Programmatic Grants in Environments, Genes and Chronic Disease

It is now widely recognized that complex interactions between environmental and genetic risk factors contribute to the etiology of many non-communicable chronic diseases. The Programmatic Grants in EGCD will address critical knowledge gaps in this area by supporting research to address how interactions between environmental, microbiome, and genetic factors contribute to chronic, non-communicable disease. The importance of this research area is outlined in a podcast by Dr. Philip Sherman, former Scientific Director of CIHR-INMD.

In the first phase of this initiative, CIHR-INMD launched the Catalyst Grants in Environments, Genes and Chronic Disease to support research to address priorities identified at the Environments, Genes and Chronic Disease National Workshop. Building on the momentum created by the Catalyst Grants, the Programmatic Grants in Environments, Genes and Chronic Disease funding opportunity was launched in December 2014 as part of the CIHR Environments and Health Signature Initiative. The Programmatic Grants in Environments, Genes and Chronic Disease were launched in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Kidney Foundation of Canada and the National Research Council. Applicants and partners attended the Environments, Genes, and Chronic Disease Partner Forum in June 2015.

The objectives of this funding opportunity are:

  • To support interdisciplinary programmatic research that improves our understanding of how environment-gene interactions or environment-microbiome-gene interactions contribute to both metabolic and immunologically-mediated non-communicable chronic diseases;
  • To support interdisciplinary programmatic research on the etiology of chronic non-communicable disease that may ultimately contribute to the development of new intellectual property, research methodology (including new methods for measuring environmental exposures) and/or approaches for disease prevention or treatment; and
  • To build interdisciplinary collaborations and foster Canadian expertise in order to elucidate the environmental and genetic origins of non-communicable chronic disease.

Funding Results

CIHR-INMD, in collaboration with funding partners Genome British Columbia and Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, congratulate the successful applicants for this competition.

201509ECD
Principal Investigators Institution Project Title
Vernon Dolinsky, James Davie, Michael Kobor, Garry Shen, Brandy Wicklow University of Manitoba The Developmental Origins of Obesity and Obesity-related Complications in Children.
Alberto Martin, Catherine O'Brien University of Toronto The impact of the gut microbiome and environment on the development of colorectal cancer.
Gregory Steinberg, Katherine Morrison McMaster University Gene Environment Team on Brown/beige Adipose Tissue (GET_BAT).
Alain Stintzi, Daniel Figeys, David Mack, Kieran O'Doherty, and Bruce Vallance University of Ottawa The diet-microbiota-gut axis in pediatric IBD.
201509EC1
Principal Investigators Institution Project Title
Stuart Turvey, Jeffrey Brook, Michael Kobor University of British Columbia Programmatic research to understand how modifiable environmental factors interact with the genome in the development of asthma.
201509EC2
Principal Investigators Institution Project Title
Jennifer Gommerman, Kenneth Croitoru University of Toronto Elucidating the Gene-Environment Interactions that drive Autoimmune Disease among South Asian Canadians - The GEMINI Program.
201509EC3
Principal Investigators Institution Project Title
Philip Awadalla, Trevor Dummer, John Spinelli Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (Toronto, Ontario) Determining the genetic and environmental factors associated with metabolic phenotypes across Canada.
201509EC4
Principal Investigators Institution Project Title
Padmaja Subbarao, Jeffrey Brook, Russell De Souza, Qingling Duan, Anita Kozyrskyj, Wen-Yi Lou, Michael Surette Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) Gene and environment effects on lung health and risk for chronic respiratory disease, asthma & COPD.
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