ward). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: Une nouvelle approche pour le traitement de la dermatite atopique: application topique d’un inhibiteur peptidique immunomodulateur dans un modèle murin.

Leonardo Jurado (PhD with Maziar Divangahi). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: Étude du lien entre immunité entrainée innée et adaptative induite par le BCG dans la protection contre le cancer de la vessie.

Jacquelyn Rich (PhD with Dao Nguyen). Bourses de doctorat en recherche FRQNT. Title: L’effet du stress oxydatif sur les adaptations membranaires et l’augmentation de la tolérance aux antibiotiques chez Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Mina Sadeghi (PhD with Maziar Divangahi). formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: La bataille du fer: infection à Mycobacterium tuberculosis dans la moelle osseuse.

Kim Tran (PhD with Maziar Divangahi). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Title: Protection croisée du vaccin BCG dans les infections grippales: immunité entrainée adaptative.

Shradha Wali (PDF with Maziar Divangahi). Formation postdoctorale – Citoyens d’autre pays FRQS. Title: Déchiffrer les mécanismes de tolérance à la maladie dans les infections virales pulmonaires.

Susan Westfall (PDF with Irah King). Post-PhD Fellowship CIHR. Title: Identifying mechanisms of disease tolerance during intestinal helminth infection

Muyang (Michael) Zhou (MSc with James Martin). Formation de maîtrise FRQS. Title: Mécanismes de la formation et les fonctions des nanotubes entre cellules T et muscle lisse.

The post Spring 2022 Student Awards appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Motahareh Vameghestahbanati (PhD with Benjamin Smith). Received the 2020-2021 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Title: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Dysanapsis. Motahareh was also successful in obtaining an FRQS doctoral research award, which was declined upon receipt of the Vanier.

Noelia Dessire Azalde Garcia (MSc with Elizabeth Fixman). Formation de maîtrise FRQS. Title: Rôle des cellules T Natural Killer invariantes (iNKT) dans la réponse immunitaire innée pulmonaire induite par Alternaria dans un modèle murin.

Eszter Farkas (MSc with Dao Nguyen). Master’s Award: Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships. Title: Discovery of potential new antibiotics in Canadian High Arctic bacteria.

Alex Jenkins (PDF with Dennis Jensen). Formation postdoctoral – Citoyens d’autres pays FRQS. Title: Assessment of fat free mass index on clinical outcomes in a population-based cohort of adults with or without COPD.

Inès Levade (PDF with Dao Nguyen). Formation postdoctorale – CITOYENS D’AUTRES PAYS FRQS. Title: Identification de variants génétiques de Pseudomonas aeruginosa impliqués dans la progression de la maladie pulmonaire chez les patients atteints de fibrose kystique.

Emily Wilson (MSc with Carolyn Baglole). Master’s Award: Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships. Title: Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation by Cannabinoids Protects Against Lung Inflammation.

Rui Sun (PhD with James Martin). Formation de doctorat FRQS. Les cellules CD4+ se localisent dans les muscles lisses des voies aériennes et sont associées au remodelage bronchique dans l’asthme.

Paola Andrea Rojas Gutierrez (PDF with Larry Lands). Formation postdoctorale – CITOYENS D’AUTRES PAYS FRQS. Title: Développement de liposomes à pH réversible en aérosol pour l’administration d’acides nucléiques et de petites molécules pour le traitement des maladies pulmonaires.

Yusing Gu (MSc with Marta Kaminska). Master’s Award: Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships. Title: Effect of obstructive sleep apnea on sleep depth and architecture in Parkinson’s disease. Gu Yusing was also offered the FRQS Master’s Training Scholarship (declined – Effet de l’apnée du sommeil sur la profondeur et l’architecture du sommeil dans la maladie de Parkinson).

Saad Razzaq (MSc with Dennis Jensen). Master’s Award: Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships. Title: Components of the COPD Assessment Test Associated with Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Outcomes in the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD) Study.

The post Spring 2021 Student Awards appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Sew research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that a peptide developed to inhibit a key regulator of asthma responses reduces development of inflammation and ‘twitchy’ airways in mice.

Read the full press release

Scientists discover peptide that could reduce the incidence of RSV-related asthma. EurekAlert AAAS. Feb 1, 2017.

Read the publication:

Bharat T. Srinivasa, Katherine H. Restori, Jichuan Shan, Louis Cyr, Li Xing, Soojin Lee, Brian J. Ward, and Elizabeth D. Fixman. STAT6 inhibitory peptide given during RSV infection of neonatal mice reduces exacerbated airway responses upon adult reinfection. J Leukoc Biol. 2017 Feb;101(2):519-529.

The post STAT6-IP Reduces the Development of Allergic-type Lung Inflammation and Airway Hyperresponsiveness appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Dr. Elizabeth Fixman developed STAT6-IP, a chimeric inhibitory peptide with the ability to enter cells and disrupt activity of the STAT6 transcription factor. STAT6 has been show to inhibit aberrant Th2 responses in the airways of preclinical models of respiratory syncytial virus infection (Eur J Immunol 2014) and asthma (J Immunol 2007; Clin Exp Allergy 2011; Mucosal Immunol 2015). 

The latter publication by Dr. Christine McCusker received significant media attention.

This work was also selected for one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs of 2015 selected by Québec Science and Dr. Christine McCusker was nominated as the Feb 2016 Researcher of the Month by Canadians for Health Research.

View articles and interviews about this research:

• Snowy winter, sudden heat create very bad allergy season. CTV News Montreal. May 20, 2015.
• Misery is in the air for Montreal’s allergy sufferers. Montreal Gazette. by Marian Scott. May 15, 2015.
• Educating the immune system to prevent allergies. MUHC research team designs a potential vaccine against allergic airways disease. CIHR Health Research in Action. August 25, 2015
• Educating the immune system to prevent allergies. McGill News. May 14, 2015.
• Quebec Science honours RI-MUHC discovery. MUHC News. January 4, 2016.
• Une stratégie antiallergique. Québec Science. November 30, 2015.
• New Canadian research could lead to the end of allergies. Radio Canada International. By Marc Montgomery. May 19, 2015.
• Dure saison des allergies en vue. La Presse. By Ariane Lacoursière. May 15, 2015.
• L’immunothérapie, ou la désensibilisation pour éliminer les allergies. Le Devoir. By Pauline Gravel. June 13, 2015.
• New seasonal allergy treatments offer some hope. It’s been a bad spring for pollen, and don’t start us talking on ragweed! CBC News. Althea Manasan. May 25, 2015.

The post Educating the Immune System with SAT6-IP appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.