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In 2005, the Chair of the BC Epilepsy Society signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) to jointly fund the best available epilepsy researchers in British Columbia.
In 2006, the two organizations funded the first provincially-based epilepsy research through the financial support of Dr. Veronica Schiariti’s grant on population health research on epilepsy in BC. The results of her research are highlighted in her article in the fall 2007 issue of our Society newsletter. Dr. Schiariti's results were published in the January 2009 issue of The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. The title of her paper was, Period Prevalence of Epilepsy in Children in BC: A Population-Based Study. Click here to view a PDF version of her article.
In 2007, we jointly funded a biomedical research grant for PhD candidate Mr. Kirk Mulatz. The title of his research is "Modulation of Cav3.2 T-type calcium channels through neuronal nitric oxide synthasase activity". An outline of his research is highlighted in the spring 2007 issue of our Society newsletter.
In 2008, we jointly funded a postdoctoral biomedical research grant for Dr. Jun Liu. The title of his research is the "Role of Akt phosphorylation of GluR1 subunit of AMPA receptors in the receptor trafficking and synaptic plasticity". An outline of his research is highlighted in the spring 2008 issue of our Society newsletter. An update on Dr. Liu's research is included in the fall 2009 issue of our Society newsletter. In the fall of 2010, Dr. Liu's manuscript titled "Allosteric potentiation of glycine receptor chloride currents by glutamate" was published in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience.
In 2011, we funded Dr. Stuart Cain's fifth year of a five-year post-doctoral research project in the Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC. Dr. Cain's research investigates the pathophysiological contributions of altered T-type calcium channel activity in thalamocortical network hyperexcitability and absence epilepsy. Simply stated, this means determining the underlying cause of seizures in a genetic model of absence epilepsy. In February of 2012, Dr. Cain's research was published in Science Translational Medicine. The grant from the BC Epilepsy Society is the largest we've ever awarded.
The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research accepts applications on behalf of our partnership and conducts the peer review process of all grant applicants. For more information, please go to their website.
If you or your company would like to financially support a grant for a future-funded researcher, please contact our Executive Director at laari@bcepilepsy.com.
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