Join us for a couple of short presentations on professional development opportunities that could support progress on your career journey:  

1. From Dylan Guan - He’s a member of the VAST network and is also a ISTAART Ambassador. Dylan will be sharing some opportunities in dementia research for Canadian trainees, including insights into the upcoming Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto, the association’s global network ISTAART (free membership for students), and the ISTAART Ambassador volunteer program (recruiting for 2025-26). It’s a fantastic chance to learn more about how you can enhance your career, connect with global experts, and engage with the vibrant dementia research community. 

2. From Nadia Lachman (Amplitude Ventures) and Eric Desjardins (Pre-Amp) - Both will be sharing information about the Pre-Amp Fellowship. This three-month program connects PhD candidates, postdocs and MDs that are passionate about life sciences with Amplitude Ventures to explore cutting-edge biotech concepts and launch tomorrow’s leading health science companies.

Please contact Liam Harrison (liam.harrison1@ucalgary.ca) if you are interested in watching a recording of either of these presentations.

There’s a plethora of careers out there, some of which you might not even be aware of. You might be interested in continuing further academic training in pursuit of a career in academia, or you might be interested in exploring opportunities outside of the university. Tune in to hear about some career paths that could follow your academic pursuits. There are no right answers, but lots of options – how exciting!

A panel consisting of Joy Guedia, Luca Pisterzi, Patrice Lindsay, and Matthew Sacheli will shed some light on their own career journeys and then we will split into breakout rooms, providing you with the opportunity to learn even more about their different career paths. 

Please contact Liam Harrison (liam.harrison1@ucalgary.ca) if you are interested in watching a recording of this session.

Presenter: Dylan Guan, MD/PhD Student, University of Calgary (left)

• Learning Objectives:

• Identify which vascular risk factors are linked to dementia

• Review the evidence surrounding each vascular risk factor linked to dementia

• Understand the methods used to calculate and interpret population attributable fractions for each vascular risk factor

• Take a closer read: Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission - The Lancet

• Dylan Guan is an MD/PhD student at the University of Calgary. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, with a major in Neuroscience and minors in Physiology and Psychology. Dylan has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, Alzheimer’s Society Research Program Doctoral Award, Hotchkiss Brain Institute Harley Hotchkiss Doctoral Scholarship in Neuroscience, and Vascular Training Platform (VAST) Doctoral Award. He has published >15 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented >35 conference abstracts at various national and international conferences, and was an invited speaker for events hosted by the Alzheimer Society of Canada, Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART), Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), and VAST. Dylan’s research focuses on identifying and better understanding signs of Alzheimer’s disease prior to the onset of dementia.

Recording

Presenter: Sotaro Hirai, PhD Candidate in Neuroscience, University of Calgary (right)

• Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the method used to assess cerebral blood flow changes

  • Understand one mechanism by which cerebral blood flow control is impaired in Alzheimer’s disease and how it may be rescue

• Take a closer read: Inhibiting Ca2+ channels in Alzheimer’s disease model mice relaxes pericytes, improves cerebral blood flow and reduces immune cell stalling and hypoxia

• Sotaro is a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary, co-supervised by Dr.Minh Dang Nguyen and Dr.Grant Gordon. He completed his Honours Bachelor in Science at the University of Toronto with majors in Computational Biology and Immunology, and a minor in Computer Science. His current research delves into how the dysfunction in brain endothelial cells may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease pathology by using microscopy and molecular biology techniques.

Recording

Speakers: Dr. Bojana Stefanovic (Sunnybrook) and Dr. Steffany Bennett (UOttawa, VAST EDI Champion)

This workshop will discuss various individual actions aimed at creating a more meritocratic academia. We will review communication strategies for responding to common tropes, interrupting bias and being an effective ally. We will practice these strategies based on scenarios inspired by past interactions in academic research.

Learning objectives:

• Practice responding to common tropes.

• Learn effective bias interruptors.

• Become a better ally.

Who we are:
Stef is a Professor of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of Ottawa. Her lab works on ways to block the pathological changes in brain lipid metabolism in pediatric and geriatric neurodegenerative diseases.
Bojana is a Professor of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist and Director of the Physical Sciences at Sunnybrook. Her lab studies neurovascular deficits via in situ neuroimaging in experimental models of ischemic stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, and brain trauma.

Intellectual Property 101 – Understanding your Assets and How to Protect Them

Speaker: Suzanne B. Sjovold, LLB, Ph.D.

