Keeping Our Members Informed and Connected
March 2021


Happy International Women's Day!
Today we celebrate women, in particular, the professionals, students and community members who contribute to advancing health research in Windsor-Essex and beyond.
Igniting Discovery Grants
WE-SPARK Health Institute and its funding partners awarded 15 research grants totaling $287,450. Thank you to all the applicants and funders. Project details can be found below.
This grants program provides seed funding for early-stage, novel, and innovative health research and education projects in Windsor-Essex. Letter of Intent due March 21, 2021. Find out more.
Member Highlights and Successes
Letting us know about the accomplishments of you and your colleagues allows us to celebrate the great work being done in our region and further build collaborations. Here are just a few of your latest successes.

Funded Projects

Chris Abeare, University of Windsor. ($19,875), WE-SPARK Incentive Grant, Improving Diagnosis and Assessment of Concussion: The Utility of Baseline Testing in Sport-Related Concussion Management (2021-2022).  

Renée Biss (PI/PA), Kristoffer Romero, University of Windsor. ($15,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Evaluation of an Online Memory and Brain Health Promotion Intervention for Older Adults (2021-2022)  

Edward Cruz (PI/PA), Clementa Stan, University of Windsor. Jennifer Voth, Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare. ($13,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Caring for the Caregiver (2021-2022). 
 
Jeffery Dason, University of Windsor. ($20,000), WE-SPARK Incentive Grant, Roles of Frequenin1 and Frequenin2 in nociception (2021-2022).  

Marcus Drover, University of Windsor. ($10,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, New routes toward C-F containing molecules with medical imaging applications (2021-2022).  

Wendy Foote, St. Clair College. ($19,450), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, The Canada Hood: development of a non-invasive ventilation device (2021-2022).  

John Freer, St. Clair College. ($15,000). WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, The effects of the Tripartite Intervention on Students’ Attitudes toward Disability (2021-2022). 
 
Caroline Hamm (PI/PA), Indryas Woldie, Mohamad Jarrar, Rasna Gupta, Sindu Kanjeekal, Windsor Regional Hospital. ($15,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Real World Experience –Stopping Study in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (2021-2022).  

Kitty Huang (CO-PI/PA), Laura D’Alimonte (Co-PI/PA), Windsor Regional Hospital. ($30,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation’s Seeds4Hope Program, Understanding Needs and Measuring Impact of Cancer Rehabilitation Services for Radiation Oncology Patients: A Pilot Project (2021-2022).  

Onawa Labelle, University of Windsor. ($19,400), WE-SPARK Incentive Grant, Twelve-Step Recovery Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Impact of Online Meetings on Recovery Outcomes (2021-2022).  

Kenneth Ng, University of Windsor. ($416,000), Canadian 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Rapid Research Operating Grant: COVID-19 - Therapeutics, Design and evaluation of novel inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2 polymerase to create lead compounds to develop more effective treatments of COVID-19 (2020-2022).
 
Kenneth Ng, University of Windsor. ($20,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by Windsor Cancer Research Group, Characterizing novel antibodies specific for cell-surface 9-O-acetyl-sialic acid residues (2021-2022).  
 
Lisa Porter (PI/PA), John Trant, University of Windsor. ($250,000), Ontario Institute of Cancer ResearchUnique and selective targeting of Cdk Activity in aggressive carcinomas (2021-2022).
  
Ryan Punambolam (PI/PA), Windsor Regional Hospital. Denise St. Louis, Enhanced District Stroke Centre Windsor-Essex. Lucas Lalondel, University of Windsor. ($10,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Stroke Education for 12–15-year old’s in Windsor-Essex: pilot feasibility study of a novel on-line, peer education model (2021-2022).
  
Kristoffer Romero (PI/PA), Renée Biss, University of Windsor. ($20,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Harnessing online testing for the assessment and monitoring of cognitive functioning (2021-2022).  

Wassim Saad (Co-PI/PA), Caroline Hamm, Krista Naccarato, Windsor Regional Hospital. Andrea Steen (Co-PI/PA), Jennifer Voth, Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare. Ross Moncur (Co-PI/PA), Erie Shores Healthcare. ($20,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by NYN DesignsCollection and Evaluation of Potential Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 infections in Windsor-Essex (2021-2022).  

