DR. FEMKE StREIJGER

Originally from the The Netherlands, Dr. Streijger completed her PhD in Medical Sciences in 2007 from the Radboud University in Nijmegen. After that she found an opportunity to do a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Tetzlaff at the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), Vancouver, Canada. The diversity of research and expertise at ICORD allowed her to contribute to a wide range of innovative projects, including exciting research into the effects of dietary manipulation after acute spinal cord injury (SCI). This research has shed new insights into the early clinical nutritional management of SCI.

After 3 productive years as a post-doctoral fellow and 1.5-years as Research Associate with Dr. Tetzlaff, Dr. Streijger landed a UBC Faculty position with Dr. Kwon in 2011. While her role has developed and changed significantly over the last 10 years, Dr. Streijger currently assumes a leadership role in Dr. Kwon's lab overseeing the multiple research projects, supporting research study conceptualization and development, research funding applications, and providing supervision to research staff, trainees and students on the team. Dr. Streijger also collaborates closely on studies of SCI with numerous researchers to share their findings and lessons learned from the various project.

Dr. Streijger has authored multiple scientific research manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and through her pre-clinical work as a Research Associate has shed new light on the differentiated temporal and spatial dynamics of spinal cord blood flow, tissue oxygenation, and pressure changes following SCI, the role of expansion duraplasty in the management of SCI, and how the morphometry of the spinal cord and surrounding cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contributes to the variability in spinal cord pressure (SCP) along with intraspinal pressure (ISP). More recently, Dr. Streijger is contributing to the development novel methods for quantifying hemorrhage within the spinal cord using ultrasound, MRI, and histology, in an attempt to explore how hemodynamic management and medications to prevent blood clots might influence bleeding within the injured spinal cord.

Dr. Streijger says that he best thing about working at the Kwon lab is the passion shared by all of the staff, trainees and students on the team, along with the diversity of research: "one day you will be analyzing data behind your computer, the next day you will be working with an international team comprised of 12 institutions tackling the entire continuum of SCI care!"