By Amarpreet Grewal
The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) supports a vibrant community of researchers in BC that is actively developing new treatments and cures, responding to emerging health issues, and improving the delivery of health care. The MSFHR Scholar Program is designed to foster the development of outstanding health researchers in BC. The purpose of the awards is to allow young investigators to build a leading research program and expand their potential to make significant contributions in their field. The selection committee considers one’s scientific productivity, originality, institutional commitment and impact in research.
Congratulations to the 3 CBR current and past members who have received this award:
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Dr. Christian Kastrup “Intravascular Materials to Control Thrombosis and Haemostasis” Dr. Kastrup is a principal investigator at the CBR and an associate professor at the Michael Smith Laboratories. This MSFHR supported project will investigate the components and mechanisms that cause blood clots to selectively adhere to injured blood vessels. It will also use these findings to explore ways to engineer new materials that mimic these properties to target drugs to damaged blood vessels. The project aims to produce a treatment for postpartum hemorrhage in order to save the lives of new mothers, and to contribute to broader prevention and treatment of hemorrhage and thrombosis.
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Dr. Jennifer Gardy “BRIDGE-MTB: Bringing Integrated Data, Genomics, and Evaluation to Mycobacteria and Tuberculosis” Dr. Gardy is a former postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Hancock’s lab at the CBR. Currently, she is a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Disease Control and a host of CBC’s The Nature of Things. Her MSFHR funded work will explore how we can use genomics to diagnose tuberculosis and whether we can use genomic epidemiology to control outbreaks. This project seeks to improve BC’s practice and policy on testing, treating, controlling and understanding TB and NTMs.
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Dr. Phillipp Lange “Translational Proteomics and Systems Biology of Pediatric Malignancies” Dr. Lange is a former postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Overall’s lab at the CBR. He is now a principal investigator researching proteomics in childhood cancer. He is using the MSFHR funding to identify new diagnostic targets in difficult to treat pediatric cancers by integrating advanced protein analysis of patient tumor biopsies with cell and computational models. The ultimate goal of the project is to contribute to improved quality of life for childhood cancer survivors, reduce the socio-economic burden, and add to treatment options for children with cancer. |