Dr. Candice Poon is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary and a Neurosurgeon with Alberta Health Services at Foothills Medical Centre. She obtained a BSc Honors Neuroscience degree from the University of Alberta where she subsequently earned her MD. Following this, she pursued a Neurosurgical Residency at the University of Calgary where she also completed an enfolded PhD in Neuro-Oncology and -Immunology under the supervision of Dr. Wee Yong. Dr. Poon was then selected for a prestigious neurosurgical-oncology clinical and research fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. During this time, she studied the glioma perivascular niche under the supervision of Dr. Padmanee Sharma and Dr. Frederick Lang. Dr. Poon has now returned to the University of Calgary with appointments in both the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Oncology where she runs her own laboratory.
Dr. Poon was awarded the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Adult Basic Research Abstract Award, the Canadian Neurosurgical Society K. G. McKenzie Memorial Prize for Basic Research Award, a Dean’s Silver Medal in Science, and numerous other awards and research/academic scholarships. Dr. Poon’s research interests lie in the areas of neuro-immunology, bioinformatics, and the biology of the perivascular niche with a focus on how stromal cells interact with immune cells to affect brain tumors in the context of the glymphatic system.
Dr. Poon enjoys spending time with her family and friends, swimming, and architecture/interior design.