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McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity

The McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4) is a Canadian research organization in Montreal, Quebec. It is based out of McGill University.

History

COVID-19

MI4 provided research funding related to COVID-19 through their “MI4 Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding” program.1) In particular, MI4 participated as a funding partner of the Canadian arm of the first randomized control trial (RCT) testing hydroxychloroquine for the post-exposure prevention of COVID-19, led by principal investigator David Boulware, which began on March 17, 2020.2)

In December 2020, MI4 announced that it had received a $600,000 gift from Pfizer via McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation towards the creation of the Pfizer Early Career Investigator Awards.3)

Organization

Partners

MI4's partners within McGill include:4)

Funding

MI4 received funding for their “MI4 Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding” program through the McGill University Health Centre Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Fund from:5)

Activities

MI4 Overcoming Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Research Funding Program6)
Lead investigators Project title
Nadine Kronfli The design, delivery, and evaluation of an educational intervention to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake for incarcerated Canadian populations
Inés Colmegna Preparing Adults for COVID-19 Vaccine – PROVIDE-A
Zeev Rosberger Enhancing COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions by Eliciting Prosocial Altruistic Motives: Evaluating the Efficacy of a Brief Video-Based Intervention
Ian Gold Overcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
Abhinav Sharma COVID-19 Vaccination Among Cardiovascular Patients and High Risk Individuals (COVID-CPR): Identifying and Addressing Barriers in Quebec
Moshe Ben-Shoshan COVERS: COVID Vaccine Evaluation of Resources and Solutions
MI4 Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding7)
MI4 COVID-19 Strategic Funding Grants
Lead investigators Project title
Peter Goldberg The use of volatile anesthetics in COVID-19 intubated patients: A pilot study
Vincent Mooser Extensive and Longitudinal Proteomic Profiling in Plasma from Severe COVID19 Patients
Cécile Rousseau, Alexandra de Pokomandy CanCOVID - COVID‐19 Outreach and Communications for Marginalized Communities in Montreal
Guillaume Bourque CanCOVID - Scientific volunteer support for Canadian COVID-19 research and community needs
Dominic Frigon CanCOVID - Sequencing approaches of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater to optimize population-level surveillance and enhance epidemiology of COVID-19
Don Vinh Host-directed Immunotherapy to Fight Infectious diseases (HI-FI)
Dick Menzies, Jonathon Campbell COVID-19 Targeted Community Testing
David Juncker Rapid and Sensitive Diagnostic Test for COVID-19 Using Saliva
MI4 ECRF Round 1
Matthew Cheng, Leighanne Parkes, Todd Lee, Emily McDonald A Multi-centre, Adaptive, Randomized, Open-label, Controlled Clinical Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Investigational Therapeutics for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Patients in Canada (CATCO)
Matthew Cheng, Erwin Schurr, Guillaume Bourque Genomic biomarkers to predict outcome and treatment response in hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Jörg H. Fritz, Ciriaco Piccirillo Defining the protective host immune response to SARS-CoV-2
John Hanrahan Targeting coronavirus cation channels with antiviral drugs
Lara Khoury, Alana Klein, Marie-Eve Couture-Ménard Law in Pandemic Times: Powers and Accountability when Facing Emergency
Irah King Targeting the gut microbiome to improve COVID-19 disease outcomes
Todd Lee, Emily McDonald, Matthew Cheng Post-exposure Prophylaxis or Preemptive Therapy for SARS-Coronavirus-2: A Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial (COVID19 PEP RCT – Canada)
Mathieu Maheu-Giroux, Dimitra Panagiotoglou, Alexandra Schmidt, Nicole Basta, David Buckeridge, Yiqing Xia, Arnaud Godin, Dirk Douwes-Schultz Real-time modeling of COVID-19 transmission in Canada: epidemic intelligence for an effective public health response
Sara Mahshid Colorimetric assisted microfluidic device for detection of SARS-Cov2 RNA
Dick Menzies, Jonathon Campbell Assessing costs and benefits of different testing strategies for COVID-19 in Canada
Nicolas Moitessier, Anthony Mittermaier PLpro as a target for the development of novel anti-COVID-19 agents
Joaquin Ortega, Duane Chung, C. Perry Chou Development of a new Virus-like Particle (VLP) vaccine against COVID-19
Martin Schmeing, Don van Meyel Production of COVID-19 testing reagents to backstop and supplement existing sources
Abhinav Sharma Management of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System blockade in patients admitted in hospital with confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection: The McGill RAAS-COVID-19 randomized controlled trial.
Benjamin Smith PCR-based testing to shorten self-isolation duration in COVID-19 exposed healthcare workers
Brett Thombs, Linda Kwakkenbos, Andrea Benedetti, Susan Bartlett, John Varga, Scott Patten, Nicole Culos-Reed, Shannon Hebblethwaite Mental health in an at-risk population during COVID-19: longitudinal study of risk factors and outcomes and embedded trial of an activity, education, and support intervention
MI4 ECRF Round 2
Nicole Basta Real-Time Tracking of COVID-19 Vaccine Development
