AHFMR News
University of British Columbia student wins major health research award
(VANCOUVER, BC) Friday, February 3, 2006... A University of British Columbia PhD student researching proteins and their relationship to antibiotic resistance has won a $7,600 research scholarship.
Calvin Yip will be awarded the 12th annual Lionel E. McLeod Health Research Scholarship today at a lunch reception at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies on the UBC campus. The award is given by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) to an outstanding student from the Universities of British Columbia, Calgary, and Alberta who demonstrates excellent promise in human health research. The award will contribute an additional $7,600 to the recipient's study support.
Mr. Yip is currently pursuing his PhD in Department of Biochemistry of Molecular Biology at the University of British Columbia. He has received numerous awards and scholarships during his academic career from NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada). The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the Society of Chemical Industry, and the University of British Columbia. Mr. Yip's research around antibiotic resistance will hopefully lead to new advances to help battle resistant bacterial "superbugs."
The award, to be presented by Dr. McLeod's widow, Barbara, honours the late first President of AHFMR, President and Chief Executive Officer of the University Hospital in Vancouver, Head of Endocrinology at the University of Alberta, and Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
Please call Dwayne Brunner, AHFMR Communications Coordinator, at (780) 423-5727 for information and photos.
Backgrounder
Calvin Yip began his PhD pursuit four years ago. Prior to that, he completed his undergraduate BSc degree also at the University of British Columbia.
Antibiotic resistance is a critical health problem worldwide with an increasing spectrum of fully resistant bacterial "superbugs." Calvin works within a group using a multi-disciplinary biophysical approach including X-ray crystallography, NMR, mass spectrometry, static light scattering, calorimetry, and electron microscopy to study the structure and function of proteins and protein complexes relevant to antibiotic resistance and bacterial pathogenicity.
The Lionel E. McLeod Health Research Scholarship is given annually to an outstanding student at the University of Alberta, Calgary, or British Columbia for research related to human health.
Dr. McLeod was the Head of Endocrinology at the University of Alberta, Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary, President of AHFMR from 1981-1990, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the University Hospital, Vancouver.
AHFMR provides up to $100,000 in matching donations to the Lionel E. McLeod Health Research Scholarship Fund. For more information on how to donate, please call AHFMR at (780) 423-5727.
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) currently provides funding for over 600 researchers and researchers in training at the Province's three main universities. The foundation supports a community of researchers who generate knowledge that improves the health and quality of life of Albertans and people throughout the world. AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and carried out by new and established investigators and researchers in training. Total AHFMR funding for more than 25 years is in excess of $800 million. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca.