Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) recently announced the recipients of the 2011 Career Investigator Funding Awards.

Award recipients represent the leading edge of health research in BC. MSFHR funding provides essential support to biomedical and clinical investigators, allowing them to expand their research and continue to bring improved clinical care outcomes to British Columbians.

The following four award winners are based at Vancouver General Hospital. For more information click here or visit the VCH Research Institute web site to find out more about the research activity at Vancouver Coastal Health.

• Dr. Alexander Scott, PhD - Centre for Hip Health and Mobility
• Dr. Linda Li, PhD - Centre for Hip Health and Mobility and Arthritis Research Centre of Canada
• Dr. Jeff Brubacher, MD - Emergency Medicine, VGH Emergency Department
• Dr. Chris Carlsten, MD - Centre for Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine Research and VCH Lung Centre

The following are the 2011 MSFHR Post Doctoral Fellowship trainee award recipients. For more information click here.

• Jennifer Davis - Supervisors: Stirling Bryan, Director, Centre for Epidemiolgy and Evaluation, and Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Centre for Hip Health and Mobility
• Subrata Deb - Supervisor: Emma Guns, Vancouver Prostate Centre
• Charity Evans - Supervisor: Helen Tremlett, Brain Research Centre
• Glen Foster - Supervisors: Andrew Sheel, School of Human Kinetics and Alexander Rauscher, MRI Research Centre
• Clare Howarth - Supervisor: Brian MacVicar, Brain Research Centre
• Elaine Kingwell - Supervisor: Helen Tremlett, Brain Research Centre
• Shannon Kolind - Supervisor: Anthony Traboulsee, MS Clinic
• Nathan Lack - Supervisors: Paul Rennie and Emma Guns, Vancouver Prostate Centre
• Jacqueline Lai - Supervisor: Jan Dutz, Dermatology & Skin Science
• Matthew Parsons - Supervisor: Lynn Raymond, Brain Research Centre
• Yves Pauchard - Supervisor: David Wilson, Centre for Hip Health and Mobility
• Chuck Ratzlaff - Supervisor: John Esdaile, Centre for Hip Health and Mobility and the Arthritis Research Centre
• Francesco Sava - Supervisor: Christopher Carlsten Centre for Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Babak Shadgan - Supervisors: Mary-Ann Stothers and Andrew Macnab, Medicine / Urologic Sciences
• Kelly Smith - Supervisor: Lori Brotto, Sexual Health Clinic
• Ada Tang - Supervisor: Janice Eng, ICORD, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries
• Matthieu Vanni - Supervisor: Timothy Murphy, Brain Research Centre
• Yemin Wang - Supervisor: Vincent Duronio, Immunity and Infection Research Centre

Congratulations to VCHRI Trainees in recent MSFHR Awards announcement:

VCHRI congratulates the following Masters and PhD trainees and Post Doctoral Fellows on their recent success in the 2009 MSFHR Research Trainee Awards competition, announced on October, 9, 2009. Our apologies and congratulations to anyone we have missed from the list below.

Junior Graduate Scholarships:

• Tsz Ying Sylvia Cheung (Dr. Alice Mui), Immunity & Infection Research Centre
• Megan Himmel (Drs. Ted Steiner and Megan Levings) Immunity & Infection Research Centre
• Sandra Hale (Drs. Catherine Backman and Erin Michalak), Mood Disorders Centre
• Thomas Harrison (Dr. Tim Murphy) Brain Research Centre
• Kaspar Podgorski (Drs. Kurt Haas and Nicholas Swindale), Brain Research Centre
• Nadya Ogloff (Dr. Chris Ong), Vancouver Prostate Centre - jointly funded with VGH & UBCH Foundation

Senior Graduate Scholarships:

• Sarah Crome (Dr. Megan Levings), Immunity & Infection Research Centre
• David McVea (Dr. Tim Murphy), Brain Research Centre
• Lindsay Nagamatsu (Drs. Teresa Liu-Ambrose and Todd Handy) Centre for Hip Health and Mobility

Post Doctoral Fellowships:

• Allen Chan (Drs. Yu Tian Wang and Tim Murphy), Brain Research Centre

As well congrats go out to Dr. Ben Mortenson, who completed his doctoral work at GF Strong with Dr. Bill Miller, on receiving the "MSFHR-FRSQ Post Doctoral Exchange Award/ Recipient of CIHR-Institute of Aging Recognition Prize on Aging" to pursue his post-doctoral work with Dr. Louise Demers, Université de Montréal.

