Frank Lee Vanier Scholar 2015
Once again, one of our MD/PhD students affiliated with the PALM graduate program has won a Vanier scholarship. These are highly competitive awards funded by the Government of Canada. The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program “attracts and retains world-class doctoral students and helps establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning”. It is truly an honor for Frank and our program to have his achievements recognized in this manner. Frank is a Year 3 student in the combined MD/PhD Program. His research supervisor is Dr. Ed Pryzdial at the Centre for Blood Research, and his hosting department is Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Frank’s research focus is studying the mechanism of how blood clots are dissolved, a process known as fibrinolysis. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the physiological initiator of fibrinolysis, has been used as a vital “clot-busting” therapeutic for almost two decades to treat prevalent conditions such as pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction and stroke. However, tPA may cause life-threatening hemorrhage, many patients’ clots are resistant to its action, and it is useful only within a few hours after the onset of symptoms. Frank’s lab has discovered that proteins not considered within the current fibrinolysis parad igm enhance tPA function in the vicinity of the clot. Frank’s research will further elucidate this auxiliary cofactor mechanism and the role of these proteins in fibrinolysis. This knowledge will be used in the development of novel clot-busting agents with enhanced safety and efficacy in comparison with existing medicines.
Outside the lab, Frank has been involved in a variety of musical pursuits including singing for a university rock band and for the UBC Faculty of Medicine acapella and choir groups. He also enjoys playing basketball, ultimate frisbee, and powerlifting.
In addition to the Vanier Scholarship, Frank has also been recognized by winning several other awards which include:
- Four Year Doctoral Fellowship (2015)
- CIHR MD/PhD Studentship Award (2014)
- Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award (2014)
- Centre for Blood Research Summer Scholarship (2013)
- Young Investigator Award, XXIV Congress of the ISTH (2013)
- University Senate Scholarship (2012)
- Canadian Hemophilia Society Dream of a Cure Summer Research Scholarship (2012)
- The Dr. Harry Lyman Hooker Scholarships (2010/11)