This introductory intellectual property (IP) seminar will cover the fundamentals of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and industrial designs. Trainees will learn to identify different forms of IP, understand their legal protections, and explore their strategic importance in business. By the end of the session, trainees will be able to apply basic IP principles to know the difference between a patent and a trademark, how best to protect their copyright, and when to keep a trade secret. 

Biography:

Suzanne combines her technical background in Neuroscience with 15 years of Intellectual Property experience to effectively develop and manage her clients’ IP assets.

As a registered patent and trademark agent, Suzanne provides clients with legal opinions on patentability, trademark registration, freedom-to-operate, due diligence analysis, and IP portfolio management. Suzanne’s clients include a broad range of early-stage and established companies and post-secondary institutions.

Suzanne grew up in Lethbridge and attended the University of Lethbridge, earning a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. After completing her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Alberta, Suzanne attended law school at the U of A with an aim to practice intellectual property, bridging the gap between the scientific and legal spheres.

Recording

Introduction to qMRLab: An Open-Source Tool for Quantitative MR Image Analysis

Speaker: Mathieu Boudreau, PhD

In this seminar, viewers will introduce qMRLab, an open-source software designed for quantitative MR image analysis. The primary goal with qMRLab is to provide the research community with an intuitive tool for data fitting, plotting, simulation, and protocol optimization across various quantitative MRI models. The seminar will also feature examples from a quantitative MRI mOOC (mini Open Online Course) being developed at NeuroPoly, which leverages the NeuroLibre platform for interactive and reproducible preprints. This course aims to enhance participants' understanding of qMRLab’s applications in research.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the key features and capabilities of qMRLab.

• Learn how to apply qMRLab for data analysis in your own research projects.

• Explore the modular framework of qMRLab and learn how to contribute new modules.

• Gain insights into using the NeuroLibre platform for interactive and reproducible research.

Biography :

Mathieu Boudreau, PhD, is a Research Associate at Polytechnique Montreal, specializing in the development of quantitative MRI techniques for neurological and respiratory diseases such as multiple sclerosis and emphysema. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Boudreau has contributed to advancing the field of MRI through open-source software development, scientific outreach, and innovative research methodologies. His work at the intersection of physics, medical imaging, and biomedical engineering has led to the creation of tools that empower researchers to conduct more accurate and reproducible studies. In addition to his research, Dr. Boudreau serves as Deputy Editor for Scientific Outreach of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM) and Lead Editor for MRM Highlights, which features interviews with authors of MRM publications that demonstrate strong reproducible research practices.

Recording

Advances in Blood Biomarkers of Vascular Amyloid Beta

Speaker: Eric E. Smith

Biography :

Dr. Smith is a Professor of Neurology and the holder of the Kathy Taylor Chair in Vascular Dementia at the University of Calgary. He chairs the Executive Committee of the VAST Health Research Training Program. He uses neuroimaging data from cohort studies and epidemiological studies to identify signs of cerebral small vessel diseases and how they contribute to cognitive decline and dementia.

Recording

Consider checking out one or both of these interesting seminars:

Improvements in fMRI Precision and Fidelity in Time and Space (view on vimeo) - 10-11am ET

Speaker: Peter Bandettini, PhD

Abstract: Since its inception, fMRI has shown a steady progression in precision, interpretability, and applicability due to improvements in acquisition and processing methods, as well as a wide range of multi-modal experiments demonstrating the relationship between the fMRI signal and other measures, including behavior. In this lecture, I will discuss this and show recent work from my lab highlighting the challenges, our approaches, and our applications of whole-brain, ultra-high resolution, cortical depth resolved fMRI. I will also demonstrate our recent work probing the spatial and temporal characteristics of spontaneous fMRI fluctuations as well as the unique advantages of high-speed, event-related decoding. Lastly, I will show preliminary and perhaps hopeful simultaneous EEG/fMRI studies that aim to use fMRI for direct detection of transient neuronal activity.

Recording

Update on biofluid-based biomarkers for neurodegenerative dementias  - 2-3pm ET

Speaker: Henrik Zetterberg, MD, PhD

• 12-1230 ET: VAST Introduction/Refresh

• 1230-1 ET: Liam Harrison - Introduction to Innovation & Innovation Ecosystems

• 1-130 ET: Trainee Committee Nominations

During this session we will give a quick introduction/refresher on VAST. This will be followed by the first seminar of the semester, delivered by VAST’s program manager, Liam Harrison. He’ll be speaking on the topics of innovation and innovation ecosystems and links to work done throughout the VAST network. Lastly, for those interested in participating in the VAST Trainee Committee, stick around till the end where we will discuss roles and nominate candidates to participate!