For more details click on: www.vchri.ca/i/pdf/MSFHR_2009TraineeAwards_Oct2009.pdf

Name of Award Recipient

Project Title

Faculty

Department

VCHRI Research Affiliation

BIOMEDICAL

Senior Scholar

El-Husseini, Alaa

Protein traffic at nascent neuronal contacts

Medicine

Psychiatry

Brain Research Centre

CLINICAL

Scholar

Beasley, Clare	Characterization of oligodendrocyte abnormalities in schizophrenia	Medicine	Psychiatry	Brain Research Centre
Christoff, Kalina	Rostrolateral prefrontal cortex modulation using real-time fMRI feedback training in healthy volunteers and depressed patients	Arts	Psychology	Brain Research Centre
Liu-Ambrose, Teresa	The effect of resistance training on cognitive performance, cortical plasticity, and fall risk in women aged 65 to 75 years old: A 12-month randomized controlled trial	Medicine	Rehabilitation Sciences (Physical Therapy)	Centre for Hip Health & Muscoloskeletal Research

Name of Award Recipient

Project Title

Supervisor

VCHRI Research Affiliation

BIOMEDICAL

Junior Graduate Studentship

Arjmandi Rafsanjani, Azadeh	Entry of dendritic cells into the brain: regulation by endothelial cell adhesion molecules and chemokines	Dr. Katerina Dorovini-Zis, Professor, Medicine / Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Bromley, Kelley	Role of Notch-1 in neurodegeneration and neuroprotection	Dr. Weihong Song, Jack Brown and Family Professorship and Chair in Alzheimer's Disease, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Dobie, Frederick	Role of Myosin Va in trafficking of neuronal vesicles	Dr. Ann Marie Craig, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Ferguson, Kyle	Meiotic errors in spermatogenesis: the role of recombination and synapsis in male-infertility and the production of aneuploid sperm	Dr. Sai Ma, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UBC
Giles, Andrew	The role of dopamine in learning and memory in Caenorhabditis elegans	Dr. Catharine Rankin, Professor, Arts / Psychology, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Lai, Ted	Activation of NR2A-containing NMDA receptor-mediated cell survival as a novel and innovative therapeutic strategy in the treatment of stroke	Dr. Yu-Tian Wang, Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Neurology), UBC	Brain Research Centre
Locke, Jennifer Jointly funded with VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation	Mechanistic approaches to androgen-independent prostate cancer	1. Dr. Colleen Nelson, Associate Professor, Medicine / Surgery and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC 2. Dr. Emma Guns, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Surgery, UBC	Prostate Centre at VGH Prostate Centre at VGH
Morse, Jennifer	Source, target and biological role of 14-3-3 proteins in rheumatoid arthritis	Dr. Aziz Ghahary, Professor, Medicine / Surgery, UBC	Immunity & Infection Research Centre
Thi, Emily Jointly funded with Genome BC	Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factors by pathogen effector protein screening in yeast (PEPSY)	Dr. Neil Reiner, Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Infectious Diseases)	Immunity & Infection Research Centre
Timbers, Tiffany	The role of CREB in long-term memory in Caenorhabditis elegans	Dr. Catharine Rankin, Professor, Arts / Psychology, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Walzak, Katherine	Neurexins and neuroligins in synapse development	Dr. Ann Marie Craig, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre

