Health Research BC Trainee Program

Michael Smith Health Research BC (Health Research BC) is British Columbia’s research funding agency, with a main priority to discover and retain high-potential researchers that will work in BC’s health sector.

The Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute is currently in partnership with the Health Research BC Trainee Program, with the goal to expand the talent pool of Parkinson’s researchers. The Health Research BC Trainee program provides salary to support talented post-doctoral or health professional researchers, in order to further their career in the field. The program is meant to launch and prepare researchers for their careers in research, biotech, health policy, and other related areas. As a partner, PPRI sets the parameters under which a candidate would be selected for funding and fits in with PPRI's goals and mandate. Once a candidate is chosen, PPRI contributes to the funding of the trainee, thus expanding the talent pool of Parkinson’s researchers.

Trainees

The most recent trainee of the Health Research BC Trainee Program is Dr. Pierre-Andre Gilormini. Dr. Gilormini is completing his studies at Simon Fraser University, focusing on using a genome-wide screen to identify genetic modulators of glucocerebrosidase (GCase) activity, one of the greatest genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease. The discovery of new genes that regulate GCase could provide new targets for potential treatments.

Dr. Serena Singh was a previous trainee of the Health Research BC Trainee Program. Dr. Singh conducted research at St. Paul's Hospital in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of her research was to develop a test to identify dementia with Lewy bodies, and to develop a test to diagnose and distinguish dementia from Alzheimer’s disease. She collaborated with Dr. Appel-Cresswell on this project.

Your investment goes beyond funding projects and talented individuals today. By contributing to PPRI, your gift impacts the future by empowering talented individuals to conduct ground-breaking research. Invest into the future of Parkinson’s research today and donate now.