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Our Team

Trainees

Join us on our journey to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and their families affected by diabetes, while expanding your knowledge and skills in diabetes research!

DREAM Trainees

Trainees of DREAM are provided access to a top-notch training environment at the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM).

CHRIM fosters multi-disciplinary research interactions that facilitate translational research between the pre-clinical, clinical and population health-based sciences. Additionally, CHRIM provides an open and collaborative environment, which houses many eminent researchers with whom our trainees forge strong research collaborations and receive mentoring and guidance. Another excellent training opportunity for our trainees is participation in our Annual Diabetes Symposium, which is organized and hosted by DREAM. This symposium provides an excellent opportunity for trainees to showcase their work and allow them to network with both local and international leaders in the diabetes field.

DREAM also has a DREAM Trainees Seminar Series, which provides students and trainees opportunities to share and discuss relevant research papers as well as discuss work in progress, obtain critical feedback on research projects and hone oral communication skills. The DREAM Trainees Seminar Series is also used as a forum to invite world-renowned researchers to meet with trainees and discuss exciting new avenues of research, career paths and advice on balancing work and home life. The creation of the DEVOTION research cluster has allowed the DREAM trainees and the student group from the Biology of Breathing group (BReaTH) to join forces and participate in joint professional development sessions. The translational nature of this environment cultivates a greater appreciation for the clinical and fundamental aspects of research related to type 2 diabetes in youth.

Executive Committee

The DREAM Trainees are committed to representing DREAM, increasing academic and research collaborations within the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), enhancing career development opportunities for trainees, and promoting understanding and reconciliation with Indigenous communities in Manitoba by providing educational opportunities for trainees and striving for community and patient-oriented research. Please see the links below to learn more about this group.

Annual DREAM Trainee Lectureship

Each year, the DREAM trainees have invited leading international diabetes researchers to present a lecture in Winnipeg. This is also an opportunity for trainees to build their network, receive feedback about career paths and research projects.

Previous lecturers
  • Dr. E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD
  • Dr. Satchidananda Panda, PhD
  • Dr. Daniel Drucker, MD
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PhD Students

Jared Field

Email: umfiel26@myumanitoba.ca
Department: Human Anatomy and Cell Science
Project/Area of interest: Skeletal muscle metabolism
PI: Dr. Joseph Gordon

Manuel Sebastian

Email: sebasti1@myumanitoba.ca
Department: Physiology and Pathophysiology
Project/Area of interest: The prevalence of youth-onset T2D is disproportionately affecting the Indigenous children of Central Canada, the majority being of Oji-Cree heritage. My research will focus on the change in the DNA of the HNF-1α gene (HNF-1αG319S) which is likely to contribute to the development of T2D observed among the Oji-Cree youth.
PI: Dr. Christine Doucette

Nicole Brunton

Email: NBrunton@chrim.ca
Department: Pediatrics and Child Health
Project /Area of interest: Does exposure to diabetes in-utero cause greater susceptibility to hypertension in offspring? A triangulation approach.
PI: Dr. Jon McGavock & Dr. Todd Duhamel

Patience Obi

Email: obip@myumanitoba.ca
Department: Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Project/Area of interest: investigating the role of extracellular vesicles in mediating the positive effects of chronic contractile activity, as well as evaluating the role of EVs as mediators of skeletal muscle-cancer cross-talk
PI: Dr. Ayesha Saleem

Caitlin Menzies

Email: menzies6@myumanitoba.ca
Department: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Project/Area of interest: Role of SIRT3 in the developmental role of Cardiomyopathy
PI: Dr. Vernon Dolinsky

Jasmine Pipella

Email: pipellaj@myumanitoba.ca
Department: Physiology and Pathophysiology
Project/Area of interest: Exploring the impact of the immune system on beta cell stress
PI: Dr. Peter Thompson

Berkay Ozerklig

Email: berkay.ozerklig@umanitoba.ca
Department: Kinesiology
Project/Area of interest: Exercise EVs & Chronic Diseases

Post-doctoral Fellows

Tamiris Souza

Email: tsouza@chrim.ca
Department: Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Project/Area of interest: working on EVs as biomarkers of mito patients and using EVs to rescue mito dysfunction - as well on EVs in asthma/breast milk
PI: Dr. Ayesha Saleem

Nayara Rampazzo Morelli

Email: nayara.rampazzomorelli@umanitoba.ca
Department: Faculty of Physiology and Pathophysiology
Project/Area of interest: islet biology and type 1 diabetes
PI: Dr. Peter Thompson

Thiago Baltus

Email: thiago.baltus@umanitoba.ca
Department: Faculty of Physiology and Pathophysiology
Project/Area of interest: Type 2 Diabetes
PI: Dr. Christine Doucette

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Learn how you can participate in our research projects