Senior Graduate Studentship

Gerrow, Kimberly	Trafficking of neuroligins during the formation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses	Dr. Alaa El-Husseini, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Karst, Alison	Melanoma gene therapy by conditional replicative adenovirus targeting PUMA and p-Akt	Dr. Gang Li, Associate Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Dermatology), UBC	Prostate Centre at VGH
Lise, Marie-France	Involvement of myosin V in glutamate receptor trafficking in neurons	Dr. Alaa El-Husseini, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Psychaitry, UBC	Brain Research Centre

Post Doctoral

Girouard, Helene	Neurovascular coupling: interplay between nitric oxide, adenosine and astrocytes	Dr. Brian MacVicar, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry	Brain Research Centre
Gordon, Grant	Neuronal astrocyte interactions underlie cerebral vasculature control	Dr. Brian MacVicar, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry	Brain Research Centre
Rose, Jacqueline	Uncovering cytoplasmic domains of NMDA receptors important for basal and activity-dependent trafficking to synapses	Dr. Ann Marie Craig, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry	Brain Research Centre

CLINICAL

Junior Graduate Studentship

Adam, Paul	Biophysical investigation of mutations in the P/Q type calcium channel associated with familial hemiplegic migraine	1. Dr. Sian Spacey, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Neurology), UBC 2. Dr. Terrance Snutch, Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories / Medicine, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Barakauskas, Vilte	Characterization of SNARE complex proteins in severe mental illness	Dr. William Honer, Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Bogusz, Elliott Jointly funded with Pacific Parkinsons Research Institute	The role of dopamine in depression	1. Dr. Jon Stoessl, Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Neurology), UBC 2. Dr. Lakshmi Yatham, Associate Professor, Medicine / Psychiatry, UBC	Brain Research Centre
Davis, Jennifer	Seniors at high risk of falls: clinical and economic studies	1. Dr. Karim Khan, Associate Professor, Medicine / Family Practice, UBC 2. Dr. Carlo Marra, Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC	Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
Levitz, Joshua	Femoroacetabular impingement as a predictor for Osteoarthritis of the hip	Dr. David Wilson, Associate Professor, Medicine / Orthopaedic Surgery, UBC	Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research

Senior Graduate Studentship

Avina-Zubieta, Juan	Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with the use of corticosteroids in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a population based study	1. Dr. John Esdaile, Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Rheumatology), UBC 2. Dr. Diane Lacaille, Assistant Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Rheumatology), UBC	Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research
Birmingham, Elina	Characterizing looking behaviours within social scenes: implications for a social deficit in autism	Dr. Alan Kingstone, Professor, Arts / Psychology, UBC
LaMarre, Amanda	Cognitive and behavioural characterization of individuals genetically at-risk for frontotemporal dementia	Dr. Howard Feldman, Professor, Medicine / Medicine (Neurology), UBC	Brain Research Centre

Post Doctoral

van Zoest, Wieske (Louise)

Stimulus-driven control in visual neglect: the role of awareness

1. Dr. Jason Barton, Professor, Medicine / Ophthamology and Visual Sciences, UBC 2. Dr. Alan Kingstone, Professor, Arts / Psychology, UBC

Brain Research Centre

HEALTH SERVICES

Junior Graduate Studentship

McTaggart-Cowan, Helen

Evaluating patients' preferences for asthma therapy using a discrete choice experiment

1. Dr. Aslam Anis, Professor, Medicine / Health Care and Epidemiology, UBC 2. Dr. Larry Lynd, Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC

Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation

Senior Graduate Studentship

Krawczyk, Marian	Dying for choices: decision making in end-of-life care	Dr. Cindy Patton, Professor, Arts and Social Sciences / Sociology and Anthropology / Women's Studies, SFU
Woolcott, John	Economic studies in BC seniors at high risk of injurious falls	1. Dr. Carlo Marra, Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC 2. Dr. Karim Khan, Associate Professor, Medicine / Family Practice, UBC	Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research

