Clinical trials impact stories: Improving people's health
CIHR supports the clinical trials sector through several funding initiatives. The stories below show how clinical trials result in new discoveries that improve medical treatments and practices and benefit the health of Canadians.
We update this list regularly. Please check back again later to discover and celebrate the impact of clinical trials. If you would like to share how your clinical trial is making a difference, we want to hear from you! Contact us at clinicaltrials-essaiscliniques@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.
| Title | Affiliation | Date |
|---|---|---|
| A clearer picture of the heart: Imaging that puts patients first
A University of Ottawa-based innovation advanced cardiac PET scans, benefiting patients in Canada and around the world. |
University of Ottawa Heart Institute | 2026-05-25 |
| A calculated risk: The search for a hepatitis C vaccine
With no vaccine and millions affected worldwide, CIHR-funded researchers are turning to a carefully controlled human infection model to accelerate hepatitis C vaccine development. |
University Health Network | 2026-05-13 |
| Anticoagulant clinical trial could change care for patients with blood clots
Venous thromboembolism (thrombosis) is a serious health concern involving blood clots in the veins of the legs. |
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | 2026-03-12 |
| Beyond the beat: When movement feels out of reach
Exercise is essential to improve heart health, but for people living with persistent and permanent atrial fibrillation, even simple movement can feel overwhelming. |
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | 2026-01-30 |
| Genetic breakthrough RAPID GENE brings personalized heart treatment to the bedside
The RAPID GENE study resulted in a genetic test capable of providing life-saving results quickly. |
University of Ottawa Heart Institute | 2026-01-30 |
| How a daily fish oil supplement could help millions of Canadians prevent diabetes and heart disease
Most people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) die because of heart disease induced by high numbers of blood LDL particles |
Université de Montréal | 2025-10-25 |
| This small surgical step cuts stroke risk in a big way
Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and death worldwide. |
McMaster University | 2025-08-18 |
| A new medication to treat 'black fever' parasitic disease
Fungal and parasitic infections affect millions of people around the world |
University of British Columbia | 2025-07-17 |
| Expanding the use of SGLT inhibitors to improve cardiorenal disease
Deepening our understanding of cardiorenal syndrome and reshaping the course of cardiovascular and kidney diseases |
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre | 2025-03-20 |
| A breakthrough in treating Fabry disease
A clinical trial led by a Canadian team showed that an alternative therapy was safe and effective for treating a rare genetic condition. |
Dalhousie University | 2026-04-07 |
| No more guesswork: Proven treatment for vomiting from childhood gastroenteritis
Research led by Dr. Stephen Freedman and his colleagues proves that the anti-nausea medication ondansetron helps children with gastroenteritis bounce back faster. |
University of Calgary | 2025-11-05 |
| When the cure costs too much: A clinical trial that's reimagining access to medicine in Canada
Dr. Navindra Persaud and his team tested what happens when patients receive free access to essential medicines and found that removing cost barriers leads to better health, greater adherence and fewer hospital visits. |
University of Toronto | 2025-12-15 |
| Improving radiation therapies from clinical trials to tailored care
Radiation therapy is commonly given to early-stage breast cancer patients after a breast-conserving surgery to lower the risk that the cancer will return to the breast. |
McMaster University | 2025-09-29 |
| Why healthy aging means caring for both brain and body
Dr. Manuel Montero-Odasso’s research has helped redefine older adult care by encouraging clinicians to consider both mobility and brain health, treat impairments through combined physical and cognitive training, and prevent falls through comprehensive clinical guidelines. |
Western University | 2026-01-19 |
| The art of immunity: How interferons ward off viruses
Dr. Fish has discovered ways to boost the immune system with recombinant interferons. |
University Health Network | 2025-12-08 |
| Rapid tests take aim at HIV and syphilis in Canada
A research team is bringing new tools to the fight against HIV and syphilis amid a surge in new diagnoses in Canada. |
St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto) | 2026-02-10 |
| Donated human milk is critical in the care of Canada's tiniest patients
In Canada, 70% of very preterm babies need a supplement to their mother’s milk to promote gut health, meet their nutritional requirements, and help them grow. |
