Research

UM researchers receive $7.2 million in federal support for health studies

First Nations projects among largest recipients.

An Indigenous mother sits with her newborn daughter on her chest. The mother is dressed in a black tank top and the baby is wearing just a diaper.
Estimated Read Time:
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One project examines Type 2 diabetes as an intergenerational disease in First Nations communities | iStock photo
One project examines Type 2 diabetes as an intergenerational disease in First Nations communities | iStock photo
Estimated Read Time:
5 minutes

UM researchers will partner closely with First Nations patients and communities on two research projects that each received more than $1 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Nine grants totaling $7.2 million were awarded to Rady Faculty of Health Sciences investigators in the recently announced Fall 2025 round of project grants.  

 

Addressing Type 2 diabetes in First Nations

 

Dr. Brandy Wicklow, professor of pediatrics and child health in the Max Rady College of Medicine and researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, leads a team that received the largest grant of nearly $1.5 million. The team includes Indigenous researchers.

The five-year project focuses on Type 2 diabetes as an intergenerational disease in First Nations communities. First Nations children in Manitoba have one of the highest pediatric rates of the disease in the world, with children as young as four years old affected.

“An important risk factor for children is being exposed in the womb to the mother’s Type 2 diabetes,” Wicklow says. “With this funding, we’ll expand the ongoing Next Generation Birth Cohort study, which follows children who are born to parents who were themselves diagnosed with the disease before they were 18 years old.  

“We screen the children from birth to age 18 for diabetes and associated problems, such as kidney disease.”

In collaboration with First Nations community members, the team will expand the cohort study by continuing to thoroughly screen children; improving diabetes pregnancy education and breastfeeding support for mothers; and developing a land-based program for parents and children involved in the study. 

Headshot of Dr. Brandy Wicklow
Dr. Brandy Wicklow
With this funding, we’ll expand the ongoing Next Generation Birth Cohort study, which follows children who are born to parents who were themselves diagnosed with the disease before they were 18 years old.

Dr. Brandy Wicklow

Assessing barriers to joint care for First Nations patients

 

The second-largest grant of more than $1.2 million will fund a study that will use Indigenous research methods to better understand First Nations patients’ access to joint care and joint replacement surgery in Manitoba.  

Noting that First Nations people have a higher rate of arthritis than the general population, the five-year study will combine the lived experience of First Nations patients with insights from health data.  

Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods, assistant professor in the College of Community and Global Health, and Dr. Christiaan Righolt, assistant professor of surgery in the Max Rady College of Medicine and director of clinical research at the Orthopaedic Innovation Centre, co-lead this research in close collaboration with a First Nations Advisory Circle that helped shape the study design.  

The team will interview First Nations patients who have had a joint replaced, using Indigenous research methods to analyze the interviews. It will also examine health data to compare the joint pain and joint-replacement experiences of First Nations and non-First Nations patients.

The researchers will use a consensus-building process to identify the main barriers to equitable, culturally safe joint care and assess what can be done to remove these barriers.  

Headshot image of Dr. Amanda Fowler Woods.
Headshot image of Dr. Christiaan Righolt.
Dr. Amanda Fowler Woods, left, and Dr. Christiaan Righolt, right

Here are the other UM recipients of CIHR project grants in the Fall 2025 round of funding

Dr. Robert Beattie, assistant professor of biochemistry and medical genetics; researcher with the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)  

Grant: $1,044,225 (five years)  

Beattie’s project investigates why some brain cells are more vulnerable than others during development. His team uses special tools to follow the family history of brain cells and study them one cell at a time. They look at how different groups of brain cells are made, how long they survive and how they are affected in neurodevelopmental disorders. The research aims to find ways to protect vulnerable brain cells in childhood brain disorders.

Headshot image of Dr. Robert Beattie.

Dr. Shyamala Dakshinamurti, professor of pediatrics and child health; researcher with CHRIM

Grant: $994,500 (five years)

Dakshinamurti, a neonatologist, studies pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. This life-threatening disease prevents some babies from getting enough blood flow to their lungs to breathe immediately after birth. Using animal and cell models, the researchers will investigate what makes an enzyme in these newborns’ lung blood vessels “switch off” and prevent the blood vessels from relaxing. The goal is to identify more effective drug treatments for these infants. 

Headshot image of Dr. Shyamala Dakshinamurti.

Dr. Kaarina Kowalec, associate professor of pharmacy

Grant: $1,143,675 (five years)

Kowalec will invite Manitobans with schizophrenia to provide a blood sample and other medical data in order to establish the groundbreaking Manitoba Schizophrenia Study. Her team will compare the Manitoba findings with data from Sweden and conduct research to better understand the role of genetics in schizophrenia, as well as genetic factors in antipsychotic drug prescribing. This project may lead to potential targets for better treatments. 

Headshot image of Dr. Kaarina Kowalec.

Dr. Lyle McKinnon, associate professor of medical microbiology and infectious diseases; researcher with CHRIM

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

Building upon UM’s decades of work in Nairobi, Kenya on the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), McKinnon’s team will collaborate with the transgender community in Nairobi to unravel factors that increase STBBI risk in transgender people. By understanding the layers of STBBI risk, the team aims to improve the health of this underserved population through community-centred programs and services. 

Headshot image of Dr. Lyle McKinnon

Dr. Tanveer Sharif, associate professor of pathology  

Grant: $955,295 (five years)  

Sharif will investigate what causes immature cells in a child’s brain to become cancerous, leading to Group 3 medulloblastoma, the most aggressive form of this brain cancer. His team has discovered a connection between a process called lactate metabolism and a protein called OTX2, which creates a cycle that drives the disease. Using animal models, the team will test whether targeting lactate metabolism can be a treatment for Group 3 medulloblastoma.   

Headshot image of Dr. Tanveer Sharif.

Dr. Souradet Shaw, assistant professor of community and global health; Canada Research Chair in program science and global public health

Grant: $100,000 (one year)

Shaw’s team is partnering with Winnipeg’s Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre (AHWC) in research that is Indigenous-led, community-driven, and respectful of cultural knowledge and lived experience. With a safer consumption site expected to open in inner-city Winnipeg in 2026, this project will evaluate its impact on people who use substances and on the broader community. The findings will support AHWC in building long-term solutions to substance-related harms. 

Headshot image of Dr. Souradet Shaw.

Dr. Roberta Woodgate, distinguished professor of nursing; Canada Research Chair in child, youth and family engagement in health research and healthcare; researcher with CHRIM

Grant: $157,000 (one year)

Woodgate’s study – part of a national project – seeks to understand how Canadian youth are engaging with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools to support their mental health. Young people from diverse backgrounds will participate as researchers on the team. The study will result in co-created public health educational resources and recommendations to help young people with mental-health needs to use AI-driven tools in a safe, informed manner.  

Headshot image of Dr. Roberta Woodgate.
By

Rady Communications Staff

To learn more about research in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, visit:

umanitoba.ca/health-sciences/research

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