THE TEAM
Working together, we achieve impossible things
FACULTY
BRIAN KWON
After completing my spine surgery fellowship in Philadelphia in 2003 and a PhD in neuroscience at UBC in 2004, I began my academic career as a spine surgeon-scientist with a focus on acute spinal cord injury. Understanding the biology of spinal cord injury and establishing better treatment approaches for it has been the emphasis of my translational research program. I have been blessed to have great mentors, collaborators, supporters, and organizational partnerships along the course of my career, which have all contributed to the success of our program. But we have much to do and I am excited for what the future holds as we push forward in many collaborative initiatives.
FEMKE STREIJGER
After 3 years as a post-doctoral fellow at the International collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, I landed a faculty position with Dr. Brian Kwon in 2011. Over the last 10 years, I have assumed a leadership position in the lab and organize all the moving pieces and parts of the various preclinical projects, and manage the research team consisting of laboratory staff and trainees.
Research Laboratory Staff
TRAINEES
Co-Op Student
Vancouver Spine Research Program
AWARDS
2024
Katharina Raschdorf | Cordula and Gunter Paetzold Fellowship, UBC
Amardeep Sekhon | 1st Place Poster Presentation, National Neurotrauma Society (NNS) Symposium, San Francisco, CA
Ryan Chan| 1st Place Poster Presentation – Master Category, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Ashya Allard Brown | 2nd Place Poster Presentation – PhD Category, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Cameron Gee | 2nd Place Poster Presentation – PhD Category, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Tolu Malomo | Best Paper Award – Canadian Spine Society Meeting, Whistler, BC
2023
Femke Streijger | Research Excellence Staff Award, VCH Research Institute
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Katharina Raschdorf | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Garrett Frank | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Adam Doelman | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | International Tuition Award, UBC
Katharina Raschdorf | International Tuition Award, UBC
Adam Doelman | ICORD International Exchange Award, The Rick Hansen Foundation
Aysha Allard Brown | 1st Place Poster Presentation; PhD Category, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award (CGS D), CIHR
Aysha Allard Brown | Four Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF), UBC
Adam Doelman | Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) – 3rd Place Prize UBC – BC Children’s Hospital Heat
Adam Doelman | Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) – People’s Choice Prize UBC – BC Children’s Hospital Heat
Adam Doelman | Rising Star Award, VCHRI
Garrett Frank | Josephine T Berthier Fellowship, UBC
Garrett Frank | Walter C Koerner Fellowship, UBC
Garrett Frank | Northern Telecom Graduate Fellowship, UBC
Katharina Raschdorf | Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience Neural Repair Endowment, DMCBH
Katharina Raschdorf | Shaughnessy Hospital Volunteer Society Fellowship in Health Care (Affiliated Fellowship), UBC
Adam Doelman | 1st Place Best Oral Presentation – Society for Pelvic Research; Savannah, GA
2022
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Katharina Raschdorf | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Adam Doelman | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Katharina Raschdorf | International Tuition Award, UBC
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | International Tuition Award, UBC
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | ICORD trainee travel award, The Rick Hansen Foundation
Aysha Allard Brown | ICORD trainee travel award, The Rick Hansen Foundation
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | SIE Scholarship 2022-2023, Soroptimist International of Europe
Aysha Allard Brown | Neural Repair (Spinal Cord) Endowment, DMCBH
Farnaz Sahragard | Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship, SPIE
Farnaz Sahragard | ICORD trainee travel award, The Rick Hansen Foundation
Farnaz Sahragard | ISCoS (International Spinal Cord Society) Registration Fee Award, ICORD
Katharina Raschdorf | 1st Place Poster Award, Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Research Meeting (CSCIRM)
Aysha Allard Brown | Top Poster Award; Student Trainee Category, International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) Annual Scientific Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | 3rd Place Poster Presentation; PhD Category, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Katharina Raschdorf | 3rd Place Poster Award, GF Strong Rehabilitation Research Day
Adam Doelman | William, Sadie and Edwin Rowan Bursary in Medicine, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | Edward Squires Memorial Fellowship (Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award), UBC
2021
Farnaz Sahragard | SPIE Travel Fund, The International Society for Optics and Photonics
Amanda Cheung | 1st Place, Biomedical Presentation, UBC Science Communication Conference
Aysha Allard Brown | ICORD Trainee Travel Award
Adam Doelman | ICORD Trainee Travel Award
Farnaz Sahragard | ICORD Trainee Travel Award
Tolu Malomo | ICORD Trainee Travel Award
Katharina Raschdorf | ICORD Trainee Travel Award
Katharina Raschdorf | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award
Katharina Raschdorf | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award
Adam Doelman | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award
Adam Doelman | Award of Excellence (Silver Category), Canadian Student Health Research Forum (UManitoba)
Adam Doelman | DMCBH Endowment Award Competition (General Award), UBC Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | International Tuition Award
Katharina Raschdorf | International Tuition Award
Amanda Cheung | VGH Rising Star Award
Adam Doelman | 1st Place Oral Presentation, PhD Student Category, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Cameron Gee | 1st Place, Post-Doctoral Fellow Category, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Farnaz Sahragard | 1st Place Poster Presentation, Master’s Student Category, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Farnaz Sahragard | Pathology Day - Graduate Student Poster Award, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s, CIHR
Amanda Cheung | UBC Neuroscience Conference Award, UBC Neuroscience
Amanda Cheung | UBC Neuroscience Publication of the Year, UBC Neuroscience
2020
Amanda Cheung | 1st Place, Biomedical Presentation, UBC Science Communication Conference
Amanda Cheung | 2nd Place, Podium Presentation, UBC Future of Health Research Day
Amanda Cheung | 3rd Place, Poster Presentation, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Martin Keung | People’s Choice Winner, UBC Future of Health Research Day
Tolu Malomo | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Amanda Cheung | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Adam Doelman | 1st Place, Oral Presentation, UBC, FoM Research Trainee Day and Lecture Series
