McGill University received $18.1 million in federal funding to support 16 Canada Research Chairs, including six new appointments and 10 renewals. The funding will help drive innovative research across diverse fields.

The Canada Research Chairs Program, a tri-agency initiative supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, invests approximately $311 million annually to recruit and retain leading researchers across Canada.

Read More

McGill awarded 16 new or renewed Canada Research Chairs. From fundamental physics to child well-being, McGill researchers advance discovery across disciplines. McGill News. May 13, 2026. by Robin Koning.

Government of Canada invests over $168 million in Canada’s research ecosystem. Press Release for Spring 2026 Recipients (cycle 2025-1). May 13, 2026.

The post Canada Research Chair in Trained Immunity appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

We were especially pleased to introduce a few new elements this year, including the rapid-fire presentations and the panel discussion featuring early-, mid-, and senior-career PIs interviewed by students, both of which brought great energy and valuable perspectives to the program. A highlight of the day was the keynote by Dr. Tillie-Louise Hackett, Peter T. Macklem Lecture: Understanding Heterogeneous Airways Disease in Asthma and COPD Using Spatial Imaging, which sparked some excellent discussions.

The winners for best oral presentation were:

Ryann Lang
PhD student with Basil Petrof
Elucidating the Role of Interleukin-6 in Ventilator-induced Diaphragm Dysfunction

Olivier Salko
Resident with Nicole Ezer
Benralizumab for Early Stage Lung Cancer with Eosinophilia trial -BELE trial – Improving post-operative lung cancer resection outcomes with eosinophil guided anti-IL-5 therapy – A Bayesian Adaptive feasibility study

The winners for best rapid fire oral presentation were:

Shahin Bolori Hanafi
PDF with Maziar Divangahi
IL-22 Mediated Autophagy in Alveolar Type 2 Cells Promotes Pulmonary Disease Tolerance to Influenza

Kriti Agarwal
PhD with Tania-Janaudis Ferreira
Six-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial on tele-rehabilitation in individuals with long COVID

The winners for best poster presentation were:

Hansen Feng
MSc with James Martin
Characterization of the intrapulmonary antiviral immune response to oropharyngeal influenza A virus infection during pregnancy

Willem Rijnbout St James
PhD student with Carolyn Baglole
The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor is a Novel Regulator of ECM Synthesis and Focal Adhesion Dynamics in Lung Fibroblasts

Rui Sun
PDF with Maziar Divangahi
15-lipoxygenase is essential for hematopoietic stem cell functions and β-glucan-mediated trained immunity against influenza A virus

Trainee-led Panel Discussion:
One piece of advice for students in this room

Trainee Moderators & Facilitators: Sophia Goldman, Eszter Farkas, Sydney Joy, Sami Sedraoui, Kalpana Chaudhary, Kate Harvey
Panelists: Tillie-Louise Hackett, Eva Kaufmann, Nermin Diab, Irah King,
Kevin Schwartzman

As part of this year’s Research Day, trainees led an interactive panel discussion featuring faculty researchers and our keynote speaker, creating a space for open, honest conversations about career paths, mentorship, and life in academia.

From the very first question “How did you decide your career path?”, one message came through clearly: there is no single path into science. Panelists shared journeys shaped by curiosity, unexpected pivots, and influential mentors. Some discovered their passion early, while others found their direction much later, often after changing fields entirely. The common thread? Follow what excites you and be open to change along the way.

Choosing Academia: Freedom, Curiosity, and Personal Fit

When asked what drew them to academia, panelists emphasized the freedom to explore ideas and shape their own research programs. At the same time, they highlighted that academia is not the only path, and that choosing between academia and industry is ultimately a personal decision, shaped by individual priorities and interests.

Mentorship Matters – And It Goes Both Ways

A major theme of the discussion was the importance of strong mentor–trainee relationships. Panelists described mentorship as more than supervision; it’s about advocacy, honesty, and aligning with a trainee’s long-term goals. Trainees were encouraged to actively communicate their expectations and seek out mentors who support both their professional and personal growth.

Lessons Learned (Sometimes the Hard Way)

Panelists also shared candid reflections on challenges they faced during training. A key takeaway: don’t ignore problems but rather address them early. Whether it’s a difficult mentorship dynamic or uncertainty about career direction, being proactive can make a significant difference.

Another recurring message was the importance of taking ownership of your work: driving your project forward, developing your own ideas, and building essential “soft skills” like writing, communication, and organization.

Beyond Publications: What Really Matters for Academic Careers

During the audience Q&A, trainees asked how to stand out in academia beyond publishing papers. Panelists emphasized: building connections and visibility within your field, developing strong communication and storytelling skills; thinking beyond your current project to identify the next big question. Ultimately, success isn’t just about a CV, it’s about your ability to communicate your vision and make others care about your work.

The Reality of Academic Life

In a refreshingly honest exchange, panelists acknowledged the less glamorous side of academia: administration, emails, and competing responsibilities. Their advice: prioritize wisely, set boundaries, and accept that no role is perfect. At the same time, they encouraged trainees to embrace uncertainty, learn from mistakes, and seek guidance from more experienced colleagues.

Photos from the Event

The post 2026 RESP Research Day Poster and Oral Winners appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

The Government of Canada and several research partners invested over $41 million in a national initiative to advance cancer prevention and early detection research. The funding is supporting 19 research teams across Canada over five years through CIHR’s Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants program. Researchers will investigate innovative approaches to reduce cancer risk, including studying the role of the gut microbiome, lifestyle factors, aging, early tumor development, cancer vaccines, and preventive therapies. The initiative aims to translate biological discoveries into strategies that prevent cancer, detect it earlier, and reduce the disease’s significant health and economic burden in Canada, where up to 40% of cancers may be preventable.

Read More

Government of Canada and partners invest over $41M to advance cancer prevention research and improve early detection. Government of Canada. February 26, 2026.

CIHR and partners invest $4 million in cancer prevention research at The Institute. Maziar Divangahi and David Labbé part of largest CIHR-led investment in cancer prevention. The Institute News. March 3, 2026.

The post CIHR Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention 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.

Dr. Maziar Divangahi discusses his research on β-glucans, naturally occurring sugars found in mushrooms, yeast, and bacteria, which are often marketed as immune-boosting supplements. His work, conducted primarily in mouse models, explores how β-glucans can modulate the immune response during severe respiratory infections such as COVID-19.

Dr. Divangahi explains that in many critical illnesses, including COVID-19, patients end up in the ICU not only because of the infection itself, but because of excessive inflammation and lung damage caused by an overactive immune response. In preclinical models, β-glucans appear to reduce harmful inflammation in the lungs, potentially limiting tissue damage.

He also notes that earlier studies from the 1960s and 1970s suggested β-glucans could reduce cancer cell growth, but emphasizes an important caution: most of this evidence comes from animal and cell studies. At present, it remains unclear what happens when humans consume β-glucans as supplements, and whether the effects seen in the lab translate safely and effectively to people.

His message underscores the episode’s broader theme: promising biological effects do not automatically mean proven health benefits in humans, and more rigorous clinical studies are needed before drawing conclusions.

Watch the Episode

Les promesses des nouveaux suppléments alimentaires. À la recherche de la potion magique. De nombreux suppléments promettent d’améliorer nos performances physiques ou cognitives, comme les poudres de préentraînement et les adaptogènes. Mais leurs bienfaits sont-ils validés par la science? Épisode du dimanche 16 novembre 2025.

Dr. Maziar Divangahi’s interview starts at ~15 minutes.

The post β-glucan and Dietary Supplements appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

At the center of the celebration were the 2025 Montreal General Hospital Foundation Research Awards—an investment of $2.8 million across 121 awards supporting 78 researchers. These projects span vital areas including surgical innovation, cancer care, neurology, and mental health. As Dr. Rhian Touyz, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of The Institute, noted, philanthropy is a catalyst for discovery that transforms potential into progress. Congratulations to this year’s recipients whose groundbreaking work continues to shape the future of patient care.

Recipients from the RESP Program and the Meakins-Christie Laboratories

Strauss Chair in Respiratory Medicine
Provided by Mr. Luc Villeneuve, Mr. Richard & Mrs. Edith Strauss Foundation
Awarded to Dr. Maziar Divangahi

Tom Hum and Eileen Hum Chang Research Award
Provided by The Chang family and descendants of the late-patriarch Tom Hum
Awarded to Dr. Bryan Ross 

Goldberg/Tabac Research Award
Provided by Mr. Steven Tabac
Awarded to Dr. Bryan Ross 

Deane Nesbitt Award
Provided by Mr. A.R. Deane Nesbitt
Awarded to Dr. Augusto Montezano, Dr. Bryan Ross & Christina Wolfson, PhD 

Jawaid Khan Award in Interstitial Lung Disease
Provided by Mrs. Susan Khan and Family
Awarded to Dr. Deborah Assayag 

Brigadier-General Herbert Stanley Birkett Memorial Research Award (MGH)
Awarded to Jun Ding, PhD, Momar Ndao, PhD & Dr. Giada Sebastiani 

Read More

Philanthropy fuels discovery at the Montreal General Hospital. The Montreal General Hospital Foundation’s 2025 Research Awards invest $2.8 million in more than 120 projects led by researchers shaping the future of healthcare. The Institute News. October 22, 2025.