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) | 2025-11-17 |
| Movement as medicine: Strengthening colon cancer outcomes through physical activity
Research evidence shows that staying active is a vital tool for colon cancer recovery and long-term health. |
University of Alberta | 2026-03-16 |
| Canadian researchers at the centre of 'groundbreaking and revolutionary' stroke treatment
Endovascular thrombectomy has the potential to save millions of lives and improve quality of life for millions more stroke patients. |
University of Calgary | 2023-08-03 |
| A safe, cheap, readily available drug may help treat serious lung infections and enhance pandemic preparedness
People who develop severe lung infections can develop respiratory failure and require care in a hospital intensive care unit where they may need mechanical ventilation to help them get the oxygen they need to live. |
Queen’s University | 2024-08-13 |
| Toward Eradicating Hepatitis C: Canadian-borne HCV vaccine enters clinical trials
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects about 58 million people worldwide, including over 250,000 Canadians. |
University of Alberta | 2024-08-13 |
| A promising treatment for terminal cancer patients may be just the beginning
While a game-changing cancer treatment known as CAR T-cell therapy is available commercially in Canada, many terminally ill patients do not have access to this potentially life-saving therapy. |
The Ottawa Hospital | 2023-07-10 |
| Septic shock is a serious danger in the ICU, but stem cells therapy offers hope
Septic shock is one of the most severe infections seen in the intensive care unit. |
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | 2023-06-20 |
| Breathing machines are uncomfortable for patients. Can a sedative already used in intubation help make breathing machines tolerable?
Before patients with respiratory failure are intubated or connected to a mechanical ventilator, most are connected to a breathing machine called non-invasive ventilation (NIV). |
McMaster University | 2023-03-28 |
| Yes, doctors keep your surgery wounds clean. But the best solution—iodine or saline—is debated
You might think that washing out a surgical incision is obvious, but there is some variability within Canada—and even within institutions—about when and how you should wash wounds, and with what fluid. |
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre | 2023-04-07 |
| Dr. Hawkes takes the first step towards a Strep A vaccine
Strep throat is not a rare ailment in children, but it can quickly become severe enough to require hospitalization |
University of Alberta | 2023-04-21 |
| New targeted therapy offers hopes for treatment of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart condition
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a genetic heart disorder that often shows no symptoms before sudden cardiac arrest, even in young and otherwise healthy patients. |
McMaster University | 2023-05-04 |
| An arthritis treatment may bring health benefits to people with mucopolysaccharidoses
Mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of rare diseases estimated to affect one in 25,000 births. |
Montréal Children's Hospital | 2023-05-04 |
| Training Canada's next generation of clinical trial professionals
CANTRAIN is a national clinical trial training platform led by Dr. Jean Bourbeau |
McGill University | 2023-05-04 |
| Expanding our knowledge of treating bloodstream infections to improve health outcomes
Each year, more than 10,000 Canadians become infected with a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection. |
McGill University | 2023-05-10 |
| A precision approach to mechanical ventilation might improve the health outcomes of respiratory failure patients
Acute respiratory failure affects tens of thousands of Canadians every year. |
Unity Health Toronto | 2023-05-11 |
| From H1N1 to COVID-19, this collaborative critical care network shows how to run trials during a pandemic
REMAP-CAP is a platform for global collaborative research. |
University Health Network | 2023-03-24 |
| A ground-breaking gene therapy to improve health outcomes for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) cell therapy is a treatment in which a patient’s T cells, a specific type of immune system cell, are isolated and modified to recognize and attack cancerous cells. |
BC Cancer | 2023-03-17 |
| Improving sedation methods and accelerating brain recovery for critically ill children
Many children admitted to pediatric intensive care units need sedation to support lifesaving therapies like mechanical ventilation. |
Sunnybrook Research Institute | 2023-03-09 |
| Re-evaluating current treatment for bleeding complications in intensive care
The development of stomach ulcers is a rare complication faced by critically ill patients on life support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), especially by those who require breathing machines. |
McMaster University | 2023-03-07 |
