Seed Fund Grants

We are firmly in an era of polycrisis – pandemics, climate crisis, conflicts, and economic inequities are major challenges that require international collaboration on an unprecedented scale. Yet, lack of trust among countries, nationalist and populist approaches continue to erode global health security. In the past, countries have agreed on treaties, like the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and the Paris Agreement, to address global challenges. In May 2025, recently the Pandemic Agreement was passed in the World Health Assembly. However, with aspects such as pathogen and benefit sharing annexes remain to be finalized.

Thus, in this project, we aim to a) identify key factors impacting successful completion of the Pandemic Agreement negotiations in the original timeline (2021-24), b) identify key factors that impacted consensus building towards two past successful treaties: the WHO FCTC and the Paris Agreement c) compare factors relevant to consensus building across the three global health treaties above and provide recommendations for future negotiations and treaties. To achieve this, we will conduct a literature review and qualitative interviews with national and global experts. Our findings will be directly relevant to consensus building in global health governance and strengthening global health security.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that spreads through the air. However, being exposed to TB and becoming infected does not always mean a person will develop the illness. Unfortunately, there is currently no test that can accurately predict who will become sick. Because of this, many people are given preventive antibiotic treatment in order to stop just one person from becoming ill. This is challenging, especially since the preventive treatment can cause side effects. We believe it is possible to improve current tests to better identify who is actually at risk of getting sick after becoming infected with TB. This would help reduce the number of people who need to take preventive treatment. Our plan involves studying a biomarker—specifically, a measurable molecule released by TB bacteria into the blood, called cell-free DNA. We aim to see whether this biomarker can be detected in people who test positive for TB infection using current methods, and whether it disappears after they take preventive treatment. This could give us valuable evidence about whether the biomarker is a useful tool to guide treatment decisions, and whether it should be studied more in future research.

During infectious disease outbreaks, how people decide when and where to seek care can be heavily influenced by trust (or mistrust) in health systems. This project explores how misinformation, institutional mistrust, and social vulnerability shape health-seeking behavior and mobility patterns among recently arrived South Asian immigrants in Montreal. These communities often face language barriers, limited transportation options, and culturally specific misinformation, all of which can delay or deter access to care.

Our study combines interviews and travel surveys to understand how people in this population make decisions about care during outbreaks (like flu or COVID-19), and how they move, or choose not to move, through the city to reach clinics, pharmacies, or testing sites. We will produce geospatial maps and visualizations to show how trust and fear impact real-world care-seeking behaviors.

This pilot will generate foundational data for larger studies that we hope will facilitate more equitable, community-centered responses to future health emergencies.

Neonatal sepsis—a serious medical condition that occurs when a baby younger than 28 days old has a life-threatening response to an infection—is a major cause of illness and death in babies worldwide. While deaths in young babies have decreased in many parts of the world, sepsis still causes a large number of deaths and complications in Nigeria and other low-resource countries. To help reduce this burden, it’s important to understand which babies are most at risk. This collaborative study will use data collected prospectively in Kano State in Northern Nigeria. We will examine how different factors—such as a mother’s socioeconomic background, pregnancy complications, and access to healthcare—may increase the chances of a newborn developing sepsis and related health problems. By identifying which babies are most likely to be affected, the study can help health care workers and policymakers create better plans to prevent, detect, and treat sepsis timely. Ultimately, the results from this research could lead to better care for young babies in places with limited resources, helping to save lives and reduce long-term health issues caused by neonatal sepsis.

Mosquito-transmitted diseases like West Nile virus are hard to predict, and their risk is increasing in Canada due to climate change. Risk can be monitored by trapping and testing mosquitos or by testing wastewater for viral genetic material shed by infected people. In this project, we will develop a new framework for an adaptive West Nile virus monitoring strategy. First, we will develop a machine learning model to forecast West Nile virus risk month-over-month across census divisions with uncertainty. Then, we will use framework called ‘expected value of sample information’ to estimate when and where new data (testing trapped mosquitos or wastewater) is likely to reduce uncertainty in a way that leads to better deployment of preventative measures. The framework will be designed to deploy finite resources in ways that maximizes health benefits and health equity, ensuring that risk is not disproportionately born by geographic areas with vulnerable populations.                             

In Canada, over 16 million women are at risk of developing cervical cancer. Screening with the Pap smear test by a doctor has reduced the number of cases by more than 80%. However, Indigenous women are still disproportionately affected and are three times more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer. Reasons for this disparity include geographic barrier in getting a pap smear, lack of culturally sensitive approach to counseling and education on why screening is performed, discomfort associated with the examination, and historical trauma leading to mistrust in healthcare institutions. A new way of detecting cervical abnormalities is being introduced across Canada called human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. HPV causes the majority of cases of cervical cancer and gives women the option of self-collecting a vaginal swab at home, which can significantly improve access. Along with this technique, liquid biopsy is a new non-invasive technique that detects molecules associated with HPV found vaginal swabs and urine. We demonstrated the ability of liquid biopsy to detect cervical abnormalities among women living in Montreal. Given the unique experiences and barriers faced by Indigenous women, our team aims to explore and engage Indigenous members to co-create educational resources and future implementation plans that is culturally sensitive.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a cureless, debilitating chronic pain disorder characterized by severe spontaneous and evoked pain in the distal limb, which is disproportionate to the extent of tissue injury. The causes and the underlying mechanisms of CRPS are unknown and consequently, no targeted treatment is available. The microbiota is composed of various microorganisms (e.g., bacteria) that reside on our body. The gut microbiota has been suggested to play a critical role in various health conditions, such as cardiovascular and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as in distinct pain conditions such as neuropathic pain. We recently discovered that the composition of the gut microbiota is altered in CRPS patients. In this project, we will test the hypothesis that alterations in the gut microbiota in CRPS contribute to pain and investigate the underlying mechanisms. We will test this hypothesis by transplanting the gut microbiota from CRPS patients to mice lacking gut bacteria and determine whether this induces pain and other CRPS phenotypes. We will also investigate if such fecal transplant results in changes in the immune system and in the activity of pain circuits. Lastly, we will study the possible role of specific bacteria in mediating this pain condition.