Members

Andrei Krassioukov, MD, PhD, FRCPC

Dr. Krassioukov is a clinician scientist who obtained his medical degree from Volgograd State Medical School, Russia and his PhD degree at the Ivan Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1991, through the Canada-USSR research exchange program, he started his research career in North America and has a Research Degree PhD. Presently, he is a Professor of  Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the UBC Department of Medicine, an Associate Director of ICORD, and a staff physician in the Spinal Cord Injury Program at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.

His research involves utilization of experimental animal models, clinical investigations in human, and is focused on investigation of the mechanisms of autonomic dysfunctions after spinal cord injury. He has authored and co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and reviewed articles. His research is supported by numerous national and international agencies such as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, British Columbia Neurotrauma Fund, Rick Hansen Institute, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation and others.

For the last five years, as Chair of the Autonomic Standards Committee for the American Spinal Injury Association and International Spinal Cord Society (ASIA/ISCoS), he has led the international initiative on development of autonomic assessment which is to be added to the presently established neurological evaluation of individuals with spinal cord injury.

Publications (under Krassioukov A)

Publications (under Krassioukov AV)

Nazanin Moniri, MSc Candidate

Funding:

Leanne Ramer, PhD Candidate

Funding: Heart and Stroke Foundation Doctoral Research Award, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Leanne was born and raised in beautiful Northern Ontario. In 1999, she completed her undergraduate degree in Medical Biophysics at the University of Western Ontario and moved to the equally beautiful west coast of Canada. She fell in love – with the ocean, the mountains, and her future husband – and never left.

Leanne have been at ICORD in various capacities since 2000. She completed my M.Sc. under the supervision of Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff in 2003, examining the regenerative potential of olfactory ensheathing cells grafted at the site of spinal cord injury (SCI). She worked in the Ramer Lab as a technician between 2003 and 2005, studying the sensory consequences of spinal deafferentation. At present, Leanne is in the midst of (though we like to say “completing”) her PhD under the co-supervision of Dr. Andrei Krassioukov and Dr. John Steeves.

Her PhD research focuses on mechanisms underlying the dramatic changes in cardiovascular function following SCI. Cardiovascular consequences of SCI – including orthostatic hypotension, autonomic dysreflexia, and abnormal responses to exercise – profoundly affect quality of life after injury.

To date, most research has focused on plasticity within the spinal cord that might underlie injury-induced perturbations in cardiovascular control. Leanne is particularly interested in maladaptive plasticity that occurs outside the spinal cord, in ganglia and target organs below the level of injury. She and her colleagues work with a rat model of severe high-thoracic SCI, and use physiological, anatomical, and molecular techniques to characterize injury-induced changes and identify therapeutic targets.

Leanne’s life outside the lab is mainly consumed by a toddler with a voracious appetite for life. She also likes to play hockey, ski, and taste wine.

Publications

Shirley Wong,  PhD Candidate

Funding: CIHR Doctoral Award, January 2009 to December 2011; Michael Smith Junior Graduate Scholarship from September 2006 to August 2008.

Shirley is a PhD candidate supervised by Dr. Andrei Krassioukov in the Department of Medicine. Her research interest revolves mainly around autonomic and cardiovascular functions and control in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).  She is interested in changes in cardiovascular function in people with sub-acute and chronic SCI, as well as elite wheelchair athletes with SCI.  She completed her BSc in Kinesiology at McMaster University and then pursued graduate studies at the University of British Columbia.  She completed her MSc in Human Kinetics, looking at response to exercise and tolerance to changes in posture in persons with SCI.

Shirley is originally from Markham, Ontario.  She moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in August 2006 and has enjoyed making this beautiful city her home.  Summers are spent running, playing beach volleyball, camping, hiking, and discovering new places to venture on her road bike.  With winter comes rain and snow and trips to Whistler and Cypress to snowboard.  Shirley also loves to travel.  Her recent trip includes countries in South America and she is already looking forward to her next adventure.  When not exploring whatever unknowns she has yet to find, she enjoys to cook and eat and eat some more.

Christopher West, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Funding: ICORD International Award, September 2011 to September 2012

I grew up in an ancient market town 80 miles of north of London, UK. I completed my undergraduate degree in sport and exercise science at the University of Essex in 2004 and subsequently moved to London where I have worked and lived for the last 7 years. After a relatively short 3 year stint working in industry I returned to the comfort of academia to study at Brunel University where I completed my MSc in exercise physiology and human performance, and my PhD in exercise physiology and spinal cord injury. My thesis focused on the effect of abdominal binding on cardiorespiratory function in Paralympic athletes with cervical spinal cord injury.

