Heart and stroke foundation contributions to U of M research

Researchers awarded grants totalling over three quarters of a million dollars.

JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF

Recently the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba presented over $850,000 in grants and awards to researchers at the University of Manitoba.

Every year, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba (HSFM) supports local researchers with grants and funding. Since 1958, the HSFM has dispersed more than $44 million in funds locally.

“One of our mandates is to support local research efforts, so each endeavour that these researchers are doing really does make an important contribution towards the prevention and treatment of heart disease or stroke,” said TammyWitko, the communications manager for HSFM.

According to Nancy Klos, the research development manager for the U of M, “People apply nationally and are awarded locally.” Individual researchers and students who apply for the HSFM grants must first participate in a grant competition. They are required to submit applications that are nationally peer-reviewed and given a score.

“Then it comes down to a provincial body,” said Klos. “The HSFM then looks at its funding and says, ‘these are the projects we are going to fund based on their score.’”

This year, HSFM presented the Dr. R. E. Beamish Memorial Award to Dr. Marc Del Bigio, who is a Professor in the faculty of medicine at the U of M in the department of pathology. He is also the director of anatomic and general pathology residency programs, as well as a Canada Research Chair in developmental neuropathology. The Beamish Memorial Award is presented to the applicant with the highestranked grant application.

Del Bigio received a $10,000 cheque as a supplement to the threeyear, $39,000 grant he received.

When asked about his research, Del Bigio explained that his grant application concerned premature births and the consequences of bleeding into the brain at an immature stage.

He explained that when children are born prematurely, “They’re at a high risk for developing bleeding in the brain . . . the results can basically cause the brain not to develop properly, and this is one of the causes of cerebral palsy.”

Del Bigio is trying to learn more about this common occurrence in order to develop a treatment.

“We are interested in determining exactly what factors in blood are the toxic ones to these developing brain cells [and] what exactly the consequences are of bleeding,” he said. “Ideally, prevention is the best treatment; avoiding premature birth or, keeping babies in intensive care in stable condition.”

Del Bigio plans to put the money towards new equipment to facilitate his research but currently has no specific plans for it.

Twenty-eight other researchers received grants and awards this year from the HSFM, including Ratna Bose for her research on treatment options for the prevention of complications related to diabetes, and Peter J. Jones for research on dietary oils and their affect on obesity.