Research Funded
1359 Grants awarded since 1925
88 % received Tri-Council funding within 5 years
30 Inducted into the Order of Canada
Since 1925, the Banting Research Foundation has awarded 1359 grants (totaling $8.3 million) to outstanding early-career health and biomedical researchers across Canada.
These impactful grants have enabled these young researchers to generate data to strengthen subsequent applications for longer-term grants from other funding agencies. Over the last decade, 88% of the researchers that we have funded were awarded prestigious and highly competitive federal agency research grants within five years of their first career appointment, underscoring our ability to recognize creative talent.
Many of our grants sparked remarkable discoveries that transformed the practice of medicine and surgery, reduced illness and death rates, and propelled many of our recipients to positions of leadership and influence across Canada.
Our alumni have been recognized through the most prestigious scientific and lifetime achievement honours and awards in Canada. They include 30 recipients inducted into the Order of Canada, 24 Canada Gairdner Foundation International Award Laureates, and make up 18 of the Laureates of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Notable Alumni

Janet Rossant, CC PHD FRS FRSC
World-renowned expert in developmental biology (1983 Award Recipient)

Charles Hollenburg, OC MD FRSC
A leader of the Canadian medical community (1965 Award Recipient)

Henry G. Friesen, CC MD FRSC FCAHS
Best known for the discovery of human prolactin (1966 Award Recipient)

Mladen Vranic, OC MD DSC
Pioneer in metabolic physiology, Postdoctoral fellow of Charles Best (1966 Award Recipient)

Adolfo J. De Bold, OC PHD FRSC
Best known for his discovery of atrial natriuretic factor (1980 Award Recipient)

Imogen Coe, PHD
Internationally recognized scientist and champion for women and girls in STEM (1998 Award Recipient)

