CANADA
Valerie Sim, MD, FRCPC
Neurologist and Assistant Professor, Division of Neurology, University of Alberta
Clinician scientist, Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta
I joined the University of Alberta in January, 2009, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology. My interests in prion disease include prion disease pathogenesis, the role of infectious oligomers in this process, and how the abnormal structure of prion protein relates to the infectious properties of these diseases. As a clinician scientist in neurology, 75% of my time is dedicated to basic science research, while the remainder is spent doing clinical neurology. I received my BSc. Hon. at the University of Calgary in 1996, majoring in Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology. I graduated from medical school at the University of Calgary in 1999, and then completed my Neurology residency at the University of Ottawa in 2004. From 2004 to 2008 I pursued an AHFMR-funded post-doctoral fellowship on the basic science of prion disease at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH, in Montana (where I acquired the nickname MadCowGirl). Since joining the CPPFD in Edmonton, I have been awarded funding from PrioNet and the Alberta Prion Research Institute (APRI).
What is it like to be a new researcher? Follow me @PrionGirl on Twitter or at http://priongirl.blogspot.com/