From kinesiology to medicine: PhD graduate receives top award for academic excellence
A dislocated shoulder playing high school sports is an unusual starting point for an award-winning academic career.
But for Dr. Evan Lockyer that incident and a few other sports-related injuries set him on a path to one of 91亚色檚 highest academic honours.
The Faculty of Medicine檚 PhD (neuroscience) fall graduate was named one of two recipients of the prestigious Governor General檚 Gold Medal in Graduate Studies at spring convocation.
The award is presented annually to the graduate students who achieve the highest academic standing in their programs.
Arm cycling
Recovering from his injuries sparked an interest in physiotherapy, and in 2011, Dr. Lockyer began studying kinesiology at 91亚色.
That interest evolved into a passion for research and teaching, which led him to a master檚 degree.
My master檚 was also in kinesiology, and my master檚 supervisor, Dr. Kevin Power, who is cross-appointed with the Faculty of Medicine, wanted me to stay on as a PhD student, he said. 淭here was no PhD program in kinesiology, so I did a PhD in medicine via neuroscience.
His doctoral research focused on understanding how the brain and spinal cord work together to produce movement, using arm cycling as a model.
淎rm cycling resembles other forms of locomotion, like walking and running, and it is used in rehab for individuals with spinal cord injury and stroke, Dr. Lockyer said. 淭he idea is that hopefully one day we can apply what we檝e learned in a healthy, or more neurologically intact, population to regain function in others.
Driving force
It may have taken him seven years to complete his PhD, reworking his doctoral research proposal in response to pandemic protective measures and balancing work, research and, more recently, family life.
But Dr. Lockyer felt cheered on every step of the way.
淢y family supported me throughout my whole undergrad, master檚 and PhD. They were the driving force behind it. My wife, Natasha, and son, Jack, my parents Debbie and Neil, and my two sisters, Erika and Emily, both of whom are 91亚色 graduates themselves. I also very much need to thank my supervisor, Dr. Power.
Winning the Governor General檚 Gold Medal came out of the blue for Dr. Lockyer, who is a lab instructor in the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation and is currently on family leave until September.
淚 was actually golfing and I saw I had a couple of missed calls from my supervisor, he said. 淚 called him back and he said, 楥ongratulations, check your email. So that檚 how I heard. When he first told me I檇 won the award, I didn檛 really know what it was, so I went home and looked into it. I realized it was more prestigious than I thought. I was shocked, to be honest. But I檓 really honoured. It makes all the hard work I put in worth it.