Brain Canada Invests in Six Montreal-Area Platforms to Drive Open Science Innovation Français
MONTRÉAL, May 16, 2025 /CNW/ - Six exceptional research platforms located in Montreal have been awarded funding through Brain Canada's Platform Support Grants program. With this support, these platforms will foster partnerships across research disciplines and power solutions for people living with brain conditions. From biobanks to databases and standardized protocols, these unique platforms highlight the significant role infrastructure plays in Canada's research ecosystem.
The Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform
Dr. Alan Evans, The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), McGill University
The Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank: Supporting human brain research in Canada and beyond
Dr. Gustavo Turecki and Dr. Naguib Mechawar, Douglas Institute, McGill University
Advancing Brain Research Through Spatial Histology
Dr. Marie-Christine Guiot, Goodman Cancer Institute and The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), McGill University
The SLEEP HUB: An open science ecosystem for transforming sleep research
Dr. Nadia Gosselin, CIUSSS du Nord de l'Île-de-Montréal and Université de Montréal
EthoLab: A platform for neurophysiological studies of natural behavior
Dr. Paul Cisek, Centre for Biomedical Innovation, Université de Montréal
The NECTAr platform: A pan-Canadian platform dedicated to Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy — For patient Care optimization, Training, and education
Dr. Pia Wintermark, The Montreal Children's Hospital and The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (Child Health and Human Development Program)
Brain Canada's flagship Platform Support Grants (PSG) program aims to support interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance Canada's technical and research capabilities through shared tools and databases, to transform research into real world impact.
"Unlocking the brain's complexities depends on reliable infrastructure and open access to scientific tools," said Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. "This investment will strengthen a culture of Open Science so that specialized knowledge can benefit everyone."
Brain Canada is contributing over $18 million in this year's PSG program through the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), funded by Health Canada, as well as matching donations from sponsors for a total investment of $36.8 million.
By enabling access to cutting-edge tools and specialized skills beyond the reach of individual researchers, the PSG program plays a vital role in strengthening the research landscape. These Montreal based platforms serve as hubs for researchers to work together towards the common mission of advancing our understanding of neuroscience and mental health.
Over the coming weeks, Brain Canada will unveil the full list of 14 research platforms selected to receive PSG funding. The total investment of $36.8 million represents a major step forward in Canada's ability to support cutting-edge brain research and improve outcomes for people living with brain-disorders.
Brain Canada is proud to highlight these six platforms that are driving progress not only in Montreal but across Canada, and around the world.
ABOUT THE PROJECTS
The Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP)
Dr. Alan Evans, The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), McGill University
Total grant amount: $2,850,000.00
Many of the challenges faced by both basic and clinical neuroscientists can be tackled with open science approaches. To achieve these goals, Dr. Evans and his team have built the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP), which aims to make neuroscience research, data, and tools accessible to everyone, with the ultimate objective of accelerating scientific discovery and its eventual translation to disease treatments. Through CONP's online portal that provides open access to datasets and analysis tools, its "Evidence" open publication platform, and its development of data governance frameworks and toolkits to facilitate open data sharing, the platform takes a truly multifaceted approach to enabling Open Science practices in the field of neuroscience.
The Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank: Supporting human brain research in Canada and beyond
Dr. Gustavo Turecki and Dr. Naguib Mechawar, Douglas Institute, McGill University
Total grant amount: $2,850,000.00
The Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank (DBCBB; douglasbrainbank.ca), one of the most important brain banks in the world, currently houses and manages over 3,600 brains, as well as a large relational database containing demographic, clinical and developmental histories from brain donors with different neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease) and mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia and substance use disorders). Through international recognition, the DBCBB receives tissue requests from a large number of neuroscientists from Canada and abroad. These continued efforts ensure that the platform will keep fuelling ground-breaking neuroscience research that will have immense potential for impact in the future, including identifying, screening and treatment for brain disorders.
Dr. Marie-Christine Guiot, Goodman Cancer Institute and The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), McGill University
Total grant amount: $570,000.00
The Histology Innovation Platform is a specialized facility that helps scientists study the brain at a cellular level to better understand neurological diseases like Alzheimer's, brain cancer, and epilepsy. Through offering services such as tissue preparation, staining, and advanced imaging, as well as supporting research using technologies that map gene and protein activity within intact tissues, the platform acts as a key resource for projects that aim to find new treatments, diagnostic tools, and ways to improve patient outcomes by exploring how different brain cells interact and change in disease. By supporting this platform, Brain Canada is helping to advance research that could lead to better treatments for neurological diseases, ultimately improving the health and well-being of Canadians.
Dr. Nadia Gosselin, CIUSSS du Nord de l'Île-de-Montréal and Université de Montréal
Total grant amount: $2,137,500.00
The SLEEP HUB is an innovative platform aimed at advancing sleep research and fostering collaborations at the local, national, and international level. Integrating three key resources, the Nights Bank, the Canadian Sleep Research Biobank, and the Snooz Toolbox, SLEEP HUB provides a vast collection of samples and data, including over 50,000 biological samples and sleep recordings from 15,000 participants. With the aim of developing a more integrated platform that will facilitate access to biological samples, sleep recordings and sleep analysis tools, SLEEP HUB will facilitate analyses on large samples and rare sleep disorders by providing researchers with access to polysomnographic recordings and biological samples. This robust platform infrastructure will transform our understanding and treatment of sleep disorders, which will benefit cognitive, physical and mental health.
Dr. Paul Cisek, Centre for Biomedical Innovation, Université de Montréal
Total grant amount: $855,000.00
Technological advances such as wireless recording and AI-based automated quantification of behavior allow neuroscience to address the complexity of real behavior under naturalistic conditions. This allows scientists to better understand how different systems (e.g., perceptual, motor, cognitive, emotional, etc.) are seamlessly integrated during real-time interactions with the environment. The EthoLab will make use of these advances to establish a cutting-edge, shared experimental platform that will enable a wide range of neurophysiological experiments with freely moving animals. This platform will make it possible to study situations that capture the complexity of natural behavior and yield insights into the human brain that will translate to clinical applications with impacts in the real-world.
Dr. Pia Wintermark, The Montreal Children's Hospital and The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (Child Health and Human Development Program)
Total grant amount: $1,710,000.00
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) can be caused at birth when babies do not receive enough oxygen to their brain and organs. While this life-threatening condition is responsible for 23% of babies' deaths worldwide and often results in difficulties with learning and everyday functioning, there is currently no treatment to repair brain damage caused by HIE. The NECTAr platform will address this gap by creating a national, collaborative, and multidisciplinary platform focused on improving the care and long-term outcomes of babies with HIE. More specifically, the platform's priorities include improving early treatments by collecting extensive data and comparing practices across hospitals, developing and testing new therapies to repair brain damage, empowering parents through their journey, and training the next generation of doctors and scientists to care for these vulnerable babies.
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