2025 Research competition

Parkinson Canada announces over $2 million awarded in 2025 research competition funding.

Parkinson Canada would like to congratulate the applicants who have been successful in funding in our latest research competition and acknowledge the hard work and dedication to Parkinson’s research for all of our applicants. We look forward to continuing to engage with the exceptional Canadian research community and are excited to see the new applications in the upcoming 2026 competition. 

On this page:

Pilot Project Grants 

Dr. Janelle Drouin-Ouellet 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Investigating microglial aging in the context of Parkinson’s Disease 

$75,000 

Dr. Anthony Incognito 

Memorial University 

Project Title: Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation for managing orthostatic hypotension in people with Parkinson’s disease 

$75,000 

Dr. Sathya Karunananthan 

University of Ottawa 

Project Title: Enhancing community-centred care and equity for people living with Parkinson’s Disease through eConsult 

$74,000 

Dr. Philip Millar 

University of Guelph 

Project Title: Understanding the difference between Parkinson’s related fatigue and performance fatigue 

$74,549 

Dr. Austen Milnerwood 

McGill University 

Project Title: Functional consequences of immune signalling on neurons and PD risk variants 

$75,000 

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Dr. Amandine Even 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Involvement of the immune system in the vulnerability of neurons in Parkinson’s disease 

$90,000 

Dr. Ryan Langridge 

University of Manitoba 

Project Title: Multiple Systems Atrophy: Testing the association between brain glucose metabolism, dopamine transporter availability, and patient outcomes 

$90,000  

Dr. Miguel Angel Perez Castro 

University of Toronto 

Project Title: Creating a model with targeted genetic manipulation of dopaminergic neurons to uncover potential treatment targets through in vivo CRISPR screenings 

$90,000 

Dr. Sarra Touj 

McGill University 

Project Title: Testing p75 neurotrophin receptor modulator LM11A-31 in the treatment of synucleinopathies 

$90,000 

Dr. Anke Van Roy 

McGill University 

Project Title: The effect of different types of exercise on sleep quality and architecture in Parkinson Disease: A single-blinded randomized clinical trial 

$90,000 

Graduate Student Awards 

Faith Adams 

McMaster University 

Project Title: EEG-guided cortical-cortical paired associative stimulation to improve bradykinesia in individuals living with Parkinson’s disease 

$40,000 

Regina Annirood 

University of Toronto 

Project Title: Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS): Exploring the effects of 5Hz vs 10Hz TUS on different brain regions in Parkinsonian patients 

$40,000 

Houman Azizi 

McGill University 

Project Title: Associations between genetics of Parkinson’s Disease, brain structure, and behavioral and cellular phenotypes 

$40,000 

Olivia Crozier 

Western University 

Project Title: Enhancing self-management and health program service delivery for persons living with Parkinson’s Disease and care partners 

$40,000 

Raphaëlle Denis 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Development of axonal arborisation and dopamine neuron connectivity 

$40,000 

Ghislaine Deyab 

McGill University 

Project Title: Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis influences human microglia transcriptional identity and contributes to inflammatory responses in microglia containing midbrain organoids 

$40,000 

Soraya Paquereau-Gaboreau 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Development of the use of Raman optophysiology for the study of neurotransmission in Parkinson’s disease 

$40,000 

Angie Milena Bustos Rangel 

Laval University 

Project Title: Therapeutic strategy for Parkinson’s disease: Gene therapy via intravenous AAV vectors encoding FAB antibodies targeting alpha-synuclein 

$40,000 

Sabrina Romanelli 

McGill University 

Project Title: The role of the TOM and TIM complexes in stabilizing PINK1 on damaged mitochondria 

$40,000 

Shan Sohail 

University of Toronto 

Project Title: Reverse engineering the mechanisms of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease 

$40,000 

Alex Tchung 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Optimization of mitochondrial efficiency to rescue dopamine neurons in Parkinson’s disease 

$40,000 

New Investigator Awards 

Dr. Camila Aquino 

University of Calgary 

Project Title: Understanding patient preferences and personalizing device-aided therapies for Parkinson’s Disease 

$123,650 

Dr. Pooja Gandhi 

University of Alberta 

Project Title: EFFORT-PD: Exploring the efficacy of the effortful swallow maneuver for improving swallowing in people with Parkinson Disease 

$134,110.39 

Dr. Jay Penney 

University of Prince Edward Island 

Project Title: Human neuron and microglia models to understand RAB32 mutations in Parkinson’s disease 

$135,000 

Prof. Shady Rahayel 

Université de Montréal 

Project Title: Glymphatic dysfunction as an early biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease and related dementias 

$135,000 

Clinical Movement Disorders Fellowship 

Dr. Stanley Li 

University of Toronto 

$75,000 

Dr. Parichehr Moghaddam 

University of British Columbia 

$75,000 

Dr. Matthieu Robitaille 

Lausanne University Hospital 

$75,000