Owerko Centre Trainee Award Recipients
Celebrating the achievements of Owerko Centre trainees
Owerko Centre Training and Education Grant
The Owerko Centre Trainee and Education Grant provides an opportunity for Owerko Centre graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to obtain further training in new methods and techniques that will enhance their research skills and projects.
Delaney Barth
“Receiving funding from the Owerko Center allowed me to take part in the Omics Data Science Course offered by the Xia Lab at McGill University. This opportunity has helped me develop skills and proficiency in multiomics data analysis (specifically in tools like MetaboAnalyst), and I have been able to directly apply the concepts from the course to my master's thesis on the relationships between hygiene practices, social contact and the early-life gut microbiome. I am incredibly grateful for the support and hope to use what I've learned as a foundation in the next steps of my research career!”
Delaney Barth, Master's Student, 2024 Recipient
Supervisor: Dr. Gerry Giesbrecht, PhD
Yu-Yun Gao
“I am honored to receive this funding for my lab visit at the University of Montreal. My project aims to delve into the underlying mechanisms of direct neuronal reprogramming and enhancing efficiency. Receiving the Owerko Centre funding not only alleviates financial constraints but also acknowledges the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. This opportunity will enable me to acquire essential skills for my thesis and further my research endeavors."
Yu-Yun Gao, PhD student, 2024 Recipient
Supervisor: Dr. Guang Yang, PhD
Owerko Centre Spark Grant
The Owerko Centre Spark Grant provides an opportunity for Owerko Centre graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to expand their research scope and skillset beyond their current expertise. The purpose of this grant is to support successful applicants in initiating new techniques, experiments, and collaborations that will complement their current thesis/research projects.
Shefali Rai
“The Owerko Centre Spark Grant is pivotal for my PhD by enabling collaboration with Dr. Deanna Greene's lab in UC San Deigo, which will enhance my third and last thesis aim. My supervisor and I first met Dr. Greene at the Flux Congress in California and discovered our research was complimentary to theirs. Through this lab exchange and training week, I will gain expertise in novel tools and methods that I can apply to our pediatric precision fMRI study. Funding opportunities like this grant are crucial as they help foster innovate research and international collaborations.”
Shefali Rai, PhD Student, 2024 Recipient
Supervisor: Dr. Signe Bray
Mashiat Zaman
“Being awarded the Owerko Centre Trainee Spark Grant is truly transformative. It empowers me to surpass the boundaries of my current expertise, whether by investigating cells directly derived from the human brain or testing therapeutics in disease models for currently-incurable conditions. I'm deeply grateful for the chance to push boundaries, overcome obstacles, and make significant contributions to the progress of science and society. I sincerely hope that more funding opportunities like this one emerge to ignite curiosity in young scientists and encourage them to explore the uncharted territories of knowledge."
Mashiat Zaman, PhD student, 2024 Recipient
Supervisor: Dr. Tim Shutt, PhD
Owerko Centre Pathways to Independence Grant
This grant enables early-career investigators to conduct research in areas aligned with the Owerko Centre mandate of advancing neurodevelopment and child mental health. This grant is intended to provide a mechanism for fellows and research associates to launch the next independent phase of their career.
Dr. Marcela Davoli Ferreira
"I am thrilled to be awarded with the Owerko Centre Pathways to Independence Grant as it represents an important step in my career as a researcher. It will provide crucial financial support to develop my project that focuses on investigating the role of microbiota in neurodevelopmental disorders. Furthermore, it will give me a better chance to obtain more external funding in the future as an independent researcher. I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to making the most of it to advance further with important contributions to the field."
Dr. Marcela Davoli Ferreira, Postdoctoral Associate, 2024 Recipient
Dr. Kathy McCoy's lab
Dr. Dorit Moehrle
"The Owerko Centre Pathways to Independence Grant means invaluable support for my research investigating sound hypersensitivity and associated pain in neurodevelopmental disorders through funds for supplies & materials and for dissemination of results. I hope that my research will contribute to a better understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in sound hypersensitivity and, in the long term, promote targeted support options to help improve the daily lives of affected individuals and their families/caregivers.Funding opportunities like this are essential for students, trainees and postdocs; to acquire more advanced skills, make significant and innovative discoveries, and prepare for future independent research."
Dr. Dorit Moehrle, Postdoctoral Associate, 2024 Recipient
Dr. Ning Cheng's Lab
Dr. Perri Tutelman
Project: Co-create and evaluate the first eHealth transdiagnostic CBT intervention for adolescent survivors of childhood cancer
Dr. Perri Tutelman, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2024 Recipient
Dr. Melanie Noel's lab
Dr. Jing Zheng
“I am grateful for being awarded the Owerko Center Pathways to Independence Grant. My research hope is to provide mechanistic evidence as to how maternal microbiome affects offspring sleeping and identify potential therapeutics for sleeping issues. The funding opportunities provided by the Owerko Center plays indispensable roles in empowering the students, trainees, and postdocs to conduct innovative research with adequate flexibility in the field of brain and child mental health.”
