CVRI December Newsletter

Greetings everyone!

We are writing to share several key updates and new information from CVRI.

1) Please note an IMPORTANT CHANGE to the 2026 CVRI Research Day date. To avoid overlap with two CV research meetings that week, in which many CVRI members participate, the 2026 CVRI Research Day has been moved one week earlier.

New CVRI Gary Lopaschuk Research Day 2026 details:
Date: Friday, May 22, 2026
Time: 8:00am – 4:30pm
Location: Bernard Snell Hall, WMC 

 2) Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif has agreed to be our Keynote speaker. Dr. Tardif is the Director of Research, Montreal Heart Institute. He is a cardiologist and clinician scientist, a member of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has hundreds of publications and is world-renowned in the fields of atherosclerosis research, pharmacogenomics and precision medicine.

 3) The CVRI lead for Biomedical Research (Pillar 1) will be Dr. Jason Dyck, Professor, Pediatrics, and CVRC Director (The CVRC is now integrated with CVRI). The CVRI lead for Clinical and Outcomes research (Pillars 2-4) will Dr. Finlay McAlister, Professor, Medicine, director of AbSPORU and VIGOUR member. Dr. McAlister, along with Dr. Ross Tsuyuki, (EPICORE director), will create a platform to facilitate CVRI members that need advice/help from AbSPORU or EPICORE, particularly in preparation for grant applications, or exploring collaborations with the VIGOUR group. This will be the first step toward more integration between CVRI, AbSPORU, EPICORE and VIGOUR, for the benefit of Pillar 2-4 CVRI researchers.

 4) Upcoming CVRI funding opportunities:  while details on the application process will be available in our website by the first week of January and also communicated with additional emails, we include the following essential information, in order to facilitate preparing for these opportunities:

a) Dr. Margaret "Marmie" Perkins Hess Heart Research Pilot Grant: this will be a $30,000 pilot grant for CVRI members (for one year) that need a proof-of-concept or preliminary data, in preparation for larger provincial or tri-council grants. In addition to a CIHR biosketch CV of the applicant, 5 pages of text (12 font Times), 1-inch margins, single space, plus 2 pages for figures and references will be needed. Further details and a google form application will be uploaded in a link in our webpage by the first week of January. The deadline for the application would be February 15, 2026; the results will be announced in April with funds available around June 2026.       

b) CVRI-Cote Biomedical Research Studentship: two studentship scholarships ($20,000 each) will be offered to students of thesis-based Masters or PhD programs, whose supervisor is a CVRI member. The application will include the students’ CV and unofficial transcripts, the supervisor’s CIHR biosketch CV, and a 300 words summary of a research project, toward their thesis. Further details and a google form application will be uploaded in a link in our webpage by the first week of January. The deadline would be February 15, 2026; the results will be announced by April with funds available June 2026. 

c) In addition to the CVRI grants and scholarships, CVRI members and trainees, may also be eligible for the funding opportunities offered by the Canadian Vigour Centre foundation: https://thecvc.ca/programs-and-development/cvc-scholar-program/ (for any questions about the program or application process, please contact the CVC Foundation administrative coordinator at cvcschlr@ualberta.ca).

 5) The next update, coming in a few days, will outline the procedure for re-registration of CVRI members. This will allow for the provision of additional data and information for our members that would improve our potential for collaborations, supervision of trainees, and frequent updates on our publications through the ORCID number in our website, in order to improve our branding.

 6) These newsletter updates from now on will occur monthly. If you publish major papers in high impact journals or secure provincial, national or tri-council grants, or if you are awarded important awards or distinctions, please let us know in this email so we can communicate your success to all CVRI members and on our website.

 7) Reminder: The CVRI office is now located in the ECHA Bldg. - Room 2-590. Our phone number is 780.492.1330, and walk-in office hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. 

 Thank you all for your continued engagement.

 All the best in 2026!

Evangelos and Irene