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Drs. Robert Korneluk and Hanns Lochmüller
OTTAWA — Two scientists at the CHEO Research Institute have been granted a total of $7.6 million over seven years in the last round of Foundation Grant funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
“This is an outstanding result for CHEO and the CHEO Research Institute. It recognizes the high calibre of work our scientists are undertaking to improve care for children, youth and families,” said Dr. Jason Berman, CHEO Research Institute’s new CEO and Scientific Director, as well as CHEO’s new Vice-president of Research. “Drs. Lochmüller and Korneluk are leaders in their fields and I am delighted to see them receive the support of Canada’s scientific community through receipt of these highly competitive and prestigious awards.”
Dr. Robert Korneluk — a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute and distinguished professor at uOttawa — is receiving $2.9 million over seven years to investigate how a family of genes that regulate cell death (called IAPs, or inhibitors of apoptosis) can be turned off by drugs called SMCs (Smac mimetics). The goal is to improve the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies, a revolutionary new class of cancer treatments that trigger the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.
Dr. Hanns Lochmüller — a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, professor at uOttawa, associate scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, and neurologist at CHEO and The Ottawa Hospital — is receiving $4.7 million over seven years to use genomics to identify gene mutations causing neuromuscular disease, and to develop and test new therapies based on this knowledge for congenital myasthenia and myotonic dystrophy. His team will also be identifying biomarkers to determine who is most likely to respond well to therapies and their effectiveness over time.
For more detail on their grants, please see CIHR’s Funding Decisions page.
CIHR awarded a total 28 Foundation Grants nationally. For more information visit CIHR’s page called Foundation Grant: 2018-2019 competition results.
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About CHEO
Based in Canada’s capital, CHEO is a globally renowned health institution with a mission to provide exceptional care and support to children, youth and their families. Opening our doors in 1974, we offer a full range of specialized pediatric care and services to children from eastern and northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut. Our site is home to a hospital, a children’s treatment centre, a school, a research institute, and is affiliated with the University of Ottawa as an academic health science centre. Named Canada’s best health-care employer by Forbes in 2024 and 2025, we are home to more than 6,500 staff, clinicians, scientists and researchers, as well as volunteers – all of whom work together to help children and youth achieve their best lives.