Recording: VAST Introduction and Updates
Recording: RISE LMS Demo
Recording: Introduction to Innovation & Innovation Ecosystems - Liam Harrison
Recording: Information about Trainee Committee

Presenter: Hayley Casey (MSc student in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology Stream), University of Victoria)

The objective of this Journal Club is to learn more about dementia within Indigenous populations, which has been limited in the past. This study examines the relationship between memory loss within a population of Indigenous Veterans and vascular risk factors.

To take a closer read: Kirkpatrick, A.C., Stoner, J.A., Donna-Ferreira, F., Malatinszky. G.C., Guthery, L.D., Scott, J., & Prodan, C.I. (2019). High rates of undiagnosed vascular cognitive impairment among American Indian veterans. GeroScience, 41(1), 69-76. doi: 10.1007/s11357-019-00055-5

View Recording

2024 VAST Summer Student Symposium

Time: August 20 12-2 pm ET

In the first part of the Symposium, we welcome Dr. Guilherme Moraes Balbim to share with us his work on how exercise programs can help stroke patient’s experience improved sleep, thereby reducing a patient’s risk of experiencing additional strokes in the future.

Keynote Speaker: Guilherme Moraes Balbim - Rise & Shine: Promoting Sleep Quality in Chronic Stroke with Exercise

Tune in for Student Presentations:

1. Esther Dazogbo - Establish whether the circulating lipidome can be used to monitor the extent and progression cerebral amyloidangiopathy (CAA) associated with cognitive decline

2. Bhavana Gill - Cerebrospinal Fluid Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarkers in Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack

3. Georgia Polomski - Towards Clinical Applications of fNIRS: Improving Reproducibility

4. Milla Shakleva - Analyzing Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients with Cardiovascular Risks Factors (CVRF) Using Arterial Spin Labeling

5. Mckenna Stuart - Utilizing a Fluorescent Tracer to Investigate Murine Cerebrovascular Impairments in Neurotrauma and Associated Dementia

6. Ibadat Warring - Longitudinal Associations Between Vascular Risk Factors and Mild Behavioral Impairment

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

View Recording

Presentation Skills Workshop

Speaker: Bogna Anna Drozdowska and Zacharie Potvin-Jutras

Time: August 6 4-5 pm EDT

In the first part of this workshop, we will provide tips on how to effectively communicate your research through poster and oral presentations. In the second part, students will have an opportunity to present their own research and receive feedback from peers.   

Learning objectives:

1. Understand what makes for an eye-catching and clear poster

2. Learn how to design slides that help engage your audience and support understanding of key points

3. Gain tips for delivering a cohesive, memorable talk that holds your audience's attention throughout

4. Practice appraising others' presentations as a means to improve your own skills

Bios:

Dr. Drozdowska:

Since obtaining a master's degrees in Psychology and Brain Injury Rehabilitation, most of Dr. Drozdowska’s work and training has centred on clinical research into cerebrovascular disease, with a specific focus on vascular cognitive impairment. This topic was also at the heart of her PhD, which she completed at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. After spending several years in the UK, she moved to Canada and joined the Clinical Neurosciences Department at the University of Calgary as a Postdoctoral Associate. Her current role involves working on studies utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. While our lab's projects - observational studies, clinical trials, and systematic reviews - seek to answer various research questions, they share a common goal to contribute to improving healthcare and, in turn, outcomes for people living with cerebrovascular disease.

Zacharie Potvin-Jutras:

Zacharie completed his undergraduate studies in Kinesiology and Clinical Exercise Physiology at Concordia University. Driven by a passion for research and brain health, he fast-tracked from a Master's degree to a PhD in Physics at Concordia University, under the supervision of Dr. Claudine Gauthier. Their lab focuses on implementing advanced quantitative MRI techniques to identify early biomarkers for various diseases and aging. His research emphasises the critical role of physical activity and exercise interventions in improving vascular brain health in aging. 

