Two UBC Nursing graduate students have been awarded Canada Graduate Research Scholarships—Master's (CGRS-M), a nationally competitive federal award recognizing high-achieving scholars for their potential to contribute to Canadian research.
April 22, 2026
Roberta Watt, an Early Career Nursing Leadership MSN student who came directly from UBC's Bachelor of Science in Nursing into the master's program, is being recognized for research that brings both historical depth and urgent contemporary relevance to nursing practice. Her thesis — Bringing Health to the Homeless: drawing on the historical radical works of Lillian Wald and the Henry Street Visiting Nurse's Settlement to feed the fire of advocacy for street-based nursing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside — reaches back more than a century to illuminate a model of care that remains strikingly urgent today. Ms. Watt is supervised by Dr. Lydia Wytenbroek and Dr. Helen Brown.
Emily Schraeder, a master's student in Women's+ and Children's Health Sciences with a specialization in reproductive and developmental sciences, is pursuing research that examines the long-term consequences of early sensory experience. Her thesis, Investigating the effects of early pain and sucrose exposure on brain development using a newborn mouse model, explores how exposures in the earliest days of life may shape neurological outcomes — research with far-reaching implications for neonatal care. Ms. Schraeder is supervised by Dr. Manon Ranger.
The CGRS-M provides financial support to high-calibre scholars, allowing them to concentrate more fully on their studies and their contributions to Canadian research. The program supports up to 3,298 students annually across all disciplines and is administered jointly by Canada's three federal granting agencies: CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC.
Congratulations to Roberta Watt and Emily Schraeder on this well-deserved recognition.