This is the first edition of our special series to mark The Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program’s 10th Anniversary!
Follow us on the journey of the creation of the network!
Early Days: 2011-2013
It all started in 2011, when the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Institute of Infection and Immunity (III) organized a consultation workshop to obtain advice and input from members of the transplantation research community and interested partner organizations. Amongst the 60 participants, Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert and Dr. Lori West were there.
After the workshop, the CIHR Program Grant in Transplantation Research was developed in response to the workshop recommendations and CIHR opened a a request for applications (RFA) for a major network grant opportunity. Marie-Josée and Lori seized the opportunity and decided to team up and start working on a plan to develop a national network in the transplantation field.
They pitched their idea of this national transplant program to Dr. Jean Rouleau, Scientific Director at CIHR – Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) at the time, proposing to organize another workshop to establish guidelines for a network. Dr. Rouleau was so impressed by the initiative that he decided to host the Workshop with Caroline Wong, Communications Project Manager. They were able to gather some of the most renowned players in the transplantation field, including Tony Jevnikar, Peter Nickerson, and Sam Shemie.
Despite not receiving an immediate response from CIHR, they continued to pitch the idea to many places during donation and transplantation scientific meetings and continued to develop independent partnerships.
They wanted to build an inclusive network with a supportive framework to gather not only money, but expertise and services for the research community.
In 2012, Marie-Josée and Lori had established a network that was way bigger than the base criteria asked by the CIHR. Their Letter of Intent (LOI) was so impressive that partners including Canadian Blood Services, Kidney Foundation of Canada, Canadian Liver Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, and Genome BC increased the total funding from $11.25M to $13.85M as a 5-year grant to support the formation, operations, and research activities.
Finally, on April 21, 2013, the announcement was made of the success of the Canadian National Transplant Research Program (CNTRP) in Ottawa, with the CIHR President and the Minister of Health in attendance. And so, the CNTRP was born, thanks to the tireless efforts of Dr. Hébert and Dr. West.
Canadian National Transplant Research Program (CNTRP) announcement, Ottawa, ON | April 21, 2013
The vision
The CNTRP was committed to building an inclusive network and integrating communities in the fields of solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The goal was not just to provide funding for research, but also to create a supportive framework where researchers could collaborate and benefit from one another’s expertise.
They truly believed that a broad approach was necessary to make the most progress in the field and were committed to gathering forces from across different levels of research – not just clinical, but also basic science. By embracing a philosophy of inclusivity, they hoped to create an environment where researchers feel embedded and supported in their work.
The network leadership, led by Marie-Josée and Lori, always wanted to provide an important platform for international discussions and dialogue, to bring together the diverse ideas and perspectives involved in solving complex transplantation and donation issues.
The unique aspect of the CNTRP approach was that it saw competitors as potential collaborators. They believed that by working together, they could achieve even greater advances in the field. With this collaborative mindset and a commitment to inclusivity, they truly believed they could make a real difference in the lives of those affected by transplantation and related diseases, hence the mission of the network: “Together we will turn transplantation into a cure”.
Lori West, Marie-Josée and David Hartell answered some questions from Communications Manager, Stéphanie Larivière
The renewal: 2018
The CNTRP had made significant progress in its first five years and was now very well-known at CIHR. Thanks to building lots of partnerships, the network involved more than 200 researchers and 30 sites within Canada, resulting in several impactful projects, activities, and platforms with tangible benefits to the transplant community and transplant patients. By then, the network had included a space for patient voices to transform patient/researcher partnerships with the creation of the Patient Researcher Partnership Platform in 2016. Patients were now integrated as co-leads, helping to ensure that the research focus was on the needs of patients and families.
Patient Engagement Workshop, Toronto, ON | November 25-26, 2015
CIHR was so impressed with the progress made by the CNTRP: the investment in the program was tripled from the original $14 million to $37 million through creative leveraging strategies and newly funded grants. In 2017, improving the organ donation and tissue transplantation system in Canada was identified as a priority in the Minister of Health’s mandate letter, so it made sense to continue support. A directed grant was developed to support the network’s infrastructure.
CIHR renewed its commitment to the network with a joint operational grant of $3.3 million for three years and the CNTRP was transformed to what we know now: Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP).
Launched in 2013, the Canadian National Transplant Research Program is the only national research program worldwide that brings basic and clinical scientists in organ/tissue donation, solid organ transplantation (SOT) and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) together with health economics, legal and ethics researchers, policy experts and knowledge users to overcome challenges in donation and transplantation.
KEY MOMENTS
10th Edition of the CDTRP Annual Scientific Meeting will be held in Montréal, QC on December 5-7, 2023!
OUR MISSION IS to drive advances in Canadian donation and transplantation research and mobilize knowledge so that every wish to donate is fulfilled and transplantation is transformed from a treatment to a lasting and sustainable cure.
