We thank the following organizations for generously funding our research projects.
Featured NSERC CREATE Graduate Training Program in Visual and Automated Disease Analytics (VADA)
We are looking for graduate students with computer science and / or (bio)statistics background to join the program
2017 May – 2023 Apr
Title: Visual and Automated Disease Analytics (VADA)
Funding agency: NSERC, Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program
Principal Investigator: IRANI, Pourang
Co-Investigators: LIX, Lisa; BORYCKI, Elizabeth; KUSHNIRUK, Andre; ARINO, Julien; HU, Pingzhao; THOMO, Alex;
TZANETAKIS, George; van DOMESELAAR, Gary; KOBAYASHI, Karen, LEBOE-MCGOWAN, Jason
2020 Feb – 2025 Jan
Title: Identification of novel antibiotic molecules by chemogenetic analysis and machine learning
Funding agency: Canada Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Project Grant Fall 2019
Principal Investigator: CARDONA, Silvia
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DAVIS, Rebecca
2020 Jan – 2023 Dec
Title: Prediction and prevention of rheumatoid arthritis in First Nations people
Funding agency: CIHR, Team grant: human immunology Initiative: Research Teams
Principal Investigator: El-GABALAWY, Hani
Co-Principal Investigator: WILKINS, John; MOOKHERJEE, Neeloffer; PESCHKEN, Christine
Co-Investigators: MARSHALL, Aaron; HU, Pingzhao; ANAPARTI, Venkata Veda Vidyanand; LAVOIE, Josee; MACKAY, Dylan; O'NEIL, Liam; ROBINSON, David; TANNER, Stacy; WOODS, Amanda; DUNCAN, Florence; BALLANTYNE, Friederike
2019 Sep – 2024 Aug
Title: EpiGen marks for human sepsis
Funding agency: Canada Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Project Grant Spring 2019
Principal Investigator: dos SANTOS, Claudia
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; BINNIE, Alexandra; CASTELO-BRANCO, Pedro; EVANS, David; MARSHALL, John; WALLEY, Keith; WEI, Xu
2018 Aug – 2023 Jul
Title: Role of taste signaling and host-microbial interactions on caries risk in young children
Funding agency: Canada Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Project Grant Spring 2018
Principal Investigator: CHELIKANI, Prashen; SCHROTH, Robert
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DUAN, Kangmin
2020 May – 2023 Apr
Title: Epigenetic PowerBlade: DNA Precision Marks for Critical Illness
Funding agency: CIHR, 2019 Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)
Principal Investigator: dos SANTOS, Claudia; FOX-ROBICHAUD, Alison; VERES, Teodor;
Co-Investigators: BRASSARD, Daniel; GEISSLER, Matthias; HU, Pingzhao; MALIC, Lidija; MARSHALL, John; WALLEY, Keith
2018 Nov – 2020 Oct
Title: Antibiotic discovery for Burkholderia cepacia complex
Funding agency: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), USA, Pilot and Feasibility Awards – Spring Cycle
Principal Investigator: CARDONA, Silvia
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DAVIS, Rebecca
Principal Investigator
2020 Jul – 2023 June
Title: Artificial Intelligence and Genomics-Driven Precision Oncology for Breast Cancer
Funding agency: Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Allen Rouse Basic Science Career Development Award,
Manitoba Medical Service Foundation and University of Manitoba
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2020 Feb – 2022 Jan
Title: Computational drug repurposing for Alzheimer's disease
Funding agency: University Collaborative Research Program (UCRP), University of Manitoba
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
Co-Investigators: KONG, Jiming
2019 Apr – 2022 Mar
Title: Finding novel antibiotics against Burkholderia cepacia complex by genome-wide fitness and machine learning
Funding agency: Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Basic and Clinical Research Grants
Principal Investigator: CARDONA, Silvia
Co- Principal Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DAVIS, Rebecca
2015 Apr – 2021 Mar
Title: Developing novel machine learning algorithms for network Biology
Funding agency: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Discovery Grant
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2020 Jan – 2021 Dec
Title: Deep learning for prioritizing small molecule candidates for drug repositioning
Funding agency: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Engage Grant
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2017 Oct – 2019 Sep
Title: Genome-wide diet-gene interaction analysis for risk of psychiatric comorbidity in inflammatory bowel disease
Funding agency: The Western Canadian Universities, Collaborative Project Seed Funding
Principal Investigators: Hu, Pingzhao
Co-Investigators: Charles Bernstein, Longhai Li, Linglong Kong, Svetlana Frenkel
2018 Jun – 2019 Jul
Title: Identification of genomic signatures associated with MRI-based deep radiomic phenotypes of breast cancer tumors
Funding agency: Dr. Paul H.T. Thorlakson Foundation
