NEWS RELEASE   Providence Health Care Researcher receives UBC Alumni Award << BACK  |  Download Word File Vancouver, October 12, 2006 — Dr. David Granville, one of the principal investigators at the James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research at St. Paul's Hospital, will be honoured with the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award at the annual UBC Alumni Achievement Awards on November 2, 2006. Dr. Granville is an assistant professor in UBC's Faculty of Medicine and holds a Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Biochemistry in UBC's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He specializes in understanding the mechanisms of cell injury and death in cardiovascular diseases ranging from atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) to heart transplant rejection. Last year, Dr. Granville was named by The Caldwell Partners and the Globe and Mail as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40TM , an honour given to individuals who have achieved great success under the age of 40. He also won Young Investigator Awards from the Canadian Society of Transplantation in 2004 and the Canadian Stroke Network in 2005, and most recently, a Merit Award from the American Heart Association Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology in 2006. He is also the recipient of a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award. The Alumni Achievement Awards recognize the outstanding accomplishments of UBC graduates, students, faculty and community leaders. Each year, the gala dinner is held to honour award recipients and highlight the vital contributions they have made through research efforts, student leadership, civic contribution, volunteerism, or service to the university. -30- Contact: Justin Karasick Providence Health Care Communications 604-806-8022 or karasick@providencehealth.bc.ca Background Dr. David Granville Assistant professor Dr. David Granville is one of Canada's rising stars in cardiovascular research. His academic potential has been recognized and fostered through a number of financial awards. While completing his doctorate degree at UBC, he was funded by a research traineeship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. He then attended the renowned Scripps Institute in San Diego supported by a fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Granville's research team has received widespread media attention for their discovery that a certain enzyme plays a key role in the cell death process and that its suppression could reduce damage to the heart when the organ is subjected to cardiac ischema and reperfusion injury. Hardened arteries can restrict blood flow to the heart, heighten blood pressure and cause heart attacks. Compounding the problem are immune cells, which trigger cell death in the wall of a hardened artery and create a bigger risk. This discovery has potential for reducing the size of a heart attack by up to 60%. Dr. Granville is driven by a desire to see rapid progress from bench to bedside, from discovery to application. He is an inspiring mentor and engaging speaker with a reputation that attracts talented graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to bolster UBC's research efforts. Partly because of what he inspires, he was asked to head the strategic planning committee at UBC's James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, St. Paul's Hospital (of which he is an executive member) to attract other talented researchers to UBC. He is respected for his level of involvement, effectiveness, and generous collaboration with colleagues. The iCAPTURE Centre Built on a 25-year history of research excellence, the iCAPTURE Centre was created in 2000 with the infusion of $21 million of technological infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and its partners. In addition to its St. Paul's facility, iCAPTURE co-investigators are located at Vancouver General Hospital, UBC's Point Grey campus and the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics. iCAPTURE is dedicated to relieving the massive socioeconomic burden on our society caused by heart attacks, heart failure, COPD, asthma and critical care. More than 270 personnel in the iCAPTURE Centre, including 125 trainees and students, are using the best available technologies and tools to image and measure changes in molecules, cells, tissues, organs and whole organisms, including patients, to understand the link between our genetics and environments in causing heart, lung, and blood vessel diseases. For example, iCAPTURE Centre investigators are trying to understand how common injurious factors like air pollution, cigarette smoke, unhealthy diet, lack of blood flow, unhealthy aging, viral infections, and immune attack compromise the integrity of the heart muscle, vessels, and valves, and the lung airways and air sacs. << BACK  |  Download Word File