Alumni

Interview with Thomas Duchaine: a vaccine that fights COVID-19… and cancer!

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 20:23:03 +0000

D2R's funded-researcher Thomas Duchaine recently sat down with Radio-Canada to discuss emerging research suggesting that RNA vaccines developed for COVID-19 may also enhance the effectiveness of certain cancer treatments.

Call for expressions of interest | Summer 2026 Internship

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 16:07:53 +0000

D2R is excited to announce this brand new opportunity for internships to Black undergraduate students in summer 2026 in partnership with COUHR. COUHR is a student-run non-profit organization partnering with research institutions across Canada to provide funded summer internships for underrepresented undergraduate students in fields such as neuroscience, biophysics, and genetics.

Professor Simon Roy wins Marathon of Hope Clinician-Scientist Award for melanoma research

admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 15:17:53 +0000

Simon Roy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, is one of four early-career clinician-scientists across Canada to receive the 2025 Clinician-Scientist Award from the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN).

Event | Introduction to Applying Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Genomic-Based RNA Therapeutics Research

admin — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:24:25 +0000

Join D2R for a learning opportunity to gain foundational knowledge and practical tools to embed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) into your genomic-based RNA therapeutics research. Through engaging discussions and activities, participants will explore key EDI definitions, examine both opportunities and challenges in the field, and learn best practices for inclusive research design.

CIHR grants $48.4M to ɬ�﷬ health research

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 19:50:29 +0000

53 ɬ�﷬ research projects were awarded funding through CIHR’s Spring 2025 Project Grant competition, to support high-potential health research across all areas and career stages.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) recently announced a total national investment of $411 million through the CIHR Spring 2025 Project Grant competition, funding 444 grants led by 428 lead investigators. At ɬ�﷬, 53 projects were funded for a total research investment of $48.4 million.

Inaugural Moderna-RNA Canada ARN awarded to D2R-funded researcher Professor Maria Vera Ugalde

admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 02:26:22 +0000

Montreal, September 24, 2025 – Moderna, in partnership with RNA Canada, has awarded three prizes this year to RNA researchers in Canada for their outstanding contribution to the field. D2R is proud to announce that Professor Maria Vera Ugalde has received the Discovery of the Year Award for her seminal 2024 publication in Nature Communications (Alecki et al.,). This award recognizes groundbreaking RNA discoveries made by Canadian researchers (either as a group or individually) during the past year.

Eleven ɬ�﷬ researchers honoured by the Royal Society of Canada

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 19:42:05 +0000

ɬ�﷬’s 2025 cohort includes seven newly elected Fellows and four new Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Call for Summer 2026 Internship Supervisors

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 21:13:29 +0000

D2R and the Canadian Organization for Undergraduate Health Research launch a call for applications for a new internship opportunity

D2R is excited to announce this brand new opportunity to for internships Black undergraduate students in summer 2026. D2R has partnering COUHR to offer funded summer research internships in genomic-based RNA therapeutics for Black undergraduate students from across universities in Montreal.

Call for Letters of Intent: Translational Impact Research Program | Cycle 2

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:56:59 +0000

D2R | DNA to RNA is launching the next round of funding for the Translational Impact Research (TIR) program. This program supports a select few large-scale translational research projects in RNA-based therapeutics which are expected to have a measurable impact on the health of Canadians. Projects must address the D2R Initiative’s strategic priorities and priority disease areas: oncology, rare diseases, infectious diseases, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases.

Applicant Eligibility:

This competition is open to:

Hybrid Event | D2R Investor Series Transform your science into a new Biotech company - Investment Insights with Medicxi

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:12:35 +0000

Every year, billions of dollars are invested by funding agencies in basic and translational research, yet the path from academic discovery to private investment necessary for the creation of new companies is rarely straightforward. In this seminar, you’ll get an inside look at how investors work, what makes a research idea stand out to venture capitalists, and how they evaluate translational value of scientific opportunities. By the end of the session, you’ll have a clearer grasp of the framework needed to transition an idea or mechanism discovered in the lab to an investment phase.

Research | Viral DNA sequences in the human genome may help control gene activity, new study shows

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:40:53 +0000

Long dismissed as “junk,” viral fragments buried in human DNA may help regulate our genes, according to a new international study co-led by Guillaume Bourque, professor in ɬ�﷬’s Department of Human Genetics, D2R-funded researcher and member of the D2R Research Steering Committee and Executive (RSC). The findings offer new insights into what makes us human, 25 years after the human genome was first mapped.

ɬ�﷬ researchers win Brain Canada’s Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Award

admin — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:19:25 +0000

Jérôme Fortin, Paul Masset, and Simon Thebault have received the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Award from Brain Canada for their research in brain cognition, brain cancer, and neurological disabilities.

The ɬ�﷬ researchers are among 22 successful applicants from across the country. They will each receive $100,000 in research funding distributed over a period of two years.

Physiology professor Claire M. Brown appointed inaugural Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 19:52:07 +0000

Claire M. Brown, Professor in the Department of Physiology, has been selected as Chair for Inclusion in Science and Engineering (CISE) in the province of Quebec. The newly established CISE program is jointly funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT).

EDI Workshop: Mental Health in Highly Performant Environments

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 15:32:57 +0000

Mental health in high-performing research environments is a shared responsibility and a growing challenge we must address together.

Every professor, student, research staff, and administrative staff can play a vital role in creating healthy, supportive, and inclusive research spaces. This includes standing by colleagues who disclose their disabilities and ensuring everyone can thrive.

Isabel Wilkerson to deliver the 2025 Beatty Lecture

admin — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 16:49:01 +0000

Pulitzer-Prize winning American journalist, journalism professor and author will speak Oct. 23

Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents and The Warmth of Other Suns will deliver the 2025 Beatty Lecture at ɬ�﷬ on Oct. 23 during the University’s annual Homecoming festivities. Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC national radio program Ideas, will moderate the event.