ICORD PhD student Jacqueline Cragg is receiving the inaugural Emerging Leader in Science award from the Minerva Foundation at a special luncheon today.
Jacqueline joined ICORD in 2007 as an undergraduate student in Dr. Matt Ramer’s lab. She completed her Masters of Public Health, and is now working on her PhD in epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Population and Public Health, working with ICORD researchers Drs. Jaimie Borisoff and Andrei Krassioukov. With fellow ICORD trainee Dr. Leanne Ramer, Jacqueline was responsible for the creation of ICORD’s Café Scientifique program, where ICORD research is presented to the public through engaging public events, webcasts and YouTube (the next event will is coming in the spring of 2014). Jacqueline has also taught high school students about the science and ethics of stem cells through StemCellTalks events, and she’s been an active member of ICORD’s trainee committee.
Jacquelyn has published work in leading neurological journals such as Brain, Annals of Neurology, Experimental Neurology and the Journal of Neuroscience. She recently had some of her PhD work published in the prestigious journal Neurology, in which she quantified the excess risk of cardiovascular disease among individuals with spinal cord injury. This article received worldwide attention. In addition, Jacquelyn’s statistical abilities have allowed her to contribute to the field of Parkinson’s disease: she helped developed statistical models to understand the natural progression of the disease. This work in Parkinson’s disease has been highly cited and thus very influential in the field. In total, she has more than 10 peer-reviewed publications accepted and more than 3 papers submitted, and has been invited to present her work at several local and international scientific conferences. She is also currently working on a biostatistics textbook with a UBC faculty member.
Jacqueline joins fellow Minerva award winners Dr. Pauline Johnson (UBC department of Microbiology and Immunolgy) and Lia Merminga (TRIUMF)–winners of the Community Leadership & Excellence award, and Dr. Carol Lane (Clinical Neuroscience, UBC Faculty of Medicine)–winner of the Philanthropy award.