Inés Colmegna, Amal Bessissow, David Meger Use of Technology to Improve Effects of Social Isolation on Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients (TIES-COVID)
Gonzalo Cosa Novel Small Molecule Antiviral Agents for Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID 19 coronavirus disease: Target Identification and Structural Optimization
Kristian Filion Anticoagulant treatment and risk of adverse outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Patricia Fontela, Jesse Papenburg A Multi-centre, Randomized, Open-label, Controlled Clinical Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Children in Canada (CATCO-Kids)
Jason Harley, Tina Montreuil Emotion Regulation and Healthcare Professionals: Creating Research-informed Solutions
Lily Hechtman, Philippe Hwang, Lindsay Parr Factors affecting positive and negative adaptation to quarantine in children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic
Matthew Hunt Ethical tensions of implementing research during a crisis: Understanding moral experiences of healthcare providers caring for patients who are enrolled in CoViD-19 clinical trials
Jonathan Kimmelman Expert and Lay Perceptions of Translation of COVID19 Treatment and Vaccine Development
Jonathan Kimmelman Success Rate and Timeline for Development of Vaccines for Emerging and Reemerging Viral Infectious Diseases
Bertrand Lebouché Use of OPAL-COVID, a mobile application, for real-time at home follow-up of people who test positive for COVID-19 at the Glen site: a feasibility study
Greg Matlashewski, Matthew Cheng, Momar Ndao Detection of anti- SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in sera from COVID19 patients
Momar Ndao, Michael Reed, Martin Olivier COVID-19 Vaccines - Novel Approaches to Tackle a Novel Disease
Janusz Rak, Maziar Divangahi, Dongsic Choi Exosomal mimetics of COVID-19 as viral models and therapeutics
Stéphane Rinfret Effect of coronavirus pandemic and health care system response on non-COVID-19-related mortality, post pandemic myocardial infarction and heart failure rates in Quebec; a collateral damage in this war?
Cécile Rousseau Health Communication, Sociocultural Diversity, and COVID-19
Selena Sagan, Richard Menzies Germicidal ultraviolet light to disinfect personal protective equipment to reduce nosocomial transmission of COVID-19
Jonathan Spicer Evaluating Neutrophil Extracellular Traps as a therapeutic target in COVID-19 patients
Brett Thombs, Andrea Benedetti Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Living Systematic Review of Symptom Levels, Factors Associated with Symptoms, and Intervention Effectiveness
David Wachsmuth A spatial analysis of COVID-19 risk and recovery in Canadian cities
Internal McGill COVID-19 Rapid Response for Social Sciences and Humanities
Leonardo Baccini The Political Economy of Governments' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Adelle Blackett COVID-19's Essential Workers: Rethinking Social Protection Beyond the Employment Relationship
Delphine Collin-Vezina Responding to Child Protection-Involved Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Bassam Khoury Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Canadian Mental Health Care System
Jennifer Elrick Changing the Social Value of Work? The Effects of Covid-19 on Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)
Fabien Gélinas The COVID-19 Crisis: An Investment Law Perspective
Charles Gladhill Ancient Narratives of Viral Contagion and the Aftermath of COVID-19
Warut Khern-am-nuai Helping Retailers and Customers to Cope with Surge Demands Under COVID-19
Anthony Masi Differences in Public Policy Responses and Citizens Reactions to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study of Canada, Sweden, Italy and the Republic of Korea
Ma'n Hilmi Mohammad Zawati Of Biobanking and Policy: Emerging Ethical and Legal Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Daiva Nielsen Experiences with Food Acquisition in Quebec During COVID-19 Pandemic: Risk Perceptions, Access Barriers, and Insight to Prepare for the Future
Juan Camilo Serpa Quebec Data Central for Impact of Covid-19 on Society and Business and for a Post-Pandemic World
1) , 5) , 7)
Results of MI4 Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding. MI4. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230516234033/https://www.mcgill.ca/mi4/mi4-supported-research/emergency-covid-19-research-funding
2)
Lofgren, S. M., Nicol, M. R., Bangdiwala, A. S., Pastick, K. A., Okafor, E. C., Skipper, C. P., Pullen, M. F., Engen, N., Abassi, M., Williams, D. A., Nascene, A. A., Axelrod, M. L., Lother, S. A., MacKenzie, L. J., Drobot, G., Marten, N., Cheng, M. P., Zarychanshi, R., Schwartz, I. S., & Silverman, M. J. (2020). Safety of Hydroxychloroquine among Outpatient Clinical Trial Participants for COVID-19. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.16.20155531
3)
Clement, J., & Schwartz, T. (2020, December 4). Pfizer Canada donation will help new researchers change the future. McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. http://archive.today/2022.08.23-174216/https://www.mcgill.ca/medhealthsci/channels/news/pfizer-canada-donation-will-help-new-researchers-change-future-326710
4)
McGill Partners. MI4. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230516232825/https://www.mcgill.ca/mi4/our-people/mcgill-partners
6)
Results of MI4 Overcoming Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination Research Funding Program. MI4. Retrieved May 17, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230517045026/https://www.mcgill.ca/mi4/mi4-supported-research/covid-19-vaccination-research-funding-program