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A pan-Canadian study, led by scientists from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), suggests that gender* roles rather than sex is associated with the risk of recurrence of cardiovascular events in adults. The results of this innovative research are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMRD) could be treated by transplanting photoreceptors produced by the directed differentiation of stem cells, thanks to findings published by Professor Gilbert Bernier of the University of Montreal and its affiliated Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

ARMD is a common eye problem caused by the loss of retinal cones. Bernier’s team has developed a highly effective in vitro technique for producing light sensitive retina cells from human embryonic stem cells.

New research released in Nature Neuroscience reveals for the first time that pain is processed in male and female mice using different cells. These findings have far-reaching implications for our basic understanding of pain, how we develop the next generation of medications for chronic pain – which is by far the most prevalent human health condition – and the way we execute basic biomedical research using mice.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of physical disability in children. Historically, factors such as birth asphyxia, stroke and infections in the developing brain have been considered as causes of CP. In a new game-changing Canadian study, a research team from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) has uncovered strong evidence for genetic causes of cerebral palsy that turns experts’ understanding of the condition on its head.

A Montreal research team, co-supervised by Dr. Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret from the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) and Dr. Laurent Legault from the Montreal Children’s Hospital, have conducted the first pediatric outpatient study to compare three alternative artificial pancreatic systems for children with type 1 diabetes. The results, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, show that the dualhormone artificial pancreas provides the most benefits in reducing the time spent in nocturnal hypoglycemia.

Chewing, breathing, and other regular bodily functions that we undertake “without thinking” actually do require the involvement of our brain, and the question of how the brain programs such regular functions intrigues scientists. A team lead by Arlette Kolta, a professor at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Dentistry, has shown that astrocytes play a key role.

Astrocytes are starshaped glial cells in our brain. Glial cells are not neurons – they play a supporting role.

Finding genes for retinal degeneration has immediate benefits for people living with blindness and vision loss, their families, and their physicians. Establishing a genetic cause confirms the clinical diagnosis at the
molecular level, helps predict the future visual prognosis, suggests therapies, and allows some patients to join clinical trials. While more than 200 genes for retinal degenerations have been identified, approximately 40% to 50% of cases remain a mystery.

For the first time ever, scientists have access to a high definition view of the molecular events of reprogramming, which is the process of converting adult body cells to stem cells.

In five Nature and Nature Communications papers, researchers led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI), Toronto, ON, are the first to map out the major biological checkpoints of reprogramming to stem cells, in terms of which combinations of genes and proteins are associated with each step, making it the encyclopedia for this biological process.

The past year marks one of the most difficult in the history of CHR, as the organization has coped with diminished financial resources and the ongoing challenge of reshaping its administration to preserve institutional goals.