Eva Szabo (pictured here on the left) was part of a team under the direction of Dr. Mick Bhatia of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute that succeeded in transforming skin cells into mature blood cells in less than thirty days. One of the most talked-about biomedical breakthroughs of 2010, this new development offers hope to sufferers from blood and immunological diseases, such as leukemia, who are often unable to find a suitable donors.

Failing to get a CIHR postdoctoral fellowship, she successfully applied for a research fellowship to –according to her– the “only program (other than MRI) across Ontario and even Canada, which funds application based on translational medical/health research”: the new MITACS Elevate program, which provides funding for new PhDs in southern Ontario while taking part in a customized training program to further develop their professional skills including project management, communication and networking.
Congratulations Eva, but also congratulations to MITACS for establishing such a program in Ontario.

My question is: when are these fellowships coming to BC, Quebec, and elsewhere in Canada?