The Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI) honoured two of its researchers on November 12, 2005. Dr. David S. Park was given the Researcher of the Year Award, and Dr. Benjamin K. Tsang won the Dr. J. David Grimes Research Career Achievement Award.
Dr. Park’s research has revealed that the death throes of brain cells are like choreographed dances, with specific molecules furthering the death process in a defined sequence of events. This process is called apoptosis, which means programmed cell death or cell suicide. Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are caused by such brain cell suicide.
What triggers a cell to commit suicide, and how can we prevent it are just two of the questions that Dr. Park is trying to answer.
Dr. Benjamin K. Tsang has worked tirelessly for more than 30 years investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern the process of ovulation. He has made key discoveries about the factors that control whether ovarian cells live or die and he has found that these factors play a role in infertility and in determining the responsiveness of ovarian cancer to anti-cancer agents. He is currently studying ways to develop drugs or techniques to overcome chemo-resistance, a major therapeutic problem for ovarian cancer patients.
The awards were presented at the Gala for Research, an annual event to raise funds for the OHRI. This year’s gala, presented by Cognos, raised $150,000.
