News & Media

April 2010
Director's Corner: The Brain Tumour Research Centre of the MNI

A few days after I arrived at The Neuro in 2002, the MNI's Brain Tumour Research Centre (BTRC) opened it's doors, in an event that included Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Mme. Pauline Marois, representatives from McGill, the University of Montreal and other institutions, signifying the importance of this new Centre to Quebec, Canada and the world. About a thousand people attended the opening ceremonies.

In 2002, the BTRC was a fledgling start-up endeavour, with the purpose of integrating the best possible brain tumour clinical care and front-line research. Since that time, we have treated thousands of patients in our Neurosurgery operating room suites and in the brain tumour clinic, and we have recruited several new scientists and clinicians to the Centre. We now have more than a dozen principal investigators who work full-time in the BTRC pavilion along with more than a hundred laboratory personnel. Since our opening in 2002, we have completed or are in the process of conducting clinical trials to test the efficacy of novel pharmacological agents in preventing brain tumour recurrence. We have made hundreds of new discoveries and have disseminated this new knowledge in the form of first-rate publications in the world’s major scientific journals.

Our research efforts are for the most part directed at finding the gene mutations that occur inside normal cells that force them to become tumours, and when this happens, how to prevent these aberrant cells from dividing and moving from the primary site to other areas of the brain. We also must discover how tumour cells differ from other, normally proliferative cells that are found in the brain. How do signals from the cell surface get "misinterpreted" in tumour cells so that they cannot stop dividing, as normal cells do? How can we use the knowledge we gain in the laboratory to design new drugs to halt the migration and growth of microscopic tumour cells, once the major tumour mass is treated through neurosurgical extirpation, radiation and chemotherapeutic approaches? These are formidable problems that we are addressing, and they take time, tremendous patience, and extraordinary commitment to resolve.

New endeavours that tackle the most terrible problems in medicine always take time to build momentum, and require much thoughtful long-range planning and re-direction along the way. With really intractable problems we start from knowing almost nothing, and many false starts accompany our first exploratory experiments. Often, we do not even know where to begin to ask the “right” questions. And even when we have the questions, there are no easy answers. But The Neuro was designed to do just this kind of investigation; we are in it for the long haul. And all the while we are pursuing our intensive research efforts, we are delivering state-of-the-art care to our patients through our physicians, nurses, and support staff.

In my first few days as Director in 2002, I must admit that it was frankly depressing to contemplate how hard a job it was going to be to make headway in neurological research on diseases such as brain tumours. But today I am elated at how far we have come in such a short time. Now, only a few years later, our brain tumour initiative has evolved to the point that we are ready to greatly expand the scope and operations of the BTRC, and this will be a major focus of our work throughout this new century. We are making advances in the clinic and the lab, we have built great momentum, and we know what questions to ask. Our patients are surviving longer, even with aggressive brain tumours, because in the past few years therapies have really improved. New programs and collaborative projects that address tumour destruction, normal neural cell survival and brain repair will be the hallmark of the expansion of the BTRC, as well as new clinical efforts to find ways to completely prevent recurrence after treatment.

We will be as aggressive at putting an end to this disease as the disease is in afflicting us.

On a personal note, somehow the most poignant deaths of my friends have been from very aggressive brain tumours. The disease hit them when they were doing their best work, or were poised to do so, or were just really enjoying their lives. Marianne, a biologist at the top of her field, and the most bubbly and gracious person you can possibly imagine, with a laugh like a soprano bell, died at 39. Pierre, a neurochemist who discovered the joys of coral reef scuba diving in his fiftieth year, died that year of a tumour of the very cells he had spent his life studying. Paul, a Maine fisherman and fantastic carpenter with a most wicked sense of humor, succumbed after a short battle with the disease. And Marcy with the cornflower eyes, my downstairs neighbor when I lived in the East Village in New York, threw a big all-night dance party when she learned that her condition was incurable, and towards morning went into her bedroom, quietly closed the door, and took her life at the age of 26.

Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman

Recent News

Canada Research Chair (CRC) Renewal at The Neuro
Neuro researchers David Colman (Tier 1), Jean-François Cloutier (Tier 2), Chris Pack (Tier 2) and Ed Ruthazer (Tier 2) successfully renewed their CRC awards. The CRC program was created ten years ago to enable Canadian universities to attract and retain established and emerging world-class researchers. Of McGill’s 18 CRCs (the second-largest number of CRC awards given to a Canadian university in this competition) the Neuro received four. Please see press release for more information.

Brenda Milner on Charlie Rose Brain Series
Brenda Milner joined friends and colleagues Eric Kandel, Larry Squires and others in the Brain Series on Charlie Rose. Rose, who interviews experts from around the world on his nightly television show, will present 13 programs on the brain. Please visit the Charlie Rose web site to see Milner talking about memory and the aging brain or to see other shows in the series.

