Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that most people carry without ever getting sick. But for people with weakened immune systems, such as transplant patients, CMV can cause serious illness. Treating CMV in these cases often involves antiviral drugs, but the virus can sometimes develop resistance, making the treatment less effective and putting patients at risk.

Right now, testing for drug-resistant CMV strains is slow and complicated and can miss important changes (mutations) in the virus. To improve this, our project is developing a faster and more accurate way to detect drug resistance using a cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology called Oxford Nanopore.

This method quickly reads the entire CMV genome directly from patient samples and identifies changes that may affect treatment. We are also building a user-friendly computer program called CURE that can securely – without sending patient information online – easily analyze the data and provide doctors with detailed drug resistance reports. This novel tool will assist clinicians in choosing which drugs will work best, helping them make faster, more personalized treatment decisions. The goal is to improve outcomes for transplant patients in Manitoba and set a new standard for CMV testing in hospitals across Canada and beyond.

The aim of this project is to determine if an online, ten-module Psychological Body ArmorTM (PBA) course helps nurses develop resilience and post-traumatic growth, as well as decrease stress, depression and anxiety. Nurses will have the opportunity to provide feedback about the PBA course three to six months after completion to see how effectively the course helped manage stressful events.

In this before-and-after study, Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Psychiatric Nurses (RPNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Graduate Nurses (GNs) in Manitoba will be invited to complete the online course. The PBA course can be completed at the nurse’s own pace over a 12- to 16-week period. Valid and reliable survey tools are being used in the study to measure levels of depression, anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress, resilience, and post-traumatic growth to assess scores before, immediately following, and three to six months after completing the course.

Completion of the PBA course is expected to improve resilience and post-traumatic growth scores, decrease post-traumatic stress indicators, and decrease psychological stress, anxiety and depression levels for nurses in the Manitoba workforce. Findings from a recent pilot study that enrolled 21 nursing and psychiatric nursing students from Brandon University showed very high levels of effectiveness of the PBA course among nursing students.

Nurses are exposed to high-stress and traumatic events that include patient deaths, violence and incivility. More is needed to help nurses recover from post-traumatic stress injuries and develop proactive resilience in Manitoba.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is when a baby is exposed to alcohol before they are born. PAE can change how a baby’s brain and body grow, changing how they think and act. People with PAE may be diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) if they have significant difficulties with at least three different skills – thinking and reasoning, school skills or memory.

We want to learn about children with PAE and their caregivers and educators in Manitoba. Often, these children are described as having challenging behaviors, including trouble with lying, bullying and inattention. We plan to see whether these challenging behaviors change based on whether the child is a girl or a boy, whether they have another disorder, whether they have physical differences associated with FASD and other factors. We also want to see if caregiver factors, like the gender of the caregiver and the number of children in the home, affect the child’s behaviour.

We also want to learn whether challenging child behaviors are due to skill difficulties (e.g., memory, learning) that the children need help with.

What we learn from this study will help us at the Manitoba FASD Centre better support families and educators of children with PAE. This study will help us help adults to see children’s behaviors more positively.

Our bodies are made of trillions of cells, which organize into tissues and organs. For tissues to form and repair themselves, cells must communicate with one another across both short- and long-range distances. This is carried out by the release, spread and uptake of essential proteins.

The disruption of intercellular communication is linked to a wide range of developmental disorders, degenerative conditions and cancers. The goal of our work is to understand the mechanisms of how proteins spread to control cell-to-cell communication. We are particularly focused on protein movement in the spinal cord and how this regulates maintenance of spinal cord health.

Using new microscopy techniques, we’ve identified that proteins can move between cells by specialized structures called cytonemes. Cytonemes are long, thread-like extensions coming off cells allowing them to directly touch distant cells, acting as a highway for protein transport.

Cytonemes function in both short- and long-distance communication between cells. We still know little about where and how cytonemes function in the body, but mutations in cytoneme genes cause diverse developmental defects. These mutations commonly impact the development and maintenance of the spine and brain. Here, using new microscopy approaches, we are uncovering how different cells within the spinal cord use cytonemes for protein spreading, and how loss of cytonemes can negatively impact spinal cord health.

By determining where and how cytonemes regulate cell-to-cell communication in spinal cord maintenance, we can use this knowledge to potentially target cytonemes to increase cellular repair following spinal cord injury.

