News & Media

June 2004
Director's Corner: by Dr. William Feindel

Dr. William Feindel, Emeritus Director of the MNI, Emeritus Director General of the MNH and Curator of the Wilder Penfield Archive, is a daily presence at the Neuro.

A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Feindel studied under LeGros Clark at Oxford and, with the exception of a few years as the first Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospital in Saskatoon, he has spent his whole career at the Neuro. At the Neuro, Dr. Feindel trained and worked with Drs. Cone, Elvidge, Jasper, McNaughton and Penfield before becoming Neurosurgeon-in-Chief.

In his tenure as Director (1972-1984), he oversaw the construction of the Penfield and Webster pavilions and, in 1960, started the Brain Imaging Centre.

The author of over 500 publications, Dr. Feindel’s numerous awards include the Order of Canada.

Here is Dr. Feindel’s brief reflection on his career:

It is always a bit risky to ask a former Director of the MNI to write “a few words about his experiences” but I am grateful to have the opportunity.

In 1942 when I first came as a medical student from Dalhousie to McGill and the MNI, Dr. Penfield gave me a room and board on the 8th floor and $50.00 a month. I had already completed some medical courses at Oxford and Dalhousie so I had about half of my time to work in the institute labs.

Dr. Penfield assigned me to Dr. Miguel Prados, a Spanish psychiatrist who had studied microscopic aspects of the nervous system with Hortego, a pupil of the famous maestro Ramon Y Cajal. Prados was in the midst of a wartime research project, examining how cortisone might help brain edema after head injury – a major problem in the military.

In cat experiments, we showed that adrenocortical extract reduced most traumatic brain swelling as demonstrated by beneficial effects on neurons and glia, reduced permeability of capillaries and improved EEG recording. I was involved in all aspects of the research and relished it. Before I finished medical school Prados kindly put my name on two major articles in the Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry. They remain as the first experimental study of cortisone and its general effect on injured brain tissue.

Wilder Penfield was a commanding presence who set a powerful example for others to emulate. Doctors, nurses, scientists, secretaries, technicians and patients were all part of the Penfield team. Every patient served as a challenge to learn more about the disorders of the brain and nerves. Penfield led us in the driving spirit of adventure, patient care, teamwork and the constant search for answers. It was difficult even for the most blasé not to be affected by this stimulating atmosphere to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to study the pathology in those patients where our treatment fell short of our expectations.

After completing my MDCM at McGill, I did a “rotating internship” – well named – at the Montreal General, The Montreal Childrens and at The Neuro where I did neurosurgery mostly with Arthur Elvidge.

I returned to Oxford to do a D.Phil in neuroanatomy and welcome clinical work with inspiring teachers at Queen’s Square.

In 1949 I returned to the Neuro to study with Francis McNaughton the nerves of the dura in relation head pain and to work with Dr. Penfield on the same problem in patients under local anesthesia during surgery. Then with a team of hardworking residents I spent two more years in the “salt mines” as we irreverently called the clinical services. It was intense work, seven in the morning until eleven or later at night, seven days a week except one weekend off every other week if you were fortunate not to be involved in emergencies which always took precedence.

In another most exciting year, observing patients on the operating table as Dr. Penfield was stimulating the temporal lobe, we were able with Dr. Jasper to reproduce features of temporal lobe seizures such as epigastric aura, memory disturbance, confusion and small attacks of automatism in and around the amygdala. That gave us a good deal of insight into the origin of temporal lobe seizures and the pattern of surgical excision that was necessary to stop them. Later in that same year, Peter Gloor and I completed our first study comparing stimulation of the amygdala with that of the reticular formation in the cat brain. This work would prove to be the mainstay of Peter’s career in neurophysiological research and the amygdala became more and more prominent as its role in autonomic and emotional responses relating to memory was better understood.

After a four year stint to set up a neurosurgical department at University Hospital in Saskatoon I returned again to the Neuro in 1959. Since then I have focused on radio-isotope scanning, studies of the cerebral circulation in the Cone Laboratory for Neurosurgical Research, treatment of epilepsy and brain tumours, and the usual range of neurosurgical problems.

One of my great satisfactions has been the research and development associated with neuroimaging beginning with the Saskatoon scanner and followed by CAT, PET, and MRI scanners, firsts in Canada.

The multidisciplinary clinical and scientific matrix essential for successful functioning of a brain imaging centre fitted naturally with the original concept of Wilder Penfield of an institute for neurological investigation where neurologists, neurosurgeons, and neuroscientists integrate their activities from day to day.

The Neuro has a proud heritage to promote and a promising future to fulfill.

Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to david.colman@mcgill.ca

New Faculty The MNI ad for faculty positions attracted over 130 applicants this year. The Search Committee invited 9 candidates to visit the Neuro and offered jobs to three superb young scientists. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Chris Pack, now at Harvard, and Dr. Ed Ruthazer, now at Cold Spring Harbor Labs, New York, have accepted faculty positions at the MNI.

In addition, we are delighted to announce that Dr. Michael Sinnreich, currently working at the Neuro, was successfully recruited to a faculty position at the MNI. Their brief biographies below reveal why they will be a great addition to the Neuro.

Chris Pack received a BS in Computer Science from Tufts University in 1992 and spent two years as a software engineer at Wang Laboratories. In 1999, he completed his PhD in the Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems at Boston University after developing and evaluating computational models for the visual perception of motion. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, Dr. Pack uses electrophysiological techniques to record the activity of individual neurons in the cortex of awake primates while they perform trained visual tasks. This has enabled him to test his models for visual perception in the brains of primates. He plans to continue these studies in primates when he starts his own lab at the MNI. Dr. Pack plans to move to Montreal in the spring of 2005.

Ed Ruthazer received a BS in Biology from Princeton in 1988. He then taught English and learned Chinese in Dalian, China for one year and returned to attend graduate school at the University of California, San Francisco. At UCSF, Dr. Ruthazer studied the developmental plasticity of ocular dominance in the visual cortex of mammals, completing his PhD in 1996. After two years as an International Research Fellow at Osaka University, Japan, Dr. Ruthazer returned to the US and is currently a post doctoral fellow at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. He uses contemporary optical techniques, including 2-photon microscopy, to study the molecular basis of activity-dependent plasticity in the visual systems of simple vertebrates and plans to build his own 2-photon microscope system when he first arrives at the MNI. Dr. Ruthazer will move to Montreal in March 2005.

Michael Sinnreich received his BS, MD and PhD degrees from Basel University in Switzerland and completed his residency training in Neurology in 2002. Dr. Sinnreich’s advanced training included specialty fellowships at the Mayo Clinic where he focused on peripheral nerve disease and his current work at the Neuro, studying neuromuscular disorders. His research focuses on identifying molecular/genetic markers for neuromuscular disorders.  He will pursue this line of research as a faculty member with the aim of developing new diagnostic tests for these disorders. Dr. Sinnreich will work with Dr. George Karpati in the Neuromuscular Clinic at the Neuro and with Dr. Colin Chalk in the Peripheral Nerve Clinic at the Neuro and the Montreal General Hospital. We extend the warmest welcome to these new members of the MNI.

New Advisory Board Member

Dr. Carla Shatz, chair of the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, has agreed to join the MNI Advisory Board. Formerly a member of the Board, Dr. Shatz was President of the 26,000 member Society for Neuroscience in 1994-95 and is currently an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She holds membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and in other scientific societies. We welcome Dr. Shatz back to the MNI and look forward to tapping her knowledge and expertise in planning for the future of the Neuro.

International Initiative

Mr. Patrick Cheung, MNI Advisory Board member, and Dr. Wei-Song Shan, Senior Research Fellow in Dave Colman’s group, introduced the Neuro to scientists and scientific leaders at research institutes in Hong Kong (Dr. Nancy Ip, Director, Biotechnology Institute), Shanghai and Tianjin. The overall purpose of this initiative is to establish scientific collaboration with researchers at institutions in countries that are making a significant investment in scientific research. A highlight of the trip was a visit with Madam Zhao, widow of Dr. Yi-Cheng Zhao, China’s first neurosurgeon who trained at the Neuro in the 1930’s with Dr. Penfield and returned to China to establish the Beijing neurosurgery unit and the Tianjin Neurological Institute which has trained over 200 neurosurgeons. Mr. Cheung was graciously received by Madam Zhao and her son, Dr. Ke-Ming Zhao (trained in neuropathology at the Neuro) and granddaughter Tian Ying (MA degree, McGill University). Ms. Zhao recently visited the Neuro to donate a biography of her grandmother to the Neuro library. During her emotional testimony she impressed upon us the important role that the Neuro has played in the life of her family.

