Our Funded Research Projects

Updated April 2024

Title Principal Investigator / Supervisor Program Project Start Date Project End Date Total $ Awarded
A machine learning based framework to analyze blood product transactional data for reducing discards Principal Investigator: CHENG, Calvino

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ABIDI, Syed Sibte Raza, BLAKE, John, LIWSKI, Robert, QUINN, Jason, ABUSHAREKH, Ashraf, ABIDI, Samina, XIANG, Richard 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 29950.0
Blood and stem cell donation for men who have sex with men in Canada: A toolkit for healthcare professionals Principal Investigator: FINGRUT, Warren

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: GOLDMAN, Mindy, SHIH, Andrew, ELMOAZZEN, Heidi, ALLAN, David, PETRASZKO, Tanya, YAN, Matthew, COUPAL, Dylan, SEGALL, Romy, CHOWDHURY, Fuad, CAI, Helen, KUMAR, Shamini Vijaya, TRAADE, Daniel, ROSENFELD, Aaron, KAVEH, Farrokhi 		BloodTechNet Award Program 20000.0
An interactive virtual tour of blood product manufacturing at Canadian Blood Services Principal Investigator: BODNAR, Melanie

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CHARGÉ, Sophie, YAN, Mathew, ABE, Tricia, TORDON, Bryan, CLARKE, Gwen 		BloodTechNet Award Program 20000.0
University of Toronto QUEST Research Program Principal Investigator: CALLUM, Jeannie

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: 		Transfusion Medicine Research Program Support Award 1290733.5
Demonstration of genetic blood group transition in patients undergoing ABO-mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by peripheral blood quantitative polymerase chain reaction targeting the ABO locus Principal Investigator: SHIH, Andrew

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: LAZO-LANGER, Alejandro, D'SOUZA, David, CALLUM, Jeannie, LEUNG, Eric, CHIN-YEE, Ian 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 15990.0
Support of HLA laboratory directors in-training for rotations in specialized laboratories Principal Investigator: WAGNER, Eric

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: KEOWN, Paul, LIWSKI, Robert, CAMPBELL, Patricia, BERKA, Noureddine, WANG, Jinguo, MOSTAFA, Ahmed, CHEE-LOONG, Saw, RICHARD, Lucie, CHARGÉ, Sophie, DHARSEE, Fatima 		BloodTechNet Award Program 8490.0
The Calgary Plasma Study: feasibility of implementing source plasma donation with alternative screening eligibility criteria for men who have sex with men Principal Investigator: PRESSEAU, Justin

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: GOLDMAN, Mindy, O'BRIEN, Sheila, MACPHERSON, Paul, OTIS, Joanne, FOSTER, Terrie, VESNAVER, Elisabeth, GERMAIN, Marc, ROSSER, Andrew, LAPIERRE, Don, HILL, Nolan 		MSM Plasma Program 399875.0
Development of a drug to replace IVIg, and ADCC as cause for unexplained hemolysis post-transfusion Principal Investigator: BRANCH, Donald

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ALMIZRAQ, Ruqayyah 		Postdoctoral Fellowship Program 165000.0
Pediatric Transfusion Camp Principal Investigator: LIEBERMAN, Lani

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: LIN, Yulia, CALLUM, Jeannie, WALSH, Catherine, CHARGÉ, Sophie, WILLIAMS, Suzanne, FARONI, David, MEMA, Briseida, LACROIX, Jacque, LAU, Wendy, ROBITAILLE, Nancy, FINAN, Emer, HUME, Heather, HASPEL, Richard, ATKINSON, Adelle, SCOLNIK, Dennis 		BloodTechNet Award Program 10500.0
Elianna Saidenberg Transfusion Medicine Trainee Principal Investigator: LAU, Wendy

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: VANDERMEULEN, Heather 		Elianna Saidenberg Transfusion Medicine Traineeship Award 210000.0
Applying educational tools of knowledge translation to reduce the inappropriate use of plasma in Ontario: a collaboration between Canadian Blood Services and Ontario hospitals Principal Investigator: SOLH, Ziad

