The British Columbia Schizophrenia Society Foundation (BCSSF) is proud to announce that Tomos Salthiel, a native of Barrie, Ontario, was chosen as one of just six students admitted this year to an exclusive joint-degree program at the University of British Columbia’s medical school.
Donations from the public made possible a partnership between BCSSF and UBC’s highly-selective MD/PhD program, creating a new position for a qualifying student interested in researching schizophrenia and related brain disorders.
Salthiel will be joining the lab of Dr. Mark Cembrowski with plans to investigate the neuropathology of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Cembrowski is an award-winning researcher in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, known for adopting a multidisciplinary approach to learn, among other things, how memory and cognition go awry in brain disorders.
Salthiel, who completed his undergraduate study in neuroscience with honours at Montreal’s McGill University, is excited about the opportunity to conduct research at UBC, while also completing his medical degree.
“Broadly, I am interested in neurodegenerative diseases and in understanding how changes within particular brain cell types and neural circuits contribute to cognitive and behavioural symptoms. I am especially excited to move toward more human-focused translational research, using insights from human tissue to investigate disease mechanisms that are directly relevant to patients. Ultimately, I hope this work can help bridge the gap between fundamental neuroscience and the development of more precise treatments.”
“What excites me most about my area of research is both its endless potential for exploration and its direct relevance to people in need. There will always be new questions to pursue about how the brain functions in health and disease, and each discovery carries the possibility of improving how we understand, treat, and care for those affected. Additionally, research has introduced me to many remarkable scientists, patients, and families whose experiences and perspectives continually remind me of the people at the heart of this work.”
Salthiel is the youngest sibling in a family of five. His interest in neuroscience was awakened by his mother’s studies in biology and by his own volunteer experiences playing piano for patients at dementia clinics. “Those experiences connected my scientific curiosity with the people affected by these conditions and inspired me to pursue research that could ultimately improve their lives.”
At UBC, Salthiel is specifically interested in investigating how neurotransmitter messages deep within the brain’s cognitive processing centre, the subiculum, are altered in disease states like schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s, and how these relate to behaviour.
“By 40, I hope to be working in Vancouver as a clinician-scientist, dividing my time between caring for patients as a neurologist and leading translational research in neurodegenerative diseases. I am deeply grateful to the BC Schizophrenia Society Foundation, whose support has enabled me to join UBC’s exceptional MD/PhD program.”