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The Canada Foundation for Innovation supports Canada Research Chairs with nearly $4.4 million investment in research infrastructure

OTTAWA, Ontario, March 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Government of Canada announced close to $4.4 million in research infrastructure funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support 17 Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) at 12 universities across the country.

These contributions, made through the CFI's John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), in collaboration with the CRC Program, help institutions in Canada attract and retain top researchers.

Projects being funded through this joint program range from developing new treatments for prostate cancer at the University of Victoria to studying the properties of dark matter particles at the Université de Montréal. Some highlights include:

Better care for Canadians with lung disease: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the second most common cause of hospitalization in Canada, and researchers still believe it is underdiagnosed. The disease, which already costs Canada $1.5 billion annually, is expected to become more common as the country's population gets older. A team at Toronto Metropolitan University will use CFI-funded software and machine learning technology to help identify new indicators of COPD that can be detected by medical imaging tools, like CT and MRI, and gain a better understanding of how the disease develops and progresses. The new insights will be distributed to clinicians who care for patients with lung diseases.

Unlocking medicinal potential of plants: Plants contain naturally occurring compounds called alkaloids, which have valuable medicinal properties. Some well-known alkaloids include caffeine, morphine and quinine. Other alkaloids have antiviral, anticancer and antimicrobial properties. Unfortunately, plants only produce small ...