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: SKEATE, Robert, BERTA, Donna, CALLUM, Jeannie, LIMA, Ana, ZELLER, Michelle, ELAHIE, Allahna, HEDDLE, Nancy, THOMPSON, Troy, TINMOUTH, Alan, SHEHATA, Nadine, ILAGAN, Cesario 		BloodTechNet Award Program 7200.0
Deformability based cell sorting enabling quality control of stored red blood cells Principal Investigator: MA, Hongshen

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ISLAMZADA, Emel 		Graduate Fellowship Program 112333.0
Perioperative transfusion threshold : A population-based observational study Principal Investigator: FERGUSSON, Dean

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: VERRET, Michael 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
Mechanisms of anti-αIIb mediated miscarriage in fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia Principal Investigator: NI, Heyu

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CHEN, Zi Yan 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
New solution for cord blood unit preservation Principal Investigator: PINEAULT, Nicolas

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: KAUSHAL, Richa 		Graduate Fellowship Program 116500.0
Anti-GPIb- and anti-GPIIbIIIa- mediated immune thrombocytopenia: Mechanisms and actions of intravenous IgG (IVIG) and alternative therapies Principal Investigator: NI, Heyu

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: LAZARUS, Alan, BRANCH, Donald 		Intramural Research Grant Program 412010.3
Plasma transfusion or plasma protein product infusion in a murine model of trauma Principal Investigator: SHEFFIELD, William

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: PRYZDIAL, Edward 		Intramural Research Grant Program 257414.8
Assessing the impact of donor manufacturing characteristics on survival of transfused red blood cells Principal Investigator: TINMOUTH, Alan

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ACKER, Jason, FERGUSSON, Dean, CHASSÉ, Michaël 		Intramural Research Grant Program 90935.0
Small molecule drug development of phagocytosis inhibitors Principal Investigator: BRANCH, Donald

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: KOTRA, Lakshmi, P. 		Intramural Research Grant Program 428468.4
New cryosolution for stem cell-based therapeutics Principal Investigator: PINEAULT, Nicolas

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: BEN, Robert, HARPER, Marie-Ellen, CHAKRABORTY, Nilay 		Intramural Research Grant Program 180000.0
Mechanisms of erythrocyte antibody-mediated immune suppression Principal Investigator: LAZARUS, Alan

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: NI, Heyu, SEMPLE, John 		Intramural Research Grant Program 400000.0
PREMISE: Point-of-care hemoglobin accuracy and transfusion outcomes in non-cardiac surgery Principal Investigator: MARTEL, Guillaume

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: TINMOUTH, Alan, FERGUSSON, Dean, MCISAAC, Daniel, SHAW, Julie, RAMSAY, Tim, PRESSEAU, Justin, WHERRETT, Christopher, CARRIER, François-Martin, SEELY, Andrew, BRYSON, Gregory 		Intramural Research Grant Program 392974.0
Fc receptors and IVIg in ITP Principal Investigator: LAZARUS, Alan

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CSERTI-GAZDEWICH, Christine, LIN, Yulia, CALLUM, Jeannie, SHOLZBERG, Michelle, NI, Heyu 		Intramural Research Grant Program 432000.0
IN-TRUST: Using a transfusion database to explore the immune-modulatory impacts of blood transfusion and the clinical impacts of blood processing changes Principal Investigator: NING, Shuoyan

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ARNOLD, Donald, ZELLER, Michelle, ACKER, Jason, LI, Na, HEDDLE, Nancy, HILLIS, Christopher, ROCHWERG, Bram, SYED, Summer 		Intramural Research Grant Program 270352.1
Evaluating unintentional warming of glycerolized red cell concentrates Principal Investigator: ACKER, Jason

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CLARKE, Gwen, TURNER, Tracy, OLAFSON, Carly, MYKHAILOVA, Olga 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 25000.0
Modulation of biofilm formation, virulence, and antimicrobial resistance by Staphylococcus aureus during platelet storage Principal Investigator: RAMIREZ-ARCOS, Sandra