Farnaz Sahragard | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Tolu Malomo | President's Academic Excellence Initiative, PhD Award, UBC
Aysha Allard Brown | Faculty of Medicine Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) Award, UBC
Adam Doelman | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative, PhD Award, UBC
Amanda Cheung | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, UBC
Amanda Cheung | Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship, SPIE
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | President’s Academic Excellence Initiative, PhD Award, UBC
Amanda Cheung | Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, CIHR
Amanda Cheung | 4 Year Fellowship, UBC
Amanda Cheung | Killam Doctoral Scholarship and Travel Allowance, UBC/Killam Trusts
Amanda Cheung | Aaron Moser Award, 1st Place PhD Presentation, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | 1st Place, Poster Presentation, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | 2nd Place, Poster Presentation, UBC Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference (MURC)
Martin Keung | 3rd Place, Poster Presentation in the Masters Category, ICORD, Annual Research Meeting
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Martin Keung | Basic Science Poster Award Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction
Martin Keung | Neuroscience Graduate Student Travel Fund, Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Sigrún Jarlsdóttir | International Tuition Award, UBC
2019
Amanda Cheung | People’s Choice Award for Best Presentation The Future of Health Research Day
Martin Keung | Trainee Travel Award, ICORD
Amanda Cheung | Trainee Travel Award, ICORD
Adam Doelman | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Farnaz Sahragard | Faculty of Medicine Graduate Award, UBC
Amanda Cheung | Graduate Student Travel Award Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Network
Amanda Cheung | Neuroscience Graduate Student Travel Fund, Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Amanda Cheung | 1st Place, Poster Presentation, G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Research Day
Amanda Cheung | 1st Place, Poster Presentation, ICORD Trainee Symposium
Amanda Cheung | 1st Place, Poster Presentation, Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Research Conference
Amanda Cheung | 3rd Place, Poster Presentation, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | 3rd Place, Poster Presentation, ICORD Annual Research Meeting
Martin Keung | 2nd Place, Poster Presentation in the Masters Category, ICORD, Annual Research Meeting
Aysha Allard Brown | 2nd Place, Poster Presentation, UBC Neuroscience Undergraduate Research Conference
ALUMNI
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Martin Keung
Clinical research at Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre, investigating the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation as a treatment option for Parkinson's disease.
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Elena Okon
Master Histotechnologist, retired and taking things slow.
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Seth Tigchelaar
Seth is now a medical student at Stanford, where he is focused on the "final frontiers" of medicine, biology, and exploration. Seth does exciting things with SpaceX, stem cells and AR.
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Shera Fisk
Shera is currently in medical school at UBC and looking forward to applying the valuable lessons learnt in the Kwon lab to my future as a clinician.
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Benjamin Ng
UBC Med graduate, currently doing a residency in Toronto in Family Medicine.
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Michelle Ng
Michelle graduated with an MBA from University of Cambridge and currently works in the startup ecosystem in London, UK.
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Ella Liu
Currently working as a diagnostic medical sonographer at Providence Healthcare.
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Thomas Lee
Currently in a General Practitioner training program in Sydney Australia.
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Charlotte Morrison
Currently in the UBC's Midwifery and working part time with Vancouver Coastal Health as an Advisor for the Mental Health and Substance Use program.
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Cody Mann
Researcher turned lawyer!
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Michael Rizzuto
Researcher, now a Resident Physician in Neurosurgery at UBC.
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Rishab Gupta
Currently working in payroll management and managing union collaborative agreements for the TV show “Fakes”!
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Kyoung-Tae (Daniel) Kim
Daniel is an assistant professor of Neurosurgery at JIRM in S. Korea where he studies spinal cord regeneration after trauma and treatment of osteoporotic spine disease.
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Alex Munroe
Currently at a veterinary specialty hospital in the surgery department as a Veterinary Technician/Administrator.
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Claire Jones
Claire currently leads a multidisciplinary research group at the University of Adelaide, understanding the biomechanics of neurotrauma, using cadaver and pre-clinical models, and human volunteers.
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Megan Webster
Now working as a Clinical Specialist for Medtronic.
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Audrey Warner
Beginning her Master’s in Public Health at UBC in September, 2023.
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Julia Hill
Currently a Research and Innovation Manager at Genome BC.
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Daniel Roger
Currently a Research and Innovation Manager at Genome BC.
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Sid Gunamalai
Now working in Industry Partnerships in Healthcare and Life Science at University of Calgary.
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Rochelle Newsome
Currently working with the Toxicology Team at Charles River Laboratories in Quebec.
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Amanda Cheung
Currently an Education Renewal Coordinator at UBC.
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Sarah Morris
Currently completing her residency in Medical Physics at New York University (NYU).
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Farnaz Sahragard
Farnaz defended her Master’s thesis in July 2023 and is currently working on a review paper.
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Imogen Porter
Currently 4th year BSc candidate at UBC medical school, incoming
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Persephone Alicea
Beginning her MD/PhD at UT Health San Antonio in 2024
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Christopher Dong
UBC student in in Microbiology.
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Adam Doelman
Beginning MD at McGill Medical School
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Sureyah Nassimbwa
Specimen Processing Technician