Partner Organizations & Key People
The CDTRP has been able to develop and grow with the help of partners such as Canadian Blood Services, Canadian Liver Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, Genome BC and Kidney Foundation of Canada who were all there from the start.
And thanks to its strong partnerships and key individuals such as Marc Ouellette (CIHR-III), Jean Rouleau, and Caroline Wong (CIHR-ICRH), and Michael Tremblay from Astellas, to name a few. These esteemed partners believed in and trusted in Marie-Josée Hébert and Lori West and had faith in the network. With this support, CDTRP had the potential to grow into something big, bringing together individuals and organizations in a collaborative way of working.
Dr. Marc Ouellette
Dr. Marc Ouellette is an investigator at the Infectious Diseases and Immunity Axis of the Research Centre of the CHU de Québec-Laval University. He is also a full professor at the Department of Microbiology-Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the Laval University School of Medicine. His work focuses on antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Ouellette holds a Canada Research Chair in antimicrobial resistance and was the Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity from 2010-2018. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Dr. Jean Rouleau
Dr. Jean Rouleau currently practices cardiology at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI). Until November 2015, he was the Scientific Director of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The Dean of the Faculty Medicine at Université de Montréal from 2003 to 2010 as well as a respected cardiologist and world-renowned researcher, Dr. Rouleau has also taught at the University of Toronto and was Director of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Program at the University Health Network (UHN) and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Caroline Wong
Since 2011, Caroline Wong has been working as a project manager in health research. Former Communications Project Manager for the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), she was responsible for the development and launch of numerous funding opportunities and initiatives, notably the Environmental Urban Health Research Consortium funding opportunity and the ICRH Young Investigators’ Forum. Her experience includes working with research networks on strategic planning and evaluation, partnership development and consensus building.
As Executive Manager of the Centre of Excellence for Partnership with Patients and the Public (CEPPP), Caroline is responsible for overseeing the strategic, financial and resource operations of the Centre.
Michael Tremblay
Michael Tremblay was the president and CEO of Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc. from 2010 to 2018, where he led the Canadian management team while strengthening and expanding Astellas’ business presence in Canada. Before retiring in 2018, Mr. Tremblay’s career spanned more than four decades in the pharmaceutical industry, including sales and marketing, business development, training, and customer relationship management.
Stay tuned for more stories related to the CDTRP 10th Anniversary in the coming months!
ity of Alberta and has received training in patient-oriented research through the University of Calgary’s PACER (Patient and Community Engagement Research) Program. He is the Patient, Family, and Donor Partnerships & Education Manager with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. In this role, Manuel builds relationships patient partners with investigators and strengthens capacity among CDTRP patient partners.
Anders Billström 
Gareth Wiltshire
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Sherrie Logan 
born and raised in Edmonton, AB. With a degree in Music Performance (saxophone performance) and Education, Lindsey has taught for over a decade in the Edmonton Public School system. When she is not teaching, she is very involved in the music community, performing in the Edmonton Winds, conducting her own community ensemble (The Beer League Band) and on numerous musical boards across the province. For the past 5 years, Lindsey has had to take a break from teaching after having her amazing son, George. Maternity leave did not goes as expected as George was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at 5 months old and required 2 heart transplants before the age of 4. During this time, Lindsey has also began to dedicate her time building and expanding her charity: Big Gifts for Little Lives, where they raise money to fund Pediatric Heart Transplant research at the Stollery.
Dr. Caigan Du is a scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He received a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in UK and postdoctoral training in Immunology in USA. He is interested in the pathogenesis of kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplant rejection, and molecular control of urinary malignancies. He has been studying the impact of kidney donor-derived factors on renal allograft rejection, and the molecular pathways of kidney injury and regeneration in experimental models. He is also interested in developing medical solution including drugs made from natural compounds for all kinds of health problems, including immune disorders, organ preservation, kidney failure and urinary cancer. He is the PI of many grant supports from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Heather Badenoch is a non-directed living liver donor and communications strategist. As the president of Village PR, she provides strategic communications direction and training to not-for-profit clients in community and health. An active transplant volunteer, Heather helps transplant candidates find living donors by running their public appeals, small and large, pro-bono. She also mentors potential living donors on the path to living donation. Heather is a volunteer with the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation and the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. She and her spouse adopt rescue dogs and volunteer together with Community Veterinary Outreach, a group providing free veterinary care to the pets of people who are homeless.
Sean Dicks is a clinical psychologist who has 20 years’ experience supporting both families of organ donors and transplant recipients. While it is rare for him to have contact with a donor family and recipient linked to the same organ donation-transplantation event, his contact with families who have lived experience with organ donation on the one hand, and patients who have received transplants on the other hand has provided opportunities to explore how their journeys become linked when they attempt to make sense of and find meaning in their respective crises.