One in five children in Canada lives with a mental disorder. Mood and anxiety disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are the most common. Both genetics and environmental factors, such as poverty, contribute to developing a mental disorder. Some genetic and environmental risk factors are shared within families, explaining why mental disorders run in families. In this large study, we will examine how mood and anxiety disorders are passed down by parents and how much poverty contributes to these risks.

We will use comprehensive health and social data collection in Manitoba, one of the few data collections worldwide that link children to both parents for almost the entire population. We will include all children born in Manitoba from 1995 to 2005 and link them to their parents. We will identify mood and anxiety disorder diagnoses from hospitalizations, physician visits and prescription records.  

We will measure poverty by whether a family received income assistance from the provincial Employment and Income Assistance Program. We will estimate the likelihood of a child developing a mood and anxiety disorder if a parent had the disorder and assess how much of that risk is explained by poverty. We will also compare these risks between male and female children.  

This research will untangle some of the complex relationships between genetic and environmental influences in childhood mood and anxiety disorders. It will identify opportunities for interventions to reduce children’s risks and improve their mental health outcomes.

Children and youth across Manitoba are facing growing mental health challenges, and schools are being asked to do more to support student well-being. This research project brings together a university-based research team, Manitoba school divisions, teachers and students to strengthen mental health support inside classrooms. The work directly benefits students and teachers while also supporting families, schools and communities across the province.

The project focuses on improving student mental health by helping teachers include well-being into everyday teaching. Instead of adding new programs or extra lessons, the research supports teachers in using practical teaching strategies that promote emotional health, resilience, positive relationships and a sense of belonging as part of regular classroom learning. Student well-being is strongly linked to academic success, long-term health, and future education and employment outcomes, making this work important for both schools and society.

The research will take place in two Manitoba school divisions, including both urban and rural communities. Special attention will be given to schools in communities experiencing higher levels of poverty, where students often face greater challenges and have fewer mental health supports.

Building on an existing pilot study, this research will continue over several years. Teachers will work alongside the research team to develop, use and reflect on teaching approaches that support student well-being. Early findings from the pilot show that teachers can successfully adapt their teaching practices and that students experience positive changes in their well-being.

Using an action research approach, the project is collaborative and evidence based. Teachers test strategies in their classrooms, reflect on what works and refine their approaches with support from the research team and student feedback. This process helps ensure that the strategies are practical, effective and sustainable.

By supporting teachers to address mental health across all subjects, this research aims to create long-term change in Manitoba schools. The result will be more classrooms where students feel supported, connected, and able to thrive—leading to stronger educational outcomes, healthier communities and reduced pressure on health and social systems.

Liposarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in fat cells. There are different types of liposarcoma, but the two most common are called well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDLPS) and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS). WDLPS usually grows slowly and is less aggressive. DDLPS grows faster and is more dangerous. Many patients with liposarcoma are first diagnosed with WDLPS, but over time their cancer can change and turn into DDLPS. Doctors do not fully understand why this change happens, and it makes the disease harder to treat.

Through our research at the University of Manitoba, we aim to learn what causes liposarcoma tumors to change and become more aggressive. Our research focuses on two proteins, called TAZ and YAP, which we believe play an important role in helping tumors change from WDLPS to DDLPS. By studying the role of these two proteins in liposarcoma, we hope to learn why some liposarcoma tumors change over time and become harder to treat.

This research is important because current treatment options for aggressive liposarcoma are limited. If TAZ and YAP are found to play an important role in making liposarcoma more aggressive, medicines that block these proteins could become new treatment options for patients with liposarcoma. Ultimately, this work could lead to new treatments that stop or slow liposarcoma tumors from changing to become more dangerous, which will help improve outcomes and quality of life for people living with liposarcoma.

Imagine having a disease that affects your brain and slowly takes away everything you love. Your favourite memories slowly fade, and those who you once cared about become unrecognizable strangers. You have lost the ability to drive, read, cook and track your bank account. Your personality has changed, and any resemblance of your unique personal identity or accomplishments are lost forever.

This is dementia.

Dementia is an irreversible disease of the brain that impacts an individual’s cognition, functional ability and independence. As people with dementia live longer, they need more help from others. Planning is an important part of dementia care, and decisions about moving are important and often emotionally charged. A better understanding of the relationship between dementia and long-term care (LTC) within local communities is important to better inform people living with dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers. Research in this topic can be helpful, as our health system needs to accommodate an increasing number of older adults.

This study will examine the relationship between dementia and the need for LTC across Manitoba over the past 30 years. We will use health records gathered across the province and housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. We can examine the journeys of older adults in accessing LTC and how long older adults live in LTC. Findings learnt from this study will be used to better inform PLWD, their caregivers, healthcare workers and other organizations in Manitoba.

