Canada Foundation for Innovation funding fuels new labs

More than one million dollars has been allocated to four research teams making breakthroughs related to stroke and Alzheimer’s, cancer and infertility, stem cells and industrial robotics at The University of Western Ontario.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) provided the grants, totalling $1,066,058, through its Leaders Opportunity Fund.

Among the four principal investigators receiving funding are Cheryle Séguin and Bonnie Deroo.

A long-term objective for Cheryle Séguin at Schulich’s department of Physiology & Pharmacology is to generate clinically relevant organ-specific stem cells. She received $194,513 to establish a cutting-edge mammalian stem cell laboratory that will enable her to study the mechanisms that control stem cell fate, and to generate novel and therapeutically relevant organ-specific stem cells through genetic manipulation and three-dimensional tissue engineering.

The unifying goal of Bonnie Deroo’s research is to determine the molecular mechanisms driven by Estrogen Receptor in the ovary. Ultimately, these studies will lead to an increased understanding of the causes of infertility in women. Her co-investigator, Trevor Shepherd, is developing novel research models of ovarian cancer to test the molecular mechanisms underlying the origin and progression of this disease. Deroo is a Lawson Health Research Institute Scientist and Biochemistry professor at Western, while Shepherd is a Translational Oncology Scientist at the London Regional Cancer Program and Obstetrics & Gynaecology professor at Western. Their combined research received $300,723.