SMART Grants support excellence in myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) research by fostering new, interdisciplinary collaborations among Canadian researchers, clinicians, and patient partners. The program promotes inclusive, accessible, and respectful research design while strengthening research excellence, training environments, and meaningful patient partnership.
2026 SMART Grant Awardees
Name of Nominated Principal Applicant: Simon Decary
Team Members: Carrie Anna McGinn, Julie Marcoux, Kathy Pelletier, Guyane Beaulieu, Simon Hamel, Maxime Sasseville, Tiff-Annie Kenny, Todd Davenport.
Host Institution: Universite de Sherbrooke
Title of Application: Co-designing a patient-led knowledge mobilization intervention for myalgic encephalomyelitis in Canada
To improve the quality of healthcare for people living with ME, this project aims to develop an online continuing education program for healthcare professionals, which is bilingual and freely accessible. Many people with ME face delays in diagnosis, misunderstandings about their condition, and inconsistent medical care because healthcare providers often receive little formal training about ME. This project will create an accredited educational program to help clinicians better recognize, assess, and manage the condition using current scientific evidence and patient-centered care.
The education program will be developed with input from healthcare professionals, researchers, and people with lived experience of ME to ensure it is practical, relevant, and easy to use. Feedback from these groups will be used to improve the program before it is made widely available through the Université de Sherbrooke’s Centre for Professional Development.
The effectiveness of the training will also be evaluated by measuring how many healthcare professionals participate, whether they find the program useful, and whether it improves their knowledge and confidence in caring for people with ME. Participants will complete questionnaires before and after the training, as well as a follow-up survey three months later to determine whether they have applied what they learned in their clinical practice. The study will also assess whether the program is practical to deliver, acceptable to participants, and suitable for wider implementation.
By increasing healthcare providers’ knowledge and confidence, this project aims to improve the quality and consistency of care for people with ME. In the long term, better clinician education may lead to earlier diagnosis, more appropriate management, and a better healthcare experience for individuals living with this complex and often misunderstood illness.
Name of Nominated Principal Applicant: Diana C. Sanchez-Ramirez
Team Members: Todd E. Davenport, Simon Décary, Kelly O’Brien, Karin Steere, Mark Van Ness, Adam Brown, Alexandra Rendely, Anthony Nguyen.
Host Institution: The University of Manitoba
Title of Application: Reproducibility of Skeletal Muscle Metaboreflex Activation in Females with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Compared to Females with Metabolic Syndrome and Healthy Females
Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex, multisystem disease characterized by post-exertional malaise (PEM). A major challenge in ME research has been the lack of an objective, low-burden physiological marker that can accurately reflect the biological process underlying PEM. Skeletal muscle metabolic reflex (metaboreflex) testing, offers a promising approach to investigate the mechanisms involved in exertion-related symptoms. This test evaluates how muscles communicate with the cardiovascular and nervous systems during exertion, providing a way to study peripheral contributors to exercise intolerance and symptom worsening. Importantly, it does not require people with ME to perform strenuous exercise, which may trigger prolonged symptom flare-ups.
The study will compare four groups of women: those with ME that developed before COVID-19, those with ME following COVID-19 infection, individuals with metabolic syndrome, and healthy volunteers. Rather than using whole-body exercise, participants will complete a brief, seated handgrip task at a moderate effort level, followed by temporary blood flow restriction to the exercising arm using an inflatable cuff. This well-established research method allows investigators to study how the body responds to muscle-generated metabolic signals while minimizing physical exertion. During testing, researchers will measure blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, and participants’ perception of effort. Participants will also report any symptoms before testing and for four weeks afterward to monitor for delayed PEM.
The study has been carefully designed to respect the needs of people with ME. The testing is low intensity, conducted while seated, and participants may stop at any time. Sessions are scheduled on two separate days to reduce burden, and researchers will continue monitoring symptoms after testing because PEM often develops hours or days later. By improving understanding of how abnormal muscle-to-nerve signaling may contribute to exercise intolerance and other symptoms in ME, this research will provide important insights into the biological mechanisms of the disease. In the longer term, the findings may support the development of objective clinical tests and more personalized approaches to diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment, ultimately improving care for people living with ME
Name of Nominated Principal Applicant: Jaime Seltzer
Team Members: Jason Karamchandani, Andrew Grimson, Sarah Ketterer, Daisy Fung.
Host Institution: Université de Montréal
Title of Application: NextGen IACC Scholars Program: Advancing Translational Analyses in ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Related IACCs using the SC4D Dataset
Symptom Cluster Characterization in Complex Chronic Disease (SC4D) is a large, patient-informed research project designed to better understand the experiences of people living with complex chronic illnesses, including myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), and other infection-associated chronic illnesses (IACCs).
People living with these conditions often experience a wide range of symptoms that vary significantly between individuals. Research in these illnesses has frequently been limited by small study populations, making it challenging to identify consistent symptom patterns and meaningful patient subgroups. SC4D addresses this gap by collecting data from more than 2,200 participants, generating approximately 1.5 million data points. This large dataset will allow researchers to examine symptom patterns, identify groups of patients with shared experiences, and better understand the diversity of these illnesses.
The SC4D survey combines information from established health questionnaires, diagnostic criteria, and questions developed with input from people with lived experience. It collects information about symptoms such as fatigue, pain, reduced physical function, sensory sensitivity, and other commonly reported challenges. It also examines factors such as illness onset, disease severity, time since symptoms began, other health conditions, and social factors that may influence health experiences. The findings may support future research into biomarkers, improve measurement tools, and contribute to more personalized approaches to diagnosis and care.
Through the SMART grant-funded NextGen IACC Scholars Program, early-career Canadian researchers will have the opportunity to apply for one of four funded positions to produce a research project and peer-reviewed publication utilizing this dataset. Over the life of the grant, they will also receive structured mentorship and training in data analysis, research methods, patient engagement, and knowledge translation. Scholars will work collaboratively to analyze the SC4D data, evaluate novel symptom measurement approaches, and create materials oriented to both the general population clinicians, to help them learn more about how to recognize and manage IACCs.