THE CANADA-ISRAEL COLLABORATION FOR BRAIN STUDIES

BRC Newsletter

Neurotransmitter

International Partnerships

Dalhousie BRC and Ben Gurion University of the Negev

TBI Research Partnership

In 2017 the BRC received funding from the Department of Labour and Advanced Education to develop a business model to include the provision of continuing and individualized care to brain injured patients while combining with research/investigation and delivery of support through a collaborative care model. This model is based on the development of a patient-centric, inter-disciplinary and collaborative research effort that aims to improve prevention policies for all Nova Scotians and clinical outcomes for TBI survivors.

The Brain Repair Centre welcomes you to learn more about this partnership by downloading the digital version of the business plan. Click on the cover image to learn more about the proposed model concept, which promotes patient driven research projects, and exploits and capitalizes on existing talent and facilities to bring the concept of a living laboratory to the fore.

The BRC will host a group of visiting Israelis this Fall, who are coming to town to kick-off A Collaborative Research Partnership between Dalhousie University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, known as:

THE CANADA-ISRAEL COLLABORATION FOR BRAIN STUDIES

This collaborative effort will help to close the knowledge gap in key areas of brain disorders by creating the opportunity for students and researchers at both institutions to collaborate and share knowledge, resources and data. The brain-health focused research programs at the universities examine similar topics, taking different approaches. By working together, they will create a knowledge base with greater breadth and depth and accelerate the rate of progress. Dalhousie and Ben-Gurion Universities have identified three key areas where their collaboration can have the greatest impact. These areas are Brain Injury, Motor and Balance Control, Neurodevelopment.

Join us on Thursday November 16^th to meet these visitors from Ben-Gurion University, listen to presentations from both Universities on their research, join the conversation about collaborative research and hear what the partnership will bring to Dalhousie.

Location: BRC Boardroom, 3rd Floor, LSRI, 1348 Summer St.
(Evening presentations and posters will be in the LSRI Atrium).
RSVPs to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All Research talks will take place in the BRC Boardroom, 3rd Floor, LSRI, 1348 Summer St.

Click here for pdf version of AGENDA

Opening Remarks
9.00	Alice Aiken -VPR, Dalhousie Dan Blumberg -VPR, Ben-Gurion University Victor Rafuse – Director, Brain Repair Centre

Session 1: Motor and Balance Control Chair: Dr. Victor Rafuse
9.20	Victor Rafuse (Medical Neuroscience, DAL) Role of Schwann cells in ALS pathology
9.40	Turgay Akay (Medical Neuroscience, DAL) Role of muscle spindles in mouse locomotion
10.00	Lior Shmuelof (BGU) Formation of long-term motor memories in locomotor adaptation
10.20	Steven Beyea (BIOTIC, IWK/QE2, DAL) Driving Brain Health Innovation through Strategic Partnerships between Industry and Healthcare
10.40	Break
11.00	Cheryl Kozey (Health Professions, DAL) Role of Neuromuscular control in Bone and Joint Disorders
11.20	Shaun Boe (Health Professions, DAL) With a little help from my friends: adjuncts to improve learning and recovery
11.40	Sean Christie (Neurosurgery, DAL) Addressing questions in Spinal Cord Injury:Surgery & Basic Science
12.00	Itzik Meltzer (BGU) Properties balance control associated with compensatory rapid leg movements: age-related differences
12:20	Lunch

Session 2: The Diseased Brain Chair: Dr. Ilan Dinstein
1.00	Tim Bardouille (Physics & Atmospheric Science, DAL) Improving Neurofeedback Systems with Artificial (and Human) Intelligence
1.20	Jeremy Brown (Electrical and Computer Engineering, DAL) Endoscopic Micro-Ultrasound for Neuro-Surgery
1.40	Cynthia Calkin (Psychiatry, DAL) Blood-brain barrier dysfunction as a pharmacodynamics biomarker of neuroprogression in bipolar disorder
2.00	Alon Friedman (Medical Neuroscience, Dalhouise) Collaborative approach in translational studies after brain injury: why and how?

Session 3: Neurodevelopment Chair: Dr. Alon Freidman
2.40	Gabrielle Rigney (Pyschology & Neuroscience, DAL) Leveraging technology to treat pediatric insomnia
3.00	Tara Perrot (Psychology & Neuroscience, DAL) Maternal and paternal influences on offspring stress response development
3.20	Hava Golan (BGU) The in utero environment and prenatal brain injury- rodent models
3.40	Kazue Semba (Medical Neuroscience, Dalhouise) Glia function in sleep
4.00	Ilan Dinstein (BGU) Studying sleep quality, sensory sensitivities, motor control, eye movements, and overnight EEG recordings at the Negev Autism Center
4.20	Isabel Smith (Division of Developmental Pediatrics, DAL/IWK) Longitudinal and Intervention Research in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
4.40	Gal Meiri (BGU) Studying risk factors for Autism in a culturally diverse population of the Negev
5.00	Closing Remarks

5.30	Open Forum (BGU – DAL/BRC) & Poster Presentations LSRI Atrium

Name (Supervisor)	Title
Uduak MacKenzie (Dr. Ying Zhang)	The effects of PB23 on motor function in an ALS diseased mouse model.
Shannon Hall (Dr. Kazue Semba)	Does sleep loss “wake up” immune cells in the brain?
Ellen Parker (Dr. Alon Friedman)	Mechanisms Underlying Sports-Related Brain Injuries: Early Findings in a Novel Model of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Julia Harrison (Dr. Vic Rafuse)	Impaired Self-Repair at the Neuromuscular Junction in ALS
Drew DeBay (Dr. Sultan Darvesh)	Butyrylcholinesterase: A diagnostic target for neuroimaging in Alzheimer's disease
Sarah Krautner (Dr. Shaun Boe)	Thinking through to better learning
Lyna S. Kamintsky (Dr. Alon Friedman)	The role of leaky blood vessels in Bipolar Disorder
Erin Dempsey (Dr. Isabel Smith)	Psychometric Properties of the Merrill-Palmer-Revised Scales of Development in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder