UBC Applied Science researchers receive support from Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research

Four early-career UBC Applied Science researchers have been named Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Scholars.

UBC School of Nursing professor Farinaz Havaei and UBC School of Biomedical Engineering professors Ali Bashashati, Anna Blakney and Nika Shakiba were recognized for "building leading-edge health research programs, training the next generation of scientists and expanding their potential to make significant contributions to their field." 

Aimed at supporting outstanding researchers who are within five years of the start of their first institutional appointment as an independent investigator, the MSFHR Scholar program provides $90,000 a year in salary support over a five-year period.

MSFHR also named Daniele Agostinelli, a postdoctoral fellow in the UBC Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sarah Crowe, a research fellow at the UBC School of Nursing; and Tara Horrill, a UBC Nursing postdoctoral fellow, among this year's MSFHR Research Trainees. With awards of $45,000 in annual salary support for up to three years, the MSFHR Research Trainee program seeks to help prepare talented researchers who are in their training phase for "successful careers in research, biotech, health policy and more."

This year, MSFHR awarded funding to 86 researchers at institutions across the province, including 18 scholars and 43 research trainees at UBC. For more information about the UBC recipients, please see the announcement on the UBC Research + Innovation website.

UBC APPLIED SCIENCE FUNDING RECIPIENTS

MSFHR SCHOLARS

Ali Bashashati (School of Biomedical Engineering)
AI-driven integration of omics and histopathology for biomarker discovery in cancer

Anna Blakney (School of Biomedical Engineering/Michael Smith Laboratories)
Antibody therapies encoded in self-amplifying RNA

Farinaz Havaei (Nursing)
Promoting workplace psychological health and safety of the nursing workforce in the long-term care sector

Nika Shakiba (School of Biomedical Engineering)
Unlocking the competitive potential of pluripotent stem cells: Towards novel stem cell therapeutics

MSFHR RESEARCH TRAINEES

Daniele Agostinelli (Mechanical Engineering)
The role of mechanics in EMT and cancer metastasis

Sarah Crowe (Nursing) 
Understanding critical care nurses’ prioritization of patient care

Tara Horrill (Nursing)
Advancing health equity in the cancer care sector: Identifying organizational and contextual factors impacting the integration of equity-oriented healthcare for marginalized populations