{"id":2650,"date":"2015-11-10T21:20:27","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T21:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/?p=2650"},"modified":"2015-11-10T21:20:27","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T21:20:27","slug":"science-alumni-dr-mike-hildebrand-receives-distinguished-alumni-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/2015\/11\/10\/science-alumni-dr-mike-hildebrand-receives-distinguished-alumni-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Science Alumni Dr. Mike Hildebrand receives Distinguished Alumni Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original Article: UFV Today Blog – Nov. 10. 2015<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

At UFV, his professors saw his potential and wanted to open his mind to other career possibilities. Dr. Noham Weinberg<\/a><\/strong> of the Chemistry<\/a> department invited him to spend a post-undergrad year conducting research in the UFV science labs. Hildebrand also worked with Dr. Tony Stea<\/strong> of the Biology <\/a>department, resulting in his work being published in refereed science journals as an undergrad. He combined this research work with volunteer teaching at his former high school while he planned the next step in his journey: a successful application to graduate school at the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n

Dr. Tony Stea<\/a> of UFV\u2019s Biology department is delighted that Hildebrand has been named the Distinguished Alumni winner for 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is the best student I have ever had the pleasure of teaching and interacting with in more than 20 years of teaching. He excelled in his marks (straight A student), but he was also able to critically evaluate and question course information. He was an excellent public speaker and was well-liked by other students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When Dr. Mike Hildebrand<\/strong> says he\u2019s working in his lab at Carleton University, he\u2019s speaking literally. The lab is named after him and it\u2019s symbolic of his long journey and the path he has taken from UFV and the Fraser Valley farm where he grew up, to the chronic pain research he now leads.<\/p>\n

This fall he returns to his hometown of Abbotsford and to UFV where he will be recognized as the Distinguished Alumni award winner for 2015.<\/p>\n

Hildebrand, a 2001 graduate of UFV\u2019s Bachelor of Science<\/a> program, has followed a scientific journey that took him to the University of British Columbia for doctoral studies and a PhD, a post-doctoral industrial research fellowship with Zalicus Pharmaceuticals, and a research fellowship at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Since 2013 he has been a tenure-track assistant professor in the Neuroscience department at Ottawa\u2019s Carleton University, running the Hildebrand Lab<\/a>, which focuses on pain management.<\/p>\n

During the course of his life he has met people living with chronic pain and they have become a motivating force.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really put a face on my research for me. I can think that maybe one day, they will be helped by the research I conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has received almost $400,000 in research funding for his lab, including a $175,000 NSERC Discovery grant and a $140,000 Canada Foundation for Innovation grant.<\/p>\n

And while it\u2019s quite an achievement to have a research lab named after you (his proud mother took photos of the sign when she visited), what drives Hildebrand isn\u2019t a desire for personal glory. It\u2019s curiosity. That ever-present urge to ask why, or how, and then go and find the answers. Add a strong sense of community service and the drive to help others through teaching and scientific discovery and you have the secrets to his success.<\/p>\n

When he began his studies at UFV in 1997, he didn\u2019t know where his career would take him. He admired and was inspired by his teachers at Abbotsford\u2019s Mennonite Educational Institute, and initially thought maybe he\u2019d become a science teacher.<\/p>\n

More at\u00a0 UFV Today Blog – Nov. 10. 2015<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original Article: UFV Today Blog – Nov. 10. 2015 At UFV, his professors saw his potential and wanted to open his mind to other career possibilities. Dr. Noham Weinberg of the Chemistry department invited him to spend a post-undergrad year conducting research in the UFV science labs. Hildebrand also worked with Dr. Tony Stea of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology","category-chemistry","category-deans-office","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2652,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2650\/revisions\/2652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}