John L. Nichol Chair in Parkinson’s Research

Dr. Martin McKeown

Dr. Martin McKeown holds the John L. Nichol Chair in Parkinson’s Research, and also is Professor and Head of Neurology at UBC. As John L. Nichol Chair in Parkinson’s Research, Dr. McKeown oversees several innovative research studies, drawing on his unique combination of medical training and engineering background to investigate disease mechanisms and potential treatments.

A key part of this unique role is to support emerging Parkinson’s researchers in developing their expertise. PPRI’s approach to funding is unique in that we fund people, not just projects. We have committed to funding the John L. Nichol Chair in Research over the long-term, to provide Dr. McKeown with the resources to dedicate a significant portion of his time to fostering the next generation of scientists and their work. Tied to this position, PPRI also funds a clinical research fellow, a grad student and a junior faculty member dedicated to Parkinson’s research. 

Some of the key research projects Dr. McKeown has led include IMPACCT (Impact on Parkinson’s Care and Clinical Tracking), Neurobiofeedback, Transforming Care, Non-invasive Brain Stimulation, and the Sleep Disruption study. In addition, he is a clinician who sees patients, and a mentor to promising individuals.

For more, watch Dr. McKeown’s presentation at the annual PPRI scientific briefing below.

Marg Meikle Professorship

Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell

Thanks to donations made through the Porridge for Parkinson’s events, the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute was able to endow a full-time professorship in Parkinson’s research beginning in 2010. Named in honour of Porridge for Parkinson’s creator, Marg Meikle, the professorship has been held since inception by Parkinson’s clinician and research scientist, Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell. Through the professorship, she conducts leading research, teaches and provides clinical care. Now, Dr. Appel-Cresswell oversees the operations of the PPRC as its director and is an Associate Professor (tenure) at UBC.

Projects

Dr. Appel-Cresswell is a strong believer in the critical link between research and clinical care, with each informing the other. In addition to leading research projects such as IMPACCT (Impact on Parkinson’s Care and Clinical Tracking), the microbiome study, hearing deficits in people with Parkinson’s, and the potential use of ultrasound-guided botulinum, she does even more in the community. She provides care to Parkinson’s patients at the PPRC clinic, teaches neuroscience at UBC, and shares her findings with scientists and medical professionals across Canada and around the world.

Dr. Appel-Cresswell is also involved in working with interdisciplinary collaborations across UBC and partnerships to form the Brain Wellness Program in the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. The goals of the program are clinically to enhance the quality of life and physical and mental health of participants, and scientifically to study the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on neuroprotection in brain disorders and in aging.

Teaching and Service

Dr. Appel-Cresswell is Associate Professor and has a grant-tenured position in the Division of Neurology. Together with other leading movement disorder specialists across Canada, Dr. Appel-Cresswell contributed to the update of the Canadian guidelines for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. She was also awarded the 2018 UBC Master Teacher Award by the Department of Medicine. She continues to run the annual National Canadian Residents’ Movement Disorder Course and is honoured to be the incoming President of the Canadian Movement Disorder Group.

To learn more about Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell, you can download the Marg Meikle Professorship in Parkinson’s Research 2021 Impact Report.

The Marg Meikle Professorship in Parkinson’s Research was made possible thanks to estate gifts from Rina Honderich and Dr. Wai Haan, as well as the proceeds raised through PPRI’s annual Porridge for Parkinson’s events that began in 2001.

PPRI Chair in Parkinson’s Research Team

Dr. Jon Stoessl

Dr. Jon Stoessl is a professor of Neurology at UBC, editor-in-chief of Movement Disorders, and the past Canada Research Chair in Parkinson’s Disease. He is also the former Director of the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre (PPRC). He has served on numerous other editorial boards including Lancet Neurology and Annals of Neurology. He has chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the Parkinson’s Foundation and has completed a term as President of the World Parkinson Coalition. He is a Member of the Order of Canada. Dr. Stoessl uses positron emission tomography to study Parkinson’s, including imaging biomarkers, the basis for complications of treatment and mechanisms of the placebo effect. He has published more than 300 papers and book chapters and has been cited more than 15,000 times in scientific literature.

