Mindsets: A Deep Dive Into the Brain

The Canada Gairdner Awards celebrate the world’s best biomedical and global health researchers through seven annual awards.The Gairdner Foundation also engages in outreach programs across Canada and acts as a convener with the public, policymakers and other stakeholders on the impact of science on our everyday lives.

Gairdner Foundation

Explore our fascinating brain with leading researchers at this free Gairdner Global Perspectives Panel

Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

The brain is the most complex and powerful organ in the human body. In fact, the brain produces about 25 Watts of energy, enough to power a light bulb. Understanding our brain and keeping it active and healthy is vital. After all, it is the only organ that can never be transplanted. How can we better understand our brain and discover ways to keep it healthy? Join us on October 3 for a free Gairdner Global Perspectives Panel that will take us inside the brain. From brain tumours to stress and anxiety to multiple sclerosis, leading Canadian researchers will give us the tools and resources to understand our brain on a deeper level. Presentations from 2023 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award laureate Gelareh Zadeh, Jaideep Bains and Jiwon Oh will culminate in a fascinating panel discussion moderated by Canadian broadcast journalist Mary Ito. This event is hosted in partnership with the Krembil Brain Institute and the Ontario Brain Institute and is presented by TELUS Health.<h3>About the Moderator</h3>

Mary Ito is a Canadian broadcast journalist who has worked in radio and television. She's the former host of the CBC weekend morning show Fresh Air and is still a familiar voice on CBC Radio. She also worked at TVOntario, Global Television and CFTO-TV. Mary is currently the host of The CRAM Podcast which highlights the innovative work of Canadian scientists and big thinkers. She also dedicates time to Roots of Empathy, a children's charity that runs school-based programs across Canada and ten other countries. Mary is also involved in an original stage production based on the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII. The world premiere of Kimiko's Pearl is scheduled for the spring of 2024.<h3>About the Speakers</h3>

Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FAANS, is the Dan Family Chair and Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto. This role makes her the first Canadian Chair of Neurosurgery. She is Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Toronto Western Hospital and Co-Director for the Krembil Brain Institute at University Health Network. Dr. Zadeh is a Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre where she runs a translational research program at MacFeeters-Hamilton Neuro-oncology Program and holds the Wilkins Family Brain Tumor Research Chair.

Dr. Zadeh has a dedicated neuro-oncology and skull base practice, which includes a number of multidisciplinary specialized programs including a skull base clinic, brain metastases, pituitary clinic, and neurofibromatosis clinic. In parallel, she has an active research laboratory focusing on integrated multi-platform molecular analysis of brain tumors, together with a focus on understanding molecular response to targeted therapies, such as anti-angiogenesis and metabolic inhibitors. 

She has held a number of leadership roles in organized neuro-oncology and neurosurgery societies, nationally and internationally. To highlight a few she has held numerous leadership roles in Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO): Chair of the International Committee, Scientific Chair of the Annual Scientific Program, Treasurer, Vice President and President, with currently 2022/23 being the immediate Past President of the Society. She has served as the Chair of Neuro-oncology Committee and presently the Chair of Women in Neurosurgery at the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons. She is the current Chair of Education Committee of the Tumor Section of American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Leveraging her experience in these positions she has founded and leads the International Consortium on Meningiomas (ICOM).

She is the Editor-in-Chief of Neuro-Oncology Advances, an open-access journal of SNO and European Association of Neuro-Oncology.

Dr. Zadeh is an excellent teacher and educator, having trained a number of neurosurgery residents, graduate students and fellows in a wide range of expertise in neurosurgery and research, most ofwho have successfully advanced to independent academic practice.Dr. Zadeh is a 2023 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award winner “For advancing the molecular and genomic understanding of brain tumours, leading to better ways of discriminating, classifying and managing brain tumour subtypes with potential to transform the clinical care of the disease."

Dr. Jaideep Bains is an internationally recognized expert in brain research. For the past two decades, he has led a successful research team at the University of Calgary, making many important discoveries that have provided insights into how the brain adapts to stress. 

These studies have shed light on links between neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity and brain network states, with important behavioural and physiological responses in different models of stress. 

More recently, Dr. Bains has pioneered approaches that use advanced technology platforms to measure changes in brain circuits in response to stress. His team developed a novel system for behavioral assessment and combined this with optogenetic and circuit mapping, to link activity in the brain’s stress command neurons to the transmission of stress/fear from one individual to another. He has also been active in the potential for clinical application of this research through commercialization efforts. 

In his role as Director of the Krembil Research Institute, Dr. Bains works closely with the research and clinical leaders of the Krembil Brain Institute, the Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute, and the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, to continue to drive research excellence and impact with a goal of achieving global recognition for the Institute and its team members.

Dr. Jiwon Oh is a staff neurologist, scientist, and Medical Director of the Barlo Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto and specializes in the care of people living with MS. Dr. Oh’s research focuses on developing advanced MRI techniques for use in clinical settings, and the development of large datasets. She leads the MRI research program at St. Michael’s Hospital, and is the principal investigator on numerous local and multi-center collaborative studies, including the Canadian Prospective Cohort Study to Understand Progression in MS (CanProCo), which is a national prospective cohort study designed to better understand progression in MS. Dr. Oh is also the Secretary and an Executive Committee member of the North American Imaging in MS Cooperative (NAIMS) representing a multi-national collaborative MRI research endeavor in MS with over 40 sites in North America. She is deeply committed to caring for people with MS, educating future generations of clinicians and scientists, and contributing to scientific developments that will drive the field forward.

Agenda

Gairdner President and Scientific Director

Opening Remarks

Introductions

2023 Canada Gairdner momentum award winner Co-Director, Krembil Brain Institute Senior Scientist, Prince Margaret Cancer Centre

Brain Tumours

Director, Krembil Research Institute Senior Scientist, Krembil Brain Institute

Stress and Anxiety

Medical Director, Barlo Multiple Sclerosis Program Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto Staff Neurologist, St. Michael’s Hospital Scientist, Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

State of the Science in MS: Progress and Emerging Challenges 

Panel Discussion

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Mindsets: A Deep Dive Into the Brain

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Mindsets: A Deep Dive Into the Brain

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