In July 2011 I was offered a post-doc position at ICORD, under the supervision of Dr. Krassioukov. I of course accepted this offer and made the short hop across the pond from London to Vancouver. My post-doc position is geared towards understanding the peripheral vasculature after experimental spinal cord injury and how it responds to various stimuli, including exercise and autonomic dysreflexia. As a member of the Krassioukov lab I share expertise, equipment and lab space with the Ramer lab, who have kindly taken me under their wing to ensure I am made to feel at home!

Outside of the lab I have a love for the outdoors, whether it is camping, hiking, surfing or biking, and I can’t wait for winter to arrive so I can snowboard. I also love to travel, cook and listen to a variety of music, from rock to classical!

Dayan (Yan) Huang, BSc, MD, PGY 2 FRCPC Emergency Medicine

Area of interest: Study of natural progression and recovery of cardiovascular parameters following traumatic spinal cord injury, with particular attention paid to autonomic dysreflexia. With future research, we hope to develop a guideline on management of cardiovascular parameters for people with spinal cord injury, especially in emergency settings.

Yan was born in China. He moved to Canada when he was 14 years old. Back then, he could almost recognize the entire alphabets. His whole family moved to one of the warmest provinces – Saskatchewan. He was quickly captivated by the minus 50 degree winters and giant man eating mosquitoes. He stayed there for the following 10 years. Yan just recently moved to Vancouver for his Emergency Medicine residency.

Yan loves outdoor activities such as kayaking, fishing, hiking and camping. He is always open to try new experiences. He enjoys fine dining, and he is also an avid fan of sing karaoke with friends. In terms of new projects, he is actively learning how to ski. Although currently he is only capable of rolling down bunny hills, with persistence, he firmly believes that one day he will be able to roll down a green trail. And with enough luck, when dinosaurs repopulate the Earth, he hopes to actually ski down a trail.

Patrick’s research interests lie in acute, traumatic SCI and emergency department management of patients with SCI and autonomic dysreflexia (toxicology). He is currently working on a project examining the natural progression and recovery of cardiovascular parameters in the first month following injury.

He was born in Surrey on St. Patty’s Day (parents didn’t work hard on the name), but was raised in Ladner, BC (very hard to leave such an amazing place). He enjoys hockey, soccer, volleyball and golf, and is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Blue Jays and Manchester United FC.

Ben Nguyen, BSc, Lab Manager

Ben came to work at ICORD immediately after earning his BSc from UBC. In addition to being the Krassioukov lab manager, he is also the ICORD Facilities Assistant and the VWR Rep in the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre. Despite his workload, he is very optimistic and friendly, and you will usually find him smiling as he goes about his work.

Melissa Pak, MSc, Research Coordinator

Melissa is originally from Toronto, ON and has been working in the Krassioukov Lab since 2010. She completed her undergrad at McMaster University and her MSc in Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University, looking at whether impaired muscle blood flow contributes to exercise intolerance in people with type 2 diabetes.

Melissa’s interest in cardiovascular physiology and love for the great outdoors led her to Vancouver, BC and ICORD. She manages Dr. Krassioukov’s clinical research lab, which includes organizing grant applications, ethics submissions, funding from research grants, meetings/conferences and just about anything else he may throw her way. Currently she is working on projects that aim to improve management of autonomic dysreflexia by emergency health care practitioners (ER physicians/nurses and paramedics).

Jessica Inskip, MSc

Jessica was co-supervised by Dr. Matt Ramer and Dr. Andrei Krassioukov. She successfully defended her MSc thesis entitled “Cardiovascular and metabolic function after thoracic spinal cord injury” in 2010 and is currently pursuing her PhD at Simon Fraser University.

Patricia Mills, MHSc, MD

Funding/Awards: Disability Health Research Network (DHRN) Scholarship (2007), DHRN Student Travel Award (2009), Best Podium presentation at GF Strong Research Day (2010).

Dr. Mills recently completed her residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has accepted a position as staff physician at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. The focus of her research was on evaluation of autonomic dysfunctions in elite Paralympic athletes. She helped organize a cardiovascular health education clinic within the Athlete’s Village at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games. This project brought crucial evidence based clinical information to athletes and coaches, and was recognized by the International Paralympic Committee for its outstanding contributions to Paralympian health.

Publications

Gillian Simonett, MSc, MD

Awards: Disabilities Health Research Network (DHRN) Student Travel Award, Best Poster (Resident), ICORD Research Meeting

Dr. Simonett completed her Master degree in 2010 and is currently a staff physician at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.

Victoria Claydon, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Funding: Rick Hansen Man In Motion Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Research Interests: Cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology; altitude physiology; cerebrovascular control; autonomic nervous system; spinal cord injury; syncope. Dr. Claydon is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University. Publications

Funding: H. Ford Medical Research Fellowship

Dr. Sidorov is currently Administrative Chief Resident in the Department of Neurology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.