04/02/2025
Ottawa, Ontario — Tuesday February 4, 2025
From ingesting a live virus to prevent cancer progression, to using a mindfulness app to reduce post-concussion symptoms, two CHEO Research Institute recipients of the Fall 2024 project grants from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are exploring long-term cures and innovative treatments.
Dr. Andrée-Anne Ledoux, Scientist, and Dr. Tommy Alain, Senior Scientist, were awarded their first CIHR project grant; a major milestone for their research programs.
“The path to discovery can be long and hard, and it often takes many years and several submissions to be successful in a major grant competition like the CIHR project grants,” said Dr. Jason Berman, CEO and Scientific Director, CHEO Research Institute, and Vice-President Research, CHEO. “We are thrilled for Dr. Ledoux and Dr. Alain as they continue to grow their promising research programs at CHEO and strive for new cures and treatments that will improve the lives of children and youth locally and globally.”
The CHEO Research Institute is one of the top 25 research hospitals in Canada, and placed second for overall hospital research spending in 2023 according to the national Research InfoSource rankings.
CIHR Fall 2024 Project Grants
Project: Mindfulness-based intervention for post-concussion symptoms in youth
Amount/duration: $1,308,150 over four years, six months
Nominated Principal Investigator: Andrée-Anne Ledoux
Other Principal Investigators: Roger Zemek, Noah Silverberg
Co-investigators: Barrowman, Nicholas J; Cairncross, Molly; Craig, William R; Davis, Adrienne L; Doan, Quynh H; Gagnon, Isabelle; Goldfield, Gary S; Gray, Clare E; Jaworska, Natalia; Reed, Nicholas; Sicard, Veronik; Smith, Andra M; Walker, Lisa A
Summary: One-third of children with concussions continue to experience emotional changes and symptoms, such as sadness and anxiety, for more than a month following a concussion, affecting their quality of life and participation in activities. Early psychological intervention, such as Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), may help children adapt to the injury and regulate emotions and stress, but barriers such as waitlists or cost can exclude youth from accessing this help. This project will explore the effectiveness of a mindfulness intervention delivered via a smartphone application. By fostering adaptive skills, the goal is to reduce stress, regulate emotions, reduce post-concussive symptoms and increase quality of life. The study team will measure these symptoms using standard self-report questionnaires, validating the app-based MBI as an innovative, preventive, and accessible treatment for youth who have experienced a concussion.
Project: Ingesting a virus to vaccinate against colon cancer
Amount/duration: $818,550 over five years
Nominated Principal Investigator: Tommy Alain
Co-Applicants: Shawn Beug, Jennifer Quizi
Summary: This project focuses on investigating the potential of the gastroenteric Reovirus (Respiratory Enteric Orphan) as a novel treatment and preventive measure for colorectal cancer. Reovirus, a common non-pathogenic virus, has shown high efficiency in replicating and destroy cancer cells. While previous clinical trials have explored intratumoral and intravenous administration, this project will pioneer the oral administration route. The research aims to develop Reovirus as an ingestible treatment to clear malignant cells in the digestive tract, prevent cancer progression in the colon, and act as an anti-cancer vaccine. Additionally, the virus will be modified to expose colon cancer antigens, enhancing its anti-tumor efficacy. Combining Reovirus with other immunotherapeutic agents, the study anticipates achieving long-term cures with this unique and safe approach.