Dr. Freda Miller, a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children, has discovered that stem cells found in adult skin can produce nervous system Schwann cells.Fred Thornhill / Toronto Sun

A new elementary school in the citys southwest is being named after a scientist who is an alumna of the Calgary public school system.

The school that is under construction in the community of Evergreen is called Dr. Freda Miller School. The Board of Trustees of the Calgary Board of Education approved the name for the school, which is expected to open in September 2020.

Miller is a cell and molecular developmental neurobiologist at Torontos Hospital for Sick Children and a professor at the University of Toronto. She is also a fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Miller has made seminal scientific discoveries over the course of her career, the Calgary Board of Education said in a news release Monday.

Her discovery of stem cells in the second layer of the skin has provided the conceptual basis for using skin as a major source for genesis of human stem cells. The stem cells she discovered are critical for the repair of injured skin, the release stated.

At the same time, Dr. Miller discovered new mechanisms determining whether nerve cells live or die, findings that initiated new fields of research and that have major implications for our understanding of neurodegenerative disorders.

Miller attended schools in Montgomery and Bowness and was part of the gifted program at Queen Elizabeth High School in her junior high years. She has a PhD in medical sciences from the University of Calgary.

The school board said Miller maintains strong ties to Calgary and lives part time in Canmore.

When Dr. Freda Miller School opens, it will serve students from kindergarten to Grade 4.

The rest is here:
New elementary school in Calgary named after scientist - Calgary Herald

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