fbpx

The Asthma Canada National Research Program invests in Canadian research through annual Graduate Student Research Grants. 


Graduate Student Research Grants

By investing in emerging Canadian researchers and supporting their promising research, we ensure continued efforts to search for a cure for asthma while taking real strides towards better treatment options for Canadians living with asthma.

Alongside the Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation (CAAIF), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (CIHR-ICRH),Asthma Canada is pleased to fund full-time graduate students (MSc and PhD) conducting research activities in the field of asthma as part of the Graduate Student Awards in Asthma. 

The objectives of the awards are to provide value-added opportunities for the training, education, and professional development of graduate students whose research focuses on the understanding of causes, underlying mechanisms, or improvement of asthma treatments to progress towards finding a cure for asthma.

Asthma Canada works to provide research grants to scientists who are searching for more effective treatments for controlling asthma, keeping the airways open and making breathing easier for millions of people with asthma. With your support, we will continue working to provide assistance to researchers as they strive to find a cure.

From 2017 to 2019, we partnered with AllerGen NCE Inc., and from 2020 onwards, we’ve worked alongside partner CAAIF to award the grants.

There are four awards for PhD students valued at $30,000 each and three awards for MSc students valued at $15,000 each.

Graduate Student Awards in Asthma for 2023: Call for Applications is Now Closed. Please check again in March 2024.

 

The below funds support our National Research Program grants for students:

The Dr. Goran Enhorning Asthma Research Fund

In October 2015, Asthma Canada received a gift on behalf of the Dr. Goran Enhorning Foundation for Pulmonary Research. This donation has been allocated to support further research into finding a cure for asthma and continuing some of the research first started by Dr. Enhorning in the 1990s. 

The Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Fund

In early 2014, Asthma Canada established the Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Fund following the receipt of a bequest from the estate of Gail Suzanne Potts, who died in 2012. Mrs. Potts’ mother suffered from adult onset of asthma. Her desire was to advance research into the multiple factors that contribute to the development of asthma.

Asthma Canada - CAAIF - CIHR-ICRH 2023 Graduate Student Research Award Winners

Meet our Researchers

Courtney Hoskinson

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, PhD

Courtney Hoskinson
McMaster University

Biography:  Prior to moving to Vancouver and starting PhD studies in Microbiology and Immunology at UBC, I attended Pepperdine University (California, USA) as a Seaver Scholar and obtained my BSc in Biology in 2021. During this time, I worked with Dr. Leah Stiemsma and my research focus was the mammary tissue microbiome and its relationship with breast cancer development. I am now a PhD Candidate in the Turvey Lab at BC Children’s Hospital and hold a John Turner Fellowship in Microbiology and Immunology. As I begin my research career, I have now published four times, three times as the primary author (two original research articles and one review) and once as a co-author with my colleagues in the Turvey lab. Following my PhD, I plan to enter medical school and pursue a combination of medicine and research.

Research Project:  Data from the CHILD cohort study: functionally linking the early-life gut microbiome to health and disease

Allergic diseases affect hundreds of millions of children worldwide and continue to increase in prevalence. Many risk factors for allergic diseases, such as antibiotic usage, also influence microbes and their genes within the gut, which, together, are commonly known as the gut microbiome. Maturation of the gut microbiome usually occurs at the same time as the development of healthy immune tolerance. However, if microbiome maturation is abnormal, allergic sensitization can emerge in some children as a result.

My research combines school-age allergic diagnoses with early-life gut microbiome composition, functional capability, and metabolite concentrations for the quantification of a ‘normally’ maturing gut microbiome. This data primarily stems from CHILD (n=3,455), a large Canadian longitudinal study with robust information on participant environment and microbiome. To increase the strength and relevance of my findings, I will not only identify associations in CHILD, but I am also working with my colleagues and collaborators to validate our findings in other populations with clinical and microbiome data, such as the Copenhagen Prospective Study on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC). 

The aims of my research are to (1) identify unifying gut microbiome maturation signatures in asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis, collectively called the ‘Allergic March’, (2) functionally link antibiotic usage to the onset of specific allergic diseases using microbiome data, and (3) connect microbial-dependent influences on participant immune cell profiles to allergy. My investigation of the early-life gut microbiome will thus empower new predictive and preventive strategies to avoid allergic diseases.

Natasha Kunchur

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, PhD

Natasha Kunchur
Carleton University

Biography: Through research, Natasha strives to be an independent biomedical-imaging scientist applying novel data science strategies and imaging modalities to investigate disease pathologies. Holding an Honours BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ottawa and pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Carleton University, she is passionate about merging medicine and technology to innovatively advance our understanding of asthmatic lung airway remodelling.

Natasha’s notable achievements include publishing a paper in BMC Bioinformatics on the development of an automated diagnostic tool utilizing machine learning to detect disease changes. Her research has received recognition and funding from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), Carleton University, and donor-funded awards. Supported by CAAIF, Natasha aims to translate her findings into a clinical environment, striving to contribute positively to the research of respiratory diseases. Additionally, she is actively involved in promoting Women in STEM, working on non-profit initiatives to bridge the gender gap and empower aspiring females pursuing STEM careers.