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2017 Jun – 2020 May
Title: Exploring association between host genetics and microbiome in pediatric Crohn’s disease
Funding agency: Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Operating Grant
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
Co-Investigator: EI-MATARY, Wael; BERNSTEIN, Charles
2017 May – 2021 Apr
Title: Developing novel machine learning algorithms for network Biology
Funding agency: Graduate Enhancement of Tri-council Stipends (GETS) Program, University of Manitoba
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2018 Jun - 2019 Feb
Title: Machine learning-guided development of multiscale imaging probes for colorectal cancer
Funding agency: New York Academy of Sciences and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Principal Investigators: MURAKAMI, Kazuhiro; JUNKER, Anna; HU, Pingzhao
2015 Sep – 2018 Aug
Title: Improving breast cancer survival and drug response prediction based on mutated gene network
Funding agency: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Prairies/NWT Region, Research Grants
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2017 Feb – 2018 Feb
Title: Genomics-based computational drug repositioning for inflammatory bowel disease
Funding agency: University of Manitoba,University Research Grants Program (URGP)
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2016 Sep – 2017 Dec
Title: Identification of copy number variation biomarkers in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Funding agency: Mitacs, Accelerate Program
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
Co-Principal Investigator: BERNSTEIN, Charles
2015 Sep – 2017 Aug
Title: Identification of risk genes that modulate the severity of inflammatory bowel disease through copy number variation analysis
Funding agency: Health Sciences Centre Foundation (HSCF), General Operating Grants
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
Co-Principal Investigator: BERNSTEIN, Charles
Co-Investigators: SPRIGGS, Beth
2014 Aug – 2017 Jul
Title: Bioinformatics Approaches for Integrative Analysis of Omics Data for Translational and Personalized Medicine
Funding agency: Manitoba Research Health Council, Establishment Grant
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2016 Jun – 2017 Mar
Title: Identifying disease genes and modeling their regulatory mechanism corresponding to inflammatory bowel disease
Funding agency: Nara Institute of Science and Technology (Japan), Global Collaboration Project FY2016
Principal Investigator (Japan): Md. Altaf-Ul-Amin
Co-Investigator (Japan): SATO, Tetsuo
Co-Principal Investigator (Canada): HU, Pingzhao
2014 Feb – 2017 Feb
Funding agency: University of Manitoba, Research Start-up Fund
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao2015 Apr – 2016 Mar
Title: Patient-specific pathway activations inferred from genomic data predict breast cancer survival
Funding agency: Manitoba Medical Service Foundation (MMSF), Operating Grant
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2015 Feb – 2016 Feb
Title: Machine learning techniques for identifying pathway biomarkers
Funding agency: Faculty of Science and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
"Interdisciplinary / New Directions Research Collaboration Initiation" Program Principal Investigator: WANG, Yang
Co-Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
2015 Jan – 2016 Jan
Title: A gene-pair based enrichment testing approach for identifying pathway biomarkers in cancer studies
Funding agency: University of Manitoba, University Research Grants Program (URGP)
Principal Investigator: HU, Pingzhao
Co-Investigator
2020 Jan – 2020 Dec
Title: Harnessing Population-Based Electronic Healthcare Records to Construct Family Health Histories for Accurate Disease Risk
Prediction and Heritability Estimation
Funding agency: Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, 2020 Rady Innovation Fund
Principal Investigator: LIX, Lisa
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DELANEY, Joseph; JOZANI, Mohammad Jafari; WALL-WIELER, Elizabeth; BANERJI, Shantanu
2019 June – 2020 May
Title: Prediction antibiotic activity from compound shape with machine learning
Funding agency: University of Manitoba, University Research Grants Program (URGP)
Principal Investigator: SILVIA, Cardona
Co-Principal Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DAVIS, Rebecca
2017 Apr – 2019 Mar
Title: Manitoba Statistical and Health Sciences (MB-SAHS) Collaborating Centre
Funding agency: Canadian Statistical Sciences Institutes
Principal Investigator: LIX, Lisa
Co-Investigators: ACAR, Elif; HU, Pingzhao; JAZARI, Mohammad Jofani; TORABI, Mahmoud
2017 Feb – 2019 Feb
Title: Prediction of novelty and mode of action of natural antibacterial compounds by machine learning.
