Haskirat (Kira) Grewal

Biography

About me
Hello! My name is Kira and I am originally from Calgary. I earned a combined undergraduate degree with First Class Honours in Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology, and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Sociology, focusing on Criminology from the University of Calgary. Currently, I'm an MSc trainee in the Neuroscience program, exploring therapies to help people with spinal cord injury.

My research
My preclinical project focuses on manipulating arterial carbon dioxide tension in the acute phase of spinal cord injury to stabilize blood flow using a closed-loop system. I am in Dr. Aaron Phillips’ lab and he recently won the 2023 Hopewell MIND Prize for the research project I work on!

BRAIN CREATE program aspirations
I hope to gain access to workshops/events that help me meet industry professionals and network.

Commercialization
My research project has had a provisional patent approved for the closed-loop system that we developed. The closed-loop system has the potential to be an early intervention therapy for people in the acute phase of spinal cord injury and it may help reduce the final injury severity.

Awards

Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta - Master’s Scholarship 
NSERC - Brain CREATE Graduate Award - Master’s Funding 
CIHR – Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (CGS-M)