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McMaster University

McMaster University is a Canadian public research university located in Hamilton, Ontario. It has received millions of dollars in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and has participated in several key aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic including vaccine development and studies on repurposed drugs.

Affiliations

Alumni

Name Program Specialty Notes
Dr. Mary Bell MD and Postgraduate Training Design, measurement and evaluation in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Sunnybrook Research Institute
Peter Sloly Bachelor of Arts Sociology Former chief of police for the Ottawa Police Service1)

Staff

Name Department Title Notes
Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman Pediatrics Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor Member of the Drugs & Biologics Clinical Practice Guidelines Working Group on the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.2)
Dr. John Lavis Health Evidence and Impact Professor Former member of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table
Dr. Karen Saperson Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Education Program Director, Geriatric Psychiatry and Academic Head, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry. University Academic Representative with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for McMaster University.3)

Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded McMaster through several grants relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2015-2021:

  • $100,000.00 USD awarded to multiple projects to “fund studies that will facilitate research collaboration among researchers to address major COVID-19 research questions and reduce the harm of the current COVID-19 pandemic, while fostering global, multi-disciplinary collaborations.”4) Research areas include:
    • Natural disease history, epidemiology and transmission
    • Vaccines and prophylaxis
    • Infection, prevention and control
    • Therapeutics
    • Clinical management
  • $12,392,744.00 awarded “to identify and address ethical challenges, ethics-related risk, and policy gaps that have the potential to undermine the impact of potential life-saving technologies and interventions in global health and development research” from November 2019 until January 2028.5)
  • $1,993,992.00 awarded “to find new lead molecules against diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest populations” from October 2018 until January 2023.6)
  • $6,616,077.00 awarded “to identify and address ethical challenges, ethics-related risk, and policy gaps that have the potential to undermine the impact of potential life-saving technologies and interventions in global health and development research” from June 2015 until July 2021.7)

Additional grants from the Gates Foundation are currently being offered to McMaster:

  • Up to $200,000.00 USD to explore using “Metagenomic Next Generation Sequencing to Detect, Identify, and Characterize Pathogens”. The grant period is for up to 24 months and is co-administered with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The intended result of the funding is to “lead to a network of pathogen detection nodes that could provide increased global transparency into regional pathogen distribution in an accurate and timely manner, and in ultimate support of a global pathogen surveillance network.”8)
  • Up to $200,000.00 USD to “identify areas for transformational innovation in service of national NTD [neglected tropical disease] programs” in Africa.9)
  • Up to $500,000.00 USD to increase the participation in “Digital Health Services for Pregnant Women to Support Antenatal Risk Stratification in Sub-Saharan Africa”.10)
  • Up to $3,000,000.00 USD to build “a stronger malaria mathematical modeling ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa”.11)

Government of Canada

COVID-19

McMaster received two grants in July 2021 from the Government of Canada for a project titled “Encouraging vaccine confidence among pregnant and breastfeeding Canadians” and a second project titled “Immune Nations: The Vaccine Project.”12) 13) The total amount awarded was $95,500. It was awarded through a grant program called “Encouraging Vaccine Confidence in Canada” jointly administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).14)

1)
Osman, L., & Trinh, J. (2019, August 25). Peter Sloly named Ottawa’s new police chief. CBC News; CBC/Radio-Canada. https://archive.ph/cotpV
2)
About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved December 19, 2021, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#abdurrahman-zainab
3)
Nisbett, M. (2017). Dr. Karen Saperson — 2017 AMS/Donald Wilson award recipient. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. https://archive.ph/PKMmP
4)
McMaster University. (2021, January 8). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science. Research & Innovation. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/2jvyV
5)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2019, November). McMaster University. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/76GuD
6)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2018, October). McMaster University. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/fQJzp
7)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2015, June). McMaster University. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/KfW2j
8)
McMaster University. (2021, November 19). Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Global Grand Challenges, Metagenomic Next Generation Sequencing to Detect, Identify, and Characterize Pathogens. Research & Innovation. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/UBq5b
9)
McMaster University. (2021, November 19). Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Global Grand Challenges, Innovations in Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases. Research & Innovation. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/IDp9n/
10)
McMaster University. (2021, November 19). Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Global Grand Challenges, Digital Health Services for Pregnant Women to Support Antenatal Risk Stratification in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research & Innovation. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/O1R1a
11)
McMaster University. (2021, November 19). Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Global Grand Challenges, Building Malaria Modeling Capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research & Innovation. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://archive.ph/4FNbz
12)
Based on publication date on the Funding Decisions page
13)
Encouraging vaccine confidence in Canada - Competition Results. (2021, July 26). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://archive.ph/Zo5b5
14)
Encouraging vaccine confidence in Canada. (2021, July 26). Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Promoter-Promotion/VaccineConfidence_eng.asp
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