Congratulations to the DMCBH trainees who are among the 44 emerging researchers being funded by Michael Smith Health Research BC through its 2024 Research Trainee competition. These awards support talented postdoctoral or health professional researchers to build their careers in British Columbia. Research trainees increase the productivity of their teams and help drive discoveries that improve the health of people and communities. 

Learn more about the funded projects:

 

Mehwish Anwer
Postdoctoral Fellow

Project title: Using unbiased whole brain methods to understand how impact direction affects the neuropathology of traumatic brain injury in mice
Supervisor: Dr. Cheryl Wellington
Research location: Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and often caused by falls, motor vehicle accidents, sports, and violence. Most TBIs are mild (concussion-like) and involve head motion in one or more planes. Although many clinical studies show that complex rotational head motion is associated with worse outcomes, the underlying reasons are unknown. My project aims to fill this gap by determining how head motion during impact relates to changes in levels of injury blood biomarkers and brain pathology in mice. Using our established non-surgical TBI model called CHIMERA (to imitate human TBI), I will deliver impact to the back or side of the head, and measure how the head moves during these impacts using high-speed cameras. I will use cutting edge tissue clearing method to examine brain in 3D and map changes in neuronal activity, axonal and vascular integrity. I will test how these impacts lead to changes in blood biomarkers using clinically relevant tests. Overall, this study will help us understand how impact biomechanics relates to TBI outcomes, which is tremendously important for the future design of helmets and other safety equipment, sport coaching, and concussion rehabilitation.

 

Jordyn Rice
Postdoctoral Fellow

Project title: SuPA Mobility: Supporting Physical Activity for Mobility in Older Adults with Mobility Limitations
Supervisor: Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose
Research location: Centre for Hip Health and Mobility (CHHM)

Problem: As individuals age, they have a greater risk of limited mobility, or difficulty in getting around safely in one’s environment. Limited mobility is linked to illness, disease, and decreased quality of life.

Recent research show increasing physical activity by 6-minutes per day can improve mobility and prevent future disability. Despite the positive impacts on health, many older Canadians do not perform sufficient physical activity. Health coaching, a person-centered process to change behaviors with goal-setting, action planning, and feedback, is effective at improving physical activity participation in older adults. However, none of the previous health coaching studies included older adults with limited mobility.

Research: This study aims to address this knowledge gap to evaluate if health coaching can improve mobility and increase physical activity in older adults with limited mobility. We will conduct a 6-month study comparing health coaching to health education on improving mobility in older adults aged with limited mobility.

Potential Impact: Increasing physical activity through the use of health coaching has the potential to improve mobility and decrease the negative health impacts of limited mobility in older adults.

 

Santanu Sasidharan
Postdoctoral Fellow

Project title: Development of mutation-robust vaccines and antibodies, and their implications for the evolution of SARS-CoV-2
Supervisor: Dr. Steven Plotkin
Research location: Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Michael Smith Laboratories

COVID-19 has caused over 774 million cases and 7.02 million deaths worldwide as of February, 2024. The causative RNA virus, SARS-CoV-2, has the ability to rapidly mutate genetically, and these mutations allow it to swiftly infect with increased efficacy and/or severity. These mutations are of concern because they allow SARS-CoV-2 to evade not only antibodies formed by natural infection or vaccines, but also recombinant antibody therapeutics. With new variants emerging roughly every other month, it will not be long before the current repertoire of antibodies and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 becomes obsolete. Although it is difficult to predict the mutations in the next variant, it is possible with current technologies to examine potential mutations and the activity of such mutated variants. In this proposal, we will test the robustness of mutation-tolerant de novo vaccines and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. We also seek to understand how SARS-CoV-2 evolves over time and to decipher the mechanism of antigenic escape from diverse antibodies. This platform can guide us in the design of better therapeutics to combat current and future variants of SARS-CoV-2, and other viruses.