2023 Research Awards Recipients

The Kidney Foundation of Canada is committed to achieving excellent kidney health, optimal quality of life, and a cure for kidney disease.  Founded in 1964 with the overarching goal of raising funds for research, The Kidney Foundation of Canada has since invested over $127 million dollars in research grants, awards and partnerships. We continue to value research as a lead generator of hope for those with kidney disease and their community.

Through targeted, peer-reviewed competitions, The Kidney Foundation of Canada supports Canadian researchers in their innovative, transformational, and novel ideas with the focus of improving the quality of life for our patients and community. Each year, our research community continues to make strides towards our goals and provide hope for a future without kidney disease.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada would like to congratulate our 2023 grant awardees listed below.

For more information on specific projects or to search for a specific topic or area, please visit our Supported Research page.
 

Kidney Health Research Grant

(Lay abstracts and photos coming soon.)

Mohsen Agharazii

Co-Applicant(s):  Darren Richard, Etienne Audet-Walsh, Fabrice Mac-Way, Richard Larivière
Laval University, QC
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Hydrochlorothiazide and accelerated CKD-related vascular calcification
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension

Samantha Anthony, Sara Ahola Kohut

Co-Applicant(s):  Ashley Audrain, Catharine Dunn, Dr. Chia Wei Teoh, Eleanor Pullenayegum, Jennifer Stinson, Katherine Cost, Melanie Barwick,
The Hospital for Sick Children, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Addressing the mental health needs of parents of pediatric kidney transplant recipients with the iParent2Parent peer support program
Category:  Quality of Life, Underserved Communities, Transplantation

Tom Blydt-Hansen

Co-Applicant(s):  Dr. David Wishart, Fabian Eibensteiner, Gabriela Cohen, Karen Sherwood, Li Wang, Mei Lin Bissonnette
University of British Columbia, BC
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Multiomic characterization of chronic, active T cell-mediated rejection in pediatric kidney transplant recipients
Category:  Transplantation, Predictive Biomarkers

John Chan

Co-Applicant(s):  N/A
University of Montreal, QC
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Molecular Mechanism(s) of Intrarenal RAS Regulation of Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter 2 (Sglt2) Expression in Diabetic Kidney
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetes, Hypertension

Jeffrey Dickhout

Co-Applicant(s):  N/A
McMaster University, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Targeting CHOP expression to prevent ischemic AKI
Category:  Acute Kidney Injury

Meghan Elliott, Krystina Lewis

Co-Applicant(s):  Clara Bohm, Danielle Fox, Gregory Hundemer, Jennifer MacRae, Maoliosa Donald, Matthew James, Pietro Ravani, Rob Quinn
The University of Calgary, Alberta
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Individualizing vascular access selection: an examination of current practices to support shared decision-making
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease

Marie-Chantal Fortin, Holly Mansell

Co-Applicant(s):  Heloise Cardinal, Jagbir Gill, Mary Beaucage, Nicola Rosaasen, Rahul Mainra, Serge Pierre
Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, QC
2023 - 2025:  $119,964
Project Title:  Identifying and addressing the educational needs of patients from historically marginalized groups on less than ideal kidneys
Category:  Patient Care, Transplantation, Underserved Communities

Tyrone Harrison

Co-Applicant(s):  Brenda Hemmelgarn, Cheryl Simoens, Danielle Fox, Maoliosa Donald, Matthew James, Meghan J. Elliott, Ms Nancy Verdin, Navdeep Tangri, Nicole Brockman, Paul Ronksley, Shannon M Ruzycki
The University of Calgary, Alberta
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Person-centred perioperative risk prediction for people with kidney failure
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Population Health

Tania Janaudis-Ferreira

Co-Applicant(s):  Chelsia Gillis, Franco Carli, Jean Tchervenkov, Marie-Chantal Fortin, Stephanie Thompson
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, QC
2023 - 2025:  $119,900
Project Title:  Virtual home-based physical pre-habilitation in kidney transplant candidates: a pilot RCT
Category:  Transplantation, Quality of Life, Chronic Kidney Disease

Andras Kapus

Co-Applicant(s):  N/A
St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Altered mitochondrial dynamics and the underlying molecular mechanisms in Polycystic Kidney Disease
Category:  Kidney Biology, Chronic Kidney Disease

Christopher Kennedy

Co-Applicant(s):  Dylan Burger
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Molecular Mechanisms of Childhood Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Kidney Biology

Ana Konvalinka

Co-Applicant(s):  Lisa Robinson, Markus Selzner
University Health Network, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha (HNF4A) as a Regulator of Kidney Graft Repair
Category:  Transplantation, Chronic Kidney Disease, Acute Kidney Injury

Caroline Lamarche

Co-Applicant(s):  N/A
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, QC
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Regulatory T cells (Tregs) impact and role in chronic kidney disease
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Health Policy

Bruno Larrivée

Co-Applicant(s):  Casimiro Gerarduzzi, Erika Hooker
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, QC
2023 - 2025:  $117,878
Project Title:  Evaluation of the role of Alk1 signaling in the development and function of the glomerular endothelium
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetes

