Faculty of medicine community members Drs. Silke Cresswell, Angela Devlin, Connie Eaves and Evelyn Stewart are among the nominees for the 40th annual YWCA Metro Vancouver’s Women of Distinction Awards.
The awards recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to the well-being of communities across Metro Vancouver.
Drs. Cresswell, Devlin, Eaves and Stewart have been nominated in the Research, the Sciences & Technology category.
Dr. Silke Cresswell, Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine
Dr. Silke Cresswell, neurologist at VGH and UBC Hospital and Associate Professor, UBC Faculty and Department of Medicine, has devoted her career as a clinician scientist to understanding and caring for aging brains, particularly related to Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Dr. Cresswell conceptualized and established the iCAPTURE PD program, helping discover two new genetic mutations implied in PD. She is Founding Director of the BC Brain Wellness Program at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to optimizing brain health with lifestyle interventions as treatment and for prevention. Dr. Cresswell is an international leader in the role of nutrition and gut microbiome in Parkinson’s. Silke is a leader in educating her peers and a source of hope for those impacted by PD and other movement disorders.
Dr. Angela Devlin, Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Angela Devlin works to improve children’s health and reduce development of diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease as a Researcher at BC Children’s Hospital and a Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine. Angela’s research fills gaps in our understanding of nutrition and complications in children with chronic diseases and under-represented populations; her breakthrough papers have been referenced by other researchers more than 5,400 times. Dr. Devlin is also the Director of Healthy Starts, which focuses on child health, including healthy births, vaccines, disease and global health. Dr. Devlin was instrumental in developing and gaining approvals for a new graduate program in Women+ and Children’s Health, launched in Fall 2022, and championed a scholarship program to recruit, retain and support Indigenous and BPOC students and other under-represented, equity-deserving groups.
Dr. Connie Eaves, Professor, Department of Medical Genetics
Dr. Connie Eaves is a Distinguished Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Centre, a UBC Professor of Medical Genetics and a world leader in cancer stem cell biology. Dr. Eaves is best known for her discoveries of methods to detect and characterize blood and breast stem cells published in more than 500 papers in leading scientific journals. In 1981, Connie and her husband responded to a request from BC Cancer and UBC to create a new research group using a shared $1M donation from the BC government in the name of Terry Fox, now with 40 years of sustained international recognition. An advocate and mentor for women, over half of the 107 postgraduate trainees she has supervised have been women, many of whom are now independent principal investigators in leading centres.
Dr. Evelyn Stewart, Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Evelyn Stewart is Founding Director of the Pediatric OCD Clinic and Research Program at BC Children and Women’s Health Centre and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC. Dr. Stewart developed “Camp Oh-See-Dee,” an intensive daily treatment program for youth with severe OCD; the only intensive treatment program for children and youth in Canada. After developing the first provincial OCD clinical research registry, Evelyn spearheaded the creation of the Family Input Tool, a ground-breaking research platform and database used by professionals to collaborate on mental health research. Her work and research have positively impacted the lives of more than 800 children and their families across Metro Vancouver. Dr. Stewart has a passion for mentoring young researchers, especially female scientists and those dealing with systemic societal barriers.