The post Philanthropy Fuels Innovation: 2025 MGH Research Awards appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Maziar Divangahi
Identifying Correlates of Protection Against TB for Novel Vaccine Development

Salman Qureshi
Functional characterization of novel fungal host resistance genes

Simon Rousseau (Priority Announcement)
Co-Investigator: Jun Ding
The evolving landscape of Long COVID: identifying dynamic molecular features to improve diagnosis, prognostication and identification of novel treatment targets

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

The study demonstrated that this damaging immune response required signals from infections and interactions with other immune cells, and did not follow traditional immune pathways. When these reprogrammed macrophages were transferred into other mice, they reproduced the inflammation, confirming their role in the damage. This discovery sheds light on the complex and context-dependent nature of immune memory in the lungs. It may help explain why some individuals are more vulnerable to severe inflammation, such as during sepsis, and cautions that boosting trained immunity, such as through supplements, might have unintended harmful effects in the lungs.

While trained immunity is being explored to enhance vaccine responses and disease resistance, this study highlights the importance of understanding its potential risks, especially in delicate tissues like the lungs. The findings underscore the need for careful evaluation of immune-boosting strategies that involve trained immunity, particularly in individuals prone to inflammatory lung conditions.

Read the Publication

β-Glucan reprograms alveolar macrophages via neutrophil/IFNγ axis in a murine model of lung injury. Prevel R, Pernet E, Tran KA, Sadek A, Sadeghi M, Lapshina E, Jurado LF, Kristof AS, Moumni M, Poschmann J, Divangahi M. Elife. 2025 Jul 8;13:RP102068.

Read More

Study reveals trained immunity may cause lung damage. Discovery could help explain why some people are more vulnerable to lung damage during severe inflammation. The Institute News. July 17, 2025.

The post Trained Immunity May Cause Lung Damage appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Although BCG has saved many lives, it doesn’t work for everyone, and the cancer often comes back. Now, researchers have discovered that adding a natural molecule called β-glucan, found in fungi, can make BCG therapy much more powerful.

In lab studies, this combination completely eliminated tumours in mice and helped their immune systems remember how to fight the cancer in the future. The key? β-glucan helps train special immune cells in the bone marrow to become better cancer fighters.

This exciting discovery may not only improve bladder cancer treatment but could also help treat other cancers like melanoma. A clinical trial is being planned to test this new approach in patients. This Canadian-led innovation has the potential to make cancer immunotherapy more effective—and longer-lasting for people around the world.

Read More

New discovery remarkably improves immunotherapy in bladder cancer and beyond. A new preclinical study unveils a more powerful and effective immunotherapy for bladder cancer and other solid tumours. The Institute News. June 26, 2025.

A new preclinical study unveils a more powerful and effective immunotherapy for bladder cancer and other solid tumours. MUHC News. 2025

Read the Publication

A fungal-derived adjuvant amplifies the antitumoral potency of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin via reprogramming granulopoiesis. Jurado LF, Daman AW, Li Z, Ross VMS, Nikolaou K, Tran KA, Loutochin O, McPherson VA, Prével R, Tarancón R, Couto K, Pernet E, Khan N, Cheong JG, Ramaiah R, Ketavarapu M, Kaufmann E, Glickman MS, Thanabalasuriar A, Josefowicz SZ, Divangahi M. Immunity. 2025 Jun 19:S1074-7613(25)00247-X. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2025.05.026. Online ahead of print.

The post Breakthrough to Boost Bladder Cancer Treatment appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.

Developed in collaboration with the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, and the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, this initiative provides critical bridge funding to help researchers maintain momentum, strengthen their proposals, and remain competitive in future national competitions.

Researchers from the RESP program were among the inaugural recipients, leading innovative projects in respiratory health, infectious diseases, and precision medicine:

• Larry Lands is advancing prime editing approaches for cystic fibrosis, targeting genetic variants that do not respond to current therapies.
• Arnold Kristof is investigating cell signaling pathways in lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare lung disease, to uncover new therapeutic targets.
• Salman Qureshi is characterizing novel genes involved in host resistance to fungal infections, with potential to improve treatment strategies.
• Maziar Divangahi is exploring trained immunity and lipid mediators (eicosanoids) to enhance immune responses against influenza A virus.

The post Sustaining Excellence: Supporting Breakthrough Research appeared first on Meakins-Christie Laboratories.