Grant: Foundation Grant

Centrain tissues in our bodies, such as skeletal muscle, are very capable of regenerating and going back to functioning perfectly in response to acute damage. However, when such damage is repeated over and over again, as it happens in chronic disease, regeneration no longer works and fibrosis develops. The goal of my research is to understand what goes wrong in chronic damage, and to use this new knowledge to formulate new therapies to prevent fibrosis and enhance regeneration. Fibrosis is the most common complication of chronic disease, which is on the rise in Canada, and is estimated to be involved in 45% of deaths. As no efficacious therapy for fibrosis exists, a new approach has blockbuster potential and would greatly benefit the health of Canadians, the health care budget and the Canadian economy at large