Canadian Association for Neuroscience

CNS-PDS Events

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Thursday, February 5th 2026 – 12:00 (Time zone: America/Toronto)

CNS-PDS February seminars: Mumu Aktar (U Calgary) & Earvin Tio (CAMH)

SPEAKER #1 Mumu Aktar

Institution: University of Calgary

Presentation Title: A Multitask Learning Approach for Segmenting Brain Tumor Sub-regions: Towards Better Generalization

Speaker Bio:

Mumu Aktar is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary and holds a PhD in Computer Science from Concordia University. Her research focuses on applying artificial intelligence and large language models in the medical domain to support clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes. She is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and developing intelligent tools that help clinicians streamline treatment workflows and save valuable time.

SPEAKER #2 Earvin Tio

Institution:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Presentation Title:
Understanding the Biopsychosocial Mechanisms of Risk for Suicide using a Resilience-Based Machine Learning Approach

Speaker Bio:
Earvin S. Tio completed his PhD in Medical Science with a minor in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Daniel Felsky at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Earvin’s research focuses on using machine learning to unravel the biopsychosocial mechanisms that underlie mental illness, particularly suicidal behaviours. He has experience working with various data modalities (e.g., clinical/tabular, multiomic, neuroimaging) from multiple sources ranging from treatment-seeking clinical populations to biobank-scale population data. Prior to his PhD, Earvin completed his BASc in Systems Design Engineering with a minor in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Waterloo, during which he held research positions at the university, at SickKids hospital, and at Sunnybrook hospital. He also studied computer science at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Webinar Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3217374850132/WN_dGwKsK1dTVOUWkh1qv8WuA

 

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Thursday, December 4th 2025 – 12:00 (Time zone: America/Toronto)

CNS-PDS December: Marlaina Stocco & Yalin Sun

SEMINAR HOST: Darren Clarke
SEMINAR CO-HOST: Ryann Tansey

Speaker #1 :
Yalin Sun, University of Toronto
Title of the presentation: “High Stakes in the Adolescent Brain: Glia Ignite Under THC’s Influence”
Dr. Yalin Sun is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, working under the supervision of Drs. Susan R. George and Jean-Martin Beaulieu. Her PhD work at the University of Toronto with Dr. Susan R. George explored sex-specific mechanisms of depression mediated by the dopamine D1-D2 receptor heteromer, as well as age-dependent cannabinoid-induced neuroinflammation in the amygdala. After defending her PhD in 2025, her current work explores mechanisms underlying therapeutic amelioration of cannabinoid-induced astrocytic and microglial inflammation. She employs rodent behavioural models, tissue biochemistry, primary rodent and human stem cell culture, proteomic and transcriptomic techniques. Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/yalin-sun-phd-301612122/ .
Speaker #2
Marlaina Stocco, University of Western Ontario
Title of the presentation: “Choice between methamphetamine and food is modulated by reinforcement interval and central drug metabolism”
Dr. Marlaina Stocco is currently a postdoctoral associate at the University of Western Ontario, working under the supervision of Dr. Jibran Khokhar. She completed her PhD in Dr. Rachel Tyndale’s lab at the University of Toronto (2021), exploring the impact of central drug metabolism on behavioural and neurological effects of neurotoxins and drugs of abuse. During an initial postdoc with Dr. Tod Kippin at UCSB (2021-2025), Marlaina investigated biological and environmental factors that contribute to differences in preference and motivation for psychostimulant self-administration. Her current work aims to elucidate the modulatory role and therapeutic target potential of the endocannabinoid system in methamphetamine use disorder and methamphetamine psychosis.
Webinar registration link:

 

Organized by Canadian neuroscience post-docs

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Thursday, November 6th 2025 – 12:00 (Time zone: America/Toronto)

CNS-PDS November: Andrew Vo & Amr Eed

SEMINAR HOST: Prabhjot Dhami
SEMINAR CO-HOST: Alessandro Zanini

SPEAKER #1
Speaker Name: Andrew Vo
Institution: Montreal Neurological Institute; McGill University
Abstract Title:
“Convergent large-scale network and local vulnerabilities underlie brain atrophy across Parkinson’s disease stages”

SPEAKER #2
Speaker Name: Amr Eed
Institution: Western University
Abstract Title:
“MRI investigation of orientation-dependent changes in microstructure and function in a mouse model of mild traumatic brain injury”

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2017374850028/WN_tgLb5wOvT0-E19FB-5K7rQ

Organized by: Canadian neuroscience post-docs

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Thursday, October 2nd 2025 – 12:00 (Time zone: America/Toronto)

CNS-PDS October: Pedro Henrique Gonçalves Guedes & Richard Gao

SEMINAR HOST: Mohamed Abdelhack
SEMINAR CO-HOST: Susan Coltman

SPEAKER #1

Pedro Henrique Gonçalves Guedes, University of Saskatchewan.

 

Title of the presentation: Development of an Optical and Colorimetric Biosensor for the Quantification of Microrna 184 for Late Life Depression.

Pedro Henrique Gonçalves Guedes, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan, under the supervision of Dr. Ana Mendes-Silva in the Mito-Brain Lab. His research is focused on the development of point-of-care mitochondrial-based biosensors to detect circulating mitochondrial DNA and related biomarkers, aiming to transform psychiatry through precision, accessibility, and innovation. By integrating molecular biology, epigenetics, and nanotechnology, his work seeks to create tools that move efficiently from the laboratory bench to clinical practice.
LinkedIn handle is: linkedin.com/in/guedesphg

SPEAKER #2

Richard Gao, Goethe University.

Title of the presentation: AutoMIND: Deep inverse models for revealing neural circuit invariances.
Richard received a Bachelor’s in Engineering Science (Biomedical) at the University of Toronto. During that time, he completed a one-year internship as a Research Associate at a neurotech startup building consumer EEG technology for neurofeedback applications. He then pursued a PhD in the Department of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego, where he received an NSERC Graduate Fellowship and the Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal for his work on modeling and analysis of neural signals. Since 2021, he has been in the ML in Science Group at the Tübingen AI Center, where he was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow developing mechanistic and generative models of brain dynamics. Starting October 2025, he will be a Tenure Track Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics at Goethe University Frankfurt, developing and applying machine learning and computational tools for neuroscience. Handles: bsky: @rdgao.bsky.social Twitter: @_rdgao linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-gao-319b1b64/

Organised by: Canadian neuroscience post-docs

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