DMCBH members leading four UBC Research Excellence Clusters in 2023-24

UBC’s Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation has announced a total of 38 emerging and established Research Excellence Clusters that will be supported with funding in 2023/24. Research Excellence Clusters are interdisciplinary networks of researchers addressing societal and cultural problems, and working together to solve challenges that transcend traditional boundaries associated with departments, institutions, and funding agencies.

Learn more about the four Research Excellence Clusters that are being led by DMCBH researchers.

Established Cluster:

Dynamic Brain Circuits in Health and Disease Research Excellence Cluster

The Dynamic Brain Circuits in Health and Disease cluster seeks mechanistic insight into normal and dysfunctional brain circuits across nervous system illnesses and injuries. We accelerate these insights by strengthening the collaborative research environment through networks of peer tutors that support local and international workshops and the development of new course material. Emerging neuroscience tools include expanded tissue microscopy and fully synthetic model brains and organisms that help inform and guide therapeutics. Through these efforts all faculty, staff, and trainees gain access to physical infrastructure and technology training in addressing questions around brain circuit function that embrace data-driven methodologies.

Cluster Lead: Tim Murphy

Emerging Clusters:

CEREBRI

The Collaborative Entity for ceREBrovasculaR Ischemia (CEREBRI) is an emerging cluster comprised of multidisciplinary health professionals, clinician-scientists, health policy-makers, neuroscientists, UBC academic Faculty of Medicine Departments / Divisions as well as patient & family partners who are collectively focused on improving the clinical outcomes of British Columbians with diseases emanating from cerebral ischemia. The cluster will focus its main research themes on creating new and novel projects that are based upon forging breakthroughs in the diagnosis, management and understanding the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia based diseases in humans.

Cluster Lead: Mypinder Sekhon

MATRIX-N: Multidisciplinary Alliance for Translational Research and Innovation in Neuropsychiatry

There is an urgent unmet clinical need for innovative health solutions and new, more effective treatments to improve patient outcomes. The Multidisciplinary Alliance for Translational Research and Innovation in Neuropsychiatry (MATRIX-N) seeks to bridge gaps between neuroscience/psychiatry research, clinical practice and patient needs to facilitate innovative solutions to local and global mental health challenges. Two promising research strategies to address clinical gaps are the integration of foundational and clinical research, and concept of ‘reverse translation’, which prioritizes insights from clinicians, front-line health workers, and patients in inspiring translational research with potential for immediate and significant clinical impact.

Cluster Lead: Anthony Phillips

Vision allows us to connect to each other, navigate the world and promote societal change.  The Vision Research Cluster is a network of vision and technical experts focused on new foundational discoveries to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of eye and brain disorders by state-of-the-art methods in engineering, AI, neuroimaging, telemedicine, proteomics and super-resolution microscopy.

Cluster Lead: Joanne Matsubara