Manoj Reddy Medapati, PhD, spends his days growing human neurons in a lab – an intricate process that’s helping unlock new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease.
Across campus, Idowu Olawoye, PhD, is tackling another urgent threat. He’s developing ways to outsmart antimicrobial resistance by combining DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence.
Both are part of the dynamic community of postdoctoral scholars at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry – early-career scientists working on the frontlines of discovery.
Idowu Olawoye, PhD
“Postdoctoral scholars are among the most productive members of any research team,” says Robert Bartha, PhD’99, vice dean of research and innovation. “They bring new ideas, energy and expertise, and they’re crucial to rapidly moving discoveries forward.”
A new initiative is helping scholars like Medapati and Olawoye accelerate that impact. Backed by generous donors, the Schulich Postdoctoral Fellowship Program offers competitive salaries, mentorship and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
In its inaugural year, the program is supporting research in three high-impact areas: pain, neuroscience and cardiovascular imaging.
It addresses a longstanding challenge in Canada’s research landscape: attracting and retaining exceptional talent. By offering donor-matched funding on top of existing funding, the program helps close the salary gap.
The program also reflects Western University’s broader effort to expand research impact and tackle global challenges by investing in people. It complements the recently expanded Western Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which more than doubled in size this year, and further strengthens the University’s position as a destination for top research talent.
“This program is about more than funding,” says Bartha. “It's about creating a high-performance environment where the best and brightest minds can thrive and drive meaningful change in health and medicine.”
“It's about creating a high-performance environment where the best and brightest minds can thrive and drive meaningful change in health and medicine.” — Robert Bartha , PhD, vice dean of research and innovation.
Researchers like Medapati and Olawoye reflect the depth of talent already shaping the future of health from inside the School’s labs.
Medapati is helping chart a path toward new treatments for Alzheimer’s, using cellular models to uncover how the disease takes hold and how it might be stopped. Olawoye is harnessing cutting-edge technology to beat antibiotic-resistant bacteria at their own game, turning vast genomic datasets into early warning systems.
Their work is laying the scientific groundwork for future therapies, smarter diagnostics and more resilient health systems. And this is exactly the kind of bold, high-impact research the Fellowship Program is poised to accelerate.
