Alzheimer Society of Manitoba


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Graduate Student Fellowship Awards

Purpose:

To enhance knowledge into the cause, treatment, cure and effects of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.
To encourage graduate student interest in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.
To stimulate graduate student research activity in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Value:
$3,000.00

Eligibility:

Full-time Master's, post-graduate medical program (medical residents electing to take a year off from residency to pursue full-time research) and Ph.D. students, at the University of Manitoba.

Conditions:

Applications must include a reference, a description of the proposed research and a statement of its practical applicability and relevance.
Applications must include all University transcripts. A supporting letter must be forwarded by the applicant's faculty advisor. Two further references from faculty familiar with the applicant's work are to be forwarded by the referee directly to the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship Awards c/o Centre on Aging, on appropriate forms.
The scholarship will be payable in instalments from September of the determined year to May of the following year.
The recipient will be required to submit a progress report and a copy of the thesis/dissertation, when complete, acknowledging financial support.
This award may not be held more than once during a specific degree program.

Committee of Selection

The selection committee for this scholarship will be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Centre on Aging.

Application forms are available from:

Alzheimer Society of Manitoba Graduate Student Fellowship
c/o Centre on Aging
338 Isbister Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 (204) 474-8754
Download applications at: www.umanitoba.ca/centres/aging/fellowships/alzheimers

Recent student fellowships for 2008-2009 have been awarded to:

Solmaz Nafez

Solmaz Nafez's research focuses on a project at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre Lab that could ultimately lead to the development of drugs to treat neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

The lab has discovered a protein, NF-kappa B, which plays an important role in our understanding of neuronal activity during new memory formation.

This protein and the genes it regulates will help in understanding the memory encoding changes that happen in neurodegenerative diseases. Solmaz is currently doing further experiments to ensure that the findings are valid.

Dr. Ben Albensi, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Manitoba, is the principal investigator in the lab and Solmaz's mentor. He is proud of the work that she performs and is excited to have her as part of his team.

Solmaz is grateful to the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba for the support they provide for the students.

Waylon Hunt

Waylon Hunt's research is aimed at discovering how and why Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid, protects brain cells during excitotoxicity. Excitotoxicity is a mechanism of brain disease common to a number of neurodegenerative disorders asociated with aging, including Alzheimer's disease. It occurs when Glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, builds up to toxic levels, causing cell death.

Hunt's research, supervised by Dr. Chris Anderson at the St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, has shown that CLA protects cultured neurons from dying as a result of excitotoxicity. A natural product available as a supplement in Canadian stores, CLA can cross the barrier that separates the bloodstream from the brain and shows promise as a possible treatment for excitotoxicity.