Brain Star Award (biweekly awards to trainees)
November 1, 2004

I was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where I attended Lakehead University and completed my BSc. (Hons.) in Psychology. In September 1997, I moved to Edmonton, AB to begin my Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Tessa Gordon, at the University Centre for Neuroscience. My thesis work focused on designing therapeutic strategies to improve nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous system. Specifically, I was interested in examining the role of growth factors and their receptors in motor axon regeneration. After completing my PhD I moved to Kingston, ON in September 2001 to do a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Michael Kawaja in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Queen's University. In collaboration with Dr. Ron Doucette (at the University of Saskatchewan) we began examining the feasibility of using cellular transplants to promote nerve regeneration after spinal cord injury. Specifically, we implant support cells isolated from the olfactory bulb of fetal rats into the spinal cord of adult rats that have undergone a spinal cord injury. These support cells promote the continual new growth of olfactory axons throughout the adult life of mammals-the only axons in the adult nervous system to perform such a feat.

In September of 2002, I began medical school at Queen's University. With the support of a part-time post-doctoral fellowship from the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, I have been able to continue working in Dr. Kawaja's laboratory for the past two years while pursuing my medical studies.