Members of the Faculty of Medicine research community have received 2019 Scholar and Research Trainee Awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR).
They are among a group of 58 B.C.-based health researchers who are recipients of this year’s awards. The researcher’s areas of of study range from support and treatment for people with mental health challenges, rehabilitation to improve walking balance after a stroke and improving sepsis outcomes with antibody therapy.
“Our focus at MSFHR is talent development – supporting the recruitment, retention, and development of the research talent B.C. needs to support the health of British Columbians, an effective health system, and the province’s knowledge economy,” said Dr. Bev Holmes, MSFHR president and CEO in a release. “Through these awards, we are providing the resources early career researchers need to establish themselves and begin the work that will improve BC health care for decades to come.”
The recipients of the Scholar Awards in the Faculty of Medicine and their project titles are:
Michael Anglesio, assistant professor, department of obstetrics and gynecology; Rethink Endometriosis: Genomics and Microenvironment Influence on Biology and Malignant Potential
William Hsiao, clinical assistant professor, pathology and laboratory medicine; Improving microbial outbreak responses through integration of knowledge engineering and bioinformatics platform development
David Kealy, assistant professor, department of psychiatry; Identity in mental health: A focus for early intervention and improving social functioning
Janel Kopp, assistant professor, department of cellular and physiological sciences; Effects of cellular origin on the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Sarah Munro, assistant professor, department of obstetrics and gynecology; Implementation of Shared Decision Making to Improve Person- and Family-Centred Care
Courtney Pollock, assistant professor, department of physical therapy; Balancing act: Measuring and optimizing the challenge point in rehabilitation to improve walking balance after stroke
Joseph Puyat, assistant professor, School of Population and Public Health; Exploring novel approaches to reduce the prevalence of depression (co-funded with CHÉOS – Providence Health Care Research Institute)
Andrew Roth, assistant professor, department of pathology and laboratory medicine; Development and Application of Computational Methods for Profiling Cancers at Single Cell Resolution
Travis Salway, postdoctoral research fellow, School of Population and Public Health; Adapting BC’s healthcare system for equitable and tailored service provision to sexual and gender minorities, (co-funded with Centre for Gender & Sexual Health Equity – Providence Health Care Research Institute and the BC Centre for Disease Control)
Aline Talhouk, assistant professor, department of obstetrics and gynaecology; Precision medicine to drive prevention and management strategies for women with endometrial cancer
Sheila Teves, assistant professor, department of biochemistry and molecular biology
Carolina Tropini, assistant professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Microbial control of gut environment in IBD
Wei Zhang, assistant professor, School of Population and Public Health, Health, Work and Society: Improving Health Economic Evaluations (co-funded with CHÉOS – Providence Health Care Research Institute)
The recipients of the Research Trainee Awards in the Faculty of Medicine and their project titles are:
Vijay Akhade, department of pathology and laboratory medicine; Investigating noncoding RNA networks in hematopoiesis
Amirah Aly, department of medical genetics; Development of a novel intranasal oligonucleotide delivery approach for Huntington disease
Elena Argento, department of medicine; Evaluating gender-sensitive interventions for people who use drugs in the context of British Columbia’s overdose crisis
Paxton Bach, department of medicine; Prevalence, patterns, and harms associated with the co-injection of illicit opioids and crystal methamphetamine
Brittany Carr, department of ophthalmology and visual sciences; When poor construction leads to destruction: How do structural defects in the light-sensing cells of the eye cause blindness?
Hiu Mei Chow, department of ophthalmology and visual sciences; Studying motion processing with eye movements in healthy older adults and patients with ophthalmic diseases
Hashem Etayash, Centre for Blood Research; Small molecules for bad bacteria: Novel peptidomimetics to battle resilient clinical infections
Susannah Gagnon, department of biochemistry and molecular biology; Uncovering How Specific “STAC” Proteins Regulate Muscle Contraction
Daniel Gamu, department of medical genetics; Role of the Histone Acetyltransferases p300/CBP in Brown Adipose Tissue Adaptive Thermogenesis
Kelly Genga, department of medicine; Improving sepsis outcomes with anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibody therapy
Amy Glenwright, department of biochemistry and molecular biology; Structural basis of novel strategies for the inhibition of AmpC-mediated beta-lactam antibiotic resistance in the opportunistic, nosocomial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Oralia Gómez-Ramírez, School of Population and Public Health; Examining How Contextual Factors And Health Equity Considerations Shape The Implementation Of An Internet-Based Testing Service For Sexually Transmitted And Blood-Borne Infections
Himanshu Kaul, School of Biomedical Engineering, Generating tissue capable of forming blood-progenitor cells at clinical scales
Jiyoung Kim, department of medicine; HEARTBiT: A novel multi-marker blood test for management of acute cardiac allograft rejection
Shenghui Liang, department of cellular and physiological sciences; Generation of fully mature, functional islet-like organoids from human pluripotent stem cells in vitro
Yale Michaels, School of Biomedical Engineering; Engineering stem cells to improve adaptive immune function
Huah Shin Ng, department of medicine; Disease-modifying Drug Safety and Effectiveness in Multiple Sclerosis [DRUMS]
Erika Ono, School of Population and Public Health; A Principles-Focused Evaluation of the BC Children’s Hospital Self-Injurious Behaviours Clinic (Co-funded with Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences (CHEOS) – Providence Health Care Research Institute)
Emmanuel Osei, department of anesthesiology, pharmacology and therapeutics; Assessing Small Airway Disease Heterogeneity in Asthma to Identify Novel Therapeutic Targets
Sue Peters, department of physical therapy; Driving Brain Recovery and Enhanced Community Walking with Dual-Task Training After Stroke
Maryam Rahimi-Balaei, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics; Investigating the Role of MicroRNAs on Granule Cell Development during Mouse Cerebellar Development
Rahul Sachdeva, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (iCORD); Non-invasive Neuroprosthesis for Cardiovascular Recovery Following Spinal Cord Injury
Michele Schaeffer, department of physical therapy; The effects of 60% oxygen during exercise training in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease (co-funded with Centre for Heart Lung Innovation – Providence Health Care Research Institute)
Marine Theret, Centre for Blood Research; Role of TAK1 in resident fibro/adipogenic progenitors. A Key modulator of the inflammatory milieu and a therapeuthic target in chronic diseases
Haifeng Zhang, department of pathology and laboratory medicine; Identification of IL1RAP as a novel oncoprotein and therapeutic target in Ewing sarcoma