UBC faculty of medicine’s Drs. Shannon Kolind and Tamara Vanderwal are among 20 early-career researchers recently awarded Brain Canada grants of $100,000 each.
Dr. Shannon Kolind
Dr. Kolind is an associate professor in the department of medicine’s division of neurology. This grant will support her project, “Portable Low Field MRI for Application in Multiple Sclerosis”, with the short-term goal of modifying MRI techniques for low magnetic field and proving their utility for use in multiple sclerosis. The longer-term goal of the project is to provide improved patient access to MRI, enabling faster diagnosis and better disease management.
Dr. Vanderwal is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry. This grant will support her project, “Functional Hyperalignment in Pediatric fMRI,” which focuses on improving how one of the standard preprocessing steps in pediatric fMRI research is conducted.
Brain Canada’s Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program is designed to fund the boldest and brightest ideas at the most critical juncture of a researcher’s career – the beginning. The grant program allows researchers in need of seed funding to pursue novel ideas, while establishing sustainable resources to maintain independent and career-long research positions.
Dr. Tamara Vanderwal
Funding for the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program received financial support from Health Canada, through the Canada Brain Research Fund, an innovative partnership between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada, and the Azrieli Foundation, the Arrell Family Foundation and the Alvin Segal Family Foundation.
A version of this story originally appeared on the Brain Canada website.