UBC recognizes brain and heart researchers with $50,000 prizes
Two of Canada's most distinguished health researchers – Dr. Guy Rouleau of the University of Montreal and Dr. John Cairns of the University of British Columbia – have been awarded the second annual Margolese National Brain and Heart Disorders Prizes, the most lucrative prizes bestowed by UBC.
The two $50,000 prizes are awarded to outstanding researchers focused on improving the lives of individuals with brain or heart disease. The recipients were chosen by an international panel of experts and a UBC committee chaired by Dr. Gavin Stuart, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and UBC's Vice Provost, Health.
The Margolese prizes were created by an estate gift to UBC by Leonard Hubert Margolese to recognize Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to the treatment, amelioration or cure of brain or heart disorders. Margolese, who died in 2000, was a Vancouver businessman who had a heart condition and whose brother had Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Rouleau, winner of the Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize, is a Professor of Medicine, a Canada Research Chair in Genetics of the Nervous System, and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Neuroscience at the University of Montreal. He has focused on identifying the genes and mutations that play a role in neurological and psychiatric diseases, and understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to these diseases.
Dr. Cairns, winner of the Margolese National Heart Disorders Prize, is a Professor in UBC's Division of Cardiology. He has focused on the causes and prevention of heart attacks, as well as the optimal management of patients who have experienced heart attacks. He proved, through a multi-centre clinical trial, that aspirin can reduce by more than half the incidence of heart attacks and death among patients with unstable angina (a loss of blood flow and oxygen to the heart). The finding revolutionized treatment of these at-risk individuals, shifting the focus toward limiting the growth of newly-formed clots in coronary arteries (those supplying the heart).
Dr. Rouleau and Dr. Cairns will be honoured at a banquet in the fall.
Provided by University of British Columbia
