> Backgrounder: Award honours Down syndrome partnerships
Backgrounder: Award honours Down syndrome partnerships
November 19, 2008
The Down Syndrome Research Foundation (DSRF) is the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Partnership award, recognizing its work with partners in the health research community – including a key player, Simon Fraser University.
The award acknowledges the DSRF for partnering with researchers and experts from leading universities and medical institutions, noting “chief among them, Simon Fraser University,” which has helped to promote research and education in the area of Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
“One of our strongest relationships is with SFU,” says DSRF director Dawn McKenna, who receives the award in Ottawa on Nov. 19. “The support of president Michael Stevenson and other key individuals since our inception has helped to ensure the success of two capital campaigns, resulting in a unique centre and research lab, and has helped to foster research projects involving collaborations with experts from around the world.”
The DSRF facility opened in Burnaby in 1995 and, through collaborative efforts with SFU to obtain funding, secured a state-of-the-art magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imaging unit – the only one of its kind in Western Canada - that is used by several SFU faculty members involved in behavioural and electrophysiological research.
“I applaud the Down Syndrome Research Foundation for their success in building research collaborations that are achieving a real impact in the quality of life for children with Down syndrome and their families,” says Mario Pinto, SFU’s vice president, research.
Pinto says the facility has attracted and continues to attract outstanding behavioural neuroscience researchers to B.C., including Urs Ribary, a MEG expert and SFU’s B.C. Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. “He envisioned how this new facility could be combined with our existing strengths in cognitive neuroscience, computer science, and engineering to provide a stimulating environment for research on brain impairment.”
Among new research is a forthcoming study of pain in pre-term infants. It involves SFU professor emeritus Hal Weinberg who has been at the forefront of MEG development for more than three decades. He’ll be a collaborator on a U.S. National Institute of Health funded ($1.25 million) project. SFU is also collaborating with the DSRF in the Human Early Learning Partnership funded "Learn to Play" program, designed to foster social-emotional growth in infants with Down syndrome through play.
-30-
The award acknowledges the DSRF for partnering with researchers and experts from leading universities and medical institutions, noting “chief among them, Simon Fraser University,” which has helped to promote research and education in the area of Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
“One of our strongest relationships is with SFU,” says DSRF director Dawn McKenna, who receives the award in Ottawa on Nov. 19. “The support of president Michael Stevenson and other key individuals since our inception has helped to ensure the success of two capital campaigns, resulting in a unique centre and research lab, and has helped to foster research projects involving collaborations with experts from around the world.”
The DSRF facility opened in Burnaby in 1995 and, through collaborative efforts with SFU to obtain funding, secured a state-of-the-art magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imaging unit – the only one of its kind in Western Canada - that is used by several SFU faculty members involved in behavioural and electrophysiological research.
“I applaud the Down Syndrome Research Foundation for their success in building research collaborations that are achieving a real impact in the quality of life for children with Down syndrome and their families,” says Mario Pinto, SFU’s vice president, research.
Pinto says the facility has attracted and continues to attract outstanding behavioural neuroscience researchers to B.C., including Urs Ribary, a MEG expert and SFU’s B.C. Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. “He envisioned how this new facility could be combined with our existing strengths in cognitive neuroscience, computer science, and engineering to provide a stimulating environment for research on brain impairment.”
Among new research is a forthcoming study of pain in pre-term infants. It involves SFU professor emeritus Hal Weinberg who has been at the forefront of MEG development for more than three decades. He’ll be a collaborator on a U.S. National Institute of Health funded ($1.25 million) project. SFU is also collaborating with the DSRF in the Human Early Learning Partnership funded "Learn to Play" program, designed to foster social-emotional growth in infants with Down syndrome through play.
-30-