Dr. Manoj Paul awarded a first-place research award, to represent Canada at international competition

March 3, 2022

Dr. Manoj Paul, who won a CADR-NCOHR Student Research Award and also placed first in the competition's Senior Basic Science Research Category

Dr. Manoj Paul

Congratulations to Dr. Manoj Paul, who won a CADR-NCOHR Student Research Award and also placed first in the competition’s Senior Basic Science Research Category! He will be one of two awardees representing Canada at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Hatton Competition, which takes place in June.

“I never expected that I would place first at the CADR-NCOHR awards, since it’s a national competition,” said Manoj, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Kim Lab at the UBC Centre for Blood Research (CBR) and Faculty of Dentistry.

“But I was really glad when I learned that I would be representing Canada at the IADR conference as a Hatton competitor. It was a joyous and honorable moment to be receiving such an important award, and I’m grateful for my colleagues, people around me and the place that I work.”

Manoj’s research explores platelet granule secretion, the process through which platelets release packages called granules into the bloodstream, and how this process is controlled by cytoskeletal proteins. He is looking at a specific protein called gelsolin, and how it controls this process.

“At the Hatton competition, I will be presenting on the processes through which gelsolin regulates hemostasis, by modulating the actin cytoskeleton of platelets and dense granule secretion,” he shared.

“[I] was really glad when I learned that I would be representing Canada at the IADR conference as a Hatton competitor. It was a joyous and honorable moment to be receiving such an important award…”
— Dr. Manoj Paul

In 2021-2022, a total of 13 CADR-NCOHR Student Research Awards were given out, including 2 first-place awards, one in the Senior Basic Science Research Category and one in the Senior Clinical/Pre-Clinical Research Category. The CADR-NCOHR Student Research Awards are sponsored by the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR) and by the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research (NCOHR).

Congratulations, Manoj! Well-deserved!