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

View Recording

Presenter: Zacharie Potvin-Jutras (Doctoral student, Quantitative Physiology Imaging Lab, Physics Dept, Concordia University)

The objective of this Journal Club is to learn about this new method to measure cerebrovascular reactivity and its applications. Cerebrovascular reactivity is an important biomarker to vascular brain health. Resting state cerebrovascular reactivity quantifies the ability of blood vessels to vasodilate in response to a vasodilatory stimulus. The paper above describes in detail the method and a few applications.

For a detailed explanation of the method: Liu, P., Li, Y., Pinho, M., Park, D. C., Welch, B. G., & Lu, H. (2017). Cerebrovascular reactivity mapping without gas challenges. NeuroImage, 146, 320–326. https://doi-org.lib-ezproxy.concordia.ca/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.054

Bio: Zacharie completed his undergraduate studies in Kinesiology and Clinical Exercise Physiology at Concordia University. Driven by a passion for research and brain health, he fast-tracked from a Master's degree to a PhD in Physics at Concordia University, under the supervision of Dr. Claudine Gauthier. Their lab focuses on implementing advanced quantitative MRI techniques to identify early biomarkers for various diseases and aging. His research emphasises the critical role of physical activity and exercise interventions in improving vascular brain health in aging.

Link to Recording

Data Visualization Essentials for VAST Trainees

Speaker: Dylan Guan

Time: July 23 4-5 pm EDT

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the importance of data visualization in research analysis and communication

2. Identify the various types of common data visualizations and understand when to use each one

3. Understand how to implement data visualization best practices and avoid poor practices

4. Learn how to generate basic plots in the R programming language

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

Link to Recording

Open Brain: An introduction to open-access tools for preprocessing, analysis, and visualization of brain MRI data

Speaker: Dr. Nárlon C Boa Sorte Silva

Time: July 9 at 4-5 pm EDT

Learning objectives:

1. Learn about the most common open-access software to preprocess and analyze structural and functional MRI data, including FSL, FreeSurfer, ANTs, and Python. 

2. Learn some basic data plotting functions using R (ggseg family packages), Python (nilearn software), and ANTS. 

3. Learn tips and tricks to integrate different software and scale MRI data analysis pipeline to large datasets using scripting, containers, and clusters. 

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

Link to Recording

Involving people with lived experience in research: perspectives from the CCNA's EPLED team and collaborators

Speakers: Ellen Snowball, Myrna Norman, Jennifer Monaghan, Laura Fitzgibbon-Collins, Dylan Guan

Moderator: Dr. Bogna Drozdowska

Time: June 25 4-5:30pm EST

Learning objectives:

1. To discuss the importance of involving the lived experience in research from start to end

2. To provide perspectives of people with lived experience and researchers on the impact this practice has had

3. To provide examples of ways to engage people with lived experience in research

More about EPLED: https://www.epled.ca/

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

Link to recording

Introduction to research on vascular cognitive impairment and dementia: clinical presentations, etiology, prevention and treatment

Speakers: Prof. Phillip Barber and Dr. Nárlon C Boa Sorte Silva

Time: June 11 4-6pm EST

This session will feature a presentation from Dr. Phil Barber on vascular dementia syndromes including causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Followed by a presentation from Dr. Nárlon C Boa Sorte Silva on defining randomized controlled trials (RCTs), prevention and treatment of VCI, and an overview of prominent RCTs for VCI and dementia focused on pharmacological and lifestyle interventions.

Bios:

Dr. Philip Barber is a Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary. He directs the Stroke Prevention Clinic at the University of Calgary and is a member of the Vascular Illness Team of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging (CCNA). He has participated as committee member for a clinical update statement on Vascular Cognitive Impairment for the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia 5thEdition. His CIHR and Heart and Stroke Foundation funded research program investigates stroke and vascular contributions to neurodegeneration (H index 50, >20000 citations Google scholar).

Dr. Nárlon C Boa Sorte Silva is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Physical Therapy at The University of British Columbia. Under the supervision of Prof. Teresa Liu-Ambrose in the Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Health Lab, Dr. Boa Sorte Silva’s research aims to understand the impact of preventive or protective factors on age- and pathology-related declines in brain health. Specifically, he is assessing the influence of exercise on white matter myelin, cortical volume, and clinical outcomes such as mobility and cognition in older individuals living cerebral small vessel disease. Dr. Boa Sorte Silva earned his PhD in Kinesiology from Western University (London, Ontario) and a BSc in Physical Education from University Nove de Julho (São Paulo, Brazil). He has expertise in design and implementation of randomized controlled trials, exercise assessment and prescription, as well as neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and clinical data analysis. His postdoctoral research has been funded with competitive awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Michael Smith Health Research BC, Canadians for Leading Edge Alzheimer Research, and StrokeCog.

