The Asthma Canada National Research Program invests in Canadian research through annual Lead Investigator Awards and Graduate Student Research Grants.
Graduate Student Research Grants
By investing in emerging Canadian researchers and supporting their promising research, we ensure continued efforts to search for a cure for asthma while taking real strides towards better treatment options for Canadians living with asthma.
From 2017 to 2019, we partnered with AllerGen NCE Inc. to award training grants to emerging researchers. From 2019 onwards, we partnered with CAAIF on this initiative. This program not only supports promising research, but also fosters the next generation of asthma researchers in Canada.
Research Funds
Asthma Canada works to provide research grants to scientists who are searching for more effective treatments for controlling asthma, keeping the airways open and making breathing easier for millions of people with asthma. With your support, we will continue working to provide assistance to researchers as they strive to find a cure.
We have a number of research funds available for you to support, including those listed below.
The Dr. Goran Enhorning Asthma Research Fund
In October 2015, Asthma Canada received a gift on behalf of the Dr. Goran Enhorning Foundation for Pulmonary Research. This donation has been allocated to support further research into finding a cure for asthma and continuing some of the research first started by Dr. Enhorning in the 1990s. Learn more about the work of Dr. Enhorning here.
The Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Fund
In early 2014, Asthma Canada established the Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Fund following the receipt of a bequest from the estate of Gail Suzanne Potts, who died in 2012. Mrs. Potts’ mother suffered from adult onset of asthma. Her desire was to advance research into the multiple factors that contribute to the development of asthma.
Meet our Researchers
2020 Research Award Winners to be announced soon!
Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Fund
The 2020 Recipient of the Asthma Canada – CAAIF Graduate Student Research Awards will be announced shortly. Stay tuned!
Coming soon
Enhorning Research Fund
The 2020 recipients of the Asthma Canada – CAAIF Graduate Student Research Award will be announced shortly. Stay tuned!
Jo-Chiao Wang
PhD student, Universite de Montreal
2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award
Nociceptor Neurons Control Pollution-exacerbating Asthma
Moïra Dion
PhD student, Université Laval
2019 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award
Understanding the Role of the Human Gut Virome in the Development of Early-onset Asthma
Dion received #20,000 from Asthma Canada and CAAIF to develop computer tools to precisely identify bacteriophages and what bacteria they infect. She will then determine if children that develop asthma have different bacteriophages, which will contribute to understanding what triggers asthma in early life.
Samuel Shin
MSc student, University of British Columbia
2018-2019 Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award
The Role of ILCs in Chronic Airway Inflammation and Lung Fibrosis
Shin received $10,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to investigate the role of innate lymphoid cells in the onset of chronic asthma and lung fibrosis. He hopes that findings from this work can create novel therapeutic options and provide permanent relief for patients suffering from chronic asthma.
Xiaoshu Cao
PhD student, University of Toronto
2018-2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award
Cao received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to conduct important research investigating the causal link between asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. Cao hopes the outcome of her research will help both patients and physicians recognize the overlap between asthma and OSA, and potentially lead to new treatment options.
Ryan Huff
PhD student, University of British Columbia
2018-2019 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award
Diesel Exhaust Induces Glucocorticoid Resistance (DIGR)
Huff received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to investigate the relationship between air pollution and inhaled corticosteroids in a rigorous controlled human clinical study. He hopes that his research project can help inform and enhance the treatment of Severe Asthma.
Jaclyn Parks
MSc student, Simon Fraser University
Hadeesha Piyadasa
PhD student, University of Manitoba
Piyadasa received $20,000 from Asthma Canada and AllerGen NCE Inc. to conduct asthma research.
Danay Maestre-Batlle
PhD student, University of British Columbia
2017-2018 Recipient, Bastable-Potts Graduate Student Research Award
Effects of Phthalate Inhalation on Airway Immunology: A Controlled Human Exposure Study
Maestre-Batlle received $20,000 to conduct cutting-edge research on the respiratory and immunological health effects of inhaled environmental pollutants. The goal of her research is to improve the lives of Canadians, specifically vulnerable groups who suffer from chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma.
Thomas Mahood
PhD student, University of Manitoba
2017-2018 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award
Understanding the Role of Protein Prenylation in Asthma
Mahood received $20,000 to investigate the role of protein modifications in asthmatic lungs. His research will provide a better blueprint for understanding the mechanisms of asthma – giving us an insight into how we can treat the disease and help people living with asthma breathe easier.
