SHRF funds four WCVM scientists

The college's grant recipients include assistant professor Dr. Marko Kryworuchko and post-doctoral fellow Dr. John Schellenberg who are both part of the WCVM's Department of Veterinary Microbiology. Drs. Azadeh Hatef and Edward Narayan are postdoctoral fellows in the college's Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences.

Kryworuchko has received $119,967 over three years through SHRF's Establishment Grant program for his research study, "Regulation of programmed cell death in monocytic cells via autophagy and its impact on HIV pathogenesis."

SHRF's Establishment Grant program has a strong developmental focus, aiming to build health research capacity and help new Saskatchewan researchers enter the highly competitive national research scene. A total of $1.16 million was distributed through the program.

Schellenberg, Hatef and Narayan were among six scientists who received a total of $700,000 through the SHRF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program. All three will receive $100,000 each over two years for their research projects.

Schellenberg is a postdoctoral fellow who will work to define the epidemiological and clinical relevance of Gardnerella vaginalis subgroups in bacterial vaginosis. He will use culture-based and next-generation molecular techniques for his research, building on a unique and growing culture collection from African and Canadian women.

Schellenberg will join Dr. Janet Hill's laboratory group in the WCVM's Department of Veterinary Microbiology in January 2014. One of the lab's main research areas is exploring the microbial ecology in reproductive health and disease.

Both Hatef and Narayan are postdoctoral fellows in the lab of Dr. Suraj Unniappan, associate professor in the WCVM's Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences.

SHRF

Nesfatin-1 is a naturally occurring protein molecule in mammals that's responsible for regulating appetite and body fat production. Investigations of this novel protein are the target for Unniappan, who received SHRF's Top Researcher Award for Biomedical Sciences in 2012.

SHRF is the provincial agency that funds and facilitates health research in Saskatchewan. The organization works in partnership with other organizations locally, provincially and nationally to foster leading-edge research.

For more details on the award winners see SHRF's website (www.shrf.ca/recipients, and select "2013-14" in the year menu).
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