VAST Summer Program:

The VAST Summer Program encompasses a series of workshops and seminars targeted to undergraduate trainees in the field of VCI to help with overall VCI knowledge, research skills, and networking. While targeted to undergraduates, all are welcome to attend. This series is coordinated by our VAST Trainee Curriculum Committee members. We'd encourage everyone to invite trainees in their labs. Sessions are organized biweekly for Tuesdays beginning at 4pm eastern time / 2pm mountain time / 1pm pacific time. The series will finish with our annual Summer Student Symposium at the end of August (date TBD but save Aug 20 at 12-3pm eastern in your calendar)! All trainees who attend at least 4 of the sessions, as well as the symposium, will be awarded a certificate of completion. All trainees are welcome to sign up and attend the program.

Link to recording

Get started with Knowledge Mobilization. Do it for Grandma.

Learning Objectives:

1. Become familiar with the main components of Knowledge Mobilization planning.

2. Understand the concept of Knowledge User (audience), and consider relevant Knowledge Users in the context of your own research.

3. Get to know a few examples of Knowledge Mobilization activities and consider their possible fit to your own work.

Dr. Inbal Itzhak is a certified Knowledge Mobilization Specialist with a PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders from McGill University. Inbal is the Knowledge Mobilization Specialist at the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA). She is experienced in Knowledge Mobilization capacity building, project planning, and impact evaluation, as well as stakeholder engagement and partnership development. Her training in both research and knowledge translation reflects her passion for creating meaningful links between science and the world outside of academia. She believes this gap is best bridged by creating boundary-crossing relationships where people with lived experience, scientists, and professionals collaborate and learn together.

Link to recording

Social determinants of health, vascular cognitive impairment and administrative data

Learning Objectives:

1. To review social determinants of health in vascular cognitive impairment

2. To learn about administrative data for studying vascular disease

Ruth Ann Marrie is a Professor of Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.Presently, she holds the Waugh Family Chair in Multiple Sclerosis and serves as the Vice Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the International Progressive MS Alliance. She is the former Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee for MS Canada, Past Chair of International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Her research aims to understand the influence of comorbid diseases on a range of multiple sclerosis (MS)-related health outcomes.

Dr. Colleen Maxwell is a Professor and University Research Chair with the Schools of Pharmacy and Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo (https://uwaterloo.ca/pharmacy), a Senior Adjunct Scientist with ICES in Toronto (https://www.ices.on.ca), and an Adjunct Professor with Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She is a senior health services researcher with expertise in aging, pharmacoepidemiology, neurodegenerative disorders, frailty, and continuing care. Her research interests focus on improving the quality of care and pharmacotherapy of older populations across the care continuum – particularly among those with multimorbidity, dementia, depression, and related disorders. She is involved in national and international collaborative research on the health and quality of care needs of older residents within Assisted Living, Home Care and Long-Term Care settings.

Link to recording

How social media can help boost one's career

Speaker: Dr. Isabel Castanho

In this interactive seminar, Dr. Isabel Castanho will share her insights on leveraging social media platforms for networking and professional development in academia. Drawing from her personal experiences, Isabel will review how Twitter brought her valuable opportunities and benefited her career. She will also explore alternatives to X, like LinkedIn and Mastodon. Join us to learn and discuss practical strategies for enhancing your online presence and expanding your academic network.

Dr. Isabel Castanho is an Instructor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School (United States). She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART). Dr. Castanho has a background in biology, neuroscience, genomics, and bioinformatics. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) in 2019, where she investigated genomic signatures of tau and amyloid pathology progression in rodent models of Alzheimer’s Disease. In her current research, she is investigating protective mechanisms against Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Castanho holds an Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship (AARF) and she was one of the recipients of the Junior Faculty Award at AD/PD 2024.

Link to recording

Transcranial focused ultrasound for targeted drug delivery

Meaghan O’Reilly is a Senior Scientist in Physical Sciences at Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Canada, an Associate Professor of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, and the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Ultrasound. Dr. O’Reilly’s research interests include ultrasound therapy applications in the central nervous system, with a focus on delivery, monitoring and control of microbubble-mediated therapies in the brain and spinal cord.