Upcoming Events

Neuro Movie Night: Stalag 17, April 15
Dave Colman will talk about the classic film Stalag 17 after its showing on April 15. Discussing the profile of the main character, Dave will reach back into the history of The Neuro to reveal the fact behind the fiction of that remarkable man. Join us at 6:30 pm in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre for popcorn and an evening of film and discussion. It’s free and it’s fun!

BRAMS Scientific Day, April 16
BRAMS, International Laboratory for Brain, Music & Sound Research, will hold a full‐day symposium on Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience. This free event will be held in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre starting at 9:00 am. There will be lectures from the members of the BRAMS team and several invited speakers from other universities, as well as postdoctoral presentations and student posters. Please visit the BRAMS web site for more information. This symposium is co‐sponsored by NSERC‐CREATE training grant in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience and the Montreal Neurological Institute.

Dysfuntional Imaging: Advances in lesion-function mapping of the human brain, April 17
Neurologist Lesley Fellows will host a think-tank on methodological advances in the study of structure-function relationships in the human brain. This one day informal meeting for researchers and cognitive neuroscience trainees will bring together leaders in cognitive neuroscience, neuro-imaging methods and experimental neuropsychology to discuss technical and conceptual advances in characterizing brain lesions, measuring behaviour and linking the two through mapping. Please visit the web site for more information and to register.

Neuro’s Annual Spring Fling, April 27
Want to perform at The Neuro’s Spring Fling? Don’t miss your big break - call Anthony Bruce at local 1907 by April 16, and mark your calendar for the really big show on April 27 at noon in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre.

Interdisciplinary NeuroPalliative Care Rounds, April 28
Jane Chambers Evans, Associate Professor of Nursing at McGill and MUHC Clinical Ethicist, will speak about “Caring professionals: Sometimes things need to be about us” to highlight the importance of addressing the needs of professional care-givers. These Rounds are open to McGill and MUHC staff and guests who come from area hospitals, CLSCs and nursing training programs. Please join us for a light lunch and this compelling presentation at 11:45 am on April 28 in The Neuro’s Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre.

Time Capsule Event, May 7
Montreal area students along with Michelle Courchesne, Minister of Education, Leisure and Sport and some prominent Montreal sports personalities will seal The Neuro’s Time Capsule on May 7 at 10:00 am in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre. Last year Grade 5 and 6 students participated in a city wide contest, sponsored by Kamik, to submit their ideas of what to put into the new time capsule. Please join us as we place the winning suggestions from the students as well as contents suggested by Neuro staff into the capsule which will be sealed in the cornerstone and opened in seventy-five years.

The George Karpati Symposium on Neuromuscular Disease: Innovation and Application, May 10
Experts and trainees alike will honor the memory of the George Karpati, a world renowned expert in neuromuscular disorders, at this one day scientific symposium at The Neuro. With a full day of scientific presentations, international experts will discuss their work and George’s important contributions to the field. To see the complete scientific program and to register for the symposium or banquet, go to the web site.

Congratulations to ...

Barbara Jones whose scientific article “Melanin-concentrating hormone neurons discharge in a reciprocal manner to orexin neurons across the sleep-wake cycle” was selected as a Fast Breaking Paper in the field of Neuroscience & Behavior. Demonstrating Jones’ significant impact on the field, this was one of the most-cited papers in this discipline published in the past two years. Jones also received honors for her career contributions when she was one of only 18 scientists named as a Sleep Research Society Founder in this, the 50th anniversary year of the Society. Barbara is recognized internationally for her fundamental discoveries and creative work in sleep research.

Mrs. Marika Teakle, a committed Neuro volunteer and donor, who was recently honoured by Citizen and Immigration Canada (CIC). Mrs. Teakle spent 47 compassionate years at the CIC and was the first woman to pass the Immigration Officer exam in 1961. During her career and in retirement, she has helped countless immigrants and refugees. In recognition of her outstanding dedication and contributions, the Citizenship room in Montreal is now named in her honour.

Mireille Bouchard-Levasseur, Director of the Environmental Enrichment Program of the Animal Care Facility won third place in the 2010 Animal Welfare Award for her innovation and dedication to the animals and significant contributions to the program.

Krista Hyde, a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Alan Evans, who was awarded a $20,000 research award from the Grammy Foundation in California. Krista received one of two research awards in this international competition. Her project will use music and brain imaging tools to study auditory perception and brain differences in young adults ages 18 – 30 with autism. Please visit the web site for more information.

Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Martine Alfonso; Mark Angle, MD; Phil Barker, PhD; Rob Dunn, PhD; Lucia Fabijan; Tom Gevas; Elizabeth Kofron, PhD; Catherine Rowe; Donatella Tampieri, MD
Neuro News: Elizabeth Kofron, PhD & Sandra McPherson, PhD

Please send any items for the Neuro News to Sandra McPherson or Beth Kofron.