Toronto, Ontario – As Canada’s first grant-giving charity in biomedical and health research, the Banting Discovery Foundation has announced the eight latest Discovery Award winners. The early-career scientists will each receive up to $30,000 to pursue their moonshot research projects.
Our Discovery Awardees are rooted in disciplines ranging from basic science to public health to artificial intelligence. Investing in our most creative young scientists has never been more critical because their discoveries will shape our health and economy.
Our partnership with the Banting Discovery Foundation underscores our commitment to better brain health. Congratulations to this year’s recipients.
The 2024 Discovery Awardees are:
Gregory E.P. Pearcey, School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Funded by a Banting – Ontario Brain Institute Discovery Award, is cracking the neural code that controls human movement, with implications for repair of movement after injury or disease.
Xian Wang, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University
Funded by a Banting – Ontario Brain Institute Discovery Award, is developing a microrobot to treat brain cancer.
Maryam Kebbe, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick
Funded by a Banting – Heaslip Foundation Discovery Award, studies how different diets affect the gut microorganisms in young children and babies and subsequently their health.
Jean-Philippe Leduc-Gaudet, Département de biologie médicale, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Funded by a Banting Discovery Award – Jarislowsky Fellowship, investigates genes and cell-cell communications involved in skeletal muscle health, which has a significant impact on longevity and wellness.
Katie A. Wilson, Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Funded by a Banting Discovery Award – Jarislowsky Fellowship, applies computer modelling to help design therapies and diagnostic tools for a spectrum of ailments, including antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and cancer.
Janie Coulombe, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Université de Montréal
Funded by a Banting – CANSSI Discovery Award in Biostatistics, is developing advanced statistical methods for more tailored treatment and monitoring of patients with high blood pressure.
Justin Slater, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph
Funded by a Banting – CANSSI Ontario Discovery Award in Biostatistics, is using statistical methods and machine learning to estimate how hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmits within a population, which will help us take preventative or corrective actions accordingly.
Karine Choquet, Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Université de Sherbrooke
Funded by a Banting Discovery Award, is examining how certain mistakes in relaying a gene’s instruction can contribute to aging and human diseases such as cancer and dementia.
About the Banting Discovery Foundation
Formerly named the Banting Research Foundation, the Banting Discovery Foundation is a Canadian charity that provides seed grants to nurture promising, early-career biomedical researchers, many of whom produced key findings that have transformed the practice of medicine and health care, reduced illness, and improved wellness.
About the Ontario Brain Institute
The Ontario Brain Institute is dedicated to advancing new knowledge, treatments, and technologies that improve the lives of people with brain disorders, and is committed to collaborative research approaches, patient engagement, the connection, and analysis of quality of neuroscience data, and the development of innovative tools and practices.
Media contact
Banting Discovery Foundation
Maurine Kwok, Executive Director
ed@bantingresearchfoundation.ca
Ontario Brain Institute
Renée Dunk, Senior Communications Lead
rdunk@braininstitute.ca
