Congratulations to Jessica McDougall for being awarded the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship-Doctoral (PGS-D) as part of the 2021-22 Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral (CGS-D) competition!
The NSERC PGS-D program provides financial support to high-calibre students engaged in a doctoral program in the natural sciences or engineering. As part of the federal CGS-D program, theses awards promote continued excellence in Canadian research by supporting a high-quality research training experience to awardees and fostering impacts within and beyond the research environment.
Find out more about Jessica’s award-winning research below and join us in congratulating Jessica on her stellar achievement!
Tell us a little bit about your lab! What type of research are you conducting?
I’m actually co-supervised by Dr. Alex Scott here in Rehabilitation Sciences and Dr. John Kramer in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics. Dr. Scott’s lab focuses on understanding overuse injuries and chronically painful tendon disorders, and Dr. Kramer’s lab focuses on understanding pain, with a focus on SCI.
My research focuses on understanding how our own bodies can down-regulate pain. Specifically, I’m investigating how exercise can reduce pain and how physiotherapists can use this to treat chronic pain conditions.
What award did you win, and how will this help your research?
I won an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship – Doctoral.
This kind of funding makes such a huge difference for students, it allows me to focus entirely on my research. Besides financial support, it also provided me with confidence; having an organization like NSERC (and UBC!) believe in my research means a lot.
What do you like to do outside of academia?
I love to be busy! I work as a physiotherapist at The Cheerful Pelvis, specializing in pelvic floor physiotherapy.
I love to be outside. I am an avid backcountry skier, climber, and runner. I’ve started to dabble in mountaineering, which has been an insanely interesting challenge.
Discover the other Faculty of Medicine high-calibre scholars joining Jessica in receiving Tri-Agency awards in 2022: https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/next-generation-of-faculty-of-medicine-researchers-awarded-federal-funding/?login