Dr. Cheryl Wellington

Principal Investigator

B.Sc. [Microbiology] (University of Alberta), Ph.D. [Microbiology] (University of British Columbia)
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia

 

Research Interests

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Dr. Wellington’s major research interests are on both genetic and environmental factors that modulate risk for Alzheimer Disease (AD), the most common dementia. An increasingly recognized environment risk factor for dementia includes a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Current projects include understanding how injury severity, number of injuries, and age at injury all affect dementia risk, and understanding how the neuropathology and clinical presentation of TBI-related syndromes overlap with classical dementias. Over two million TBIs occur annually in North America, with rapidly increasing public concern over the long-term effects of concussion on brain health during development and aging. Existing animal models of TBI, however, fail to replicate the mechanics of most real-life human TBIs, which are caused by sharp, angular and/or linear accelerations or decelerations of a freely moving intact head.

Photo courtesy of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Photo courtesy of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Working with biomechanical engineers at ICORD, Dr. Wellington and her colleagues have developed a transformative new model of rodent closed head TBI, called CHIMERA (Closed Head Injury Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration) that was specifically designed to overcome the caveats that limit the translational relevance of existing TBI models. CHIMERA’s innovation lies in its ability to generate, in a biomechanically controlled and reproducible manner, a wide range of TBI severity with completely free head movement, where head motion analyses are integrated with behavioral and neuropathological outcomes.

Neurotrauma fluid biomarkers: Innovative technologies that enable brain-derived substances to be measured in blood samples are transforming the field of neurology. Blood biomarker tests are becoming essential tools for the diagnosis and management of many brain disorders, from outpatient to critical care settings. With CFI-funded infrastructure, Wellington is conducting many projects in neurotrauma fluid biomarkers including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, concussion, intimate partner violence, and neurocritical care.

Current Lab Members

Master Students PhD Students Postdoctoral Fellows Undergraduate Students Research Staff

Kidus Achalu

 Jennifer Cooper Dr. Bethany Kondiles Parsa Alizadeh Dr. Wai Hang (Tom) Cheng
Tali Romero Tetiana Poliakova Dr. Mehwish Anwer Chloe Allen Carlos Barron
Dana Go Mohammad Ghodsi Mckenna Stuart Dr. Jianjia Fan
Isabella DiBerardino Andrew Agbay
Honor Cheung Dana Go
Antoine Cautru Tessa Morelli
Tali Romero
Dr. Sophie Stukas
Anna Wilkinson

Trainee Awards

Year Name Award
2025 Dr. Sophia Stukas UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Mentoring Award 
Andrew Agbay UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Staff Service Award (Technicians and technologists category) 
Kidus Achalu UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Trainee Award (MSc student category) 
2024-2027 Tetiana Poliakova Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, CIHR
2024-2026 Dr. Mehwish Anwer
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Postdoctoral Fellowship, CIHR
  • Michael Smith Health Research BC Trainee Award 
2024-2025 Kidus Achalu Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s (CGS M), CIHR
Isabella DiBerardino Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s  (CGS M), NSERC
Mohammad Ghodsi UBC Graduate Student Scholarship
2024 Mehwish Anwer
  • Health Research BC Scholar award
  • Canadian Association for Neuroscience Travel Award 
Mckenna Stuart

VAST Summer Student Scholarship
Kidus Anchalu
  • 1st place, Oral Presentation Award, UBC Faculty of Medicine Building the Future Research Trainee Day
  • PATH 502 Class Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award 
  • Personnel Awards for Black Scholars – Master’s, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Brain Canada Foundation 
Tetiana Poliakova
  • Alzheimer’s Society Research Program Doctoral Award
  • 2024 Doctoral Anne Martin-Matthews Prize of Excellence in Research on Aging 
Jennifer Cooper
  • Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) Fellowship – AAIC Advancements: Modernizing Diagnosis 
  • Dr. Hubert van Tol Travel Fellowship 
2023-2024 Dr. Mehwish Anwer

Bluma Tischler Fellowship, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia 
2023 Jennifer Cooper
  • Graduate Scholarship, Alzheimer Society of Canada
  • Graduate Scholarship, CIHR
  • Young Faculty Award, Alzheimer Disease and Parkinson Disease
2019 Elyn Rowe
  • Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship, CIHR
  • Faculty of Medicine Scholarship, UBC
  • Mock Grant Proposal Winner, Bright Focus Foundation: Alzheimer’s Fast Track Workshop
  • Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP), Doctoral Award, Alzheimer Society of Canada
  • YWCA Women of Distinction Award Nominee, Yang Women’s Christian Association
2019 Emily Button
  • Travel Fellowship, Alzheimer’s Association International Conference
2019 Pantea Azadpour
  • Faculty of Applied Science Graduate Award
2016 Iva Kulic
  • Weston Brain Institute Rapid Response Grant (Weston Brain Institute)
2016 Jerome Robert
  • Weston Brain Institute Rapid Response Grant (Weston Brain Institute)
2016 Emily Button
  • Top 3% of CIHR Doctoral Award (CIHR)
2016 Asma Bashir
  • CIHR Masters Scholarship (CIHR)

 

Recent publications

  • Lahiri, D et al.. 2026. CAPS Plus: A clinical biomarker scoring system to predict Aβ positivity and facilitate enrolment in anti-amyloid clinical trials.. Can J Neurol Sci. doi: 10.1017/cjn.2026.10530.
  • Bird, JD et al.. 2025. Characterizing the physiology of circulatory arrest in humans.. Nat Med. doi: 10.1038/s41591-025-03889-z.
  • Caron, NS et al.. 2025. Molecular and imaging biomarker responses to brain mutant HTT lowering in a mouse model of Huntington disease.. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2025.102710.
  • Harper, MI et al.. 2025. Advocates, Academics, Survivors and Clinicians to END Intimate Partner Violence (ASCEND-IPV) initiative: a prospective observational case-control study protocol to identify plasma biomarkers of intimate partner violence (IPV)-caused brain injury (BI).. BMJ Open. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-098025.
  • Penner, LC et al.. 2025. Effects of interval exercise and diurnal variation on blood biomarkers for sport-related concussion: A crossover cohort study.. J Sci Med Sport. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2025.06.008.
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