Congratulations to WHRI member Dr. Cheryl Wellington, who recently received a Brain Canada 2025 Platform Support Grant to facilitate her leadership of the UBC Core Facility for Neurology Biomarker Innovation (CFNBI), whose infrastructure and expertise support research within the Platform for Neurology Biomarker Innovation (PNBI).

This grant, totaling $1,950,000 includes $950,000 from Brain Canada and additional funding from Michael Smith Health Research BC (Health Research BC), the CLEAR Foundation (with support from the Cowell Foundation), and the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH).

The UBC CFNBI is a state-of-the-art facility that allows researchers and clinicians to analyze protein biomarkers found in blood, plasma, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for various brain disorders, as well as for typical brain development and social determinants of brain health. Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias are more prevalent in women and represent a massive financial and emotional burden for patients and their families across Canada (and around the world). Brain Canada funding will help reduce barriers for scientists to access the state-of-the-art CFNBI facility, enabling a platform of research that will improve screening and diagnosis for a range of conditions.

The funding received by Dr. Wellington will go toward expanding the platform’s capabilities and scope through a few specific routes. Initially, the funding will enable a “demonstration project” focused on Alzheimer’s biomarkers.

The funding will also assist the CFNBI team in providing trainee travel awards, enabling trainees to present their data generated using the CFNBI at conferences world-wide or attend and participate in CFNBI’s annual symposium.

Finally, the funding will allow Dr. Wellington’s team to offer a small number of seed project grants, giving investigators a credit toward the cost of a preliminary project, which is important for scoping and determining the direction of future research within the platform.

The technology to utilize blood biomarkers in the analysis of brain disorders represents an important advancement that will make research into brain conditions faster and easier in many cases. By allowing more researchers and trainees to access this technology, the Brain Canada 2025 Platform Support Grant is helping Dr. Wellington and her team at the CFNBI improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for brain conditions.