Congratulations to the four DMCBH members who received UBC’s 2024 Faculty Research Awards. UBC’s Faculty Research Awards recognize the research excellence and scholarly achievements of faculty from across all disciplines, ranging from the applied sciences and medicine to the social sciences and humanities. Award recipients are selected by UBC’s Faculty Research Awards Committee and include early career researchers through to established members of faculty.

The Office of the VP, Research and Innovation will be hosting a reception on June 5, 2025 to acknowledge the achievements of these researchers.

 

JACOB BIELY RESEARCH PRIZE

UBC’s premier award for research 

  • Dr. Brian Kwon, Orthopaedics (Faculty of Medicine)
    Dr. Kwon’s research focuses on advancing treatments for spinal cord injuries through biomarker discovery, personalized medicine and translational research. His work integrates clinical studies with cutting-edge technologies to improve diagnostics, prognosis and therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury patients.

UBC KILLAM RESEARCH PRIZES

Recognizing outstanding research and scholarly contributions

ARTS & HUMANITIES:

Early Category:

  • Dr. Daniela Palombo, Psychology (Faculty of Arts)
    Dr. Palombo’s research explores the cognitive and neural mechanisms of memory, particularly how emotion influences what we remember. Using behavioural studies, fMRI and virtual reality, her lab investigates the adaptive role of memory in imagination and decision-making, as well as memory alterations in conditions like amnesia and PTSD.

 

APPLIED SCIENCE, MEDICINE, SCIENCES:

Established Category:

  • Dr. Todd Woodward, Psychiatry (Faculty of Medicine)
    Dr. Woodward’s research focuses on cognitive neuropsychiatry and functional neuroimaging to understand the cognitive mechanisms and brain networks involved in psychosis and schizophrenia. His work includes developing cognitive paradigms, advanced fMRI analysis methods and free tools like metacognitive training (MCT) to help patients recognize cognitive biases underlying delusions.

Early Category:

  • Dr. Tao Huan, Chemistry (Faculty of Science)
    Dr. Huan’s research focuses on developing advanced mass spectrometry and bioinformatics tools for metabolomics, integrating these techniques into systems biology. His lab applies state-of-the-art metabolomics to study neurodegenerative diseases and discover biomarkers, including those for Alzheimer disease.