Twelve research teams from the LDI were awarded $12,903,057 in combined funding through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2025 Project Grant and Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention competitions.
The Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) at the Jewish General Hospital of the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal would like to celebrate the great achievements of its researchers within the framework of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2025 Project Grant competition.
Our researchers achieved a 24.4% (10 over 41 applications) success rate in securing project grants this year, well above the national average (13.6%).
Congratulations to the following LDI project grant awardees for their successful Fall 2025 CIHR applications:
CIHR Project Grant Awardees (listed in alphabetical order by Nominated Principal Investigator)
Laurent Azoulay
GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Older Adults: Weighing Cardiovascular Benefits Against Frailty-Related Risks
Project Grant of $397,800 over 2 years and 6 months
Includes LDI researchers Jonathan Afilalo, Robert Platt, Christel Renoux, and Oriana Hoi Yun Yu as co-investigators
Colin Crist
A CTCF-dependent 3D genome code for cell fate specification within the somitic mesoderm
Project grant of $967,725 over 5 years
Shirin Enger
Steps Towards Clinical Implementation of Intensity Modulated Brachytherapy for Treatment of Rectal Cancer
Project Grant of $994,500 over 5 years
Includes LDI Researcher Té Vuong as co-investigator
Antonis Koromilas
Cracking the SOS Code: How eIF2B Fuels Mutant KRAS-Driven Cancer
Project Grant of $1,032,750 over 5 years
Fackson Mwale and John Antoniou
Integrative Strategies for Osteoarthritis Therapy: Combining Nanoparticle-based VEGF Receptor Inhibition with Link N Peptide Applications
Project Grant of $944,775 over 5 years
Stephen Robbins and Donna Senger
Harnessing the brain tumor microenvironment for durable therapeutic response
Project Grant of $1,262,250 over 5 years
Includes LDI researcher Ryuhjin Ahn as co-investigator
Horacio Saragovi
Second-generation liquid biopsy diagnostic and prognostic tests selective for cancers expressing GD2 or GD3, and discovery of novel biomarkers in their extracellular vesicles
Project Grant of $1,071,000 over 4 years
Includes LDI researcher Alan Spatz as co-investigator
Isabelle Vedel
Un système de santé apprenant pour la maladie d’Alzheimer et les autres troubles neurocognitifs: Un modèle dynamique pour le Québec, le Canada et au-delà
Project Grant of $1,147,500 over 5 years
Jian Hui Wu
The role of SHOC2 in KRAS mutant-driven cancers and development of novel pan-KRAS mutant inhibitors by targeting SHOC2
Project Grant of $1,009,800 over 5 years
Includes LDI researcher Gerald Batist as co-investigator
Priority Announcement Grant Awardee
Michael Goldfarb
Family Participation in Adult ICU Rounds: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial (The Family-ICU Trial)
Project Grant – Priority Announcement: Patient-Oriented Research of $100,000 over one year
CIHR Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Awardees
In addition, two LDI research teams have earned a CIHR Team Grant as part of its Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention competition.
The Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention aims to unite interdisciplinary research teams to advance the biological and mechanistic understanding of cancer etiology, genesis and risk, linked with host, lifestyle, environmental, social and other factors, to identify new targets and approaches for cancer prevention, risk reduction and early detection.
Mark Basik
Advancing Risk Stratification in Young Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer
Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention – Breast Cancer of $1,999,957 over 5 years — In Partnership with: Canadian Cancer Society – National Office (Toronto); CIHR – ICR
Co-PIs: Caroline Diorio, Martin J. Yaffe
Co-Investigators: Adriana Aguilar, Ipshita Prakash, May Lynn Quan, Yasser Riazalhosseini, Stephanie M. Wong
Michael Pollak
Incretin-mimetic drugs for cancer prevention: Mechanisms and clinical potential
Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention of $1,975,000 over 5 years — In Partnership with: CIHR – ICR; The Terry Fox Research Institute (Vancouver, BC)
Co-PIs: Cathy Ammendolea, William Joseph Muller, Laurent Azoulay
Co-Investigators: Lynn K. Gentile, Sonia del Rincon, William Foulkes, Pingzhao Hu, Stephanie M. Wong
Collaborators: Armen H. Attarian, Daniela Quail, Livia Florianova, Guillaume Fontaine, Morris Schweitzer, Alex Viezel-Mathieu, Logan Walsh
LDI researchers are also involved as co-Principal Investigators or co-investigators with two other teams that were awarded a team grant. While these projects are headed by nominated principal investigators from other institutions, LDI researchers will play an important role in achieving their objectives.
Decoding Breast Cancer: How Intrinsic Factors and Distinct Tissue Microenvironments Collaboratively Drive Breast Cancer Initiation
Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention – Breast Cancer – In Partnership with Canadian Cancer Society – National Office (Toronto); CIHR – ICR
Nominated Principal Investigator: Luke M. McCaffrey
Co-PIs: Ipshita Prakash, Josie Ursini-Siegel
Co-investigators: Jayalakshmi Caliaperumal, Megan Sewell, Sampath K. Loganathan, Quoc-Huy V. Trinh
Environmental eXposure Profiling for Signatures of Early ColoRectal Cancer (EXPOSE-CRC)
Team Grant: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention – Breast Cancer – In Partnership with Cancer Research Society; CIHR – ICR
Nominated Principal Investigator: Vikki Ho
Co-PIs: Bouchra Nasri, Lee-Hwa Tai, Daniel von Renteln
Co-investigators: Natalie Lipschultz, Francois-Michel Boisvert, Marie-Josée Boucher, Marie A. Brunet, Yves Collin, Arielle Elkrief, Sophie Marcoux, Manuela M. Santos, Michael Witcher
“These excellent results stem from the commitment to quality, impactful research and the exceptional level of teamwork that are the hallmark of the LDI,” says Director Stephen Robbins. “Congratulations to all and thank you to the CIHR for supporting our dedicated research community.”