Dr. Tamara Vanderwal of Vernon receives $100,000 research grant from Brain Canada

Photo: BC Children's Hospital

Vernon’s Dr. Tamara Vanderwal is among 20 researchers to each receive a $100,000 grant to fuel their work.

Vanderwal, a professor at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Medicine and a child psychiatrist at BC Children's Hospital, has also been named one of Brain Canada’s 2020 Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research.

The project the grant will help fund aims to improve pediatric functional magnetic resonance imaging.

“While 'hyperalignment' is a promising new approach in fMRI studies, it has not yet been tested in children due to challenges, such as requiring long brain scans with very low head motion for which children struggle to stay still,” reads a statement from UBC’s Institute of Mental Health.

“Dr. Vanderwal’s project will address this limitation by using movies in the scanner to help children stay still and also drive brain function in useful ways.”

Brain Canada's future leaders program is “designed to fund the boldest and brightest ideas at the most critical juncture of a researcher’s career – the beginning,” the organization says.

This year, the 20 grant recipients are investigating an array of clinical, translational and basic science to gain insight into a variety of brain disorders, diseases and brain function.