Research Project: Mapping airway remodelling in asthma using multimodal Raman-Second Harmonic Generation imaging and machine learning

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, impacting approximately 11% of the Canadian population. Inhaled allergens damage the tissue barrier lining the lungs, leading to the inflammation of airways and difficulties in breathing. To remodel impaired tissue, damaged airways trigger a complex cellular response, denoted by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins; particularly collagen I. Evidence suggests that this fibrotic response, known as subepithelial fibrosis (SF), contributes to tissue stiffening, airway blockage and an overall reduction in lung function.

With the goal of setting a new precedence for imaging and to better visualize ECM protein deposition at high resolution, our research applies a label-free multimodal imaging system embedded with the technologies of both Raman microspectroscopy and Second Harmonic Generation. This imaging system is the only of its kind in Canada, and is used to develop biochemical maps of tissues and cells while simultaneously detecting signals related to fibrillar collagen. Due to the complex nature of the data obtained, the development of novel approaches based on machine learning (ML) strategies to identify biomarkers associated with asthmatic airway remodelling is necessitated. Using ML, an automated classification pipeline will be developed to characterize spectral signatures unique to the basement membrane, epithelium and lamina propria of airways.

Insight into the fibrotic responses in asthma with an unprecedented level of spatial and biochemical specificity will drive the identification of biomarkers active in disruptive airway remodelling and support therapeutic development minimizing the formation of scar tissue observed through the excessive burden of SF.

Courtney Marshall

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, PhD

Courtney Marshall
University of Manitoba

Biography: Courtney Marshall is a PhD student in the Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, in Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee’s laboratory. Prior to this, she completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Manitoba with two Co-Op positions, the first at AdMare Bio-innovations in Vancouver, BC, followed by a position in the Mookherjee lab. This experience led to her pursuing graduate studies as a master’s student where she then successfully transferred into the PhD program to continue her research on defining the sex-related differences in the immunomodulation of airway inflammation by Innate defence regulator peptides. Ms. Marshall’s academic and research success has resulted in awards such as the CIHR-CGS (M) scholarship, the Mindel and Tom Olenik Entrance Scholarship, Research Award in Immunology, Research Manitoba, and The Graduate Student Award in Asthma Research. Following her PhD, Courtney hopes to obtain a post-doctoral position fellowship that allows her to transition into a leading independent Principal Investigator at a Canadian University.

Research Project: Sex as a biological variable in immunomodulation of airway inflammation by Innate Defence Regulator (IDR) peptides


Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease affecting nearly 3 million Canadians including children. Around 15% patients do not respond to available steroid therapies and represent the major burden of asthma accounting for annual healthcare costs of $2B. Also, common steroid therapies can increase the risk of lung infections, which can make asthma worse. New therapies are urgently needed that can alleviate steroid-unresponsive disease without compromising the ability to resolve infections.

There is a clear sex bias in asthma, for example adult females experience greater disease severity and are more likely to develop steroid-resistance, compared to males. These sex-related differences are largely ignored during drug development. Effective development of new treatments must consider the differences in disease and response to therapy between females and males.

This study focuses on new molecules known as innate defence regulator (IDR) peptides, which can control both inflammation and infection. We have shown that IDR peptides improve breathing capacity in an animal model of asthma, and control cellular processes linked to steroid unresponsiveness. This project aims to develop IDR peptides as a new therapy for asthma, by examining the effects in both females and males concurrently. This research will directly support the development of a new IDR peptide-based therapy for asthma, by taking into consideration how the treatment affects females compared to males. It is entirely possible that we will need to develop sex-specific treatment protocols to provide the most efficient care for asthma sufferers.

Jo-Chiao Wang

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, PhD

Jo-Chiao Wang
University of Montreal

Biography: During my master’s degree at National Taiwan University, I joined Dr. Ya-Jen Chang’s laboratory in Academia Sinica and worked under her project on fine particulate matter-induced lung inflammation. I found the activation and regulatory role of lung invariant natural killer T cells in such context and became a part of the later published paper in 2022. With my interest in neuroimmunology crosstalk in asthma, I joined Dr. Sébastien Talbot’s laboratory to pursue my Ph.D. degree in 2019.

In Dr. Talbot’s laboratory, the multicultural work environment always brings me novel ideas. Inspired by recently published single-cell sequencing papers, we set out to characterize jugular nociceptor neurons and their changes in asthmatic context. With this project, we aim to provide novel understanding on the heterogeneity of asthma. Besides science, I also play volleyball, drums, and write music with friends.

Research Project:  Basophilic oncostatin M fuels nociceptor neuron-induced asthma

Despite affecting less than 10% of asthmatic patients, severe asthma accounts for 60% of the asthma healthcare cost due to the lack response to corticosteroid treatments. Recent advance of single-cell gene profiling reveals a population of airway sensory neurons expressing similar genes as neurons sensing skin itch. However, molecular and pharmacological characterizations of this population are insufficient. With real-time calcium imaging, we can visualize the calcium influx, a neuronal activation event, in response to different stimulants. We can thus cluster the neurons based on their reactivity to different drugs as well as evaluate neuron’s sensitivity under normal and asthmatic condition.

We have thus far demonstrated that lysophosphatidic acid-responding neurons and serotonin-responding neurons are two distinct populations, which respectively represent jugular and nodose nociceptors in vagal sensory ganglia, from where the airway sensory neurons arise.