Istvan Mucsi, Beth Edwards, Douglas Lee

Co-Applicant(s):  Aisha Lofters, Josephine Etowa, Ms Maria Koh, Paula Neves, Princess Okoh, Tabo Sikaneta
University Health Network, ON
2023 - 2025:  $119,736
Project Title:  Access and barriers to advanced kidney failure therapies among patients from African, Caribbean and Black communities in ON
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease, Underserved Communities

Yasser Riazalhosseini

Co-Applicant(s):  Janusz Rak, Simon Tanguay
The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/McGill University, QC
2023 - 2025:  $119,900
Project Title:  Liquid biopsy analysis to refine prognosis in renal cell carcinoma
Category:  Cancer, Genetics, Screening & Prevention of Renal Disease

Rola Saleeb

Co-Applicant(s):  Georg Bjarnason, Kelsie L. Thu
St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  The problem of non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma; tailoring the treatment to the biology
Category:  Cancer, Chronic Kidney Disease, Urology

Stephanie Thompson

Co-Applicant(s):  Aminu Bello, David Collister, Marcello Tonelli, Natasha Wiebe, Russell Greiner, Scott Klarenbach
University of Alberta, Alberta
3/31/2023 - 3/30/2025:  $102,091
Project Title:  Predicting Individual Risk of Peripheral Arterial Disease and Its Complications in Hemodialysis: Evaluation of Machine Learning Approaches
Category:  Dialysis

Seychelle Yohanna

Co-Applicant(s):  Amit Garg, Barb Longo, Catherine Clase, Christine Ribic, Eric McArthur, Jasper Ho, Jessica Sontrop, Jian Roushani, Kyla Naylor, Richard Hae, Shahid Lambe, Sue Mackenzie
McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, ON
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Outcomes of the One-Day Living Kidney Donor Candidate Assessment Clinic
Category:  Transplantation, Chronic Kidney Disease, Organ Donation

Allied Health Kidney Research Grant

Diana Mager

Co-Applicant(s):  Caroline Richard, Peter Senior
University of Alberta, AB
2023 - 2025:  $112,816
Project Title:  Impact of food insecurity on adherence to diet quality, adherence to prescribed nutritional therapies and co-morbid disease expression in adults with Chronic Kidney Disease.
Category:  Quality of Life, Patient Care, Underserved Communities

Holly Mansell

Co-Applicant(s):  Allison Cammer, Chia Wei Teoh, Jenny Wichart, Julie Strong, Kayla Flood, Keefe Davis, Lorraine Hamiwka, Michelle Ruhl, Natasha Minakakis, Nathaniel Osgood, Taylor Raiche, Tom David Blydt-Hansen, Veronique Phan
The University of Saskatchewan, SK
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Individualizing Pediatric Kidney Transplant Education with HELP (the Health Education and Learning Platform)
Category:  Transplantation, Patient Care

Dani Renouf, Adeera Levin

Co-Applicant(s):  Michelle Wong
University of British Columbia, BC
2023 - 2025:  $120,000
Project Title:  Describing Gut Microbiota in People with Chronic Kidney Disease
Category:  Renal Failure, Patient Care, Predictive Biomarkers

Allied Health Kidney Scholarship

Erin McConnell

Dalhousie University, NS
Supervisor(s):  Christine Cassidy, Audrey Steenbeek
2023 - 2024:  $5,000
Project Title:  Transitions in Transplant
Category:  Nursing
 

KRESCENT New Investigator Award

Tyrone Harrison

The University of Calgary, AB
2023 - 2026:  $210,000
Infrastructure:  $25,000
Project Title:  Improving perioperative risk prediction for people with kidney disease
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease

Ping Liu

The University of Calgary, AB
2023 - 2026:  $195,000
Infrastructure:  $25,000
Project Title:  Promoting shared decision-making for people with advanced CKD
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease

Thomas Mavrakanas

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, QC
2023 - 2026:  Curriculum only
Infrastructure:  $25,000
Project Title:  Novel therapeutic strategies in cardiorenal medicine
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease
 

KRESCENT Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Kyle Medak

Supervisor(s):  Daniel Drucker
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, ON
2023 - 2026:  $165,000 (additional external support)
Project Title:  Role of the vascular smooth muscle GLP-1 receptor in renoprotection
Category:  Diabetes

Christie Rampersad

Supervisor(s):  Joseph Kim
University Health Network, ON
2023 - 2026:  $195,000
Project Title:  Better Decisions for Better Outcomes from Deceased Donor Kidneys
Category:  Transplantation
  

KRESCENT Allied Health Kidney Doctoral Award

Reetinder Kaur

Supervisor(s):  Jagbir Gill, Fuchsia Howard
University of British Columbia, BC
2023 - 2026:  $105,000
Project Title:  Factors influencing a woman’s decision to become a living kidney donor: How to mitigate potential coercion
Category:  Organ Donation

Victoria Riehl-Tonn

Supervisor(s):  Sofia Ahmed
The University of Calgary, Alberta
2023 - 2026:  $105,000
Project Title:  Sex and Gender Considerations in Patient Outcomes in Individuals Living with Chronic Kidney Disease
Category:  Chronic Kidney Disease