SHRF Awards 9 Health Research Teams to Address Saskatchewan’s Health Needs through the Align Grant

The Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) is funding over $89,000 and 9 research projects in research alignment activities in Saskatchewan through the SHRF 2024-25 Align Grant Call #1.

Connections Program

The Connections Program supports activities in Saskatchewan that reach outside of academic settings. Funded activities promote knowledge exchange and alignment of health research across the province, addressing the gap between knowledge generation and knowledge integration.

The Connections Program supports short-term, focused research activities, and we encourage applications that involve community organizations and non-profits.

Align Grant

The Align Grant was first established in 2022 with the goal of providing funding to enable:

• The development and engagement of strong research teams from different fields or disciplines.

• To support activities that ensure research aligns with the needs and realities of Saskatchewan.

The Align Grant includes several calls each fiscal year, allowing researchers to coordinate their existing and/or upcoming initiatives with these targeted opportunities. This Grant has been shown to increase the quality and success of Saskatchewan applications to peer-reviewed funding competitions. 

Align Grant Recipients

Congenital Anomaly Database for Saskatchewan (CASK)

Timothy Bradley, University of Saskatchewan

$10,000

Assessing Oral Health Needs of International Students at University of Saskatchewan

Amrinderbir Singh, University of Saskatchewan

Jessica Lieffers, University of Saskatchewan

$10,000

Idea and Action Mapping with Stakeholders to Improve the Food Environment in Saskatchewan Public Recreation Facilities

Hassanali Vatanparast, University of Saskatchewan

Stacey Wiens, Saskatchewan Health Authority

Tim Hanna, Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association

$9,992

Toward a Patient Medical Home Model of Care: a Study of the Role of Nurses Haizhen Mou, University of Saskatchewan

$10,000

Exploring the social acceptability of wastewater-based health surveillance

Nicole Hansmeier, University of Regina

Akram Khayatzadeh Mahani, University of Regina

Colleen Strauch, University of Regina

Tzu-Chiao Chao, University of Regina

Jacob Alhassan, University of Saskatchewan

Cassandra Opikokew Wajuntah, University of Saskatchewan

$10,000

Patient Experiences of Having Gender Surgery in Saskatchewan

Gaurav Jain, University of Saskatchewan

$9,990

Development of novel lung models for combating lung diseases

Daniel Chen, University of Saskatchewan

Neeraj Dhar, University of Saskatchewan

$10,000

Promoting Interpersonal Coordination and Alignment for Self and Society (PICASSO): Development of a Transdisciplinary Research Cluster

Jorden Cummings, University of Saskatchewan

$9,960

Engaging Indigenous Communities in Cognitive Remediation Group Therapy

Andrew Eaton, University of Regina

$10,000