We also noticed that some jugular neurons express the receptor of oncostatin M (OSM), a cytokine associated with exaggerated itch sensation in atopic diseases. We then ask if OSM is expressed in asthmatic context and by which cells. With cell sorting and RT-qPCR techniques, we identified lung basophils as the main cellular source of OSM under normal and asthmatic conditions. As it sensitizes itch neurons, OSM can also sensitize vagal sensory neurons, shown by our calcium imaging data.

Whether OSM affects asthmatic pathophysiology through sensitizing airway sensory neurons is yet to be determined. We hope this novel neuroimmunology pathway provides a new possibility in seeking alternatives to glucocorticoid treatment.

Anam Ara

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, MSc

Anam Ara
University of Manitoba

Biography: My journey has been shaped by my experiences, hardships, determination and the unyielding passion for knowledge. My name is Anam Ara, I am a graduate student at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics. Throughout my academic journey, my dedication to learning has earned me top honors, consistently placing me among the highest-ranking students at the university during my undergrad in India. The list of my academic achievements also includes a few papers and scholarships.

Apart from academics, I have actively engaged in extracurricular activities to nurture my diverse interests and skills. My career objectives centre around growing professionally and personally while producing impactful research and publications. In the context of scientific advancement, serving my best to the society is undoubtedly one of the biggest aspects of my research journey. In the future, I envisage myself as a knowledgeable expert in cutting-edge technology and science, so that I can pursue an independent research career.

Research Project:  DNA methylation changes induced by prenatal cannabis exposure associated with asthma in mice

Since legalization, there has been an increase in the use of cannabis in Canada, but worryingly there are few clear rules for its use and safety during pregnancy. Exposure to inhaled particulates in early life from other sources, including wildfires, tobacco smoke, or pollution, have known health outcomes leading to risk of asthma. Early life cannabis exposure has been studied extensively in the brain, but no clear evidence is available for respiratory conditions like asthma. We plan to examine the molecular effects of prenatal and early life cannabis smoke on asthma development by examining epigenetics, or change in DNA function without change in DNA sequence. Specifically, this project will use DNA methylation (DNAm) as it is the best characterized.

We know prenatal exposure to some environmental pollutants including tobacco smoke
causes changes in DNAm, but we do not yet know exactly how these changes cause lung problems like asthma. We will use a mouse model which will mimic our established tobacco exposure paradigm and expose pregnant mice to cannabis smoke. We will then examine their offspring’s lung tissue to find DNAm changes at specific genes. By comparing these changes with to our recent findings on DNAm changes due to tobacco exposure, we can identify common patterns that could indicate potential novel genes and their mechanisms in causing asthma.

We hope that by identifying the particular mechanisms involved, in the future we can prevent or reverse the negative impacts of cannabis and tobacco smoke on the lungs that increase the risk of asthma.

Nandihitha Raguayakam

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, MSc

Nandihitha Raguayakam
McMaster University

Biography: Nandhitha Ragunayakam is a second year MSc student in the Medical Sciences Graduate Program at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Svenningsen. She completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree, specializing in Biology and Physiology, at McMaster University in 2022. Her research focuses on the application of quantitative pulmonary imaging methods, including hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI and CT, to understand the early manifestation and therapeutic relevance of abnormal airway morphology that contributes to reduced lung function in patients with asthma. Nandhitha is exceptionally passionate about imaging to better understand and manage asthma and intends to transfer into the PhD program to continue her research. Outside of research, she enjoys taking long walks and solving jigsaw puzzles.

Research Project:  Quantitative Imaging to Understand the Early Manifestation and Therapeutic Relevance of Abnormal Airway Morphology and Function in Asthma

Approximately 3.8 million Canadians are living with asthma, a chronic disease that impacts the airways and makes breathing difficult. For most people with asthma, symptoms can be adequately controlled, and normal lung function can be maintained with medications that are delivered by inhalation. Unfortunately, however, some people with asthma are considered to have uncontrolled or more severe disease as commonly prescribed inhaled medications do not improve their symptoms, lung function, or risk of an asthma attack. There might be several reasons for this. One might be that anatomical abnormalities in the structure of the airways originate early in life, which are not hallmark and treatable components of asthma. Alternatively, inhaled medicines may not be reaching the right areas in the lungs due to abnormalities in the structure of the airways. Scientists have started to apply high-resolution medical imaging methods to study this. Using advanced magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography techniques, we will investigate if abnormal features of airway structure: (1) are present, and explain reduced lung function, in early adulthood, (2) have unique temporal trajectories indicative of progressive or non-progressive disease in early adulthood, and (3) influence the effectiveness of first-line inhaled medications. Knowledge gained from this research will improve our understanding of airway disease in asthma and will be applied to improve how asthma is managed and how asthma medications are developed and delivered.

Michael Yoon

2023 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award, MSc

Michael Yoon
University of British Columbia

Biography: Michael Yoon is a master’s student at the University of British Columbia in the department of Bioinformatics. As an undergraduate, he studied in the field of microbiology and immunology where he also found an interest in data analysis during his time as a research assistant at the Air Pollution Exposure Laboratory (APEL) at Vancouver General Hospital. Currently, he is co-supervised by Dr. Chris Carlsten and Dr. Amrit Singh with the hopes of transitioning into a doctoral degree..

For his research, he hopes to utilize cutting-edge computational techniques to analyze an array of different omics data to analyze the complex interplay between air pollution and respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD. With his education, he hopes to lead a research team in the future that integrates computational analyses with wet-lab experiments to create a more comprehensive understanding of respiratory diseases.