Director of UBC’s PET Imaging Laboratory

Dr. Vesna Sossi

Dr. Vesna Sossi is a nuclear physicist specializing in the application of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to the study of Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Sossi is the Director of UBC’s PET Imaging Laboratory and is a professor in UBC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy; she has been leading the UBC Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain imaging program since 2009.

Dr. Sossi’s expertise and research interests lie in using clinical and pre-clinical imaging to investigate neurodegeneration and other brain diseases through development of instrumentation, data quantification, image analysis, kinetic modeling, image reconstruction and novel imaging protocols. She is particularly interested to further develop and exploit hybrid PET/MR imaging to gain access to as yet poorly investigated aspects of brain function such as brain energetics and neurovascular coupling in the healthy brain and as affected by neurodegeneration and exercise, as well as other possible neuroprotective mechanisms.

Dr. Sossi received a Laurea degree in high energy Physics from the University of Trieste Italy and a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of British Columbia in 1991. She has done a post-doctoral fellowship in the UBC/TRIUMF PET group working on Medical Imaging after completing her graduate degree. She has over 190 peer reviewed journal publications, and actively trains many graduate and undergraduate students. Vesna sits on several national and international review committees and received several CFI, NSERC and Michael Smith Health Research BC awards during her career.

James A. Moore Clinical Research Fellowship

The James A. Moore Clinical Research Fellowship in Parkinson’s Research was established in 2016.

The Fellowships aims to discover and invest in student researchers with high potential in contributing to the field of Parkinson’s. It is our hope to empower researchers to have the opportunity to do life-changing field work in Parkinson’s early in their careers with an ultimate goal of identifying Parkinson’s cause, stopping its progression, and finding a cure.  

Recipients of the James A. Moore Clinical Research Fellowship in Parkinson’s Research 

Current and past recipients of the Fellowship have worked alongside the research team at the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre. Melissa MacKenzie was the preliminary recipient of the fellowship and, with her funding, was able to work on the PPRC’s Microbiome project with Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell. In addition, she gained clinical experience by working with patients with Parkinson’s and related disorders.   

Dr. Nene was the most recent recipient of the James A. Moore Clinical Research Fellowship in Parkinson’s Research. He worked alongside Dr. Martin McKeown on PPRC’s Transforming Care project.  Dr. Nene has now returned to India where he is continuing to work with Parkinson’s disease patients - in a country with little awareness of the disease.

As a donor, your investment can impact the future of Parkinson’s disease, and is critical in furthering the work of student scientists and growing their interest in Parkinson’s research. Your gift allows us to grow our capacity at the PPRC, and invest in the future of Parkinson’s research. 

Health Research BC Trainee Program

Michael Smith Health Research BC (Health Research BC) is British Columbia’s research funding agency, with a main priority to discover and retain high-potential researchers that will work in BC’s health sector.

The Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute is currently in partnership with the Health Research BC Trainee Program, with the goal to expand the talent pool of Parkinson’s researchers. The Health Research BC Trainee program provides salary to support talented post-doctoral or health professional researchers, in order to further their career in the field. The program is meant to launch and prepare researchers for their careers in research, biotech, health policy, and other related areas. As a partner, PPRI sets the parameters under which a candidate would be selected for funding and fits in with PPRI's goals and mandate. Once a candidate is chosen, PPRI contributes to the funding of the trainee, thus expanding the talent pool of Parkinson’s researchers.

Trainees

The most recent trainee of the Health Research BC Trainee Program is Dr. Pierre-Andre Gilormini. Dr. Gilormini is completing his studies at Simon Fraser University, focusing on using a genome-wide screen to identify genetic modulators of glucocerebrosidase (GCase) activity, one of the greatest genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease. The discovery of new genes that regulate GCase could provide new targets for potential treatments.

Dr. Serena Singh was a previous trainee of the Health Research BC Trainee Program. Dr. Singh conducted research at St. Paul's Hospital in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of her research was to develop a test to identify dementia with Lewy bodies, and to develop a test to diagnose and distinguish dementia from Alzheimer’s disease. She collaborated with Dr. Appel-Cresswell on this project.

Your investment goes beyond funding projects and talented individuals today. By contributing to PPRI, your gift impacts the future by empowering talented individuals to conduct ground-breaking research. Invest into the future of Parkinson’s research today and donate now.