Join Epilepsy Association for their Purple Day flag raisings as they come together to spread epilepsy awareness! Let's show our support, raise our voices, and turn our communities purple.

Speaker: Dr. Yves De Koninck, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Laval University

Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Time: 11:30am - 12:30pm  

Location: Room 3H-1, Tupper Building

Description:

Purple Day Gala 2025 - Phantom of the Stigma - The Truth Behind the Mask

The Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes (EAM) is pleased to invite you to celebrate their Purple Day2025 Gala "Phantom of the Stigma - The Truth Behind the Mask" on March 22nd at the Westin Nova Scotia.  

The Purple Day Gala is their signature fundraiser, and it provides significant financial resources to improve the lives of people living with epilepsy, their families, and their communities. This annual event presents an opportunity to network with more than 300 leaders in the Corporate, Healthcare, Volunteer and Philanthropic Communities while enjoying a culinary feast and exciting entertainment. 

Details at: https://epilepsymaritimes.org

Presented by the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience

Guest Speaker: Dr. Veronica Whitford, University of New Brunswick

AlzEd: The Importance of Oral Health & Dementia

Join Alzheimer Society for their next online education session on Oral Health and Dementia!

This presentation will explore the fundamentals of oral hygiene and ways to improve oral health habits. In addition to providing insightful information about the significance of oral health, demonstrations of proper brushing and flossing techniques and useful tips for maintaining a healthy smile will be shared, as well as adaptive aids.

Learn more and register here.

Title: TBD

Speaker:  Wali Khan, MSc Student, Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University

Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Time: 11:30am - 12:30pm  

Location: Room 3H-1, Tupper Building

Description:

Topic: Downregulation of SARM1 Protects Retinal Ganglion Cell Axonal and Somal Degeneration Via JNK Activation in a Glaucomatous Model of Ocular Hypertension

Author(s): Xuejin Zhang, Ting Li, Rong Zhang, Junfeng Li, Kaidi Wang, Jihong Wu

DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.13.7 

Presented by: Aliénor Jamet

Location: BRC boardroom, 3rd floor, LSRI, North Tower

Contact/RSVP: Delaney

This is a public event which will showcase some brain-related research that is taking place at Dalhousie. There will be games, competitions, prizes, experiments, demonstrations, interactive booths and all kinds of information. Learn about how the brain works and what it can do!!

This FREE, student- and family-friendly event provides hands-on, engaging, neuroscience-based activities for all ages! Drop-ins and camp groups welcome!

All ages welcome - kids, parents, march break campers - come and check it out and have some fun. There is something for everyone.

See www.hfxbaw.org/brainfair for photos of past Brain Fair events.

Students enrolled in Neuroscience-focussed independent research projects are invited to present their work in a 3MT-style presentation. This event is a great opportunity for trainees to hone their communication skills.

This event is not open to the public but trainees and supervisors are encouraged to attend.

Celebrated in 35 countries around the world, the Brain Bee is a competition for high school students, grades 9 through 12. Students are tested on the knowledge about the brain and neuroscience research. It is designed to stimulate interest and excitement about brain research.  Students study topics on memory, sleep, intelligence, emotion, perception, stress, aging, brain imaging, neurology, neurotransmitters, genetics, and brain disease (just to list a few).

The 2025 Halifax Brain Bee will see students from HRM competing for a place at the National Competition, to be held in Ottawa later this year.

Check out brainbee.ca for more info about the competition, past winners and more.

Breakthrough Breakfast: Innovations in Neurological Research

Designed to celebrate groundbreaking research and medical innovation, the Breakthrough Breakfast Series features distinguished researchers at the forefront of different fields of medical discovery.

From cardiac research to cancer, immunology and vaccinology, family medicine, neuroscience and brain health, to healthy aging and frailty, the series spans a diverse spectrum of crucial medical research topics. Each event will include researchers, graduate students, patients, or community members who have contributed to or benefited from this research.

This event will focus on brain health and wellness research. It will take place on Tuesday March 11 from 7:30-9:00 a.m. at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.

The speakers will include Drs. Ruth Ann Marrie, Sultan Darvesh, and Alon Friedman.

This Breakthrough Breakfast will take place during Brain Awareness Week and focus on highlighting cutting-edge brain health research, showcasing innovative approaches to diagnosing and treating neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

Tickets at Eventbrite

Ask a neuroscientist anything this Brain Awareness Week! Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with experts on Alzheimer’s disease, the aging brain and caregiving for a loved one with dementia in an interactive online panel hosted by Brain Canada and Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives

Register via Eventbrite link

On March 10, Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) and Brain Canada are hosting an interactive online panel as part of the global celebration of neuroscience.

Engage with a panel of experts on the aging brain this Brain Awareness Week! Tune in to hear about the latest dementia research and learn about caregiving for a loved one.

You'll get a chance to:

• Engage with experts on Alzheimer’s disease, the aging brain and caregiving for a loved one with dementia.

• Learn more about what you can do to keep your brain healthy as you age.

• Interact with dementia researchers and connect with caregivers.
  

Learn more about the Brain Awareness Week: https://dana.org/brain-awareness-week/

The Office of Sustainability Team at Dalhousie are hosting a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Expo on Monday, March 10, 2025, from 1–4 PM in the McInnes Room, Student Union Building.