Terri Hansen-Gardiner is a Cree speaking Metis woman from Northern Saskatchewan as well as a 10 year Breast Cancer Survivor. Her tireless spirit and dedication to her community is undeniable. Terri is a cancer survivor who travels around the province to provide assistance, information, and support to Indigenous patients who are trying to access and navigate the cancer care system.
Dr. Golnaz Karoubi is Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General HospitalResearch Institute and principal investigator in the Latner Thoracic Research Labs. She currently holds an Assistant Professor appointment in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and a cross-appointment in the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Karoubi received her PhD in Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and joined the Lung Regenerative Medicine Program in the Department of Clinical Research in Berne University, Switzerland for a post-doctoral research fellowship. She stayed on as a Group Leader in 2008 to direct the basic and transitional science as related to Cancer Stem Cell and Lung Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Berne until 2012. In early 2012, she joined the team of Dr. Tom Waddell at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute as a Senior Scientific Associate and was appointed to Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (University Health Network) in November 2019 and to Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in July 2020.
Dr. Haykal graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in2007 as class valedictorian and silver medalist, and subsequently completed her residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2016. During her residency, she completed a four-year Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and immunology with a focus on tracheal reconstruction. She obtained numerous grants and awards including a CIHR Vanier Scholarship. Dr. Haykal then pursued fellowship training in microsurgical reconstruction at the Albany Medical Centre in New York. Dr. Haykal joined the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital in 2018. Her clinical focus is on complex oncological reconstruction and microsurgical reconstruction of the breast, head and neck and extremity. She started a lymphedema program in 2019 where she offers microsurgical techniques for the treatment of lymphedema.
Dr. Ahmed is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. The recipient of the 2022 Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award, she is a nephrologist and clinician-scientist with a focus on sex and gender differences in human cardiovascular/kidney physiology and clinical outcomes. Dr. Ahmed is the Vice Chair (Research) for the Department of Medicine, Lead of the Libin Institute Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research Initiative at the University of Calgary and Lead of the Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Capacity Development Platform. Dr. Ahmed is an Advisory Board member for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, a member of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Governing Council and the President-Elect for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences.
r. Christopher Nguan is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Urological Sciences, Surgical Head of Kidney Transplantation at Vancouver General Hospital and the Director of the Surgical Technologies Experimental Laboratory & Advanced Robotics (STELLAR) facility at Vancouver General Hospital.
r Caroline Lamarche is a clinician scientist and transplant nephrologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. She is an assistant clinical professor at the Université de Montréal. After her nephrology training at the Université de Montréal (2015), she completed a Master degree on the use of adoptive immunotherapy to treat/prevent BK nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Megan Levings at the University of British Columbia on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cells (Tregs) to induce transplant tolerance. Her lab is working on the development of adoptive immunotherapy in nephrology and understanding Treg dysfunction.
Dr. Tandon is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic, Transplant Hepatologist and lead of the Cirrhosis Care Alberta quality improvement program. She obtained her training at the University of Alberta, the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and Yale University. Her clinical practice and research are focused on cirrhosis with research interests including cirrhosis related complications, malnutrition, frailty, exercise therapy, palliative care, integrative health approaches such as meditation and knowledge translation. It is her career goal to provide wholistic, interdisciplinary, evidence based, patient-centered care through education, empowerment, engagement and team-work.
Emily is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, where she completed her Master of Science (MSc) degree in medicine. With a passion for patient-oriented research and a commitment to improving health outcomes, Emily’s doctoral project focuses on EMPOWER, a 12-week online mind-body wellness program designed for adults living with chronic health conditions.
Dr Basil S. Nasir, M.B.B.Ch
Dr. Victor Ferreira is an Assistant Scientist in the Ajmera Transplant Centre at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP). He completed his PhD in Medical Sciences – Infection and Immunity Specialization at McMaster University in 2014 and post-doctoral training at UHN. His research program is focused on three pillars: I) using systems vaccinology to reveal insights into vaccine responses in immunocompromised individuals like transplant recipients; II) characterizing the impact of chronic viral infection on host immune responses; and III) developing novel methods for eliminating latent viruses in human organs. His work has been cited >2,500 times and is published in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, the Lancet Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the American Journal of Transplantation and Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Chemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in August 2014. She is a biochemical engineer with expertise in bioprocess development, high‑throughput screening and stem cell culture optimization. Her research aims to develop bioprocesses to produce and transplant therapeutic cells to treat diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She notably developed new methods to encapsulate pancreatic islets, as well as vascular biomaterials surface modification strategies which are now applied by other researchers around the world. Her emerging leadership in bioengineering was recognized through the 2014 Martin Sinacore Outstanding Young Investigator Award from Engineering Conferences International & Biogen Idec, as well as the “Étoiles effervescence” award from Montreal InVivo.
