McGill University scientist wins top award for spinal cord injury research

Toronto, ON – A researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre has received the 2015 Barbara Turnbull Award for Spinal Cord Research. This annual prize is supported through a partnership between the Barbara Turnbull Foundation, Brain Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The award is in honour of the late Barbara Turnbull for her work in raising awareness about spinal cord injuries and the need for exceptional research in this area to improve the lives of those affected.

Dr. Samuel David, a researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, is the 2015 recipient of this prestigious award for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of world leading spinal cord research conducted in Canada.

Dr. David and his research team are studying the mechanisms that control the delivery and release of iron in the nervous system. Iron is required for the survival and functioning of nerve cells. However, too much iron can cause damage to nerve cells. Their work has an impact on our understanding of damage following spinal cord and brain injury and diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and ways to promote recovery after nervous system damage.

The announcement took place during the 14th Annual Charles H. Tator-Barbara Turnbull Lectureship Series in Spinal Cord Injury.

Barbara Turnbull was a renowned Toronto journalist and a champion of research into spinal cord injury and repair. In 1983, when she was 18 she was shot during a convenience store robbery and as a result was paralyzed from the neck down. Following this tragedy, Ms. Turnbull created a non-profit charitable foundation that promotes and supports spinal cord research in Canada. She received honorary degrees from University of Toronto and York University and was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Award in 2012. In 2015, she was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada. In May 2015, she passed away at age 50.

The Barbara Turnbull Award for Spinal Cord Research was established in 2001 to support research and raise awareness of the more than 86,000 Canadians who are living with a spinal cord injury, with 4,300 new cases each year. The prize is presented annually by CIHR, the Barbara Turnbull Foundation, and Brain Canada, to the researcher who submitted the best application in the CIHR competition in the field of spinal cord injury and repair. This award is for $50,000.