LevMax 5.0 (2026) - Alberta Innovates

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LevMax 5.0 closed in late 2025, investing in eleven Alberta-based researchers from the LevMax-Health: Tri-Agency Spring 2025 competition. The total value for all eleven projects is $8.8 million with $7.2 million contributed by Alberta Innovates. Projects will run from March 2026 to March 2029.

Project at a Glance

Funding Awarded: Total value for all eleven projects is $8.8 million, with $7.2 million contributed from Alberta Innovates

Project Duration: March 2026 - March 2029

Sector: Health & Life Sciences

Program: LevMax-Health

2026 Recipients of LevMax-Health: Tri-agency Spring 2025 Competition

Lead Applicant	LevMax-Health Stream	Project Title	Contact
Sarah MacEachern, MD PhD FRCPC, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Nova Sleepcare, an Innovative Sleep Education Intervention to Improve Behaviours of Concern and Sleep Amongst Youth with Neurodevelopmental Disorders	View their website
Adam Kinnaird, MD PhD FRCSC, UAlberta	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	A phase 3, multicenter, international, non-inferiority, randomized clinical trial comparing screening for prostate cancer using high resolution micro-ultrasound versus multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MUSIC-Screen)	View their website
Jessalyn Holodinsky, PhD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Frequent Use of the Emergency Department	View their website
Linda Duffett-Leger, PhD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Supporting Emotional Wellness in Nurses and Social Workers E-Mental Health (SENSE) Program – Combining Virtual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and AI-Enabled e-Coaching Strategies: Implementation and Testing of a Novel Approach to Mitigating Moral Injury Among Frontline Healthcare Workers	View their website
Ashley Hyde, PhD, BScN, RN, UAlberta	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	EMPOWERING-Men: A feasibility and pilot RCT for an online mind-body wellness program for men with inflammatory bowel disease	View their website
Amir Sanati Nezhad, PhD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	GUTMIC Study: A Bioengineered Gut-Microbiome-on-Chip for Modeling Host-Microbiome Interactions and Testing Microbiota-Targeted Therapies	View their website
M. Joanne Lemieux, BSc, MSc, PhD, UAlberta	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Using AI to accelerate development of antivirulence therapeutics targeting pathogenic E. coli and antimicrobial resistance	View their website
Janet A. W. Elliott, PhD, PENG, FRSC, FSfC, FAIMBE, FCAE, FCIC, FEC, UAlberta	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Cryopreservation of Multi-Cell Systems for use in Health Research and Drug Discovery	View their website
Deborah Kurrasch, PhD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Development Candidate Identification of a Novel Negative Allosteric Modulator of Phosphodiesterase 4B for Treatment of Developmental Epileptic Encephalopathies	View their website
Aaron Phillips, PhD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Cardiac Neurorehabilitation after Spinal Cord Injury	View their website
Michael Parkins, MD, UCalgary	LevMax-Health Tri-Agency Spring 2025	Developing actionable wastewater-based surveillance tools to understand substance use patterns, the changing nature of the drug supply and mitigate drug poisonings	View their website