In 1974, a group of Toronto families came together with a clear goal – fund research into Crohn’s and colitis, something practically non-existent in Canada at the time. By 2024, the charity they created – Crohn’s and Colitis Canada – had invested $150 million into research.
Funding that helps patients, researchers and healthcare professionals
Kate Lee, PhD, MBA, Vice President, Research and Patient Programs, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada explains the impact: “Health research is an ecosystem. There are different players and roles. We make a specific, significant contribution through our Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAs) and Innovation in IBD Research Grants (INNs) that allow early career researchers to explore new ideas and build career momentum. We’ve helped launch the careers of dozens of researchers. Our grants are a major reason why Canada is a world leader in Crohn’s and colitis research. And because of what we do, people with these diseases benefit.”
GIAs and INNs
Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAs) support research projects aligned with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada’s Promise and strategic directions with funding of up to $125,000 per year for up to three years.
Innovations in IBD Research (INNs) fund novel or innovative approaches to IBD research that may not fit within the boundaries of traditional medical research with grants of $50,000 for one year.
GIAs and INNs by the numbers
| 1976 |
GIAs and INNs started |
| 398 |
Total GIAs and INNs funded |
| $89 million |
Total invested in GIAs and INNs |
Kickstarting research careers
Elena Verdú, MD, PhD, has received four GIAs and one INN over her career, and they were critical to start her research career when she was new to Canada in 2001. She is now Director, Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute and Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The Institute focuses on understanding the causes of chronic inflammatory conditions of the intestine such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease. Dr. Verdú’s research focus is the microbes and enzymes present in healthy and diseased areas of the intestines – what is there and the mechanisms that keep them healthy or cause disease.
She says: “One of the first grants I obtained was from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, which allowed me to establish a long-term program in IBD research.”
She explains how the grants create momentum: “GIAs don’t just fund me, they fund all the trainees nurtured and trained through our program. Dozens of students and postdoctoral fellows have become researchers and others have followed careers in clinical care, including gastroenterology. Others have chosen to work in industry and join pipeline development of new IBD drugs. The impact of GIAs is enormous, it’s more than the support of one project. It’s an impact that branches out and multiplies over time.”
The different roles of research funders
Dr. Verdú summarizes the research ecosystem: “Hospitals are not going to primarily fund research, their priority is clinical care. Universities will not fund research projects – their focus is on lab space, facilities and equipment. What GIAs and INNs do is invest in a researcher’s vision, an idea that becomes a program and that will support all the trainees involved in the project. For example, a university will support a mouse facility, but you wouldn’t expect GIAs to do that. Without GIAs, we wouldn’t be able to pursue research questions related to the mission of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.”
The combination of infrastructure and initial project funding allows new researchers to get started. As results come in, larger granting agencies and foundations provide larger amounts that build on the initial momentum.
Alberto Caminero, PhD, came to Canada in 2014 and started as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Verdú’s lab, where he benefited from a GIA that Dr. Verdú had received. He has since started his own lab and team within the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute. His research focuses on digestion – why people with IBD have adverse reactions and food intolerances, specifically the microbes that help or hinder digestion. He received a GIA in 2021.
He explains his path: “I obtained a position at Farncombe and startup funds of $100,000 to open my lab, buy equipment, hire students. But that leaves no money to run projects. It’s a tough place because to start getting large awards, you need preliminary data. That’s where Crohn’s and Colitis Canada comes in. I come from Spain and it does not have an organization like Crohn’s and Colitis Canada to support research. I couldn’t pursue my research in Spain and this is one of the reasons why I moved to Canada.”
$50,000 grant in 2016 started a path to new treatments
Deanna Gibson, PhD, is clear: “At the time I did my postdoc in 2006, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada partnered with the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology for fellowships. That’s how I started my career. And without the GIAs and INNs, I wouldn’t have a company, I wouldn’t have a patent.”
Since 2010, Dr. Gibson has received three GIAs, one INN and a scholarship for one of her students.
She has been a professor at the University of British Columbia since 2010, where she leads a lab studying the gut microorganisms and immune system. She has patented a tool for genetically modifying gut bacteria. The genesis of that discovery was her INN grant in 2016. Her company, Melius Microbiomics, is now in the multi-year process of developing treatments to allow helpful bacteria to survive in the gut in the face of inflammation caused by colitis. She is hopeful that the ongoing research and approvals by government drug agencies will show that this approach improves on current treatments.
Research funding that improves care
Dr. Verdú believes that Crohn’s and Colitis Canada research funding is supercharging IBD research in Canada. She says: “What you are doing is funding a community that will lead to discovery and innovation in clinical care.”