Recent Events

On June 1, 2004, the MNI welcomed Mrs. Anna Engel and members of her family to celebrate her contributions toward the purchase of microscope and imaging equipment, in memory of Issie Engel. On that occasion the MNI expressed its sincere gratitude to the Engel family for their generous contributions over the years.

On June 3, 2004, members of the Webster Family and Trustees of the R. Howard Webster Foundation officially dedicated the R. Howard Webster Brain Tumour Clinic: A Treatment and Research Facility. Dr. Warren Chippindale emceed a wonderful event during which Drs. David Colman, Arthur Porter, William Feindel and Richard Leblanc and Mr. Alex Paterson expressed their deep appreciation for the extraordinary support of the Webster Foundation.

Donors' Day The Neuro's Donors' Day took place on June 7th, showcasing Research at the Neuro : the student perspective with exciting research talks by post doctoral fellows Drs. Joe Makkerh (Barker lab) and Monica Vianna (Colman lab) and doctoral student, Jacqueline Chen (Arnold lab). Our sincere thanks to all our donors for your loyal support.

Coming Events

June is Stroke Prevention Month The Stroke team will set up information booths in front of the RVH Cafeteria on June 1st, 9th, and 14th from 11h00-14h00. Information will be available on Stroke prevention, including Blood pressure management, Diabetes management, Smoking cessation, Nutrition and Healthy living.

On June 9th, 2004 the Epilepsy Program will hold its annual open house from 09:30 to 15:00 hrs in front of the RVH cafeteria. Two tours for the Epilepsy monitoring unit and EEG Department are planned for 10:00 and 14:00 hrs. Members of the Epilepsy Program will join the Stroke Team on June 9th from 11:00 to 14:00 hrs in front of the RVH cafeteria for Awareness activities Pain in Multiple Sclerosis

Thirty Italian neurologists will come to the Neuro for a course on Pain in Multiple Sclerosis. The course, organized by Dr. Massimo Avoli and Dr. Giorgio Cruccu (University of Rome, La Sapienza) will be held in the de Grandpre Communications Centre from June 18-20 and will feature speakers from Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Canada including Dr. Yves Lapierre (Director of the MS Clinic at the MNI), and Dr. Cathy Bushnell (Director of Anesthesia Research at McGill)

Musique en tête: Premier colloque sur le cerveau, la musique et  le son / First workshop on Brain, Music, and Sound (BRAMS) on June 23 at the MNI. BRAMS is a joint initiative headed by Dr. Robert Zatorre (MNI) and Dr. Isabelle Peretz (Université de Montréal).

The centre will link researchers whose work covers the spectrum from perception of music, speech and voice to memory and motor performance. Additional information on the workshop is available at program information link

International Society for the History of the Neurosciences (ISHN) June 26-29 Drs. Fred Andermann, Jack Antel, Dave Colman, Bill Feindel and Brenda Milner will join a host of scientific historians at this conference. They will cover the flowering of epileptology, the development of surgical care for epileptics, observations on myelin formation relevant to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and the history of therapy in MS. Dr. Milner will lead a discussion on Dr. Donald Hebb’s work. The conference will be at the UQAM campus but will move to the Neuro for the day on June 28. For more information, please consult program link

Looking Ahead Important events are planned for the fall:

September 13 MNI Convocation and Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony October 12 Dorothy J. Killam Lecture, Dr. Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal, McGill University

October 18 Hughlings Jackson Lecture, Dr. Sydney Brenner, Salk Institute This year the Jackson Lecture will be in held in conjunction with the Gairdner Symposium, Frontiers of Biomedical Science at the Centre Mont Royal.

November 18 Penfield Lecture, Dr. Daniel Dennett, Tufts University Congratulations Dr. George Karpati was invited to deliver the Keynote address at the 50th Anniversary Research Day meeting of Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

Dr. Brenda Milner will be awarded an honorary degree from the University of Ottawa and will deliver the convocation address.

Graduate students Deborah Maret, Joyce Chen, Gino Ferraro, Mohamad Seyed Sadr, Nadder Sharif, Penelope Kostopoulos, Farhan Khawaja, and Chad Boulay are new officers in the Graduate Student Association at the Neuro. The GSA helps us build a sense of community at the Neuro and we welcome these leaders to their new positions.