Upcoming events
Thursday, May 7th 2026 – 12:00 (Time zone: America/Toronto)
CNS-PDS May seminars: Matiram Pun (U Calgary) & Gabriele Matteoli (U Alberta)
Talk 1
Matiram Pun
University of Calgary
Talk title: Sleep and breathing at high altitude: Polysomnographic study of high altitude workers from Andes
Speaker Bio: Matiram Pun (mati) is currently a post-doctoral scholar at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. Mati is from Nepal and completed his medical training (MBBS 2007) in Nepal. Mati completed MSc (2013) and PhD (2025) in Mountain Medicine and High Altitude Physiology from the University of Calgary. Mati has been working in high altitude illness right from his medical school. Mati focused his masters in sleep-disordered breathing, primarily obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with intermittent hypoxia (IH) in a controlled laboratory environment in Calgary. Then Mati worked sleep architectures (macro and micro), OSA, IH, ventilation and cognition during his PhD. Mati studied OSA patients, aging population and high altitude workers for his PhD desertation. Mati studied high altitude shift workers at The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile. Some of Mati’s previous research involved studying the effects of acute, subacute, and chronic exposure to very high altitudes in the Nepal Himalayas and South American Andes.
Talk 2
Gabriele Matteoli
University of Alberta
Talk title: Neural crest-specific deletion of BMP7 causes a high incidence of central- and obstructive-like apneas during REM sleep in mice
Speaker Bio:I completed my Master’s degree (2019) and PhD (2024) at the University of Bologna (Italy), where I investigated how sleep influences respiratory and cardiovascular function in mouse models of human disease (Narcolepsy Type 1, autoimmune Anti-IgLON5 disease, and perinatal exposure to nicotine, cotinine, and pesticides). During my PhD, we developed a method to distinguish central-like and obstructive-like sleep apneas in mice by analyzing sleep-wake states, breathing pattern, and diaphragm activity. This technique has been successfully applied to mouse models of Down syndrome and CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder. In 2024, I joined the University of Alberta as a Postdoctoral Fellow to study the neural control of breathing using viral tools to modulate preBötzinger complex activity. Since May 2025, as a Women and Children’s Health Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, my research has focused on how perinatal exposure to cannabinoids affects sleep and breathing in newborn rats and maternal behavior.
Registration Link
Organized by Canadian Neuroscience Post-Docs
Contact us: seminars@can-acn.org
Past events
CNS-PDS April seminars: Alexandre Guet McCreight (CAMH) & Theresa Wiesner (Aix-Marseille Université)
Talk 1
Alexandre Guet McCreight
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Talk title: Linking age changes in human cortical microcircuits to impaired brain function and EEG biomarkers
Speaker Bio:Alexandre Guet-McCreight earned his PhD in Computational Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Frances Skinner, with a focus on biophysical modeling of inhibitory hippocampal cells. After a postdoctoral period at the Krembil Brain Institute, he joined Dr. Etay Hay’s lab at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and KCNI, where he integrates biophysical modeling and computational approaches to uncover digital biomarkers of depression, cognitive aging, and related pathologies. His research is supported by a CIHR Fellowship. More details can be found at https://agmccrei.github.io/personal_website/
Talk 2
Theresa Wiesner
Aix-Marseille Université
Talk title: Non-synaptic exocytosis along the axon shaft and its regulation by the submembrane periodic skeleton
Speaker Bio:In the early years of my bachelor’s, I got fascinated during an internship with functional assays such as field recordings to study neuronal cell behaviour. I got hooked on doing my master in Bio-photonics to learn functional imaging. During my Ph.D. in Biophotonics at Université Laval, Quebec, I combined functional assays, super-resolution imaging and computational tools to quantitatively assess and explore synaptic protein organization and remodeling due to synaptic plasticity.
My ambition is to overcome the current inability to directly link nanoscale protein organization to neuronal function, which impedes our understanding of fundamental cellular mechanisms and our capacity to alleviate misorganization in neurological disorders. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow in the NeuroCyto team at the Institute of NeuroPhysiopathology (INP) in Marseille, France. Here I am studying the role of actin/spectrin submembrane scaffold in axonal shaft exocytosis by combining live-cell and super-resolution microscopy.
Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3217374850132/WN_a1XJ1d03QOGVwfzfPqDzoA
CNS-PDS March seminars: Marieka DeVuono (Western U) & Pavel Powlowski (University of Toronto)
Talk 1
Marieka DeVuono
Western University
Talk title: Adolescent Edible tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Consumption Produces Sex and Dose-Dependent Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Adulthood
Speaker Bio: Marieka DeVuono, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Associate at Western University specializing in the neuropsychopharmacology of cannabis. She earned her doctorate at the University of Guelph under Dr. Linda Parker, where she investigated cannabinoid regulation of nausea and vomiting, including the paradoxical condition, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. Building on this foundation, she now works with Dr. Steven Laviolette at Western University, examining the effects of cannabis exposure across the lifespan. Her current research focuses on improving the translatability of preclinical models by implementing edible cannabinoid paradigms during development. Dr. DeVuono’s work explores how adolescent exposure to cannabinoids alters neuronal development, leading to sex-specific cognitive and affective outcomes with implications for psychiatric risk and developing future harm reduction strategies.
Talk 2
Pavel Powlowski
University of Toronto
Talk title: 2-AG as a Target of Interest in Bipolar Disorder
Speaker Bio: I am a post-doctoral researcher working together with Dr. Ruth Ross and Dr. Ana Andreazza. My research centers on the role of the endocannabinoid system in bipolar disorder, using an integrative approach including genetic studies as well as functional studies in iPSC models. I am largely interested in the mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders, and GPCR signaling in health and disease.
Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3217374850132/WN_P5kGw6LDTT2xnWDEZM-Bcw
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
CNS-PDS December: Marlaina Stocco & Yalin Sun
SEMINAR HOST: Darren Clarke
SEMINAR CO-HOST: Ryann Tansey
Organized by Canadian neuroscience post-docs
seminars@can-acn.org
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
seminars@can-acn.org
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.
SPEAKER #2
Richard Gao, Goethe University.
Organised by: Canadian neuroscience post-docs