Sara Scharoun Benson (PI/PA), Danielle Salters, University of Windsor. ($10,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant, Attitudes towards and perspectives of inclusive physical education (PE): A mixed-methods investigation of pre-service generalists, PE specialists, and kinesiology undergraduates (2021-2022).  

Andrew Swan (PI/PA), Elizabeth Fidalgo da Silva, University of Windsor. ($30,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation’s Seeds4Hope Program, Investigating a novel Cyclin-Tuberin mediated cell size checkpoint that protects against cancer (2021-2022).  

Yufeng Tong, University of Windsor. ($30,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation’s Seeds4Hope Program, Structure-based drug discovery targeting ubiquitin-specific protease 9X for cancer treatment (2021-2022).  

John Trant (PI/PA), Lisa Porter, University of Windsor. ($30,000), WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery Grant Funded by Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation’s Seeds4Hope Program, Design of probes specific for PSMA or NAALADaseL1 to identify early stage neuroendocrine-like prostate cancer (2021-2022).  

John Trant, University of Windsor. ($50,000), 2020 Feature Grant Recipient, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, A universal drug delivery vehicle to transport drugs across the blood-brain barrier to target Glioblastoma (2021-2022). 


Publications / Articles

El-Ghandour NMF, Elsebaie EH, Salem AA, Alkhamees AF, Zaazoue MA, Fouda MA, Elbadry RG, Aly M, Bakr H, Labib MA, Tobin MK, Gragnaniello C, Gonzalez Lopez P, Shamisa AJhawar BS, Soliman MAR. (2020) Letter: The Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Neurosurgeons Worldwide. Neurosurgery. 

El-Ghandour NMF, Ezzat AAM, Zaazoue MA, Gonzalez-Lopez P, Jhawar BSSoliman MAR.(2020) Virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a turning point in neurosurgical education. Neurosurgery. 

Sabiq F, Huang K, Patel A, Banerjee R, Debenham B, Lau H, Skarsgard D, Chen G, Lysack JT, Quon HC. (2021) Novel imaging classification system of nodal disease in human papillomavirus‐mediated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma prognostic of patient outcomes. Head and Neck. 

Salters D, Rios PC, Ramsay E, Scharoun-Benson SM. (2020) Preferential Reaching and End-State Comfort: How Task Demands Influence Motor Planning. Journal of Motor Behavior. 
 
Shahab S, Soliman MAR, Alkhamees AF, Eaton S, Quint E, Im J, O'Connor A, Haberfellner E, Shamisa A. (2020) Surgical intervention for spontaneous intracranial hypotension Type 4 CSF leak: A case report. Surgical Neurology International. 


Appointments & Awards

Dave Andrews (University of Windsor, Faculty of Human Kinetics) 3M Teaching Fellowship (National Award)
 
Michelle Bondy (University of Windsor, Faculty of Science) University of Windsor, Faculty of Science Student Engagement Award  

Ian Brown (Windsor Regional Hospital) Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry – Windsor Program Educators' Award of Excellence in Medical Education
  
Lisa Porter (University of Windsor) Rotary Club of Windsor Peace Chain Link Award. 
 
Ken Schneider (Windsor Regional Hospital) Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Oncology Western University Excellence in Academics Award  

Monica Staley-Liang (Windsor Regional Hospital) Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry – Windsor Program Educators' Award of Excellence in Medical Education  

John Trant (University of Windsor, Faculty of Science) University of Windsor, Faculty of Science Student Mentoring Award
  
Indryas Woldie (Windsor Regional Hospital) Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry – Windsor Program Associate Dean's Award of Excellence in Medical Education


Congratulations everyone!
Be sure to submit any news items as they happen and we will include them.
Pictures and links to details are welcome.
Researcher Toolkit
Navigating Research can be a time consuming task at any institution. When conducing research across organizations, the complexity seems that much more overwhelming. WE-SPARK Health Institute is always looking for ways to support our researchers. Here are a few of the tools that you may find useful.
WE-SPARK can provide you and your team with access to REDCap, workshops and one-on-one consultations.
Need a place to list your research study or recruit participants? The WE-SPARK Research Registry is an easy way to promote your project.
Need support with general project development, connecting with potential collaborators, budget development, etc.? Try submitting a request.
We want to hear about your grants, publications, awards, conferences!
Send your great news to wesparkhealth@uwindsor.ca.
401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor ON N9B 3P4



(519) 253-3000 x 4394
wesparkhealth@uwindsor.ca

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