Cellular origins of pediatric brain tumors identified

Dr Claudia KleinmanSource: MUHC and Lady Davis Institute

A research team led by Dr. Claudia Kleinman, an investigator at the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, together with  Dr. Nada Jabado, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), and Dr. Michael Taylor, of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), discovered that several types of highly aggressive and, ultimately, fatal pediatric brain tumors originate during brain development. The genetic event that triggers the disease happens in the very earliest phases of cellular development, most likely prenatal. The findings represent a significant advance in understanding these diseases, and are published in Nature Genetics. Continue reading

Activation of opioid receptor uncovered

Louis Gendron - Université de SherbrookeIn conjunction with Chinese, Belgian, German and American academic colleagues, the team of researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), led by the Director of the Department of Pharmacology-Physiology, Professor Louis Gendron, participated in the discovery of the binding mechanism of an important opioid receptor. The results should facilitate the development of new active substances. Opioids used today to treat severe pain can be addictive and often have significant side effects, such as nausea. The results are published in the renowned journal Science Advances. Continue reading

Patients with mood, anxiety disorders share abnormalities in brain’s control circuit

Dr. Sophia Frangou. Credit: Paul Joseph/UBC
Sophia Frangou

Dr. Sophia Frangou was recently appointed UBC President’s Excellence Chair in Brain Health.

New research published recently in JAMA Psychiatry shows for the first time that patients with mood and anxiety disorders share the same abnormalities in regions of the brain involved in emotional and cognitive control.

The findings hold promise for the development of new treatments targeting these regions of the brain in patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders. Continue reading

The brain’s regions work together when it comes to skilled motor sequences

Jörn Diedrichsen
Jörn Diedrichsen

Many skills, such as typing, playing an instrument or tying a knot, rely on complex sequences of movements. Despite being common activities, researchers are still discovering how the brain is able to plan and execute all the movements required to complete these, and other motor tasks. 

To better understand how motor sequences are represented in the brain, Atsushi Yokoi, a researcher at CiNet, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), and Jörn Diedrichsen, Western University Computational Neuroscience Professor, worked together to map finger movement sequences. Continue reading

Dr. Freda Miller wins the 2019 Till & McCulloch Award

Freda Miller
Freda Miller

Dr. Freda Miller has been named winner of the 2019 Till & McCulloch Award for a new research discovery in tissue repair and regeneration that holds potential for future therapies. The Award is presented annually to one researcher in Canada who has made an exceptional contribution to global stem cell research in that year. Dr. Miller will present the Award lecture on November 5 at the Till & McCulloch Meetings (TMM) taking place in Montréal, Québec, based on her Cell Stem Cell paper entitled, “Mesenchymal Precursor Cells in Adult Nerves Contribute to Mammalian Tissue Repair and Regeneration.”

Read more on Till & McCulloch meeting page

Science should be an election issue – read our Op-Ed in Le Devoir

Read an Op-Ed signed by the Presidents of CAN, Katalin Toth, and of the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences, Tarik Moroy, this morning in Le Devoir.  Scientific research is important for all Canadians – it is how Canada can face the issues and challenges we face today. Political leaders should commit to supporting science today.
Read our op-ed here (in French):
https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/564375/la-science-n-est-pas-un-enjeu-electoral-mais-elle-devrait-l-etre

The Liberal Party answers CAN’s questions about science support

We have received a response from the Liberal Party of Canada to our five questions about science support.

  1. Is your Party committed to fully implementing the report of the Fundamental Science Review (Naylor report) with additional financial investment into open competitions to maintain Canada as a forefront leader in research innovation and research discoveries?

Our Liberal government believes in evidence-based policy and in science and in the Canadians behind the next big ideas. After a decade of setbacks and cuts to science under the Harper Conservatives, our government is rebuilding Canadian research and supporting our country’s greatest minds.  We unmuzzled our scientists, brought back the long-form census, and re-instated the position of the Chief Science Advisor. Continue reading

New Calgary school named for world-renowned scientist Dr. Freda Miller

Freda Miller
Dr. Freda Miller

The Calgary Board of Education has announced a new elementary school being built in the community of Evergreen wil be named the Dr. Freda Miller School.  The school is expected to open in September 2020. Dr. Freda Miller’s name was chosen as she is a world-renowned scientist, whose seminal scientific discoveries have led to new therapic avenue to repair injured brains and skin using stem cells.  Dr. Miller also maintains strong ties to Calgary, which is home to most of her family: she is an alumna of the Calgary public school system, of the University of Calgary, and lives part-time in Canmore. Continue reading