TMU researchers secure more than $4.8M in CIHR Project Grant funding
Four Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) researchers have secured more than $4.8 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2025 Project Grant competition. These CIHR Project Grants will support research across three faculties and several areas of health, safety and equity.
Costin Antonescu, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology, received funding to support his ongoing research exploring how cancer cells send growth signals that allow them to multiply. By revealing hidden weaknesses in how these signals are organized within cells, the work aims to open new possibilities for cancer treatment.
Psychology professor Sarah Dermody received funding for research that aims to better understand how stress, discrimination and daily experiences affect alcohol and drug use among transgender and gender-diverse youth. Her research aims to inform more inclusive supports, prevention strategies and public health policies that promote youth well-being.
Professor Eric Liberda, from the School of Occupational and Public Health and his partners from Indigenous communities aim to understand how environmental pollution impacts daily life and well-being. This $2.8M grant will combine Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing with Western science-based environmental and human biomonitoring research to support community-led solutions, reduce health inequities, and inform fairer environmental policies, while also assessing human health risks posed by pollutants.
Linda Rothman, a public health professor, received funding to examine whether automated speed cameras make roads safer by reducing crashes and injuries in Canadian cities. By studying where cameras are placed and how their effects vary across neighbourhoods and road types, the project aims to inform fair and effective approaches to improving road safety.
“I am delighted to congratulate all of the grant recipients for securing funding for these important projects reflecting TMU’s deep commitment to improving lives,” said Steven N. Liss, TMU’s vice-president, research and innovation. “Together, this work tackles complex health, safety and equity challenges and advances understanding that can inform better policies, practices and community outcomes.”
CIHR Project Grant recipients
Faculty of Arts
- Sarah Dermody, Developing a Tailored Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Model to Explain Alcohol and Other Drug Outcomes among Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth who Drink (external link)
Faculty of Community Services
- Eric Liberda, Gwekaanimad (A Change in the Wind): Transdisciplinary Health Research on Environmental Inequities and Exposures (external link)
- Linda Rothman, Speed, Safety, and Equity: Unveiling the Impact of Automated Speed Enforcement on Collisions in Canadian Cities (external link)
Faculty of Science
- Costin Antonescu, Spatial control of PI3K-Akt signaling within clathrin signalosomes (external link)
Related links
- TMU researchers receive CIHR Project Grant funding (August 2024)
- TMU researchers secure CIHR grants for wide-ranging essential health research (August 2024)