Diana Pham
MSc student, University of Calgary
2017-2018 Recipient, Goran-Enhorning Graduate Student Research Award
The Role of Human Rhinovirus Infections in the Pathogenesis of Airway Remodelling in Asthma
Pham received $10,000 toward conducting research to expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms contributing to the development of asthma. Her findings will help determine the appropriate pharmaceutical target or preventative measure for the airway remodelling that occurs in early childhood asthmatics.
Lead Investigator Awards
We continue to support lead investigators working to expand our understanding of asthma and find new treatment options for people living with asthma.
Dr. Michael Brauer
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
A professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Brauer is the inaugural recipient of Asthma Canada’s Bastable-Potts Asthma Research Prize for his ground-breaking research into traffic-related air pollution and its relationship to asthma in both adults and children. In his study he showed a prevalence of physician- diagnosed asthma and respiratory illness among children aged 0-24 months, who lived near and were regularly exposed to traffic related air pollution.
His work is being recognized by the Asthma Canada as a significant contribution to Canadians suffering from allergies and asthma.
Dr. Malcolm Sears
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
A professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, Dr. Sears conducts innovative research into the epidemiology and natural history of asthma with a focus on its frequency, risk factors and characteristics in large populations. One of his most important studies to Asthma Canada was his longitudinal study examining the incidence and impact of asthma in a birth cohort of New Zealand children followed from infancy to adulthood. He is now conducting the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study assessing the influence of genes and the environment on infant development, which will add important information and understanding to the development of asthma in children and its impact in adults.
Dr. Parameswaran Nair
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
A professor of Medicine at McMaster University, Dr. Nair is recognized for his innovative research investigating non-invasive measurements of airway inflammation in the treatment of Severe Asthma. He directs the AllerGen National Centre of Excellence Clinical Investigators Consortium for Severe Asthma and is a co-investigator of the Canadian Respiratory Research Network. At the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, he looks after patients with complex obstructive airway diseases, Severe Asthma, recurrent bronchitis, and lung disorders.
Dr. Shawn Aaron
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
A professor in The Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Dr. Aaron is a respirologist with special research and clinical interests in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF). Dr. Aaron’s research has been focused on clinical and health services research related to the correct diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung diseases (asthma and COPD) in Canadian communities. Dr. Aaron is Principal Investigator and Director of The Canadian Respiratory Research Network, a CIHR Emerging Research Network whose goal is to bring together researchers across disciplines to work together in a coordinated fashion in order to improve understanding of the origins and progression of asthma and COPD in Canada.
Dr. Aaron is recognized for the importance of his research examining misdiagnosis of asthma and the prevalence and economic/ health burden of undiagnosed airflow obstruction in Canadian communities. We also recognize his significant life-time achievements in asthma-related research over a very distinguished career.
Dr. Catherine Lemière
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
Dr. Catherine Lemière MD, MSc is a Professor of Medicine at the Université de Montréal and a Staff Chest Physician at Sacre-Cœur Hospital in Montreal. Dr Lemiere’s research program is mainly focused on work-related asthma, asthma and more specifically, on the assessment of the airway inflammation present in this condition. Her research program, funded by several funding agencies – Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC), Institut de recherche Robert Sauvé en Santé et Sécurité du Travail, Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé – has contributed to the improvement of the diagnosis of occupational asthma in clinical practice.
Dr. Lemière has been part of the Asthma Clinical Assembly of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) since 2001. She chaired the assembly from 2001 to 2004 and was responsible for the 2004 up-date of the Canadian Adult Asthma guidelines. She is one of the co-lead authors of the 2017 Canadian Thoracic Society position Statement: Recognition and management of Severe Asthma, and served as President of the CTS.
Dr. Samir Gupta
Recipient, Lead Investigator Award
Dr. Gupta is a clinician-scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a staff respirologist in the Division of Respirology at St. Michael’s Hospital. He completed his Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto, followed by a fellowship in Knowledge Translation Research. His main research interest is in knowledge translation in primary care, across the spectrum of respiratory illness, with a focus on electronic tools and asthma. He also has an interest in rare lung disease research methods, and the hepatopulmonary syndrome in particular.
Dr. Gupta serves as Chair of the Canadian Respiratory Guidelines Committee at the Canadian Thoracic Society and holds the University of Toronto Michael Locke Term Chair in Knowledge Translation and Rare Lung Disease Research.