After a obtaining a PhD in neurosciences from McMaster University, Elizabeth completed postdoctoral studies in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. From 1985-1999 she worked as a research scientist at the University of Toronto, Department of Surgery, and at the Playfair Neuroscience Unit, principally in the area of traumatic spinal cord injury and neuroprotection. In 1999, she was appointed Dean, School of Science and Technology, and the first Director of Research at Sheridan Institute of Technology and Applied Learning in Oakville, Ontario. In 2003, Elizabeth was seconded by the federal government (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) to the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, Japan as Science and Technology Counsellor. In 2009 she accepted the position of Assistant Scientific Director for CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction; CIHR-INMHA is based at UBC in Vancouver.