Libin researchers receive $9.2M in CIHR grants

We’ve all heard stories of older individuals doing the seemingly impossible – octogenarians climbing the world’s peaks, people in their 70s running marathons, and grandparents dancing well into their 90s. 

Age is a risk factor for many chronic diseases including conditions like atrial fibrillation, heart attacks and strokes. However, these human-interest stories tell us that not everyone’s body ages in the same way. In fact, aging is quite personal. 

The idea that some people seem older than their years, while others seem to age exceptionally well, can be explained by the concept of frailty. Defined as a state of declined health and strength that makes individuals more vulnerable to illness and disease, frailty is linked to aging but ranges greatly in the aging population. Importantly, frailty can be measured and modified. 

It’s a topic of great interest to Dr. Robert Rose, PhD, a professor in the Depts. of Cardiac Sciences and Physiology and Pharmacology at the Cumming School of Medicine. He has spent years investigating the intricacies of heart rhythm disorders—like atrial fibrillation and sinoatrial disease—and looking for novel therapies to prevent and treat these conditions, which are linked to serious complications such as heart failure, stroke, and even death. 

“While we can’t change our age, our work has shown that frailty is a modifiable risk factor that can lessen the risk of arrhythmias,” says Rose. “Frailty allows us to very accurately predict an individual’s risk of cardiovascular disease.” 

Rose has long investigated frailty. In fact, Rose was a member of the team that created the first mouse clinical frailty index a decade ago. The non-invasive tool works on a scale and considers a whole array of health-related information taken from across all organ systems. 

Using this tool, Rose’s lab has shown that function in the atria and sinoatrial node (the heart’s natural pacemaker) is strongly correlated with the frailty score. They also showed that arrhythmias, like sinoatrial disease and atrial fibrillation, in aging mice are caused by changes in the electrical and structural remodelling of the heart.

This knowledge has led Rose to look for ways to modify frailty as a way of decreasing the risk of heart rhythm disorders. He recently received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research grant of more than $1 million to look at the impact of a reduced calorie diet on an individual’s frailty score. 

In the study, researchers will reduce calorie intake by 25 per cent in aging mice to examine its effects on frailty as well as heart physiology and function. They will also explore the role of inflammation in these processes and assess how calorie restriction influences frailty and heart rate regulation.

Rose says the study is a critical first step in identifying potential patient interventions for heart rhythm disorders. 

“Arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation, are very prevalent in aging,” says Rose. “We know as people live longer and the population ages, we are going to see a lot more of these disorders. Caloric restriction is a novel approach that may help protect against heart rate disorders that are linked to aging and frailty. The goal isn’t necessarily to live to be 150 years old, but rather to help patients be as healthy as possible for as long as they have.”

Other Libin CIHR grants

Libin Cardiovascular Institute researchers received more than $9.2 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Spring 2025 Project Grant competition. Our researchers had a 25 per cent success rate in the national competition, exceeding the University of Calgary’s 21.4 per cent success and the country’s 15.5 per cent. Here’s a quick look at additional grants received by Libin members. 

Dr. Leslie Skeith, MD, received $4.6 million for a large study comparing the use of Aspirin with injectable blood thinners (the usual care) to prevent dangerous blood clots after giving birth. Skeith and her international team have already completed a successful feasibility pilot trial of PARTUM, published in The Lancet: Haematology.

Dr. Wayne Chen, PhD, received a $1.1 million CIHR project grant to investigate how brain cells control calcium signals that are essential for forming memories, and how they can go wrong in Alzheimer’s disease. 

Dr. Sarah Childs, PhD, received $1.1 million to study versican, a protein that helps build and stabilize small blood vessels and may play a critical role in cerebral small vessel disease—a major cause of stroke and vascular dementia. Childs’ team hopes to uncover new strategies to protect brain vessels and prevent stroke and dementia.

Dr. Robert Rose, PhD, received a second CIHR grant of about $1 million, to study the effects of C-type natriuretic peptide, a cardioprotective hormone, and the enzyme phosphodiesterase 9, on atrial fibrillation and sinoatrial node disease, conditions that cause serious heart arrhythmias. 

Dr. Derek Chew, MD, along with co-investigators Drs. Elissa Rennert-May and Jenine Leal, received $409,000 for a project that aims to demonstrate the feasibility and cost-efficiency of using administrative data to track infections that occur after patients receive cardiac implantable electronic devices. 

Dr. Dave Campbell, MD, PhD, received a CIHR Priority Announcement Grant to continue his work with the Diabetes Mobile Clinic, which brings diabetes testing and care to some of the most vulnerable citizens in Calgary.