Learning Objectives:

1. To understand the mechanisms by which ultrasound can permeabilize cerebral vasculature

2. To learn about the technological challenges for transcranial ultrasound delivery

3. To review the current clinical status 

Link to recording

Communicating your Research to Non-Academic Audiences - Lay Writing

Dr. Estrid Jakobsen will be leading this workshop on communicating research to non-academic audiences, with a focus on how to write in a lay form - relevant to blog posts and lay abstracts. This workshop will be informative AND interactive, so come ready to engage.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn to distill complex topics into captivating blog ideas and effectively organize your content

2. Discover how to identify and remove scientific jargon, making your writing accessible and engaging for all audiences

3. Master the art of self-editing, employing practical tips to enhance readability and connect with lay readers effectively

Estrid was born in Denmark to an astrophysicist father and an amateur horticulturalist mother who instilled a relentless curiosity and an early interest in science. She decided at age 15 that she wanted to be a neuroscientist, and after graduating highschool in The Netherlands, moved to London, England, where she completed a Bachelor in Cognitive Science and a Master’s in Neuroscience. In 2016, she obtained her PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and then moved to Montreal to work as a postdoctoral fellow at McGill. Over time, she started to realize that the aspects of research that she thrived at and enjoyed the most were communicating, presenting, and thinking about science from a broader perspective. It became clear that she would rather know a little bit about a lot of things than everything about one very specific thing, and that research may not have been the right fit. In 2019, she was hired as the first Communications Officer for the Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (QBIN). Besides running the day to day communications for the network, her job involves encouraging and supporting researchers in improving their science communication skills and organizing public events to increase awareness and impact of bio-imaging research. She also leads the QBIN student and postdoc communications committee and provides editorial support and mentorship to contributors to the QBIN blog. When she manages to find the time, she write about topics she finds particularly fascinating on her personal blog, Headtime Stories, and sometimes takes on freelance science writing jobs for various companies.

Link to recording

Advanced MRI Methods for VCI Research Workshop Series

Part VI - Potential Pitfalls in the Clinical Application of Advanced MRI methods:  BOLD and ASL - Speakers: Dr. Erin Mazerolle and Dr. Avery Berman

Dr. Erin Mazerolle is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. Her research is aimed at understanding neurovascular coupling in the healthy human brain as well as neurological diseases. Dr. Avery Berman is an Assistant Professor at Carleton University and a Scientist at the Royal Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research. He develops functional MRI techniques for imaging brain activity and physiology with improved sensitivity and specificity for studying brain health in neurological and psychiatric disorders and for basic neuroscience. His research uses a combination of novel image acquisition strategies and biophysical modelling.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the impact of vascular disease on BOLD fMRI activation results

2. Recognize common artifacts when measuring perfusion using arterial spin labelling

3. Understand quantitative techniques for measuring oxygen metabolism based on the BOLD signal

This series aims to provide a series of introductory educational seminars on advanced MRI methods that are relevant to the study of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).  Each session is scheduled to be 1 hour leaving time for discussion and questions, and is aimed at a broad scientific trainee audience working in the VCI field.

Schedule: biweekly on Tuesdays 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET from January 16 - March 26 2024

January 16: Part I – Introduction to Advanced MRI Methods for Vascular Cognitive Impairment - Speaker: Dr. Bruce Pike
January 30: Part II – Structural Imaging: White matter Hyperintensities, Microbleeds, and Morphometry - Speaker: Dr. Mahsa Dadar
February 13: Part III – BOLD fMRI: Task and Resting State - Speaker: Dr. Jean Chen
February 27: Part IV – CBF and CBV Techniques and Applications - Speaker: Dr. Kamil Uludag
March 12: Part V - Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) and the Heart-Brain Axis - Speaker: Dr. Claudine Gauthier
March 26: Part VI - Potential Pitfalls in the Clinical Application of Advanced MRI methods:  BOLD and ASL - Speakers: Dr. Erin Mazerolle and Dr. Avery Berman
April 9: Potential Tutorial/Workshop Session

Registration Required: https://ucalgary.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUldOmvqDoiH9TqRw-YvZjJ0ZHSKI0mJZV9#/registration

Prevalence and characteristics of anti-Indigenous bias among Albertan physicians

Speaker: Meagan Ody, MSc student, Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary

Article: Prevalence and characteristics of antiIndigenous bias among Albertan physicians: a cross-sectional survey and framework analysis

To understand anti-Indigenous bias in the healthcare system, we must examine the root sources. This paper explores the implicit and explicit bias present among practicing physicians in Alberta through a cross-sectional survey. This work is foundational for highlighting the need to address these biases to create a safer healthcare system in Alberta.