| An understudied type of cancer receives new attention, with the potential to treat tumours that have spread to other parts of the body
Gastroesophageal cancer has not had much research attention and despite recent advances, does not have many treatment options. |
University Health Network | 2023-03-07 |
| Improving care for youth with spinal muscular atrophy through play
Everyone agrees that an active lifestyle helps improve children’s health and quality of life. |
McGill University | 2023-02-28 |
| Unanswered questions around antibiotic use are harming patients
Dr. Daneman's BALANCE research program hopes to create a better evidence base for antibiotic treatments |
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre | 2023-02-27 |
| Improving care for the sickest patients around the world
Influenza is a common respiratory illness affecting millions of Canadians each year. |
University of British Columbia | 2023-02-16 |
| Precision medicine offers a way to make mechanical ventilation safer for patients with lung failure
When patients develop acute lung failure and can no longer breathe on their own, mechanical ventilation is used to sustain life by breathing for the patient. |
University Health Network | 2023-01-30 |
| A futuristic cure for blood cancer is within our reach, and Dr. Kekre believes Canada should get on board
CAR-T cells are made by isolating a patient's immune cells from their blood, genetically modifying and activating the cells in the lab, and then re-administering them to the same patient, allowing for a patient's immune cells to be targeted against their cancer. |
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute | 2023-01-30 |
| Can our own microbiomes help treat and prevent antimicrobial resistant organisms?
According to a 2022 Public Health Agency surveillance report, antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health issues. Most approaches to treat infections rely on antibiotics. |
University Health Network | 2023-01-30 |
| Advances in corticosteroid use could greatly improve health outcomes for respiratory failure patients
The Corticosteroid Early and Extended (CORT-E2) Trial will test the efficacy and safety of early corticosteroid use in ICU patients with non-COVID respiratory failure and extending corticosteroid use in ICU patients with persistent respiratory failure, whether due to COVID or another cause. |
McMaster University | 2023-01-30 |
| A new trial for immune deficiency will grow the capacity for gene editing therapy in Canada
Gene editing is a novel therapy in Canada, and University of Calgary hematologist Nicola Wright is positioning herself at the forefront of it with a pilot project aiming to build the infrastructure and expertise required for the therapy in Canada |
University of Calgary | 2023-02-03 |
| Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Pan-Canadian Consortium
New pan-Canadian Clinical Trials Consortium promises to establish stronger links between clinical trial stakeholders and bolster Canada's research networks |
McMaster University | 2023-01-19 |
| Finding a new intervention for methamphetamine use disorder while tackling social issues and stigma
Researchers from the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal are working on making treatments easier and more accessible for people living with substance use disorder |
Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal (CHUM) | 2024-04-17 |
| Antibiotics might save a life—but not without a challenge
New research from Sunnybrook Hospital is evaluating the effects of increased antibiotics use in critical care |
Sunnybrook Hospital | 2022-11-18 |
| A new frontier in Type 2 Diabetes research and its link to heart disease
Researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute are looking for new treatments to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease before it happens, and their earlier work has already yielded promising results |
Montreal Heart Institute | 2022-11-09 |
| An everyday medical cabinet staple might simplify joint replacement surgery
Researchers in Halifax are building on previous studies in an effort to simplify the prescription of blood thinners after hip and knee replacements, making post-surgery care easier for patients |
Dalhousie University | 2022-10-13 |
| A total change might be coming in the way paramedics use adrenaline
A Unity Health Toronto research team is asking first responders to rethink the conventional use of adrenaline in cardiac arrests |
Unity Health Toronto | 2022-09-29 |
| 'Breath-giving' research efforts could lead to more effective lung transplants
Two CIHR-funded researchers in Toronto are analyzing how lungs function outside of the human body |
University Health Network | 2022-04-28 |
| Study: reducing heart attack and stroke rates thanks to data analysis and patient involvement
It can be time-consuming for researchers to access data relevant to their work. |
University of Alberta | 2019-01-17 |
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