Post Doctoral

Egan, John

Supporting success: the role of mentorship in increased health services research capacity

Dr. Allan Best, Clinical Professor, Medicine / Health Care and Epidemiology, UBC

Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation

POPULATION HEALTH

Junior Graduate Studentship

Kupferschmidt, Anthony Jointly funded with BC Medical Services Foundation	Death anxiety and spousal caregiving of persons with dementia	Dr. Norm O'Rourke, Assistant Professor, Arts and Social Sciences / Gerontology, SFU
Ratzlaff, Charles	Physical activity, local joint factors and Osteoarthritis	Dr. Jacek Kopec, Associate Professor, Medicine / Health Care and Epidemiology, UBC	Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research

Senior Graduate Studentship

Bedford, Jennifer	A prospective exploration of associations among cognitive dietary restraint, cortisol excretion, ovarian function and bone health in premenopausal women	Dr. Susan Barr, Professor, Land and Food Systems / Food, Nutrition and Health, UBC
Sayre, Eric	Cluster analysis for high-dimensionality population health data	1. Dr. Jacek Kopec, Associate Professor, Medicine / Health Care and Epidemiology, UBC 2. Dr. K. Laurence Weldon, Associate Professor, Science / Statistics and Actuarial Science, SFU	Centre for Hip Health & Musculoskeletal Research

Congratulations to the following new Michael Smith Foundation Award recipients for the 2005 Career Investigator Awards.

Health Sciences

Carlo Mara
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation (C2E2) & Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Project: Pharmacist identification of new, diagnostically confirmed osteoarthritis (PHIND-OA)

Population Health

Larry Lynd
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation (C2E2) & Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Project: Evaluating socioeconomic status differences in patient preferences for asthma therapy using discrete choice experimentation

Biomedical

Alasdair Barr
Brain Research Centre and Department of Psychiatry
Project: Relevance of the presynaptic protein Complexin II to schizophrenia

MSFHR Trainee Awards:
Congratulations to VCHRI Trainees

Congratulations to the following trainees who were successful in the most recent Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Trainee Awards Competition. The MSFHR announced the winners on March 18, 2005. For more details on the successful trainees and their project titles, go to www.msfhr.org

JUNIOR GRADUATE STUDENTSHIPS

Sarah Allan, Surgery (Supervisor: Dr. Megan Levings)
Derek Dunfield, Cellular and Physiological Sciences (Supervisor: Dr. Kurt Haas)
Wei Hung Kuo*, Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. Gang Li)
Grace Lam, Experimental Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. Anthony Chow)
Peter deBakker, Mechanical Engineering (Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Oxland)
Babak Khorram, Psychiatry (Supervisor: Dr. William Honer)
Shannon Lund, Psychology (Supervisors: Dr. Wendy Loken Thornton and Dr. R. Jean Shapiro)
Leah Prentice*, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. David Huntsman)
Shelagh Szabo, Health Care & Epidemiology (Supervisor: Dr. Patti Janssen)

SENIOR GRADUATE STUDENTSHIPS

Heather McDonald, Nursing (Supervisor: Dr. Joan Anderson)
Natasha Crellin, Experimental Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. Megan Levings)
Yingru Liu, Neurosciences (Supervisor: Dr. Max Cynader)
Kin Cheung (Philip) Ng, Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. Gang Li)

POST-DOCTORAL AWARDS

Carolyn Anglin, Mechanical Engineering (Supervisors: Dr. Anthony Hodgson and Dr. Bassam Masri)
Ala-Eddine Deghmane, Infectious Diseases (Supervisor: Dr. Zakaria Hmama)
Andrew Hall, Surgery (Supervisors: Dr. Megan Levings and Dr. Michael Grigg)
John Howland, Medicine (Supervisor: Dr. Yu Tian Wang)
Saija Kontulainen, Orthopaedics (Supervisors: Dr. Heather MacKay and Dr. Thomas Oxland)

*These trainees' awards are jointly funded by the MSFHR and the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.