Brenda L. Gallie, CM MD FRCSC
A world-renowned ophthalmologist, known for her contributions to the science and medicine of retinoblastoma (1983 Award Recipient)
Our Awardees
Every year, we support health and biomedical research projects by outstanding new investigators across Canada through our Discovery Award program. To date, we have awarded 1353 grants. For a complete list of grants awarded from 1925 – 2021, please email us at info@bantingresearchfoundation.ca.
Sagi Abelson, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Computational Biology, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research – Exploring the blood of cancer patients at the…
Matthieu P. Boisgontier, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa – Retraining the automatic reaction to physical activity and sedentary…
Angela C. Cheung, MD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Clinical Epidemiology Program, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute – Machine Learning in HCC Liver cancer…
Owais Khan, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Electrical, Computer & Biomedical Engineering, Ryerson University – Healing Broken Hearts with Computer Simulations Coronary…
Glen McGee, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo – Addressing Informative Presence Bias in Analyses of…
J. Patrick Murphy, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Biology, University of Prince Edward Island – Exploring an alternative approach to targeting serine biosynthesis-dependent…
Andrew A. Nicholson, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Psychiatry & Behavourial Sciences, McMaster University – Regulating Neural Connectivity in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder with…
Heather Prime, C. Psych
2021 Discovery Awardee
Psychology, York University – A Family Recovery Program to Support Child Mental Health During and…
Holly Sparks, DVM, PhD, DACVS-LA
2021 Discovery Awardee
Veterinary Clinical & Diagnostic Sciences, University of Calgary – Establishing Non-invasive Diagnostic Criteria for Tissue…
Nicole Templeman, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Biology, University of Victoria – Limiting insulin levels to enhance egg cell quality and female…
Kim Tsoi, MD, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System – Development of a Nanoparticle-Based Approach to Treat Lung…
Alanna Weisman, MD, PhD
2021 Discovery Awardee
Department of Medicine, University of Toronto – Impact of socioeconomic factors on insulin pump use…
Lindsay Cahill, PhD
Discovery Award 2020
Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland – Understanding the Effects of Treatment to Prevent…
Chantelle Capicciotti, PhD
Discovery Award 2020
Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine, Queen’s University – Harnessing…
Kate Weinberger, PhD
Discovery Award 2020
School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia – Heat…
Che Colpitts, PhD
The Jarislowsky Fellowship – Banting Discovery Award 2020
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine, Queen’s University – Membrane Re-modelling as…
Jennifer Geddes-McAlister, PhD
The Jarislowsky Fellowship – Banting Discovery Award 2020
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph – Combatting Fungal Infections through the…
Malika Oubaha, PhD
The Jarislowsky Fellowship – Banting Discovery Award 2020
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal – Premature Aging of Blood Vessels…
Dylan Kobsar, PhD
CANSSI Ontario – Banting Discovery Award 2020 in Data Science
Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University – Stepping Out of the Lab: New methods to translate…
Lindsay Bodell, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychology, Western University – Negative Affect and Reward Processing in Individuals with Binge…
Andrea Bombak, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick – Intersections of Weight Stigma in New Brunswick…
Mahsa Jessri, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Food, Nutrition, and Health, University of British Columbia – Dietary Patterns and Food…
Benoit Laurent, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biochemistry, Université de Sherbrooke – Deciphering the epigenetic regulation of alternative splicing in…
Daiva Nielsen, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Human Nutrition, McGill University – Characterization of the workplace food environment in Montreal…
Arneet Saltzman, PhD
2019 Banting Research Foundation/McLaughlin Centre Discovery Awardee
Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto – Investigating the role of heterochromatin…
Nicholas Strzalkowski, PhD
2019 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biology, Mount Royal University – Sensory Feedback in Dystonia Muscle sensory feedback is…
Ali Abdul-Sater, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University – Dissecting the role of TRAF1 in…
Kyle Biggar, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biology, Carleton University – Identification of new substrates of the histone methyltransferase enzyme,…
Dylan Cooke, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University – Accelerated mapping of individual variation…
Robert Huber, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biology, Trent University – Using the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum to study Batten…
Nomazulu Dlamini, MD PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children – Studying neural network reorganization in dystonia…
Salim Islam, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier – Understanding colonization and persistence in…
Ian Rodrigue-Gervais, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Infectious Diseases, INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier – Examining the function of mitochondrial proteases…
Rebecca Shapiro, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph – Using genetic and functional genomic…
John Trant, PhD
2018 Discovery Awardee
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor – Developing enzymatically-resistant carbohydrate vaccines for treating…
Florian Bentzinger, PhD
2017 Discovery Awardee
Department of Pharmacology-Physiology, Universite de Sherbrooke – Niche regulation of muscle stem cell specification Dr…
Jennifer Gordon, PhD
2017 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychology, University of Regina – HPA axis dysregulation in the etiology of perimenopausal…
Catherine Larochelle, MD PhD
2017 Discovery Awardee
CRCHUM, Department of Neurosciences, Universite de Montreal – Molecular mechanisms underlying T lymphocytes interactions with…
Gareth Lim, PhD
2017 Discovery Awardee
CRCHUM, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal – Evaluating the therapeutic potential of 14-3-3ζ for…
Adena Scheer, MD
2017 Discovery Awardee
Department of Surgery, St Michael’s Hospital, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and the University of…
Julien van Grevenynghe, PhD
2017 Discovery Awardee
Department of Infectious diseases, immunity, cancer and epidemiology, INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier and the Université…
Jeanette Boudreau, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University – Directing natural killer cell cytotoxicity to the…
Christopher Dennison, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta – Impact severity metric for focal head and…
Jeffrey Gagnon, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biology, Laurentian University – Investigating the role of H2S in the regulation of…
Kaitlyn McLachlan, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychology, University of Guelph – Evaluating novel neurobiomarkers in the identification of adults…
Noam Miller, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University – Exploring neural mechanisms of social behavior using zebrafish…
Roxane Paulin, PhD
2016 Discovery Awardee
Department of Medicine, Université Laval – Targeting ErbB2 by TAK-165 reverses pulmonary hypertension in vitro…
Jeffrey Chen, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
VIDO-InterVac, University of Saskatchewan – Towards a next generation of superior BCG tuberculosis vaccines Tuberculosis…
Jeremy Hirota, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
Department of Medicine University of British Columbia – A 3D-printed human airway model for studying…
Petra Kienesberger, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dalhousie University – Role of the adipokine autotaxin in…
Morgan Langille, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
Department of Pharmacology Dalhousie University – Design and implementation of a human microbiome interaction database…
Joon Lee, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
School of Public Health and Health Systems University of Waterloo – Personalized predictive analytics based…
Catherine Martel, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
Department of Medicine Université de Montréal/ Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre – Lymphatic vessel function…
Michael Suits, PhD
2015 Discovery Awardee
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Wilfrid Laurier University – Protein structure-function relationships in periodontal disease…
Emanuel Rosonina, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biology, York University – Regulation of transcription and splicing factors by sumoylation SUMO…
Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo – The role of binocular vision in the development…
Jeffrey Leyton, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology, Université de Sherbrooke – An advanced development in targeted…
Jennifer Heisz, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University – Examining the dose-response relationship between physical exercise and cognitive…
Yannick Doyon, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Molecular Medicine, Université Laval – In vivo genome editing as a novel class…
Benoît Arsenault, PhD
2014 Discovery Awardee
Department of Medicine, Université Laval – Impact of a lifestyle modification program on high-density lipoprotein…
Craig Bailey, PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph – Nicotinic receptor signaling in a mouse model…
David Chatenet, PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Centre INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier – Design and synthesis of peptide inhibitors of PqsE as novel antibacterial…
Margaret K Hahn, MD PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health – Central insulin to prevent olanzapine-induced adiposity: a rodent…
Pierre-Yves Lozach, PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Centre INRS – Institut Armand-Frappier Bunyavirus entry into mammalian cells Bunyaviridae is a large family…
Dave Richard, PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Département de microbiologie-infectiologie et d’immunologie, Université Laval – Protein trafficking to the apical complex of…
Marie-Ève Tremblay, PhD
2013 Discovery Awardee
Département de médecine moléculaire, Université Laval – Microglial relationships with synaptic elements in Alzheimer’s disease…
Alexandre Douplik, PhD
2012 Discovery Awardee
Physics Department, Ryerson University – Surface-enhanced Raman fiber sensor for endoscopic early detection of tumor-related…
Carl Ernst, PhD
2012 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University – Functional analysis of the 16p11.2 locus using patient-derived induced-pluripotent…
Dennis Jensen, PhD
2012 Discovery Awardee
Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education, McGill University – Physiological mechanisms of dyspnea relief and…
Martin Lévesque, PhD
2012 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Université Laval – Molecular mechanisms of axon guidance mediated by…
Michelle Scott, PhD
2012 Discovery Awardee
Department of Biochemistry, Université de Sherbrooke – Characterization of a novel function of small RNAs…
Marcelo Berlim, MD
2011 Discovery Awardee
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University – Remediating decision-making deficits in depressed subjects at high risk…
Simon Lees, PhD
2011 Discovery Awardee
Faculty of Medicine, Lakehead University – The IL-6 paradox in the development of insulin resistance…
Tara Moriarty, PhD
2011 Discovery Awardee
Matrix Dynamics Group, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto – Vascular adhesion mechanisms of the…
Takako Niikura, DVM PhD
2011 Discovery Awardee
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University – Regulation of amyloid beta metabolism In Alzheimer’s…
Jonathan Perreault, PhD
2011 Discovery Awardee
INRS – Institut Armand Frappier – Regulation in the opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia by the MAEB…