Chantal Bémeur is a nutrition specialist in relation to liver disease and its many complications. Professor Bémeur trained as a dietitian/nutritionist and completed her graduate studies and two post-doctoral fellowships in nutrition, focusing on conditions affecting the hepatic and nervous systems, such as hepatic encephalopathy and Leigh Syndrome French Canadian. Professor Bémeur’s research activities are generally of a fundamental and clinical nature, including a collaboration with CHUM’s Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology. As an expert member of the International Society on Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism, Dr. Bémeur has participated in the development of guidelines on nutrition and liver disease. She is also part of a team of Canadian experts who developed an evidence-based nutritional education guide collaborating with people with chronic liver disease and their caregivers. She received an award from the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec in 2018 for her work on this guide. Dr. Bémeur has published several book chapters, 30 scientific articles and over 100 scientific abstracts. Dr. Bémeur’s co-directs the HepatoNeuro Laboratory in the Cardiometabolic Axis of the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). Several organizations, including the Donation and Transplantation Research Program of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research fund Dr. Bémeur’s research.
Dr Thozama Siyotula is a distinguished paediatric surgeon at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. With a profound interest in hepatobiliary, transplant, thoracic and neonatal surgical outcomes. She completed her undergraduate training in 2011 at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Furthering her studies she went on to specialise in paediatric surgery through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, completing her FCPaedSurg (SA) in 2021 and a master’s in medicine (Paediatric Surgery) in 2021 at the University of Cape Town. She currently works as a paediatric surgeon and transplant surgeon. A senior lecture at the University of Cape Town and course convenor for the 5th year undergraduate paediatric surgery program at the University of Cape Town.
David Thomson is a critical care subspecialist and abdominal transplant surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. His interests are deceased donation, ECMO, medical education and system improvement. He created the massive open online course Organ Donation: From Death to Life hosted on Coursera.org to improve education around organ donation and transplantation. He is the immediate past President of the Southern African Transplantation Society and led development on a report on Organ and Tissue Donation in South Africa: Creating a National Strategic Roadmap in collaboration with the International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement. He worked on the World Brain Death Project and is the lead author on the South African Guidelines for Determination of Death published in 2021.
About Dr. Julie Ho
Dr. Tom Blydt-Hansen completed his MD at McGill University, and his Pediatric and Nephrology specialization at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, followed by further specialization in transplantation at the University of California, Los Angeles. He began his Nephrology career at the University of Manitoba in 2001, where he was Division Head of Nephrology from 2005-2014.
Monica Bronowski completed an undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Dalhousie University, with a focus on innovative neurotechnology. Before starting her PhD, she worked in hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplant (BMT), conducting clinical trials across various study phases for multiple myeloma, bone marrow transplant, and CAR-T therapies. This experience exposed her to both early and late-phase clinical trials, deepening her interest in translational research.
Angela Hamie has just graduated from the University of Alberta and holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Immunology and Infection. Her presentation will summarize her research conducted throughout her fourth year undergraduate thesis project, which focuses on the Age, Thymus Excision, Organ Type, and Immunosuppression on Lymphocyte Subpopulations in pediatric transplantation.
Mitchell Wagner is currently a first year medical student at the University of Alberta. He graduated from the U of A in 2022 with an Honors degree in Immunology and Infection with a certificate in biomedical research. He recently defended a Master of Science in Experimental Surgery, focusing on the optimization of out-of-body heart perfusion. Mitchell’s main research interest is on strategies that improve donated organs through ex-situ heart perfusion apparati, however has also been involved in clinical research within the areas of radiology, respiratory medicine, and cardiology. Mitchell is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards such as the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters and the Cote Biomedical Research Studentship. As an aspiring surgeon-scientist, he intends on completing an MD/PhD program focusing to further improve out of body heart perfusion protocols.
Sarjana Alam is an undergraduate science student at the University of Alberta, where she is a research trainee under the supervision of Dr. Esme Dijke in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology. She is involved in a project investigating the cryopreservation of T regulatory cells for tolerogenic cell therapy.
Marie-Pier joined Dre. Marie-Josée Hébert’s lab in the nephrology, transplantation and renal regeneration research unit at the CRCHUM in 2024. She obtained her BSc degree in biology at McGill university and is now pursuing a Masters degree in the Molecular Biology program at l’Université de Montréal. She is currently working on evaluating the pro-angiogenic potential of RNAs enriched in apoptotic exosomes and whether these RNAs cooperate to modulate endothelial function. Marie-Pier is also a trainee in the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research program (CDTRP).Outside of the lab, Marie-Pier loves to read, go to spin classes and play word games like Scattegories and Bananagrams.