NEWS FROM THE BENCH

Steven Kerfoot Steven Kerfoot

KerfootLab joins MS Bike to end MS

We participated in the MS Bike Ride from Grand Bend to London this weekend!

Originally posted 2014/07/27

We participated in the MS Bike Ride from Grand Bend to London this weekend! Amy and Rajiv volunteered at one of the rest stations while Heather and Steve joined over 1700 others for the 150km ride.

Amy (left) and Rajiv (right) sporting volunteer T shirts and Heather (centre) in her fancy Club1000 Jersey

Amy (left) and Rajiv (right) sporting volunteer T shirts and Heather (centre) in her fancy Club1000 Jersey

In total, the ride raised $1.35 million to support research and services for those living with MS (KerfootLab raised more than $2000! Thanks to our supporters!). Steve had the opportunity to thank riders for their efforts at Saturday night’s main event.

Steve is the shiny person in the glare of the spotlights

Steve is the shiny person in the glare of the spotlights

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Steven Kerfoot Steven Kerfoot

SPRINT Team visits the lab

Collaboration in a national trainee mentorship program sponsored by the MS Society of Canada

Originally posted 2014/02/18

The endMS Research and Training Network, an initiative of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, runs a unique multidisciplinary program for research trainees. This program includes a summer school on MS-related topics (read more here) and a year-long mentored project for a select group of senior PhD students and post docs called the SPRINT program (Scholar Program for Researchers IN Training, read more here).

Amy from the lab and I had a chance to attend the 2013 Summer School hosted in Vancouver, and I’m currently leading a small SPRINT team (Julia O’Mahony, Health Economics UofT, and Sandra Meyers, MRI Physics, UBC). In our project, we are reviewing animal models for MS from the perspectives of researchers who normally work with human subjects, with the goal of improving communication between basic bench Immunologists and more clinically-focused researchers.

Sandra (left) and Julia (right) were visiting Western this week to learn about the models we use in the lab. Here they are, trying to avoid getting too close to one of them.

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