Research Project:  Investigating the interactions of air pollution and an anti-inflammatory asthma medication using scRNA sequencing

With the high prevalence of global air pollution, asthmatic individuals are at increased risk of developing respiratory complications. Asthma exacerbations can cause inflammation of the airways leading to breathing difficulties, necessitating the need for prescription medications. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are a common asthma medication that reduces inflammation, but previous studies show that these medications are less effective following exposure to air pollutants. Despite prior research, the exact mechanisms of how ICS treatment is disrupted remain elusive. A lack of understanding between ICS and air pollution can cause medical practitioners to incorrectly access their patient’s condition, leading to under or overprescription of ICS and resultant adverse effects. Regardless of dosage, greater knowledge of ICS administration can aid in reducing treatment expenses by optimizing quality of care. For these reasons, the aim of this project is to understand how air pollution affects responses to ICS under well controlled conditions in human participants. More specifically, we can discern which cell-types and genes are directly involved in this process, with the hopes of identifying targets that may explain any decreased efficacy of ICS treatment following air pollution exposure.

Identification of gene targets can be determined using single-cell RNA sequencing technology, where we can find unique responses in individual cell-types and genes in ICS-treated participants exposed to air pollution or filtered air. Our research aims to guide improvements in ICS administration policies, ICS development or add-on medications to reduce the burden on healthcare services caused by air pollution.

Asthma Canada - CAAIF - CIHR-ICRH 2022 Graduate Student Research Award Winners

Meet our Researchers

Christiane Whetstone

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Christiane Whetstone

McMaster University

Research Project: 

Effects of inhaled allergen on eosinophil phenotypes in blood and airways of patients with allergic asthma

Christiane is a PhD candidate at the McMaster University. She completed her undergraduate degree at Queen’s University before joining the Medical Sciences Program (Physiology and Pharmacology) at McMaster and transferred from MSc to PhD program in 2020. Christiane’s research examines mechanisms of allergic disease with a specific focus on the role of eosinophil, basophils and their progenitor cells in airways and skin of allergic patients, using methodologies including immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Her data is generated from clinical trials with interventions to deplete (benralizumab) or to induce (allergen challenge) eosinophilia. Her academic goal is to become a translation scientist continuing to develop targeting medicine. Outside of research, Christiane enjoys playing tennis and horseback riding.

Courtney Marshall

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Courtney Marshall

University of Manitoba

Research Project: 

“Sex-related differences in immunomodulation of airway inflammation by Innate Defence Regulator (IDR) peptides”

Courtney Marshall is a PhD student in the Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, in Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee’s laboratory. Prior to this, she completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Manitoba with two Co-Op positions, the first at AdMare Bio-innovations in Vancouver, BC, followed by a position in the Mookherjee lab. This experience led to her pursuing graduate studies as a master’s student where she then successfully transferred into the PhD program to continue her research on defining the sex-related differences in the immunomodulation of airway inflammation by Innate defence regulator peptides. Ms. Marshall’s academic and research success has resulted in awards such as the CIHR-CGS (M) scholarship, the Mindel and Tom Olenik Entrance Scholarship, and the Research Award in Immunology. Following her PhD, Courtney hopes to obtain a post-doctoral position fellowship that allows her to transition into a leading independent Principal Investigator at a Canadian University.

Darlene Dai

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Darlene Dai

University of British Columbia

Research Project: 

“Mining the infant gut microbiota to predict and prevent asthma: data from the CHILD Cohort Study”

I have an MSc in Statistics from UBC and 7-year work experience as a biostatistician in discovering genomic biomarkers of cancer, heart and lung disease in academic and industry field. I am currently pursuing my PhD degree in Experimental Medicine at UBC under the co-supervision of Drs. Stuart Turvey (clinician-scientist) and Raymond Ng (data scientist). My research focuses on discovering and understanding the infant gut microbiome, metabolome, and epigenome compositions that in combination with host and environmental factors, can predict risk of early-onset asthma. By using CHILD Cohort Study, my PhD project aims to develop a precision health approach empowered by “omics” to predict, and ultimately to prevent early-onset asthma. Come meet me if you would like to learn more about me and my research!

 

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, gardening and trying new restaurants.

Fang Fang Li

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Fang Fang Li

University of British Columbia

Research Project: 

“Uncovering viral determinants of asthma development by serological profiling”

Fang Fang is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Her research focuses on identifying and understanding the contributions of viruses in pediatric disease pathogenesis through the usage of adapted sequencing methodologies. She has previously been supported by an Undergraduate Summer Research Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as well as a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for her work in linking immune responses to disease. In the future, Fang Fang hopes to discover and utilize new markers of pathogenesis to develop novel and minimally invasive prognostic and diagnostic tests for chronic diseases. When she’s not in the lab, Fang Fang enjoys teaching her dogs new tricks and curling up by the window with a good detective novel in hand.

Harkiran Kooner

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Harkiran Kooner

Western University

Research Project: 

“Are CT Mucus Plugs disrupted following two years of Benralizumab treatment in severe, eosinophilic asthma?”