Funding agency: University of Manitoba, University Collaborative Research Program (UCRP).
Principal Investigator: SILVIA, Cardona
Co-Investigators: HU, Pingzhao; DAVIS, Rebecca
2016 Jul – 2017 Jun
Title: Epigenetic mechanisms and association with septo-optic dyslplasia: a pilot project
Funding agency: Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, DEVOTION – Catalyst Grant
Principal Investigator: RODD, Celia; WICKLOW, Brandy
Co-Investigators: MHANNI; Aziz; HU, Pingzhao
2015 May – 2016 Apr
Title: Epigenetic profiling in severe sepsis – (EPSIS)
Funding agency: McLaughlin Centre, University of Toronto, Accelerator grant in genomic medicine
Principal Investigator: DOS SANTOS, Claudia
Co-Investigators: TSANG, Jennifer; BINNIE Alexandra; LIAW Patricia; HU, Pingzhao; CASTELO-BRANCO, Pedro
2015 Apr – 2016 Mar
Title: Immunogenetic markers of extreme clinical phenotypes of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder: a pilot project.
Funding agency: Enduring Hearts Inc., USA, Operating Grant
Principal Investigator: ALLEN, Upton
Co-Investigators: DIPCHAND, Anne; NG, Vicky; HU, Pingzhao; BEYENE, Joseph; PREIKSAITIS, Jutta; GRUNEBAUM, Eyal; LEVINGS Megan
2014 Jul – 2016 Jun
Title: Deciphering DNA methylome in metastatic prostate cancer Funding agency: Prostate Cancer Canada, Movember Discovery Grants
Principal Investigator: BAPAT, Bharati
Co-Investigators: JOSHUA, Anthony; FLESHNER, Neil; BADER, Gary; HU, Pingzhao
2014 May – 2015 May
Title: Early detection of lung cancer using next generation sequencing technology Funding agency: McLaughlin Centre of University of Toronto, Accelerator grant in genomic medicine
Principal Investigator: LIU, Geoffrey
Co-principal Investigators: XU, Wei
Co-Investigators: HUNG, Rayjean; HU, Pingzhao
Awards received by PI
Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Allen Rouse Basic Science Career Development Award
Dr. Meaghan Jones Dr. Pingzhao Hu were named the recipients of the 2020 Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Allen Rouse Basic Science Career Development Award.
The Interstellar Initiative Award
Dr. Hu was selected by New York Academy of Sciences and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development to attend 2018 Interstellar Initiative. The award recognizes “the world's most promising Early Career Investigators in the fields of cancer, neuroscience and artificial intelligence”.
CIHR IG New Principal Investigator 14 Meeting
Dr. Hu was invited and support to attend CIHR Institute of Genetics (IG) New Principal Investigator 14 meeting
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Genetics (CIHR-IG)
Careers in Cancer Research Development Program (CCRDP) New Principal Investigator Award
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Cancer Research (CIHR-ICR)
Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI), July 2015
Visiting Scientific Researcher Travel Award
Thematic Program on Statistical Inference, Learning and Models for Big Data
The Fields Institute, Toronto, February 2015
Junior Investigator Grant Panel Travel Award
Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI), October 2014
Awards received by trainees
2020 Undergraduate Summer Studentship Award
Yolanda Ding received the award from Centre for Healthcare Innovation
2020 Undergraduate Summer Studentship Award
Yun Xu received the award from Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology (RIOH)
Mindel Rady Olenick Fellowship in Human Genetics
University of Manitoba
Qian Liu, PhD student in Departments of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics and Computer Science, February 2020
Faculty of Health Sciences “Dean’s Travel Award"
PhD student Qian Liu received a travel award supported by Faculty of Health Sciences “Dean’s Travel Fund", November 2019
Best Basic Research Presentation Award
CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute
Peiran Jiang won the Best Basic Research Presentation at 2019 CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute Summer Student Symposium, Aug 2019
Master’s Studentship Award
Research Manitoba,
Yong Won Jin received Research Manitoba Master's Studentship Award, June 2019
Visual and Automated Disease Analytics Graduate Training Program, University of Manitoba and University of Victoria
Md. Mohaiminul Islam's team won the Big Data Challenge Award, June 2019
Best Oral Presentation Award
2019 IEEE 7th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Conference
Qian Liu received the Best Oral Presentation Award, March 2019
University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF) – PhD Level
University of Manitoba
Md. Mohaiminul Islam received the UMGF award, March 2019
Best Presentation Award
11th International Conference on Machine Learning and Computing
Xinyu Hou received the Best Presentation Award, February 2019
Computer Science Entrance Award
Department of Computer Science, University of Manitoba, May 2018
Md. Mohaiminul Islam received Computer Science PhD Entrance Award.
