ICORD Investigators Drs. Tania Lam and Andrei Krassioukov have received funding from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia for a collaborative research project with Saudi researcher Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Yahya. The title of the joint research project is “Pharmacological interventions and rehabilitation for spinal cord injury,” and it was funded through King Saud University’s Twinning Program, created to promote collaborations with other universities in order to raise their research capacity and reputation.
This collaboration will involve both faculty exchanges and graduate student training. Dr. Lam expects that the collaborative research will start with Saudi students coming to ICORD labs to learn techniques or complete aspects of the projects, and eventually lead to UBC graduate students going to Riyadh to work in their facilities.
Drs. Lam and Krassioukov, and ICORD Acting Director Dr. Tom Oxland, recently visited the King Saud University campus in Riyadh. There they gave presentations about ICORD research, and also met with the University Rector.
Dr. Lam is excited about the project. “My feeling is that when they see our commitment to work collaboratively with them, this collaboration could expand to include other groups at ICORD and UBC, depending on our initial success. So we really see this as a seed for basis of future larger collaborations,” she said.
R-L: KSU Dean of Research, KSU Dean of College of Pharmacy, Rector of KSU, Dr. Oxland, Dr. Krassioukov, Dr. Lam, and Rania Hassan, a trade commissioner at the Canadian Embassy.
R-L: Dr. Oxland, Dr. Lam, KSU Dean of College of Pharmacy, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Yahya & Dr. Krassioukov.
