News & Media
Neuro News September 2010
The Neuro News is a monthly electronic newsletter highlighting activities at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. If you have any comments, please send them to Communications. To subscribe and receive e-mail notification when a new issue becomes available, click here.
September 2010
Director's Corner: Time Out of Joint
For processes and events that are protracted in time we tend to be lulled into a generally sleepy acceptance, when we experience these things in real time. And so the world’s glaciers slowly advance, and then retreat more each year, mercury levels rise in the Pacific as pollution from Asian industries continues unabated, we age, city infrastructure crumbles, all at a slow, predictable pace. But what happens when we “accelerate” a set of events through time lapse? The commonplace can then become very interesting, and in some cases, quite disturbing. Here are some examples where time is put out of joint that I found over the summer. The common thread is that running temporal “snapshots” together gives you a very different perspective on processes and events.
In the first set, frog embryos are visualized in the course of development, and a butterfly emerges from a pupa. To me, these are vivid illustrations of programmed self-assembly in nature:
My second example is a delightful refutation of Intelligent Design. The flatfish starts out in life as a symmetrical fish, but then undergoes a metamorphosis that twists it into a flattened bottom dweller with both eyes and mouth facing up. Now, what Designer would turn a perfectly symmetrical organism into such a grotesque creature?
Video 4Video 5
Next, Jonathan Keller has been taking daily self-portrait photos for several years, and when viewed as a movie, these photos make for a fascinating study in aging:
Video 6And in case you are wondering why the quote from Hamlet that is the title of this piece, view the most disturbing art project by Isao Hashimoto, who plotted each nuclear test from 1945 – 1998 onto a global map. One second equals one month…Stay with it; after the first 3 minutes, things heat up:
Video 7
Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman
Recent News
Barbara Jones elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of
Canada
Barbara Jones, Professor of Neurology
and Neurosurgery, was elected to the Royal Society of Canada. Barbara has a
well-deserved international reputation as an expert in sleep research and
sleep medicine. She has made significant discoveries about the chemical
neurotransmitters, and the anatomical projections and physiology of the
neurons involved in promoting sleep or a waking state. Since 2003,
Barbara’s research has been supported by the US National Institutes of
Health, a significant achievement for a scientist based in Canada, as well
as by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. Election to the Royal
Society is the highest honor a Canadian scholar can achieve in the Arts,
Humanities and Sciences. See web
site for the list of 2010 Fellows.
Transforming Care at the Bedside: A neuroscience nursing
initiative
The Neuroscience Nursing Mission at The Neuro is the first in Canada to
participate in the international program Transforming Care at the Bedside
(TCAB). This program, created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), was designed to turn a select
set of high-performing hospitals into innovative learning labs for
real-time improvement in patient care. The Core Team from the
Medical-Surgical Unit 4 South, under the leadership of Christine Bouchard,
will have bimonthly phone conferences with IHI to define and implement best
practices in patient-centered inpatient care, and to increase direct care
time for nurses. American and European hospitals that have participated in
TCAB report better clinical outcomes, reduced nurse turnover and lower
costs. Nurses will apply their energy and expertise, and involve
interprofessional team members, patients and their families to transform
patient care.
Bernard Brais, neurogenetics expert to join the
Neuro
Neurologist Bernard Brais will join The Neuro as Associate Professor in
June 2011. An expert in neurogenetics, Bernard is a busy clinician with an
active research program who trained at McGill, completing his medical
degree in 1985, his residency in neurology in 1991, and PhD in 1998. On the
Neurology Service at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
since 1997, Bernard is a specialist in the genetics of the ‘founder effect’
in neuromuscular and other neurodegenerative diseases by which isolated
populations pass on genetic susceptibility to particular diseases.
Biostatistician Mauro Cardoso joins the Clinical Research
Unit
Mauro Cardoso, a Brazilian-trained physician, brings expertise in
epidemiology and biostatistics to The Neuro’s Clinical Research Unit. Hired
to work with clinicians and scientists with clinical observational and
experimental as well as etiological studies, Mauro will help with study
design, data management and analysis, and presentation of scientific
results in publications and grant applications. For the past 5 years, Mauro
has been a consultant to government and healthcare institutions, and
biomedical researchers in Brazil. He is familiar with statistical
techniques that are widely used in health studies and will be a valuable
resource to clinical researchers at The Neuro and across McGill. Anyone
interested in discussing a project with Mauro may contact him by phone
514-398-1095 or by email.
Stepping up to new responsibilities in nursing
Maria Hamakiotis has been named Ambulatory Nursing Manager
for the Neuroscience Mission. Maria has 10 years of nursing experience at
The Neuro and was most recently Clinical Nurse Specialist for Oncology. In
addition to her clinical work, Maria is a Lecturer in the School of Nursing
at McGill and is pursuing a funded research study on fatigue associated
with brain tumour therapy.
