Infant stroke research earns student Markin award

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Posted July 21, 2010

By Kyle Glennie

Simon Sun was awarded a Markin studentship for his neo-natal stroke research13 students from the Faculty of Medicine have earned Markin Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) awards, representing more than a third of the 30 total recipients.  The number of winners, more than double the amount of Faculty of Medicine students who received the award last year, is the most of any Faculty at the University of Calgary.

Each year the Markin USRP provides studentships ranging from $4000 to $6000 to UCalgary undergraduate students participating in a research project focused on the area of health and wellness.  For Simon Sun, a Bachelor of Health Sciences student who will be entering medical school next month, the $6000 studentship was awarded for his work in the lab of Ursula Tuor, PhD, studying neo-natal strokes.

“Neo-natal strokes usually occur within the first week of an infant’s life, and often result in death or severe motor impairment.  We’re trying to come up with a predictive way to help future diagnosis,” explains Sun.  To do this, Sun and his colleagues use diffusion tension imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to view neural fiber tracks in the brain following a stroke to gauge the amount of degeneration.  “This axonal degeneration may contribute to impaired motor function in the future.

The goal of the research is to be able to take a MRI of the brain of an infant who has suffered a stroke as a means of predicting the motor impairment the infant will experience.  So far Sun has collected data and is hoping to analyze it before he begins medical school in August.

The other recipients of Markin USRP studentships from the Faculty of Medicine are Jesse Basnak, supervised by Dr. David Johnson; Jeremy Bau supervised by Dr. Ray Turner; Adam Chernick, supervised by Dr. Bonnie Buntain; Elizabeth Fradgley, supervised by Dr. Jennifer Hatfield; Michelle Huie, supervised by Brian Brooks, PhD; Ivan Kryukov, supervised by Belinda Heyne, PhD; Emily MacPhail, supervised by David Johnston; Daniela Navia, supervised by Dr. John McLennan; Peter Podgorny, supervised by Dr. David Johnson; Colin Weaver, supervised by Dr. James Kellner; Julianne Yip, supervised by Ariel Ducey, PhD; and Sophya Yumakulov, supervised by Gregor Wolbring, PhD.