Medical
Research Competition

About the UHF Medical Research Competition

The University Hospital Foundation has provided funding and support for the UHF Medical Research Competition (MRC) for more than 20 years. Through MRC, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, UHF has funded a broad range of innovative and translational research.

UHF’s new strategic plan, Ignite 2030, challenges us to lead bold solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems and ignite new approaches and discoveries in health. This includes our approach to supporting research excellence, ensuring alignment with our overall strategic direction.

With this in mind, we are pausing the Medical Research Competition in 2022. This pause will allow UHF the opportunity to review its strategy for funding research within Ignite 2030. The review will include collaborative engagement and consultation with key stakeholders and partners. The expected outcome of this process is a renewed approach to funding medical research, better geared toward igniting innovative discoveries and transforming health.

Learn more about the areas that UHF supports.

Dr. Ian Winship, Medical Research Competition Awardee

If you want to move closer to a cure for a complex disease like schizophrenia, you need new ideas. The grant from UHF allowed me to take the research in my lab in a whole new direction.

2021 Award Recipients

In 2021, seventeen projects were funded out of a total of 42 submitted for a success rate of 40.5%

Dr. Mahesh Kate

Medicine

Remote Ischemic Conditioning with Novel Optical Sensor Feedback Device in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Dr. Angela Neufeld

Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine

Use of Large Volume Autologous Whole Blood Therapy for Treating Cardiopulmonary Bypass-Induced Coagulopathy In High Risk Patients: A Randomized Control Trial

Dr. Sue Tsai

Medical Microbiology and Immunology

Oxylipins as novel therapeutics to boost immuno-metabolism of life-saving total parenteral nutrition: a translational study

Dr. Angela Lau

Medicine

How much do subclinical patients contribute to tuberculosis transmission?

Dr. Paul Jurasz

Pharmacology

Monocyte-Platelet Aggregate Formation in Stroke

Dr. Stephanie Thompson

Medicine

Lower limb complications in hemodialysis patients: the feasibility of using non-invasive measurements of vascular function to identify risk and response to treatment

Dr. Thomas Jeerakathil

Medicine

Rapid clinical assessment of vertigo using non-invasive eye-tracking and markerless motion-tracking techniques

Dr. Martin Bouliane

Surgery

Total versus Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement: A Feasibility Randomized Control Trial

Dr. Rhea Varughese

Medicine

REVAMP: Remote Exercise program deliVery using A Mobile phone application for patients with Pulmonary hypertension

Dr. Andrew Pepper

Surgery

Customized humanized mouse model to advance cell therapies for type 1 diabetes

Dr. Darren Lau

Medicine

A randomized trial of intermittently scanned CGM versus Usual care with Diabetes Education and feedback, in adults with type 2 diabetes (iCUDE)

Dr. Mahua Ghosh

Medicine

Type 2 Diabetes in Women with and without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: What is the evidence, risk and co-morbidities?

Dr. Kristi Baker

Oncology

Activating CD8+ T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity in colorectal cancer

Dr. Hadi Seikaly

Surgery

Engineering Clinically Applicable Cartilage Grafts

Dr. Frank Hoentjen

Medicine

Metabolomic profiles to assess colorectal cancer risk in patients with ulcerative colitis

Dr. Carrie Ye

Medicine

Opportunistic bone densitometry using computed tomography scan in cancer patients taking immunotherapy: a translational pilot study in oncology

Dr. Karyne Rabey

Surgery

Promoting musculoskeletal health with exercise to improve nerve regeneration following peripheral nerve injury

*Statistics on this page are from the 2009-2018 UHFMRC Impact Report

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