Harkiran is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University. Her research focuses on the use of hyperpolarized

129Xe MRI and CT to evaluate structure-function relationships in asthma and post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Harkiran’s research contributes to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the integration of imaging in clinical settings can help achieve the overarching goal in asthma of delivering the right intervention, to the right patient, at the right time. In the future, Harkiran aims to secure a research position with a clinical focus to continue her PhD work in pulmonary imaging and its use to improve patient outcomes.

Nadia Suray Tan

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Nadia Suray Tan

McMaster University

Research Project: 

“Aberrant lymphocytes and airway autoimmunity: Connecting severe asthma and EGPA pathology.”

Nadia Suray Tan is currently pursuing her Master’s degree under the supervision of Dr Manali Mukherjee in Medical Science at McMaster University. She completed her Bachelor of Science with Honours (Distinction) in Life Sciences, specializing in Biomedical Science from National University of Singapore (NUS) and have been involved in translational research ever since. She joined NUS Immunology Programme (under the supervision of Dr Lim Hui Fang and Dr Veronique Angeli) and was involved in research on the immunopathology of severe asthma and other chronic lung diseases that were presented in various international conferences. Her previous work in NUS that focuses on the involvement of B cells in severe eosinophilic asthma was recently published in American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. Nadia is a motivated and independent researcher with experience in areas of immunology, biochemistry, histology and translational research. Her current thesis work focuses on studying the lymphocyte mediated pathology that connects severe asthma and Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disorder. She hopes that her research will leverage her research experience and increase my depth of knowledge in asthma and airway research.

Tony Guo

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Tony Guo

University of British Columbia

Research Project: 

“Characterization of the airway epithelial repair process in late-onset asthma following mechanical, viral, and particulate matter injury of the epithelium.”

Tony Guo is in his first year of his Master of Science program in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia. His project will investigate how the repair mechanisms of the airway epithelium may be different in adult-onset asthma under the supervision of Dr. Delbert Dorscheid. He completed his Bachelor of Science program specializing in Physiology at UBC and his thesis project explored the airway epithelium’s responses to models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. With the support of Asthma Canada, CAAIF, and CIHR-ICRH, he aspires to contribute to the understanding of adult-onset asthma, whose underlying causes are currently not well defined, in an effort to improve the health and well-being of people living with asthma. During his program, he aims to mentor students interested in airway epithelial biology and asthma to support and guide them in their pursuit of research in the field.

Vincent Dandenault

2022 Recipient, Graduate Student Research Award

Vincent Dandenault

Univerity of Montreal

Research Project:

“Application of Bayesian networks to multi-omics data to improve the diagnosis of asthma in preschoolers.”

Vincent Dandenault is a graduate student doing research in the field of computational medicine at CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, Quebec. Coming from a background in software engineering, he is specialized in machine learning and looking to apply his set of skills, knowledge and experience in these complexe and powerful algorithms to the world of respiratory health, more specifically to the research and understanding of preschool asthma.

Currently, doctors do not fully understand the underlying mechanisms of asthma, and they can’t reliably test preschool aged children for asthma. Thus, they do not know which preschoolers with breathing difficulty actually have asthma or not, and who can benefit from available medication and treatments. Accordingly, Vincent’s primary goal as a researcher is to better understand the underlying mechanisms of asthma, and to ultimately link the current different observed phenotypes to different underlying pathways, leading to better diagnosis of preschool asthma, and consequently better patient care. Suffering from respiratory problems himself as a child, he can understand how scary and worrying asthma can be, notably asthma attacks and exacerbation, for patients and their loved ones. Ultimately, Vincent’s goal is to use machine learning to shed light on these problems.

Early Career Researcher Awards in Asthma - 2022

​​Early Career Researcher Awards in Asthma

Asthma Canada, AstraZeneca Canada, the Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation (CAAIF), Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (CIHR-ICRH) and the Canadian Lung Association (CLA) are pleased to announce the launch of a new funding opportunity focused on asthma research.

The goal of the Early Career Researcher Award in Asthma is to support and enable Canadian researchers at the early stages of their independent research career to pursue basic, clinical, health services and/or population health research in the field of asthma. 

Meet our Researchers

Dr. Cristina Longo

2022 Recipient, Early Career Researcher Award in Asthma

Dr. Cristina Longo

Université de Montréal

Research Project: 

Treating Asthma by Integrating Learning Algorithms with Omics Research: Moving toward Automated High-Dimensional Endotyping in Children (TAILOR-MADE)

Asthma is a disease of the lung and is common in kids. Asthma symptoms happen when your airways tighten and swell, causing breathing problems like wheezing.  Another word for swelling is inflammation. Sometimes the inflammation could make it very hard to breathe. This is an asthma ‘attack.’ Asthma attacks are more common in preschoolers than other age groups. When asthma symptoms happen, kids need to visit their doctor for a diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes, doctors cannot confirm asthma in young children because they are unable to perform the test needed for a diagnosis. On the other hand, they can try to treat the inflammation that happens with asthma symptoms by prescribing medicines that you inhale. A major problem is that these medicines do not always work. This led scientists to try to understand why that is.

 

Scientists now think that asthma is not just one disease, but many different diseases that need different medicines. We still do not know much about these different diseases in children who have asthma symptoms. But we think that we can understand a lot more about the disease processes by collecting different biological samples, like blood, breath, or saliva, from children and then analyzing them with new technologies. The samples contain signals that can help us identify the different disease processes. These signals are also called biomarkers. There are millions of biomarkers in the body and this large amount of data makes it challenging to find which biomarker might be important for the disease process. We now have advanced computer tools, called machine learning, that can help us with this ‘big data’ problem.