Link to recording

Dr. Thalia Field will be facilitating this workshop focused on Clinical Trials Design, which will guide you on how to answer your research question in a clinical trial. Focus will be on how to justify and define the specific population, intervention, comparison and outcomes of the trial.

Learning Objectives:

1. To discuss the challenges and considerations in developing a feasible clinical trial protocol to address a question from clinical practice, focusing on defining populations, study interventions and comparison groups, and relevant outcomes.

2. To discuss these considerations and challenges in study design by using examples of previous and ongoing trials in stroke and cognitive impairment.

Dr. Thalia Field is an Associate Professor in the Division of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she holds the Sauder Family/Heart and Stroke Foundation Professorship of Stroke Research. She has an interest in stroke in young and marginalized individuals, with a focus on patient-centered outcomes and engagement of people with lived experience to enhance meaningful outcomes of clinical research at the patient level. She is the principal investigator of the SEARCH study, a longitudinal clinical, neuroimaging and serum biomarker study examining brain health in adults with congenital heart disease, and the SECRET trial and parallel registry, which is examining treatment strategies and prognosis of cerebral venous thrombosis.

Registration required: https://ucalgary.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUtcOyqqD0pHdHi3w7rkRR6xjteNHBblauF

Advanced MRI Methods for VCI Research Workshop Series

Part V - Imaging of Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) - Speaker: Dr. Claudine Gauthier

Dr Claudine Gauthier is an Associate Professor at Concordia University and holder of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Chair in cardiovascular imaging at the Montreal Heart Institute. Her research focuses on using quantitative MRI to understand the how vascular and metabolic health is affected by aging, menopause, vascular disease and exercise.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the physiological basis of CVR

2. Understand how to acquire CVR

3. Understand some of the clinical applications of CVR

This series aims to provide a series of introductory educational seminars on advanced MRI methods that are relevant to the study of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).  Each session is scheduled to be 1 hour leaving time for discussion and questions, and is aimed at a broad scientific trainee audience working in the VCI field.

Schedule: biweekly on Tuesdays 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET from January 16 - March 26 2024

January 16: Part I – Introduction to Advanced MRI Methods for Vascular Cognitive Impairment - Speaker: Dr. Bruce Pike
January 30: Part II – Structural Imaging: White matter Hyperintensities, Microbleeds, and Morphometry - Speaker: Dr. Mahsa Dadar
February 13: Part III – BOLD fMRI: Task and Resting State - Speaker: Dr. Jean Chen
February 27: Part IV – CBF and CBV Techniques and Applications - Speaker: Dr. Kamil Uludag
March 12: Part V - Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) and the Heart-Brain Axis - Speaker: Dr. Claudine Gauthier
March 26: Part VI - Potential Pitfalls in the Clinical Application of Advanced MRI methods:  BOLD and ASL - Speakers: Dr. Erin Mazerolle and Dr. Avery Berman
April 9: Potential Tutorial/Workshop Session

Registration Required: https://ucalgary.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUldOmvqDoiH9TqRw-YvZjJ0ZHSKI0mJZV9#/registration

VCI Clinical Trials: Methods and Treatment Targets

Dr. Smith is a Professor of Neurology and the holder of the Kathy Taylor Chair in Vascular Dementia at the University of Calgary. He chairs the Executive Committee of the VAST Health Research Training Program. He uses neuroimaging data from cohort studies and epidemiological studies to identify signs of cerebral small vessel diseases and how they contribute to cognitive decline and dementia.

Learning Objectives:

1. To review best practices for design and conduct of clinical trials for VCI.

2. To learn about old and new targets for preventing and treating VCI.

Link to recording

Advanced MRI Methods for VCI Research Workshop Series

Part IV – CBF and CBV Techniques and Applications - Speaker: Dr. Kamil Uludag

Dr. Kamil Uludag is an MRI physicist investigating the brain in healthy and diseased subjects with MRI. Dr. Uludag’s laboratory investigates quantitative MRI approaches at high- and ultra high- magnetic field strengths in order to answer fundamental neuroscience questions and to develop biomarkers for clinical applications.

Learning Objectives:

1. To understand physiological basis of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (CBV)

2. To understand the differences between different acquisition types how they are probing brain physiology

This series aims to provide a series of introductory educational seminars on advanced MRI methods that are relevant to the study of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).  Each session is scheduled to be 1 hour leaving time for discussion and questions, and is aimed at a broad scientific trainee audience working in the VCI field.

