Is it rare to be awarded the trifecta of research grants – CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC – all in one year? You betcha. And Dr. Jeff Dunn has done it!

November 28, 2020

Dr. Jeff Dunn, PhD, was recently awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant, and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant. This is a noteworthy achievement given the markedly different focus of each of these Tricouncil agencies, and will greatly influence his ability to advance his research studying oxygen levels in tissues, and how they relate to disease processes.

Dr. Dunn is a professor in the Departments of Radiology, Clinical Neurosciences, and Physiology and Pharmacology at UCalgary’s Cumming School of Medicine (CSM). He is a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute at the CSM. (Photo courtesy Jeff Dunn)

We sat down with Dr. Dunn to learn more.

Q: Tell me about your research.

Jeff Dunn: We are developing and applying a range of technologies to study oxygen levels in tissues and how they relate to disease processes. By using a combination of imaging and histological studies, we aim to determine how the brain adapts to hypoxia, and to apply that knowledge to the treatment of conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, cancer and concussion. My lab specializes in the use of MRI for small animal imaging as well as the application of near-infrared spectroscopy to study tissue oxygenation and brain functional activity in animal models and patients. We study white matter degeneration, vascular adaptation, molecular imaging and functional imaging.

Q: Congratulations on being awarded three significant grants in one year! This is quite an achievement. Are all three awards for the same area of research?

JD: I thought it was a cool novelty to be awarded a grant from each of the three federal funding councils in one year. The CIHR award, Does inflammation in brain cause hypoxia, which then exacerbates inflammation: a multimodal study using the EAE inflammation model of multiple sclerosis, is about how inflammation and hypoxia may impact demyelination and degeneration-a topic with specific relevance to MS.

The NSERC grant, for Regulation of brain oxygenation, is to study the fundamental link between hypoxia and inflammation as part of how brain regulates oxygen.

The SSHRC grant, for Improving the ability of science and technology researchers to communicate using skills from arts and social sciences, is to help graduate students improve their science communication skills.

I also hold another CIHR project grant to study brain oxygenation after concussion as a marker of brain function, and a National MS Society grant to study hypoxia in brain in MS patients.

Q: How will these awards impact you, your team and your research?

JD: The CIHR and NSERC grants are peer-reviewed, and validate our theory that there is a degenerative cycle related to the interactions between hypoxia and inflammation that may be of significance. The SSHRC grant supports our dedication to mentor our next generation of scientists and STEM researchers on how to communicate with other scientists as well as with the public.

Q: What questions or challenges were you setting out to address when you started this research?

JD: I started out studying the basic mechanisms that regulate oxygen levels in the brain. This led to studies on human brain and in preclinical models that showed, in conditions where inflammation is expected, hypoxia was often present. (Hypoxia is a condition where a lack of oxygen travelling to cells and body tissues can lead to many serious, sometimes life-threatening complications.)

We are now looking at oxygen levels to see if they can be a biomarker of inflammation. We are also curious to see if, by breaking this hypoxia/inflammation cycle, we can improve outcomes from conditions that may have inflammation such as MS, systemic inflammatory conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease IBD (in collaboration with Dr. Mark Swain), and after injury such as concussion.

Q: Are there key findings/discoveries that you can tell me about with regard to this research?

JD: Yes. About 40% of adults with MS appear to have hypoxia in the brain. Some have levels that are similar to an ischemic stroke. We have also shown that in the EAE model of MS (inflammation induced autoimmunity), there is a similar incidence of hypoxia. In study participants with systemic inflammation, we also found hypoxia. These provide evidence of a link between inflammation and oxygen levels.

Q: Tell me about the impact of your research. Who will it affect, and in what ways?

JD: There are two reasons to study the link between hypoxia and inflammation. Under specific conditions, we may be able to use hypoxia as a biomarker of uncontrolled inflammation in the brain. By treating the hypoxia, perhaps through oxygen, oxygen carrying compounds or vasodilators, we may be able to reduce the level of inflammation. We are targeting MS with these grants but the implications are much wider if there is a general link between inflammation and hypoxia. This could have an impact on mental health, in diverse fields ranging from COVID-19 long-haulers to people with IBD.

Q: How does this differ from other research in the field?

JD: There are only two groups actively studying this linkage between hypoxia and inflammation—our team, and one at University College London. As a result, if we are correct, we stand a good chance of making a significant difference in the management of central nervous system inflammation.

Q: What is your role in these studies?

JD: I provide the nudge, encouragement and guidance for my trainees and staff. I also raise funds to allow us to do this work. Much of this work requires expensive hardware and so fundraising is always a key component.

Q: Who are the other collaborators in this research, and what are their roles and affiliations?

JD: It’s difficult to answer this question fully, because so many people here at UCalgary have been helpful. On the MS side: Drs. Wee Yong, Kartik Murari (Electrical Engineering), Hedwich Kuipers, Luanne Metz, Scott Jarvis, Lenora Brown and many trainees including Runze Yang, Nabeela Nathoo and Tom Johnson for animal and human brain and MS; on the concussion side, Drs. Keith Yeates, Chantel Debert, Carolyn Emery, Brad Goodyear – and many more, including trainees Oni, Lapointe, Urban (now at UofT), Hocke (now at Harvard).

For the science communication: Drs. Michele Jacobsen (Werklund School of Education), Tara Beattie (CSM), Tara Christie (My Gradskills), Brooke Belanger and Carly Pontifex (Neuroscience graduate program).

Q: Congratulations on your success gaining funds from all three agencies Dr. Dunn! Your research is fascinating, and is sure to lead to discoveries that result in better outcomes for those living with conditions like MS, stroke, cancer and concussion. Thank you for sharing your story with us.