Siva Moonsamy has been named Nurse Manager of the Intensive Care Unit, after serving as Acting Manager for the past year. Siva is a nurse educator and prior to coming the The Neuro, he was Assistant Nurse Manager in the Surgical ICU at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Alain Ptito awarded the Hartland Molson Fellowship
Alain Ptito, neuropsychologist at The Neuro
and Director of the Department of Psychology at the McGill University
Health Centre (MUHC), received the MUHC’s Honourable Hartland Molson
Fellowship to advance his research in traumatic brain injury. Ptito, who
earned his PhD at the Université de Montréal, joined The Neuro staff in
1983. He uses functional magnetic resonance imaging as a tool for
evaluating the severity of and recovery from concussion and other traumatic
brain injuries.
Barbados students get firsthand experience in
neuroscience
To launch a new partnership with the University
of the West Indies (UWI) in Cave Hill, Barbados, three UWI medical students
spent 3 weeks in residence at The Neuro this summer. This intense
introduction to neuroscience was designed to showcase the range of clinical
and research activities here and to capture the interest of these young
trainees in neuroscience as a career path. Brittany Carter, Isha Emmanuel
and Nicole Simpson were thrilled to meet with experts and trainees,
acknowledging that this unique opportunity would dramatically shape their
thinking and plans. Future developments with UWI at Cave Hill include a
faculty exchange to advance training in neuroscience.
Upcoming Events
Neurosurgical Simulation Centre opens September 15
Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear will attend
opening ceremonies for the Neurosurgical Simulation Centre, which will be a
valuable resource for pre-surgical planning and training at The Neuro. This
initiative, led by neurosurgeon Rolando DelMaestro, is a unique resource
made possible through collaboration with in partnership with the National
Research Council. Blaise Champagne, Director General of the NRC Industrial
Materials Institute, Arnold Steinberg, Chancellor of McGill University, and
Arthur Porter, Director and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre will
also attend the ceremony at 2:00 pm in the de Grandpré Communications
Centre.
Integrated Program in Neuroscience Retreat, September
20-21
Students in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience (IPN) will gather for
the second annual IPN Retreat to learn about neuroscience research across
McGill. IPN is the largest neuroscience graduate program in North America
with more than 280 masters and doctoral students who are training with 160
IPN-affiliated faculty.Trainees will hear faculty presentations of research
in neuroengineering, neurophysiology, neuroinflammation, brain mapping,
human communication, and computational and mathematical modeling in
neuroscience. Louise Proulx, Vice President, Research and Development at
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, will lead corporate colleagues in a discussion of
career options for neuroscientists. The retreat program is available
on line.
Marianne Bronner Fraser to deliver The Dorothy J. Killam Lecture,
September 27
Marianne Bronner-Fraser, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology
at the California Institute of Technology, will deliver the lecture, Gene
regulatory network underlying neural crest formation, in the Jeanne Timmins
Amphitheatre at 4 pm on September 27. The Dorothy J. Killam Lecture was
established to recognize women of influence in science, politics or the
humanities, and is named after Mrs. Killam, who with her husband, made
important contributions to support Canadian education and science. All are
welcome to this lecture and to the reception that will follow.
The Marilyn Jones-Gotman Symposium, October 4
The scientific contributions of neuropsychologist Marilyn Jones-Gotman will
be marked by a full day symposium organized by colleagues from the
Cognitive Neuroscience Group. Marilyn’s work focused on cognitive and
sensory abilities, and how learning mechanisms differ across tasks and
stimuli. Symposium speakers will address epilepsy and cognition in morning
sessions, and the perception of smell and taste in afternoon sessions. The
symposium is free and open to all with advance registration. Tickets to the
evening banquet must be purchased in advance. For more details and to
register, please go
on line.
The Denis Melançon Lecture, October 28
Multiple Sclerosis will be the focus of the 2010 Denis Melançon Lecture
with scientific talks starting at 1 pm in the Jeanne Timmins Amhitheatre.
At 4 pm, former McGill professor and neurologist Gordon Francis,
NeuroInflammation CSU Director at Novartis Pahrmaceiticals, will deliver
the keynote address, Multiple Sclerosis: The role of MRI in monitoring the
cure. The program is free but advance registration is required with Deborah
Raskcovsky at 514-398-6047 or
email. The program is
available
on line.
Congratulations to ...
Brenda Milner who will receive a docteur honoris causa from the University of Quebec in Outaouais in November.Fred Andermann who will celebrate his birthday with friends and family on September 26. Best wishes, Fred!
Patrick Allaire, a trainee from Peter McPherson’s lab, who qualified a second time for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
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.
