By Anna Sinova, the Education Coordinator, CBR
Only one month ago, the Centre for Blood Research announced a new award in honor of Neil Mackenzie, recognizing mentorship excellence in the CBR community. Any CBR member (with the exception of PIs) could be nominated for this award by their colleagues and lab mates. The nomination process was no easy task, considering that nominators had to write a 500-word essay, describing why their deserving mentor should receive the award. To the surprise of the CBR staff, over 30 nominations poured in highlighting the incredible efforts and achievements of 20 CBR mentors.
On behalf of CBR, we would like to express our heartfelt thank you to all the nominees for making a difference in the lives of people around you. Thank you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to helping others be the best they can be and for being a caring, encouraging and inspiring mentor. It is wonderful to have people like you work at the CBR and we have all undoubtedly been touched by your presence! In the next few days, a committee consisting of CBR staff and Neil Mackenzie’s closest friends and colleagues have the difficult job of selecting only a single person out of a large number of wonderful, caring CBR mentors, to exemplify Neil’s qualities and his dedication to mentorship.
The winner for the 2015 Neil Mackenzie Mentorship Excellence Award was announced at the CBR Research Day on August 19th. Steve Hur, a PhD Candidate in Christian Kastrup Lab won the nomination this year. Congratulations, Steve!
2015 Neil Mackenzie Mentorship Excellence Award Nominees:
- Brankica Culibrk
- Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez
- Chanson Brumme
- Christa Klein-Bosgoed
- Emilie Lameignere
- Fred Rossel
- Katherine Serrano
- Kelli Wuerth
- Kieran O’Neill
- Michael Hughes
- Nik Fortelny
- Peter Schubert
- Preety Panwar
- Rolinda Carter
- Scott Meixner
- Simi Karwal
- Srinivas Abbina
- Steve Hur – winner of the Neil Mackenzie Mentorship Award
- Sue Curtis
- Victor Lei
- Valerie Smith
Neil Mackenzie was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Bromme’s lab at the CBR. Neil was a dedicated and caring mentor, whose encouraging and motivating words and actions were sincerely appreciated by all those whom he touched – colleagues, friends and students. To honor his legacy and the impact he has made on the people within and outside the Centre for Blood Research, you can make a donation to the Neil Mackenzie in Memoriam Fund (http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/neil-mackenzie). Your donation will support the CBR mentorship initiatives, promoting mentorship excellence throughout our research community.