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: SAD, Subash, MAH, Thien-Fah 		Intramural Research Grant Program 323252.6
IVIG utilization and its impact on platelet count in pregnant women with moderate thrombocytopenia Principal Investigator: KHALIFE, Roy

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: TINMOUTH, Alan, EL-CHAAR, Darine, MACK, Jonathan, KAROVITCH, Alan, FERGUSSON, Dean, WEBERT, Kathryn 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 22217.3
Establishing national best practices for out-of-hospital blood transfusion: A collaboration of the Canadian Prehospital and Transport Transfusion (CAN-PATT) network Principal Investigator: NOLAN, Brodie

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: TROJANOWSKI, Jan, SHIH, Andrew, GREENE, Adam, EVANS, Rob, MULVEY, Jamin, CHANG, Eddie, NAHIRNIAK, Susan, PEARSON, Dallas, PROKOPCHUK-GAUK, Oksana, MARTIN, Doug, MUSUKA, Charles, SEIDL, Cindy, PEDDLE, Michael, LIN, Yulia, SMITH, Justin, MACDONALD, Scott, RICHARDS, Lindsay, FARRELL, Michael, KHANDELWAL, Aditi, CALLUM, Jeannie 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 30000.0
Optimizing Pre-Chemotherapy Anemia in Gynecologic Oncology (OPRA-2): A quality improvement initiative Principal Investigator: VICUS, Danielle

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: SPÉNARD, Elisabeth, LIN, Yulia, KHANDELWAL, Aditi, TANO, Ruby, JADUNANDAN, Saudia, KNIGHT, Dawn 		Blood Efficiency Accelerator Program 30000.0
The pan-Canadian immunoglobulin database: Enabling utilization reporting and personalized treatment using data mining techniques for immunoglobulin Principal Investigator: LI, Na

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: DOWN, Douglas, CHIANG, Fei, LEE, Joon, HEDDLE, Nancy, ARNOLD, Donald, CALLUM, Jeannie, SIDHU, Davinder, BARTY, Rebecca 		Kenneth J. Fyke Award Program 100000.0
Anti-RBC monoclonal antibodies as a replacement for IVIg and anti-D in ITP Principal Investigator: LAZARUS, Alan

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: BRANCH, Donald, DUNN, Shannon 		Intramural Research Grant Program 400000.0
Study of Whole Blood In Frontline Trauma-2 (SWIFT-2) Principal Investigator: BECKETT, Andrew

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: SINGH, Kanwal 		Postdoctoral Fellowship Program 20500.0
Awareness and understanding of apheresis plasma donation and effectiveness of alternative donor screening questions for diverse gbMSM and trans populations Principal Investigator: GAHAGAN, Jacqueline

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: HAW, Jennie, LACHOWSKY, Nathan, DRYDEN, OmiSoore, MANNING, Eli, FOSTER, Terrie, O'BRIEN, Sheila, HACHETTE, Todd, MULLOWNEY, Mike 		MSM Plasma Program 200500.0
Translating novel clotting factor X function to treat thrombosis Principal Investigator: PRYZDIAL, Ed

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: MACVICAR, Brian, SHEFFIELD, William 		Intramural Research Grant Program 369052.0
Transfusion CONsent by a Standardized Evidence-based Novel Tool (Transfusion- CONSENT): Creating and validating novel tools to assess competence in obtaining transfusion consent Principal Investigator: LAUREANO, Marissa

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: KHANDELWAL, Aditi, HASPEL, Richard, FUNG, Mark, LANE, Shannon, ZELLER, Michelle 		BloodTechNet Award Program 8524.0
Assessing the acceptability and feasibility of a plasma donation program for gbMSM in Montréal from the point of view of cis and trans gbMSM, volunteers from Héma-Québec, current donors, and plasma product recipients Principal Investigator: OTIS, Joanne

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: GERMAIN, Marc, HAW, Jennie, MONTEITH, Kenneth, MYHAL, Geneviève, PRESSEAU, Justin, PIRNAT, Bojan, LAPIERRE, Don 		MSM Plasma Program 390970.0
Assessing acceptability, understanding and effectiveness of alternative screening questions for current donors Principal Investigator: FISHER, William

