Congratulations to the winners of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) 2021 Scholar & Research Trainee awards. These awards will support BC’s next generation of health researchers in developing their leading-edge research programs to address important health priorities and improve the health of British Columbians.
2021 MSFHR SCHOLARS:
Dr. Annie Ciernia
The role of microglia in neurodevelopmental disorders
One of the most consistent findings across neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) is altered immune function, but it is unclear if neuroinflammation is a cause or consequence of brain pathology. Dr. Ciernia’s lab will directly test for causality and identify the optimal mechanisms and timepoints for immune based interventions in NDDs. Targets and compounds that impact microglia, the main immune cell in the brain, have immense potential for treating a broad range of NDDs.
Dr. Benjamin Matthews
The neuroscience and molecular genetics of mosquito chemosensation
The goal of Dr. Matthews’ research is to understand how mosquitoes use their sense of smell and taste to make decisions about who to bite and where to lay eggs. He uses techniques to modify their DNA and to look at the activity in their brains under a microscope. Ultimately, this research will help us understand why some mosquitoes are more deadly than others and provide the basis for mosquito control strategies such as traps and repellents.
2021 RESEARCH TRAINEE AWARD RECIPIENTS:
- Anibal Chertcoff: Psychiatric morbidity in multiple sclerosis during the prodromal period (Psych-MS)
(Supervisor: Helen Tremlett) - Dongsheng Xiao: Mapping chronic social isolation-induced brain activation in mice with machine learning-based phenotyping of behavioral deficits to pilot translational assessment of psychomotor disturbance
(Supervisor: Tim Murphy) - Guilherme Moraes Balbim: Physical exercise to mitigate the effects of physical inactivity on brain health
(Supervisor: Teresa Liu-Ambrose) - Hanwen Liu: Portable MRI for multiple sclerosis: Feasibility establishment and technical development for clinical and research applications
(Supervisor: Shannon Kolind) - Jill Dosso: Developing a method to implement patient-centered social robotics for pediatric mental health within the BC healthcare system
(Supervisor: Julie Robillard) - Katerina Rnic: A randomized controlled trial of a cognitive control intervention for major depressive disorder
(Co-supervisor: Raymond Lam) - Paul Mackie: The effect of a telehealth chair-based exercise intervention on motor function in stroke survivors with a mobility impairment
(Supervisor: Janice Eng) - Rafal Skiba: Counteracting the “Jumping to Conclusion” bias in schizophrenia with a combination of neuromodulation and metacognitive training
(Supervisor: Todd Woodward) - Ryan Falck: Can we identify dementia risk from 24-hour wrist-worn actigraphy? Using machine learning to identify risk factors for dementia during the 24-hour day
(Supervisor: Roger Tam)