 

The goal of my research is to use machine learning to discover important biomarkers of different disease processes in children with asthma symptoms that can help doctors predict whether asthma medicines will work well in them. To do this, my research team will analyze clinical and biological biomarker data from 282 preschoolers and children with asthma symptoms. We expect the results to help doctors identify which children will benefit from treatment or help develop new medicines for those that will not benefit. 

Dr. Zihang Lu

2022 Recipient, Early Career Researcher Award in Asthma

Dr. Zihang Lu

Queen’s University 

Research Project:

Asthma phenotypes, risk factors and the implications for future management in Canadian children

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, usually beginning in preschool and lasting through adulthood. In preschool, defining asthma is challenging for two reasons – a lack of objective measures along with a heavy reliance on a non-specific symptom of wheeze and a diverse clinical course reflected by remission and relapse. Earlier research tells us that asthma is likely caused by several different pathways that are influenced by genetic and environmental risk factors. These pathways are defined by their clinical traits during their later life, e.g. persistent wheeze, transient wheeze. We believe these disparate pathways reflect different types of asthma (asthma phenotypes)  and we will try to move towards a more objective method to identify these pathways in early life. To do this, we will use two research data platforms, namely the CHILD Cohort Study and the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE). The first aim is to define distinct asthma phenotypes by applying data-driven methods to asthma traits (e.g. wheeze, atopy, body mass index), and to determine whether these phenotypes are different in males and females. The second aim is to determine key early-life risk genetic and environmental factors associated with these distinct phenotypes. This study will address several knowledge gaps in our understanding of early life asthma phenotypes as well as the influences of genetic and environmental exposures on these patient phenotypes. It will also promote future studies to help us better understand the underlying disease mechanism and provide important evidence to develop disease prevention and management strategies for families, clinicians, and policymakers.

Asthma Canada - CAAIF 2021 Graduate Student Research Award Winners

Meet our Researchers

Caren (Xiaoshu) Cao
Caren (Xiaoshu) Cao

2021 Graduate Student Research Award winner Caren Cao

2021 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Biography: Caren (Xiaoshu) Cao completed her HBSc and MASc as top students at University of Toronto, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Toronto. Her thesis work focuses on the discovery and treatment of novel physiological mechanisms of asthma worsening and its connection to obstructive sleep apnea, using advanced biomedical technology. Her previous work funded by Asthma Canada was recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. She also has another publication related to aspects of her PhD work and four publications arising from her previous Masters thesis. She has already won four awards during the course of her PhD, including first prize in a national research competition. She has presented her research at six international and national conferences to date, including European Respiratory Society and World Sleep Congress. Caren’s work is highly innovative, focusing on understudied aspects of physiology at a time when asthma research has been focused primarily on pharmacological treatments. Caren hopes that this program of research could define an important new direction for the monitoring and treatment of asthma. If successful, it will also build new capacity for Canadian research in the application of new biomedical technologies for asthma management. 

Research Project: Understanding the link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and asthma

Asthma and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are very common breathing disorders that cause disability and poor quality of life. Asthma and OSA often occur together but the reason for this remains unclear. Our research group has established that body fluid moving from the legs to the upper body during sleep is a cause of OSA. In previous studies, my colleagues showed that squeezing fluid out of the legs into the chest in asthmatics worsens their asthma by causing narrowing of their small airways. Therefore, I propose to investigate the possibility that OSA worsens asthma by increasing chest fluid volume overnight. Results from my previous research project funded by Asthma Canada showed that mimicking OSA draws fluid into the chest and increases small airway narrowing. This result provides strong evidence that one link between the two disorders is probably fluid moving into the chest. The second study will determine if asthma patients with OSA have more fluid moving into the chest and greater small airways narrowing overnight. The outcome of my research could lead to a novel approach to treating some cases of asthma: i.e. by diagnosing and treating co-existing OSA. Therefore, patients with poor asthma control may benefit from OSA screening. Ultimately, should my hypotheses prove correct, clinical trials could be designed to determine whether treatment of OSA can improve patient-centred outcomes over long time periods and reduce healthcare utilization.

 

Andrew Kouri
Andrew Kouri, winner of 2021 Graduate Student Research Award

Andrew Kouri

2021 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Biography: Andrew Kouri is a respirologist and PhD student at the University of Toronto with an interest in airways diseases and how technology can be leveraged to improve the care of patients with asthma and COPD. His research investigates how mobile health tools are developed and used in older adults with airways disease, applying a health equity lens to the growing field of respiratory digital health. His academic goal is to become an  independent clinician-scientist and to study how best to deliver virtual and digital health technology to patients with asthma and COPD, including populations who are currently underserved by these promising health innovations. Outside of the hospital he loves cycling and running, hiking with his wife and lazy pug (and hopefully soon with his 2 month old newborn son!), and dreaming of future travels!

 

Research Project: My PhD research project is focused on trying to develop a deeper understanding of how mobile digital health tools like smartphone apps and electronic inhalers and other devices can be best used to help treat patients with asthma. I am particularly interested in how older patients use these type of tools, and how we can better design and implement mobile health technology in older patients with asthma. In order to accomplish this, I have studied specifically how older age influenced the use and engagement with a primary care mobile health asthma questionnaire developed at St. Michael’s Hospital by Dr. Samir Gupta, I am completing a literature review across all published studies of asthma mobile health to see how the needs of older adults have been considered (or not considered), and I am running a qualitative study where I am interviewing older adults with asthma in order to better understand their needs and unique perspectives when it comes to using mobile health technology.  