This free, open-to-all event—generously sponsored by the President’s Office, the Office of the Vice President of Research and Innovation, and the Faculty of Science—will feature: 

• 68 research posters and 34 booths showcasing sustainability initiatives

• Opportunities to network with over 100 professionals working toward the SDGs

• Ways to get involved, including academic programs, leadership opportunities, and community-based volunteer programs

• Light refreshments and snacks, courtesy of Student Affairs

• Door prizes for attendees

Events include:

• Brain Bee - a competition for High School students interested in Neuroscience

• Slam Your Neuroscience - a competition for Undergraduate students

• Brain Fair - a public event with games, competitions, prizes, experiments, demonstrations, interactive booths and all kinds of brain-related information. Open to all ages. No fee. No booking required, just show up.

More details at www.hfxbaw.org or click on links for individual events

Topic(s): A model of muscle damage and repair in Drosophila

DOI:

Presented by: Tiara Mulder

Location/Platform: Dalhousie University | Biology 5th Floor Seminar room

Contact info: Shelley Adamo, sadamo@dal.ca, www.adamolab.ca,

or Nicanor González Morales, Nicanor.Gonzalez@dal.ca

All are welcome

Title: Investigating the Role of Filamins in Muscle Repair Using Drosophila

Speaker:  Nicanor Gonzalez-Morales, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Time: 11:30am - 12:30pm  

Location: Room 3H-1, Tupper Building

Description:My lab uses Drosophila melanogaster to explore the molecular mechanisms of muscle repair. Filamins are mechanosensitive proteins that undergo conformational changes in response to stretching forces. In humans, filamins accumulate at sites of muscle damage. Additionally, filamin myopathies cause patients to develop brittle muscles, with the underlying cause suspected to be a defect in muscle repair. I will discuss the genetic tools we use to study filamin function and muscle repair in vivo.

Topic: Brain Injury, behaviour support, and family involvement: putting the pieces together and looking forward

Authors: Alinka Fisher, Michelle Bellon, Sharon Lawn, and Sheila Lennon 

DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1522551

Presented by: Lynn Renton, Coordinator- ABI Provincial Network and Katerina Miller, Physiotherapist with ABI Outreach and ABI Day Program

Location/Platform: Teams

Contact ABINetwork@nshealth.ca for link or more information

The BRC Innovation Grant Program is designed to move discoveries and inventions along the path to commercialization — with a view to attract new investment, create new neuroscience-based businesses, organizations and initiatives and to improve neurological health outcomes for Nova Scotians and Canadians. It provides funding for example, for proof-of-principle, pre-commercialization research projects, market research.

Click here for a list of KT/Innovation Grant program recipients.

*2025 Call for Submissions is open. Closing date: February 13th 2025

CMHA Push-Up Challenge

The Push-Up Challenge is Canada’s largest annual mental health-focused fitness event.

2,000 push-ups in 18 days - Feb 11 to 28, 2025

Get fit, Learn about mental health, Feel more connected by being part of something bigger and Make a difference to mental health outcomes by raising awareness, reducing stigma and fundraising for CMHA

Register now to push for better mental health for all Canadians and level up your physical and mental fitness!

Topic: Impaired axonal transport at the optic nerve head contributes to neurodegeneration in a novel Cre-inducible mouse model of myocilin glaucoma

Author(s): Balasankara Reddy Kaipa, Ramesh Kasetti, Yogapriya Sundaresan, Linya Li, Sam Yacoub, J. Cameron Millar, William Cho, Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Prabhavathi Maddineni, Krzysztof Palczewski, Gulab S. Zode

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.18.613712

Presented by: Dr Melina Agosto

Location: BRC boardroom, 3rd floor, LSRI, North Tower

Contact/RSVP: Delaney

Undergraduate Neuroscience Society Journal Club

Topic(s): ALS and neurodegenerative diseases

Presented by: Tyler Wells

Location/Platform: Killam, Dalhousie Room C508

Contact: Lan Dang or Liam Ready

Presented by the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience

Guest Speaker: Dr. Peter Chipman, University of California at San Francisco

Save the Date for the 2025 BRC RESEARCH DAY

• Thursday January 30th

• Special Guest Speaker: Dr Lee Goldstein, Boston University

• Research presentations and more

• Call for abstracts - via Google Form

• Save your seat by registering now

Concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Lessons from the Battlefield, Ball Field, and Lab Bench

with special Guest Speaker: Dr Lee Goldstein, Boston University

Doors open at 6:00, presentation begins at 6:30

Reserve a seat at www.eventbrite.ca

It is Alzheimer's Awareness Month and the Alzheimer Society are hosting a public event on Tuesday, January 28, to learn about disease modifying treatments on the horizon, how to stay socially engaged after a dementia diagnosis, and finding unexpected joy on the dementia journey.

HOPE IN ACTION: From Promising Treatments to Actionable Steps to Improve Your Quality of Life

Tuesday, January 28

from 6:00 - 8:00 PM (doors open at 5:30 PM)

Woodlawn Public Library - 31 Eisner Boulevard, Dartmouth

with Virtual Livestream for those across the province

*Pre-registration is required as in-person space is limited.

Click here to register for this free event!

Topic: Identification of a non-canonical planar cell polarity pathway triggered by light in the developing mouse retina

Author(s): Michael Housset, Dominic Filion, Nelson Cortes, Hojatollah Vali, Craig A. Mandato, Christian Casanova, Michel Cayouette

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.012

Presented by: Andrew Rideout

Location: BRC boardroom, 3rd floor, LSRI, North Tower

Contact/RSVP: Delaney

If you want to learn more about Alzheimer’s, the Alzheimer Society have lots of resources on their website. From a Dementia Helpline to support groups; fundraising, student awards and lots more. Check out https://alzheimer.ca/ns for local info.