Meet Adam — An avid hockey fan who has dedicated his career to spinal cord injury research.
Q: What is your role in health research?
A: I’m currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia working under the supervision of Dr. Brian Kwon. I am also working as a research liaison at the Blusson Spinal Cord Center, connecting people with spinal cord injuries to ongoing work at our facility.
Q: How did you arrive at your research area of interest?
A: My research focuses on developing and testing wireless, catheter-free pressure sensors to assess bladder dysfunction in people living with spinal cord injuries. My work has always revolved around spinal cord injury in some capacity, and I was eager to work at the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) to learn from experts in the field.
Q: What is the best part of your research job?
A: I have been fortunate to work with some amazing colleagues during my PhD, including those at ICORD, the UBC Centre for Comparative Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic. Getting the opportunity to collaborate and solve problems with so many brilliant minds has been the best part of this experience and has opened my eyes to many new perspectives.
Q: What is one of the proudest moments of your career so far?
A: A memorable experience was participating in a clinical trial in Cleveland to evaluate a device that I helped optimize and develop. After so many hours spent tirelessly working on this device, seeing it used clinically was an incredible achievement. Getting into medical school was pretty cool too!
Q: What is your healthiest habit?
A: Given how heavy the workload can be with graduate studies, coming up with tools to balance work with effective downtime has been huge for me. Exercise and spending time outside really helps me shake off day-to-day stressors. Developing a consistent meditation practice has also been a great way to manage my emotions and become more aware of how external factors are affecting my overall well-being.
Q: What do you do for fun in your spare time?
A: Being a hockey fan from Ottawa, I have followed the Ottawa Senators since I was young. On gameday, you can usually find me cheering for the Sens either on my couch or at a nearby sports bar.
Q: What is your favourite movie?
A: One of my favourite movies is “Good Will Hunting”. I’ve always loved Robin Williams’ character and how he works with Matt Damon’s character. In particular, the scene where they’re sitting on a park bench looking over the water in Boston is so moving — it gets me every time.
Q: Who inspires you?
A: Dr. Brian Kwon has been an inspiring role model as I set myself up to pursue a career in health care after my PhD. His work ethic is simply unmatched. I’ve learned so much from him about hard work, scientific integrity and patience when facing many difficult challenges.
Q: What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
A: I would be kinder to myself. Every misstep is a valuable lesson that contributes to growth and development, so it is crucial to trust that everything will eventually fall into place.
