UTCSP Trainee Scholarship Recipients 2011-2012
Dr. Mike Hildebrand completed his PhD studying voltage-gated calcium channels in Terry Snutch’s laboratory at UBC. As an Industrial R & D Fellow, he went on to identify and characterize a novel class of ion channel blockers for the potential treatment of pain. Mike is now a postdoctoral fellow in Mike Salter’s laboratory and is combining behavioural and electrophysiological approaches to explore functional interactions between distinct spinal cord nociceptive signalling pathways.
Ms. Mary-Ellen Hogan is a pharmacist who has just completed a Master of Science at the University of Toronto with Dr Anna Taddio as her supervisor. Her thesis research was a randomized controlled trial that investigated tactile stimulation to reduce pain from immunization in infants. She has just begun a PhD and plans to conduct an economic analysis of a knowledge translation program for immunization pain management in infants.
Mr. Aaron Kucyi is a Master's student in the Institute of Medical Science at University of Toronto under the supervision of Karen Davis at Toronto Western Research Institute. He is researching the dynamic interactions between pain and attention, with a focus on the role of activity fluctuations in human brain networks. His work combines pain psychophysics (behavioural testing) with neuroimaging (structural and functional MRI) to provide insight into the mechanisms of spontaneous chronic pain.
Ms. Sheila O'Keefe-McCarthy is in the 5th year of a PhD in Nursing. Her doctoral dissertation examines the relationship of pain management, pain, and anxiety for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients while awaiting transfer for urgent diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Sheila is an active trainee member on, the University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain involved in the U of T Interfaculty Pain Curriculum (IPC), and has recently completed her two year role as the national trainee representative on the Canadian Pain Society Executive Board of Directors for 2009-2011.
Dr. Qi Wu was an Anesthesiologist in China. He finished his PhD with Dr. James Henry at McMaster on mechanisms of osteoarthritis pain in 2010. His current postdoc research with Dr. Karen Davis is in mechanisms of pain and fatigue in Ankylosing Spondylistis patients. He is interested in clinical pain management.