Two of our 2016 grant recipients – Noémie Pothier and Artin Ghassemian – describe how support from the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation has helped their research. SEE VIDEOS
Recipient institutions
| Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health and the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada 10-year annual National Prize for Mental Health Research Year 2: Awarded to Dr. Rudolf Uher, Dalhousie University |
$100,000 |
| Carleton University Mach-Gaensslen Foundation Scholarship in Health Sciences Endowment Fund 3-year pledge of $100,000 Health sciences program for students in cardiology, oncology, psychiatry |
$33,333 |
| Memorial University of Newfoundland | $25,000 |
| Université Laval | $25,000 |
| Université de Montréal | $25,000 |
| McGill University | $25,000 |
| University of Ottawa | $25,000 |
| Queen’s University | $20,000 |
| University of Toronto | $25,000 |
| McMaster University | $25,000 |
| University of Western Ontario | $25,000 |
| University of Saskatchewan | $15,000 |
| University of Alberta | $25,000 |
| University of British Columbia | $25,000 |
Student recipients
Memorial University of Newfoundland
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Hilary Alteen | Quantitative image analysis of renal cell carcinoma metastasis: tracking tumor spread to improve patient outcomes | Dr. Ross Feldman |
| Michael Peppis Bartellas | Creating a palatal obturator using freeware and a low-cost 3D printer | Dr. Gary Paterno |
| Jessica Common | Lung cancer screening and diagnosis: how do we streamline patients with a diagnosis of lung cancer to reduce wait time? | Dr. Scott Harris |
| Ramsey Powell | Comparison of outcomes for sutureless and conventional aortic valve replacement | Dr. Corey Adams |
| Ian Short | Evaluation of active surveillance for patients with early prostate cancer | Dr. Jinka Sathya |
For further information on the papers from Memorial University
Université Laval
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Mathieu Allard | Évaluation de l’index du réservoir aortique chez les patients alleints d’insuffisance rénale chronique | Dr. Mohsen Agharazii |
| Catherine Beaumont | Energy metabolism control in heart hypertrophy | Dr. Marie Arsenault |
| Maude Cameron-Gagne | Adult congenital heart disease: support for the elderly patient | Dr. Marie Arsenault |
| William Enlow | Lung adenocarcinoma tissue microarray production with application to pulmonary oncology | Dr. Philippe Joubert |
| Raphael Laforest Gendron | PD-L1 expression by pulmonary carcinoid tumors | Dr. Philippe Joubert |
| Louis-David Leclerc | Can we improve the detection of social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders in early psychosis? | Dr. Marc-Andre Roy |
For further information on the papers from Université Laval
Université de Montréal
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Marie-Pierre Beaudoi | Rôle des récepteurs mGlu2/3 dans la consommation pathologique de cocaine | Dr. Anna Samaha |
| Sophie Guay Grenier | Caracterisation de l’effet de l’acetylation de SUMOI et de la phosphorylation de PML SIM sur leur interaction | Dr. Jim G. Omichinski |
| Jessica Le Blanc | Rôle d’ADAMTS 19 dans le développement cardiaque | Dr. Gregor U. Andelfinger |
| Tiphaine Marrocq | Nouvelles stratégies d’immunothérapie innovatrices afin de querir le neuroblastome chez l’enfant | Dr. Elie Haddad |
| Olivia Portolese | Rôle de la nutrition et du stress oxydant dans les complications cardiométaboliques chez les survivants de la LLA | Dr. Valerie Marcil |
For further information on the papers from Université de Montréal
McGill University
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Levon Boodaghians | Longitudinal analysis of previously suicidal adolescents with BPD: correlates and predictors | Dr. Brian Greenfield |
| Asli Buyukkurt | Identifying activity rhythms and eating behaviour in treatment-resistant bipolar disorder | Dr. Outi Mantere |
| Rouan Gaffar | Single-stage versus staged multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention for myocardial infarction: a systematic review and meta analysis | Dr. Mark Eisenberg |
| Artin Ghassemian | Optimizing therapy for double hit diffuse large B-cell lymphoma | Dr. Nathalie Johnson |
| Amanda Marino | End of life care preferences in patients with severe and persistent mental illness | Dr. Kari Looper |
| Noémie Pothier | Development of multiplex tissue biomarker assay for prostate cancer | Dr. Jacques Lapointe |
| Eric Sonke | Investigating endogenous production of hydrogen sulfide in cancer cell lines and non-cancerous controls | Dr. Morag Park |
| Russell Yanofsky | Sex differences in the circulating and plaque expression of adipokines, chemerin and resistin, in relation to carotid atherosclerotic plaque instability | Dr. Stella Daskalapoulou |
For further information on the papers from McGill University
University of Ottawa
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Elise Beaudry | Understanding the management of high acuity mental health patients in the emergency department | Dr. Clare Gray |
| Louise Gresham | Development of an autologous infected cell vaccine for the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis | Dr. Rebecca Auer |
| Nicholas Timmerman | Determination of the relationship between epicardial stenosis and myocardial flow reserve in patients with and without diabetes mellitus using invasive angiography and cardiac PET | Dr. Aun-Yeong Chong |
| Matthew Tsang | Does ectopic expression of germ cell proteins contribute to genomic instability in cutaneous T-cell lymphona? | Dr. Ivan Litvinov |
| Jennifer Zlepnig | Safety and efficacy of adult stem cell therapy in ischemic heart disease: a systematic review | Dr. Lauralyn McIntyre |
For further information on the papers from University of Ottawa
Queen’s University
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Omar Ibrahim | Indications, outcomes, diagnostic yield and complications of … | Dr. Adrian Baranchuk |
| Helena Kyunghee Kim | MicroRNAs as regulators of redox change in psychiatric disorders | Dr. Harriet Feilotter |
| Haris Vaid | Implementing the pulse point smartphone application in Kingston | Dr. Steven C. Brooks |
| Christina Moi | An analysis of the extent of upstaging resulting from extensive staging investigations in suspected state 1 and 2 NSCLC presenting without evidence of metastatic disease | Dr. Onofre Moran |
For further information on the papers from Queen’s University
University of Toronto
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Rachel Barnett | Integration of basic sciences and clinical sciences in medical phychiatry instruction to prepare medical students for future learning | Dr. Sockalingam Dr. Mylopoulos |
| Henry Baron | Imaging alterations in endocannabinoid metabolism in clinical high risk and first episode psychosis | Dr. Romina Mizrah |
| Ari Cuperfain | The evaluation of a mobile appliation for the observation and analysis of responsive behaviours in dementia: a pilot project | Dr. Andrea Iaboni |
| Yehia Fanous | Heart failure in tetralogy of Fallot | Dr. Edward Hickey |
| Alyssa Komar | Development and pilot evaluation of a rehabilitation consult for survivors of head and neck cancer | Dr. Julie Ringash |
| Yuchen Li | Cancer patient reported health habits electronic record lung cancer study (CaPHELS) | Dr. Geoffrey Liu |
| Kishan Shani | Development of dysphagia screening tool in routine clinical oncologic care in Ontario | Dr. Geoffrey Liu |
| Sarah Vinette | Investigating the endocannabinoid system in antisocial and borderline personality disorder with persistent violence | Dr. Nathan Kolla |
| Xin ye (Steven) Wang | Prospective assessment of survivorship needs and quality of life in head and neck cancer | Dr. Meredity Giuliani |
For further information on the papers from University of Toronto
McMaster University
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Graham McClure | Surgical atrial fibrillation ablation: a systematic review of randomized trials | Dr. Richard Whitlock |
| Leen Naji | Investigating cannabis use in patients hospitalized for suicide attempt in Ontario | Dr. Zena Samaan |
| Aarti Rana | Characterization of true neurological illness underlying psychiatric diagnoses of conversion disorder (or functional neurological disorder) | Dr. Patricia Rosebush |