Schedule: biweekly on Tuesdays 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET from January 16 - March 26 2024

January 16: Part I – Introduction to Advanced MRI Methods for Vascular Cognitive Impairment - Speaker: Dr. Bruce Pike
January 30: Part II – Structural Imaging: White matter Hyperintensities, Microbleeds, and Morphometry - Speaker: Dr. Mahsa Dadar
February 13: Part III – BOLD fMRI: Task and Resting State - Speaker: Dr. Jean Chen
February 27: Part IV – CBF and CBV Techniques and Applications - Speaker: Dr. Kamil Uludag
March 12: Part V - Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) and the Heart-Brain Axis - Speaker: Dr. Claudine Gauthier
March 26: Part VI - Potential Pitfalls in the Clinical Application of Advanced MRI methods:  BOLD and ASL - Speakers: Dr. Erin Mazerolle and Dr. Avery Berman
April 9: Potential Tutorial/Workshop Session

Registration Required: https://ucalgary.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUldOmvqDoiH9TqRw-YvZjJ0ZHSKI0mJZV9#/registration

Extracellular vesicles as biomarkers of cognitive decline

Join trainees from Dr. Shawn Whitehead and Dr. AmanPreet Badhwar’s labs to hear about what extracellular vesicles are and how they can be used as diagnostic biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Article: Biomarker potential of brain-secreted extracellular vesicles in blood in Alzheimer's disease

Speakers:

1. Hannah Martin, PhD student

2. Dr. Manoj Reddy Medapati, PDF

3. Zainab Mianoor, MSc student

Link to recording

Panel Session: Careers and Collaborations with Industry

Feb 22:  12:00-1:00 PM ET

In this session, speakers will give a brief introduction about their career path, and the floor will be open for questions about how to transition or collaborate with industry, advice for considering start ups, and the differences between work in academic and industry settings. We’re excited to have four amazing speakers with brief bios outlined below.

Speakers:

1. Adrian Noriega de la Colina, CIHR fellow and Clinical Lead, Perceiv AI

   Dr. Noriega de la Colina is a CIHR-Institute of Aging Research Fellow at the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University (The Neuro), focused in behavioural interventions in early Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular Cognitive Impairment populations. He is also the Clinical Lead at Perceiv AI, a precision medicine company specialized in forecasting disease progression for clinical trial optimization and improved patient care in neurodegenerative disorders.

2. Adrienne Crampton, Associate Director of Business Development, Health Brains, Healthy Lives

   Adrienne Crampton graduated in 2021 from McGill University with a PhD in Rehabilitation Science (focusing on mild traumatic brain injury). Prior to this, she completed her Master’s degree in Sports Management from the University of Ottawa (’17) and her BSc in Kinesiology at McGill University (’15) while competing as a varsity athlete for the latter. Adrienne is a certified Quebec Innovation Consultant (accredited through the Conseil de L’innovation du Quebec) and has worked for both non-profit and for-profit organizations spanning various fields, such as kinesiology, human performance, neuroscience and brain health. Throughout her PhD, she developed a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as for creating conduits between research and industry. More specifically, Adrienne places a strong focus on leveraging her expertise and network to support impact-driven innovation. Adrienne is currently the Associate Director of Business Development at Health Brains, Healthy Lives.

3. Joy Guedia, Medical Science Liaison, Eli Lilly

   Joy Guedia graduated from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in May 2015. She then went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship from 2015 - 2018 at the University of British Columbia. After deciding to pursue an industry career, Joy worked as a Scientist in the Assays development group at Zymeworks until Feb 2022. Joy then transitioned into Medical Affairs where she works as a Medical Science Liaison at Eli Lilly. Joy is happy to share how she transitioned from Academia to R&D in Biotech and then to Medical Affairs and her experience with the application process.

4. Randall Stafford, Senior Research Software Developer, Circle Cardiovascular Imaging

   Randall received his MSc and PhD in Physics at the University of Calgary in 2006 and 2011, respectively. He has been involved in diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging for 20 years. He is currently a Senior Research Software Developer at Circle Cardiovascular Imaging in Calgary.

Please register as a VAST member to receive zoom links + notifications: https://survey.ucalgary.ca/jfe/form/SV_400UmGwyWKX0Jts