Mechanical ventilation is a life-support intervention for patients who cannot breathe on their own. However, prolonged use can weaken not only the diaphragm (the main breathing muscle) but also other breathing muscles, potentially leading to complications during and after hospitalization. This study aims to understand how changes in these extra-diaphragmatic breathing muscles affect short-term recovery in the hospital and long-term health outcomes after discharge.

We will start with a small pilot study to make sure our research plan works well in real-life hospital settings. This will help us see if we can recruit enough patients, collect the needed information and perform the tests consistently. The pilot study will also help us check if we have the right number of participants planned for the full study.

We will enroll adult patients expected to need mechanical ventilation for at least 24 hours at St. Boniface Hospital. Throughout hospitalization, participants will undergo weekly, non-invasive assessments, including ultrasound imaging of their breathing muscles, respiratory function tests and clinical evaluations. After discharge, follow-ups within one month, six months and one year will assess their physical health, breathing ability and overall quality of life.

This research may help guide treatment strategies to prevent breathing muscle weakness and improve post-hospital recovery. Ultimately, this could lead to better rehabilitation programs, enhancing quality of life and reducing the burden of critical illness on patients, families and healthcare systems in Manitoba and beyond.

Our brain regulates our emotions and how we feel, and those feelings can be detected by looking into brain activity. One way to do this is through electroencephalography (EEG), a technique that records brain signals from the scalp. These signals can help develop AI models to process EEG signals to recognize how someone is feeling.  

This capability has applications such as diagnosing mental health issues, evaluating student engagement and seeing how people respond to advertisements. However, EEG signals vary greatly between individuals, making it challenging to design models that work well for everyone. Until now, researchers have mainly addressed this issue through AI systems alone, while neuroscience techniques have been ignored.

A technique that can help in this regard is the inter-subject functional correlation (iSFC), which measures how similarly different people's brains respond to the same experience. By identifying these common brain activity patterns, iSFC can help train AI systems to recognize emotions in a more consistent and reliable way, even across people with very different brain activity. As a result, emotion recognition systems can become more accurate and widely applicable.  

These systems can help manage conditions like anxiety and mood disorders, which affect around 23 per cent of Manitoba's population. As a result, in today's AI-driven society, our work aims to build practical tools that make emotional support more accessible for everyone.

Violence against women is a serious problem that affects many people's health and well-being. In Canada, research shows that one in fourwomen has gone through sexual violence before the age of 24. Women who live in rural, remote, and northern areas are at even greater risk of being abused by a partner or killed because they are women. This is especially the case in Manitoba, which has some of the highest rates in the country.

This research project will explore what helps women in these areas heal and what gets in the way after experiencing sexual violence. To do this, we will use a method called photo elicitation, where participants take and talk about photos to tell their stories. The research will focus on women's real-life stories. Over two years, the project will follow four steps:

1.     Talking with the community

2.     Collecting photos and hearing people's stories

3.     Sharing results with the community

4.     Working together to make things better

We want to spread awareness and help improve the lives for survivors in rural, remote and northern Manitoba.

Wildfires are increasing globally, creating physiological and behavioral effects on children’s health. Canada experienced a record-breaking wildland fire season in 2023. The Lac du Bonnet fire in May 2025 caused massive destruction of over 4,000 hectares of land and forced out nearly 1,000 people – killing two.  

As a breathing organ, our lungs interact with the environment through a continuous epithelial layer (epithelium) with critical roles in gas exchange, defense against pathogens and maintaining lung homeostasis. Compared to adults, children often spend more time outdoors, breathe faster and take in more air relative to their body weight with their immature lungs. Their nasal passages filter relatively less and allow more environmental toxic factors, such as particulate matter (PM) – major fire smoke components – to penetrate deeper into their lungs.  

The lung epithelium contains special cells that help maintain the barrier and repair damage after injury. Exposure to air pollutants can damage these cells, potentially impairing lung function and causing lung disease. However, limited studies have investigated the biological effects of wood smoke on the lung epithelium, and even fewer have examined alveolar epithelial repair.  

In this study, we will establish a wood smoke exposure system and a 3D mini lung derived from the alveolar epithelial progenitor cells. We’ll investigate how wood smoke exposure affects alveolar epithelial cells, further understanding the molecular mechanisms and providing support for future research in novel preventive or repair approaches contributing to children’s health improvement.