Dr. Jing Zheng, Postdoctoral Scholar, 2024 Recipient
Dr. Deborah Kurrasch's Lab
Previous funding recipients
| Name | Award | Year | Project Title | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Daniel Comaduran Marquez, PhD | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2022 | National Centre for Adaptive Neurotechnologies (NCAN) Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) workshop | Dr. Adam Kirton |
| Dr. Erin McCabe, PhD | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2022 | Value-Based Healthcare Short Course | Dr. Jennifer Zwicker |
| Lilit Antonyan | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Genome-Wide Association Study of Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors and Imaging Endophenotypes. | Dr. Paul Arnold |
| Richard Besney | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Suicidality and its Association to Cortisol Awakening Response in Youth with Autism. | Dr. Carly McMorris |
| Jeniffer Nicole Camacho Soto | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Effectiveness of Secondary and Tertiary Prevention for Adolescent Dating Violence: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Study of Survivors' Experiences. | Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens |
| Kiran Mahadev Isapure | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Objective evaluation of spasticity and the impacts following robotics gait training in children with Cerebral palsy. | Dr. Elizabeth Condliffe |
| Min Jae Kim | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Gene by environment interaction study of major depressive disorder and peer victimization in a paediatric population. | Dr. Paul Arnold |
| Stefan Kurbatfinski | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Potential Moderators of the Association Between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Preschool Children's Behavioural Problems: A Prospective Cohort Study. | Dr. Nicole Letourneau |
| Darcy Large | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Exploring what elementary teachers understand about the female presentation of autism. | Dr. Adam McCrimmon |
| Kirsten Neprily | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | You've Got a Friend in Me - Examination of Evidence-Based Social Skills Program for Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. | Dr. Emma Climie |
| Anita Oomen | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Youth expectations and experiences with psychiatric pharmacogenetic testing - A mixed methods design. | Dr. Chad Bousman |
| Mashiat Zaman | Owerko Centre Graduate Scholarship Award | 2022 | Investigating the mechanistic basis of Mitofusin2 variants leading to disease. | Dr. Timothy Shutt |
| Dr. Gillian England-Mason, PhD | Owerko Centre Trainee and Community Partnership Award | 2022 | Exploring the Suitability of Adapting a Parenting Program for Indigenous Communities: A Partnership with the Miskanawah Community Service Association. | Dr. Deborah Dewey |
| Shefali Rai | Owerko Centre Knowledge Dissemination and Engagement Award | 2021 | Co-Director of Community Engagement for Neuro Nexus 2020 | Dr. Signe Bray |
| Dr. Brae Anne McArthur, PhD | Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award | 2021 | Trajectories of screen use during early childhood: predictors and associated behavior and learning outcomes. | Dr. Sheri Madigan & Dr. Suzanne Tough |
| Dr. Sabine Soltani, PhD | Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award | 2021 | Attentional biases in pediatric chronic pain: An eye-tracking study assessing the nature of the bias and its relation to attentional control. | Dr. Melanie Noel |
| Dr. Elizabeth Baker, PhD | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2020 | Improving Child and Youth Health Outcomes Through Translational Research | Dr. Deinera Exner-Cortens |
| Narae Ju | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2020 | Advanced Statistical Techniques for Eye-Tracking Research | Dr. Susan Graham |
| Jelena Komanchuk | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2020 | Training on the Simple Interactions Tool to Improve Parent-Child Interaction Assessments for Children Exposed to Early Adversity | Dr. Nicole Letourneau |
| Dr. Gillian England-Mason, PhD | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2020 | Advanced Statistical Training in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) | Dr. Deborah Dewey |
| Daphne Nakhid | Owerko Centre Training and Education Award | 2020 | Internalizing Behaviours and Iron Accumulation in Youth with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure | Dr. Catherine Lebel & Dr. Carly McMorris |
| Preeti Kar | Owerko Centre Knowledge Dissemination and Engagement Award | 2020 | Knowledge-to-Action: Translating Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Calgary | Dr. Catherine Lebel |
| Dr. Nicole Racine, PhD | Owerko Centre Knowledge Dissemination and Engagement Award | 2020 | Project title: Study of Adversity and Resilience (SOAR) Project | Dr. Sheri Madigan & Dr. Suzanne Tough |
| Dennis Dimond | Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award | 2020 | Reduced white matter fiber density in Autism Spectrum Disorder | Dr. Signe Bray |
| Dr. Rochelle Hentges, PhD | Owerko Centre Trainee Publication Award | 2020 | Heterogeneous trajectories of delayed communicative development from 12 to 36 months: Predictors and consequences | Dr. Susan Graham & Dr. Sheri Madigan |