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: HAW, Jennie, GOLDMAN, Mindy, FOSTER, Terrie, O'BRIEN, Sheila, HOFKIRCHNER, Alexander 		MSM Plasma Program 129400.0
Assessing the relationship between red blood cell deformability and transfusion lifetime Principal Investigator: MA, Hongshen

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: LAMOUREUX, Erik 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
Replacement of IVIg by small molecule inhibitors of phagocytosis Principal Investigator: BRANCH, Donald

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: LORIAMINI, Melika 		Graduate Fellowship Program 112333.0
Defining the stem cell regulatory functions of GAS6 and FTO Principal Investigator: MAGANTI, Harinad

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: PASALA, Ajay 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
Synthesis and live cell imaging of ice recrystallization inhibitors in red blood cells Principal Investigator: BEN, Robert

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: MCMUNN, Leah 		Graduate Fellowship Program 112333.0
Options for increasing plasma supply in Canada: A health economic preference and modelling study Principal Investigator: HOLLOWAY, Kelly

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: KENNEDY, Kevin 		CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship 108500.0
Evaluating transfusion medicine patterns of practice across GEMINI sites Principal Investigator: CALLUM, Jeannie

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: ARNOLD, Donald, VERMA, Amol, SRIVASTAVA, Siddhartha, CHENG, Calvino, ESMAIL, Tariq, DESVEAUX, Laura, TYRYSHKIN, Kathrin, KARKOUTI, Keyvan, LADHA, Karim, LI, Na, PAVENSKI, Katerina, PENDERGRAST, Jacob, PRESSEAU, Justin, SCHNEIDER, Henry, SHEHATA, Nadine, SHIH, Andrew, THIRUMURTHY, Harsha, BREHAUT, Jamie, RAZAK, Fahad, MCLCEARY, Nicola, ZUCKERMAN, Jesse 		Kenneth J. Fyke Award Program 98822.0
Modified platelet storage containers to improve quality during storage Principal Investigator: KIZHAKKEDATHU, Jayachandran

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: PEREYRA DOS SANTOS, Nicolas 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
Leveraging equity-focused implementation science to evaluate and support the re-integration of men who have sex with men into the blood donation system Principal Investigator: GOLDMAN, Mindy

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: VESNAVER, Elisabeth 		CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship 108500.0
Generation of a coagulation factor-based thrombotic agent Principal Investigator: PRYZDIAL, Ed

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: WITT, Alexandra 		Graduate Fellowship Program 52000.0
COVID-19 vaccination refusal and access to transplantation: an ethical conundrum. A legal analysis and a qualitative study with key stakeholders Principal Investigator: FORTIN, Marie-Chantal

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CHANDLER, Jennifer, GILL, Justin, GOLDBERG, Aviva, GRUBEN, Vanessa 		James Kreppner Award Program 49952.0
A clinical comparison of cold-stored and room temperature-stored allogeneic platelet transfusions in bleeding adult cardiac surgery patients - A randomized multicentre pilot study (PLTS-1 study) Principal Investigator: BARTOSZKO, Justyna

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: CALLUM, Jeannie, DEVINE, Dana, KARKOUTI, Keyvan, KAHR, Walter, MCVEY, Mark, PEER, Miki, RAO, Vivek, ABRAHAMYAN, Lusine, LIEBERMAN, Lani, MEWHORT, Holly 		Intramural Research Grant Program 242617.0
Enabling next generation hematopoietic-based therapeutics and manufacturing Principal Investigator: PINEAULT, Nicolas

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: MCCOMB, Scott, JEZIERSKI, Anna, MAGALHAES, Ana, IQBAL, Umer 		Intramural Research Grant Program 300000.0
Biomarkers in patients with anemia-induced thrombocytopenic bleeding (BAIT): A pilot study Principal Investigator: ARNOLD, Donald

Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee: WEBERT, Kathryn, LIAW, Patricia, BERG, Tobias, HEDDLE, Nancy 		Intramural Research Grant Program 200000.0