The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development. It invests approximately $311 million per year to attract and retain a diverse cadre of world-class researchers, to reinforce academic research and training excellence in Canadian postsecondary institutions. This program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (the agencies). It is administered by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which is housed within SSHRC.
Étienne Vachon-Presseau is a professor at McGill University and a member of the RQRD. He has just been awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Chronic Pain. Tier 2 Chairs, which last five years and are renewable once, are awarded to outstanding emerging researchers with the potential to become leaders in their field. For each Tier 2 Chair, the institution receives $100,000 per year for five years, plus an additional $20,000 per year as a research allowance. Prof. Vachon-Presseau and his research team are applying machine learning algorithms to multimodal brain imaging data to create brain biomarkers that will help diagnose chronic pain and predict opioid cravings. They will examine these brain markers in combination with socio-cultural factors in under-represented populations, to fully understand the context in which these biomarkers can predict health outcomes. Ultimately, their work will contribute to the development of better chronic pain management tools.
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