Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry professor Lisa Saksida and nine Western alumnae have been named recipients of the 2020 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award.
BrainsCAN
Q and A with Lisa Saksida: on equity, science and advocacy for women in STEM
Lisa Saksida, co-director of BrainsCAN, has been named one of Canada’s WXN Top 100, a recognition of women who advocate for workforce diversity and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.
Royal Society celebrates Western scholars
Four Western researchers were named Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), commonly recognized as the country’s top honour in the arts, humanities and sciences.
‘Smart walker’ helps prevent falls
Wagner Souza, has combined experience with neuroscience to create ‘smart’ medical devices, including a fall-prevention walker.
Nicole Kaniki and Bertha Garcia named special advisors on anti-racism
Dr. Nicole Kaniki and Dr. Bertha Garcia will help Western lay the foundation for a sustained strategy to combat racism on campus.
Medical Innovation Fellows to generate new solutions
Western has recruited some of the top PhD graduates, medical students and residents from across the country to be part of the sixth cohort of its Medical Innovation Fellowship (MIF) program.
Study hints at early sign of Alzheimer’s degeneration
Researchers have moved one step closer to identifying targets for brain degeneration that occur decades before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear – a much sought-after clue that might open the door to early treatment.
Banting Fellowship puts postdoc’s work in motion
BrainsCAN postdoctoral scholar Jonathan Michaels was awarded a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue his work around brain activity during reach control.
Study explores strain on dementia patient care partners
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has further strained care partners of those living with dementia to the point where they are having trouble balancing care for their loved ones with their own self-care, resulting in physical and emotional exhaustion, health problems, and feelings of anxiety, depression and irritability.
New institute pushes neuroscience excellence forward
Western will continue to build on more than a half century of neuroscience research excellence thanks to the recent approval of the Western Institute for Neuroscience.
Pandemic forcing food to your emotional rescue
Feeling stressed? Find yourself reaching for the snack drawer or refrigerator? It’s not uncommon for people to grab a snack when feeling stressed or experiencing anxiety. But with the recent uncertainly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, people might find themselves reaching for that stress snack more often than not.
Isolation stress can test those with addictions
Across Canada, people who face addiction and mental-health issues are coming to terms with a new reality – an uncertain future with a period of physical distancing to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
Junk food orders up trouble for young brains
That teenager in your kitchen feasting on fast food, candy bars and pop might not be able to help themselves – all the more reason for adults to help them before they cause long-term damage to their developing brains.
Conference highlights diversity in STEM
Inspiring Diversity in STEM will host its third biennial conference on March 21-22. The event is supported by BrainsCAN.
Read. Watch. Listen. with John Paul Minda
Fantasy. Conspiracy. Eric adventure. And that’s only to get things started when Psychology professor John Paul Minda takes a turn on Read. Watch. Listen.
Open-access database aids behavioural research
New insights into brain diseases and disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia may find their way into clinical practice faster and more efficiently thanks to a new open-access database supported by Western’s BrainsCAN, according to a recently published paper in the journal eLife.
Reichelt: Prevent junk food from trashing teen brains
Adolescents are the greatest consumers of calorie-rich ‘junk’ foods. During puberty, many children have an insatiable appetite as rapid growth requires lots of energy. Heightened metabolism and growth spurts can protect against obesity, to an extent. But excessively eating high-calorie junk foods and increasingly sedentary lifestyles can outweigh any metabolic protection.
Getting schooled on knowledge exchange
Western faculty, postdocs and other researchers are heading to class next week to better understand how they can get their ideas “out into the world” and into the hands of those who need it most.
Reichelt: What science says about the brain and sugar
As a neuroscientist my research centres on how modern day ‘obesogenic,’ or obesity-promoting, diets change the brain. I want to understand how what we eat alters our behaviour and whether brain changes can be mitigated by other lifestyle factors.
Harrowing health journey leads to helping others
At 20, Wagner Souza was diagnosed with two strong auto-immune disorders presenting leukemia-like symptoms, He required 13 pills a day to keep him alive from 2004-06. Then, hope arrived.