CNS-PDS May seminars: Matiram Pun (U Calgary) & Gabriele Matteoli (U Alberta)
2026-05-07 @ 12:00 – 2026-05-07 @ 13:00 America/Toronto
Location: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3217374850132/WN_SB63fJGSSGuShjDIxqfzZA
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
Event Website Event Category: CNS-PDS
