Congratulations to the 2015 Dean's Research Grant Initiative recipients

Drs. Douglas Fraser, Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro and Manuel Montero Odasso are this year’s Dean’s Research Grant Initiative recipients.

Dr. Douglas Fraser, associate professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, will receive $104,373 in funding for his project entitled London Sports Concussion Program. The funding will support him with the recruitment of athletes for the concussion study.

Dr. Manuel Montero Odasso, associate professor, Department of Medicine, will receive $40,000 in funding for his project that focuses on improving mobility and cognition in older adults. The project will evaluate noninvasive brain stimulation as a safe approach to modulating excitability of cortical areas, thus improving gait and mobility in individuals with executive dysfunction.

Dr. Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, associate professor, Division of General Surgery, will receive $250,000 in funding to study metastatic colorectal cancer, and further define the biological consequences of a novel operative approach that he has pioneered. The approach significantly shortens the interval of time between the first and second surgeries and the accompanying hepatic hypertrophy.

“We are very fortunate to receive funding from the Dean’s Research Grant Initiative for our project,” Dr. Hernandez-Alejandro said. “Not only will this grant allow us to learn more about the control of colorectal liver cancer and liver regeneration, it will also pave the way to future applications that will impact patients and their families.”

Schulich Medicine & Dentistry’s Dean’s Research Grant Initiative is intended to fund a team building a program that represents a true innovation by enabling multiple departments to work together toward a tangible advance in education, research or health care, and is related to the School’s strategic direction.

The overall goal of the Dean’s Research Grant Initiative is to fund projects that will deliver results that will put Schulich Medicine & Dentistry on the map, in the short- and long-term.