Samantha Lee

Samantha Lee 2021 Graduate Student Research Award Winner

Samantha Lee

2021 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

Biography: Samantha is a third year PhD student at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics. Her research aims to clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental origins of childhood asthma using longitudinal DNA methylation microarray data from several human cohorts. In the past, Samantha has received support from the University of Manitoba Undergraduate Fellowship (UMGF), and she is currently completing her second year as a student in the competitive Visual and Automated Disease Analytics (VADA) graduate training program jointly hosted by the University of Manitoba and University of Victoria. In the future, Samantha hopes to apply her analytical skills in computational biology to improve the public health of Canadians. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys helping animals as a volunteer at the Winnipeg Humane Society.

 

Research Project: Prenatal air pollution exposure is associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma. While the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear, researchers believe that environmental exposures become biologically embedded in epigenetic patterns during critical developmental periods. These altered patterns are thought to “reprogram” cell function, and ultimately influence health outcome. This research project will identify epigenetic patterns associated with prenatal air pollution exposure at birth and examine whether these patterns persist into childhood. Epigenetic changes will be correlated with childhood asthma to determine their role in asthma risk. However, we are most interested in the association between persistent epigenetics changes and asthma, as persistent epigenetics changes are more likely to influence health outcome than transient ones. This analysis will provide insight into molecular pathways that are altered by prenatal air pollution exposure and contribute to asthma. Additionally, as we believe air pollution induces epigenetics changes through increased oxidative stress, this research will investigate if maternal diets higher in antioxidants (like vitamin C) can mitigate the effect of prenatal air pollution exposure on child epigenetic patterns. Together, this research will help clarify how prenatal air pollution exposure predisposes children to asthma and begin identifying preventative measures.

Asthma Canada - CAAIF 2020 Graduate Student Research Award Winners

Anthony Altieri

Anthony Altieri

PhD candidate, University of Manitoba

2020 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Regulation of Airway Inflammation: Cytokin IL-17 & Cathelicidin LL-37

Altieri received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and CAAIF to identify specific drug targets that can be used to develop new therapies especially for severe, steroid-unresponsive asthma.

 

Aubrey Michi

Aubrey Michi

PhD student, University of Calgary

2020 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

Evaluation of trained innate immunity to rhinovirus infections in highly differentiated asthmatic airway epithelial cells

Michi received $20,00 from Asthma Canada and CAAIF to evaluate trained innate immunity to rhinovirus infections in highly differentiated asthmatic airway epithelial cells. 

 

 

Asthma Canada - CAAIF 2019 Research Award Winners

Jo-Chiao Wang

Jo-Chiao Wang

PhD student, Universite de Montreal

2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Nociceptor Neurons Control Pollution-exacerbating Asthma

Wang received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and CAAIF to unravel the role of lung nociceptor neurons in the initiation of pollution-exacerbated allergic asthma.

 

Moïra Dion

Moïra Dion

PhD student, Université Laval

2019 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

Understanding the Role of the Human Gut Virome in the Development of Early-onset Asthma

Dion received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and CAAIF to develop computer tools to precisely identify bacteriophages and what bacteria they infect. She will then determine if children that develop asthma have different bacteriophages, which will contribute to understanding what triggers asthma in early life.

Asthma Canada - AllerGEN NCE Inc.

2017-2019 Graduate Student Research Award Winners
Samuel Shin

Samuel Shin

MSc student, University of British Columbia

2018-2019 Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

The Role of ILCs in Chronic Airway Inflammation and Lung Fibrosis

Shin received $10,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to investigate the role of innate lymphoid cells in the onset of chronic asthma and lung fibrosis. He hopes that findings from this work can create novel therapeutic options and provide permanent relief for patients suffering from chronic asthma.

Xiaoshu Cao

Xiaoshu Cao

PhD student, University of Toronto

2018-2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Investigating the Effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Rostral Fluid Shift on the Pathophysiology of Asthma

Cao received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to conduct important research investigating the causal link between asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. Cao hopes the outcome of her research will help both patients and physicians recognize the overlap between asthma and OSA, and potentially lead to new treatment options.

Ryan Huff

Ryan Huff

PhD student, University of British Columbia

2018-2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Diesel Exhaust Induces Glucocorticoid Resistance (DIGR) 

Huff received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to investigate the relationship between air pollution and inhaled corticosteroids in a rigorous controlled human clinical study. He hopes that his research project  can help inform and enhance the treatment of Severe Asthma.

Jaclyn Parks

Jaclyn Parks

MSc student, Simon Fraser University

2018-2019 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award
Parks received $10,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to conduct research into indoor environmental exposures in early life as a predictor of childhood asthma and wheeze. She hopes that the findings of this work will inform future use of cotinine as a biomarker of tobacco smoke exposure, and contribute to the growing knowledge of early-onset asthma.
Hadeesha Piyadasa

Hadeesha Piyadasa

PhD student, University of Manitoba

2018-2019 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

Piyadasa received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to conduct asthma research.

