Through its partnership with Michael Smith Health Research BC, BCSSF is funding research that offers hope to people with schizophrenia. Scientists at UBC’s Anthony Phillips Lab are looking at the role specific receptors play in the brain’s function. When working well, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors promote connections important to healthy functioning in areas of the brain associated with learning and memory. For this reason, they are often the focus of research into brain-related illnesses. And now Dr. Peter Axerio-Cilies is widening this focus, to include new aspects of these receptors. In so doing, he hopes to understand how certain drugs might work better to improve the performance of these important connections.