The George Turnbull Student Research Award

The George Turnbull Student Research Award will be presented to the graduate student who demonstrates the greatest potential to benefit people living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, which involves the loss of cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra. These cells are responsible for producing a chemical called dopamine, which acts as a messenger between the brains cells that control movement. It is estimated that by the time the diagnosis is made, approximately 80 per cent of dopamine-producing cells have already stopped functioning. The resulting significant decrease in dopamine leads to the appearance of the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

The Parkinson Society, Maritime Region has recently established the George Turnbull Student Research Award to recognize and honour the more than 20 years of effort Dr. George Turnbull has devoted to the better understanding and treatment of Parkinson Disease.

To be considered for this prize, you must indicate on your application form that the research activities you will be completing as part of your degree program relates to Parkinson’s and provide an additional one (1) page description of the impact your research activities may have on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or long term management of Parkinson’s. 

The criteria used by the NSHRF staff to determine the winner of the George Turnbull Student Research Award includes:

  • the quality of writing as demonstrated through your application;
  • your future plans, long-term goals, career expectations
    • Statement of Promisesection of application; and
  •  your prospective contribution and the potential unique impact of your research activities to the field of Parkinson’s research
    • The George Turnbull Award Supplemental Attachment which outlines the relevance of the research activities to knowledge creation related to cancer

In addition to receiving this prestigious recognition, we will contribute an annual award of $1,000 (non-renewable) to help the winner further his/her research. The monetary value of The George Turnbull Award will not be factored in when calculating the winner’s total funding from all sources; this prize is exempt from the upper limit set by the NSHRF.