Danay Maestre-Batlle

Danay Maestre-Batlle

PhD student, University of British Columbia

2017-2018 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award

Effects of Phthalate Inhalation on Airway Immunology: A Controlled Human Exposure Study       

Maestre-Batlle received $20,000 to  conduct cutting-edge research on the respiratory and immunological health effects of inhaled environmental pollutants. The goal of her research is to improve the lives of Canadians, specifically vulnerable groups who suffer from chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma.

 

Thomas Mahood

Thomas Mahood

PhD student, University of Manitoba

2017-2018 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

Understanding the Role of Protein Prenylation in Asthma

Mahood received $20,000 to investigate the role of protein modifications in asthmatic lungs. His research will provide a better blueprint for understanding the mechanisms of asthma – giving us an insight into how we can treat the disease and help people living with asthma breathe easier.

 

Diana Pham

Diana Pham

MSc student, University of Calgary

2017-2018 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award

The Role of Human Rhinovirus Infections in the Pathogenesis of Airway Remodelling in Asthma

Pham received $10,000 toward conducting research to expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms contributing to the development of asthma. Her findings will help determine the appropriate pharmaceutical target or preventative measure for the airway remodelling that occurs in early childhood asthmatics.

 

Lead Investigator Awards

We continue to support lead investigators working to expand our understanding of asthma and find new treatment options for people living with asthma.
Dr. Michael Brauer

Dr. Michael Brauer

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

A professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Brauer is the inaugural recipient of Asthma Canada’s Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Prize for his ground-breaking research into traffic-related air pollution and its relationship to asthma in both adults and children. In his study he showed a prevalence of physician- diagnosed asthma and respiratory illness among children aged 0-24 months, who lived near and were regularly exposed to traffic related air pollution.

His work is being recognized by the Asthma Canada as a significant contribution to Canadians suffering from allergies and asthma.

 

Dr. Malcolm Sears

Dr. Malcolm Sears

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

A professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, Dr. Sears conducts innovative research into the epidemiology and natural history of asthma with a focus on its frequency, risk factors and characteristics in large populations. One of his most important studies to Asthma Canada was his longitudinal study examining the incidence and impact of asthma in a birth cohort of New Zealand children followed from infancy to adulthood. He is now conducting the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study assessing the influence of genes and the environment on infant development, which will add important information and understanding to the development of asthma in children and its impact in adults.

 

Dr. Parameswaran Nair

Dr. Parameswaran Nair

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

A professor of Medicine at McMaster University, Dr. Nair is recognized for his innovative research investigating non-invasive measurements of airway inflammation in the treatment of Severe Asthma. He directs the AllerGen National Centre of Excellence Clinical Investigators Consortium for Severe Asthma and is a co-investigator of the Canadian Respiratory Research Network. At the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, he looks after patients with complex obstructive airway diseases, Severe Asthma, recurrent bronchitis, and lung disorders.

Dr. Shawn Aaron

Dr. Shawn Aaron

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

A professor in The Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Dr. Aaron is a respirologist with special research and clinical interests in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF). Dr. Aaron’s research has been focused on clinical and health services research related to the correct diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung diseases (asthma and COPD) in Canadian communities. Dr. Aaron is Principal Investigator and Director of The Canadian Respiratory Research Network, a CIHR Emerging Research Network whose goal is to bring together researchers across disciplines to work together in a coordinated fashion in order to improve understanding of the origins and progression of asthma and COPD in Canada.

Dr. Aaron is recognized for the importance of his research examining misdiagnosis of asthma and the prevalence and economic/ health burden of undiagnosed airflow obstruction in Canadian communities. We also recognize his significant life-time achievements in asthma-related research over a very distinguished career.

Dr. Catherine Lemière

Dr. Catherine Lemière

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

Dr. Catherine Lemière MD, MSc is a Professor of Medicine at the Université de Montréal and a Staff Chest Physician at Sacre-Cœur Hospital in Montreal. Dr Lemiere’s research program is mainly focused on work-related asthma, asthma and more specifically, on the assessment of the airway inflammation present in this condition. Her research program, funded by several funding agencies – Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC), Institut de recherche Robert Sauvé en Santé et Sécurité du Travail, Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé – has contributed to the improvement of the diagnosis of occupational asthma in clinical practice.

Dr. Lemière has been part of the Asthma Clinical Assembly of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) since 2001. She chaired the assembly from 2001 to 2004 and was responsible for the 2004 up-date of the Canadian Adult Asthma guidelines. She is one of the co-lead authors of the 2017 Canadian Thoracic Society position Statement: Recognition and management of Severe Asthma, and served as President of the CTS.  

 

Dr. Samir Gupta

Dr. Samir Gupta

Recipient, Lead Investigator Award

Dr. Gupta is a clinician-scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a staff respirologist in the Division of Respirology at St. Michael’s Hospital. He completed his Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto, followed by a fellowship in Knowledge Translation Research. His main research interest is in knowledge translation in primary care, across the spectrum of respiratory illness, with a focus on electronic tools and asthma. He also has an interest in rare lung disease research methods, and the hepatopulmonary syndrome in particular.

Dr. Gupta serves as Chair of the Canadian Respiratory Guidelines Committee at the Canadian Thoracic Society and holds the University of Toronto Michael Locke Term Chair in Knowledge Translation and Rare Lung Disease Research.

 

Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee

Meet Our Certified Respiratory Educators