| Sean Rasmussen | Predicting antipsychotic-induced side-effects and long-term treatment outcomes in first episode psychosis patients | Dr. Patricia Rosebush |
| Wenqing Wendy Ye | In vitro evaluation of candidate drug efficiency against novel targets of leukemic regenerating cells (LRC) in primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples | Dr. Mick Bhatia |
For further information on the papers from McMaster University
University of Western Ontario
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Farhad Ghasemi | Development of novel therapeutics for improved outcomes in head and neck cancer | Dr. Anthony Nichols |
| Andrew Gibson | Characterization of vascular changes in hypertensive Alzheimer diseased rats | Dr. Shawn Whitehead |
| Kaitlyn Hayes | Cardiovascular comorbidity in SLE may have a care gap: data from the 1000 faces of lupus cohort | Dr. Janet Pope |
| Hannah Milley | A systematic review of he literature concerning substance use in transgender and gender diverse populations | Dr. Coreta Bauer |
| Thomas Tsz-Chun So | To identify clinical factors that can improve the fine-needle aspiration cytology diagnosis of Warthin tumour | Dr. S. Danielle MacNeil |
| Boris Virine | Genetic determinants of palbociclib efficacy | Dr. Fred Dick |
For further information on the papers from University of Western Ontario
University of Saskatchewan
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Catherine Guenther | Targeting resistance to anti-EphA2 treatment in triple negative breast cancer | Dr. Andrew Freywald |
| Megan McDonald | Validation of synthetic dosage lethality for selective killing of malignant cells | Dr. Franco Vizeacoumar |
| Jessica Reiniger | Transformational research in adolescent mental health | Dr. Caroline Tait |
For further information on the papers from University of Saskatchewan
University of Alberta
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Jacob Baran | Depression research priority setting project | Dr. Lorraine Breault |
| Savanna Boutin | Depression research priority setting project | Dr. Lorraine Breault |
| Courtney Handford | Depression research priority setting project | Dr. Lorraine Breault |
| Monique Jarrett | Depression research priority setting project | Dr. Lorraine Breault |
| Rachel Wang | Depression research priority setting project | Dr. Lorraine Breault |
For further information on the papers from University of Alberta
University of British Columbia
| Student | Title of research project | Faculty advisor |
| Arkhjamil (Archie) Angeles | The utility of regorafenib therapy in a population-based cohort study of patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer | Dr. Winson Cheung |
| Vivien Hu | Cerebral oximetry to assess cerebral autoregulation in hypoxemic ischemic brain injury (COnCEpT – HIBI) | Dr. Donald Griesdale |
| Pouya Memar | Delerium diary project: comforting, educating, and empowering family members of delirious patients | Dr. Alan Bates |
| Collin Pryma | Mechanism of impaired cholesterol removal from smooth muscle foam cells in atherosclerosis | Dr. Gordon Francis |
| Yat Him Suen | Investigation of the prevalence of maternal obstetric complications in early psychosis | Dr. Donna Lang |
| Linda Yang | Evaluation of BC Cancer Agency’s prospective outcomes and support initiative | Dr. Robert Olson |
| Ren Jie (Robert) Yao | Early predictor risk factors for developing left ventricular dysfunction post adjuvant trastuzumab therapy in HER2+ breast cancer patients | Dr. Margot Davis |
| Jeffrey Yim | Evaluation of the impact of left ventricular mass on diastolic blood pressure targets in patients with coronary artery disease | Dr. Simon Rabkin |
| Jeffrey Yiu | The functional connectome: hallucinations | Dr. Todd Woodward |
| Christina Zhang | Lymphoma cancer Internet patient information: a systematic evaluation of the quality of online resources for lymphoma patients and characterization of Internet usage patterns | Dr. Paris-Ann Ingledew |
For further information on the papers from University of British Columbia