BSc Med Summer Studentship
College of Medicine, University of Manitoba
Lourens Jacobs
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, May 2018
Shuo Jia received IGSES award.
Undergraduate Summer Studentship Award
The Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, April 2018
Liam Grenier. University of Manitoba
Globalink Research Internship Award
Mitacs, Canada, January 2018
Xinyu Hou. Undergraduate Student in Automation in Beijing Institute of Technology, China
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, September 2017
Nikta Feizi received IGSES award.
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, September 2017
Rayhan Shikder received IGSES award.
2016-2017 BGEN Seminar Winner
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, July 2017
Chen Chi was awarded 2016-2017 BGEN Seminar Winner (3rd place).
Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Travel Award
Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba, May 2017
Md. Mohaiminul Islam received Faculty of Graduate Studies travel award.
Faculty of Science and Department of Computer Science Travel Award
Faculty of Science and Department of Computer Science, University of Manitoba, May 2017
Md. Mohaiminul Islam received Faculty of Science and Department of Computer Science Travel Award.
Poster of Distinction at Digestive Disease Week (DDW)
Svetlana won the “Poster of Distinction” award at American Gastroenterological Association’s (AGA) Digestive Disease Week (May 6-, 2017), Chicago for her research "Rare copy number variations associated with inflammatory bowel disease". This poster was rated in the top 10% of all AGA abstracts selected for poster presentation at DDW.
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, May 2017
Qian Liu received IGSES award.
Nancie J. Mauro Graduate Scholarship in Oncology Research
Chen Chi received Nancie J. Mauro Graduate Scholarship in Oncology Research, January 2017
GAW20 Travel Award
Genetic Analysis Workshop 20, San Diego, CA, USA, January 2017
Ye Tian received a travel award to attend and present results in GAW20.
CIHR Travel Award
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, October 2016
Chen Chi received CIHR Travel Award.
Phyllis J. McAlpine Graduate Fellowship
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, September 2016
Chen Chi received Phyllis J. McAlpine Graduate Fellowship.
2015-2016 BGEN Seminar Winner
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, September 2016
Chen Chi was awarded 2015-2016 BGEN Seminar Winner.
Manitoba Graduate Scholarship
The Government of Manitoba, September 2016
Md. Mohaiminul Islam received 2016 Manitoba Graduate Scholarship
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, September 2016
Jiaying You received IGSES award.
2016 Charles J. Epstein Trainee Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Research – Semifinalist
Chen Chi was ranked into seminfinalist (60 of 490 international applicants) of 2016 Charles J. Epstein Trainee Award from The American Society of Human Genetics.
The 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics Travel Award
Chen Chi received a Travel Award from the 66th Annual Meeting of The American Society of Human Genetics.
Mindel and Tom Olenick Research Studentship in Medicine
Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, May 2016
Chen Chi received Mindel and Tom Olenick Research Studentship in Medicine.
Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Travel Award
Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba, May 2016
Chen Chi received Faculty of Graduate Studies travel award.
Presentation on Edge of Science and Medicine
Kaiqiong was selected as one of the four student speakers at Edge of Science and Medicine Seminar Series at Faculty of Health Sciences.
Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Award
Mitacs, December 2015
Linfan Zhang. Undergraduate Student in Statistics, Zheiiang University, China.
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, September 2015
Rasif Ajwad received IGSES award.
Computational Biology Undergraduate Summer Student Health Research Award
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), March 2015
Jessica Bondoc, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Manitoba
Globalink Research Internship Award
Mitacs, December 2014
Masami Ando Kuri, Genome Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México UNAM
Globalink Research Internship Award
Mitacs, December 2014
Xiaohui Ding, Mathematics and Statistics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
International Graduate Student Entrance Scholarship (IGSES)
University of Manitoba, September 2014
Kaiqiong Zhao received IGSES award.