Down Syndrome Research Foundation

1409 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby
British Columbia, Canada V5B 4J8

email: info@dsrf.org

Follow us on Facebook

Dawn McKenna
Executive Director

Dawn has a broad business background with experience and education in finance, human resources and management, and has been involved in the disability community for over ten years. In 1999, looking for new challenges and the opportunity to help make a difference, Dawn left the corporate world and joined the Down Syndrome Research Foundation. She was instrumental in the successful completion of two capital campaigns, raising funds to: i) build a family-centered facility for Down syndrome research and education, and ii) purchase and install state-of-the-art brain imaging equipment, a Magnetoencephalography system (MEG). The Centre and the MEG are enabling new insights into cognitive development and provide the knowledge to develop new educational programs to help children with Down syndrome of all ages reach their full individual potentials.

Dawn was a key member of the executive committee organizing the 9th world Down Syndrome Congress in Vancouver , BC , Canada in 2006, and took over as Chair of the Congress when Josephine Mills was diagnosed with leukemia and unable to continue in the role. Dawn is a member of the Board of a local Rotary Chapter and involved in a variety of community projects.

Email Dawn Welcome letter from Dawn

Pat Hanbury
Program Manager

Pat comes to the role of Program Manager at the DSRF with diverse experience gained from supporting families as Interim Executive Director at the Family Support Institute, co-founder of Hanbury Holland, a private consulting company, and work as a network facilitator at PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network). Pat graduated from UBC with a degree in psychology in 2007 after a previous career working at Cominco, BP, and BC Pavilion Corporation in a variety of accounting roles. Pat and her husband John have three children and 21 year old Andrew is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Pat is a strong believer in the power of parent networking and a proponent of goal oriented programming that supports our children as citizens within their natural communities of family and friends. Pat has experience with the issues surrounding transition into adult life and was responsible for the creation and launch of Support Worker Central, a website designed to assist people who employ support workers for their disability related needs.

Email Pat

Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul (P.T., Ph.D)
Director, Research

Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul is a neuroscientist who is leading the effort to study perceptual-motor and social-emotional development and learning in children and adults with Down syndrome. She uses a combination of behavioural and brain imaging tools (i.e. MEG) to probe the brain and investigate the patterns of brain activation as they relate to perception and learning. Her research is supported by the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) and the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Email Naznin