The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) announced the results for their October 2009 competition that was open to trainees (students and fellows). The HBI had a number of successful applicants including;
HBI Members Successful in Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions Competitions!
Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions has recently released the results
of the September 2009 competition for Independent Investigator Awards.
This funding will help institutions support health researchers through
salaries and benefits, equipment, laboratory start-up infrastructure,
and other support for top health researchers in Alberta.
Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions has awarded $43 million in funding support to 37 outstanding health researchers across Alberta. These awards, 34 of which are seven years in length, are among the richest health research awards in Canada.
Dr. Eric Smith, is one of 18 researchers at the University of Calgary who was successful in the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research's 2009 independent investigator competition, which included 130 applications. The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research is now Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions.
An assistant professor of clinical neurosciences in UCalgary's Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Smith is a new clinical investigator who studies what happens in the brain as people get older.
Clinician Investigator Program Celebrates its First Graduate
The Hotchkiss Brain Institute congratulates neurology resident Dr. Aylin Reid MD PhD, the first graduate from the University of Calgary’s new Clinician Investigator Program.
Dr. Aylin Reid has always been fascinated by the brain and knew she wanted to understand how it works. Medicine and research both seemed like good ways to achieve her goals.
“While in medical school, I realized a research career might be better suited to provide answers, so I decided I wanted to combine the two” she says.
Announcing the Inaugural HBI Neuroscience Alumnus of the Year
Dr. Alastair Ferguson, Professor in the Department of Physiology at Queen’s University is the recipient of the inaugural Hotchkiss Brain Institute Neuroscience Alumnus of the Year Award.
Following his BSc in Birmingham, England, Dr. Ferguson came to Calgary in 1977 to complete his PhD in Neurosciences.
New brain research shows two parents may be better than one
A team of researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) have discovered that adult brain cell production might be determined, in part, by the early parental environment. The study suggests that dual parenting may be more beneficial than single parenting. Scientists studied mouse pups that were raised by either dual or single parents and found that adult cell production in the brain might be triggered by early life experiences. The scientists also found that the increased adult brain cell production varied based on gender.
HBI researchers shine light on how stress circuits learn at a young age
Researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) have discovered that stress circuits in the brain undergo profound learning early in life. Using a number of cutting edge approaches, including optogenetics, Dr. Jaideep Bains and colleagues have shown stress circuits are capable of self-tuning following a single stress. These findings demonstrate that the brain uses stress experience during early life to prepare and optimize for subsequent challenges.
New study may provide insight into long-term changes in adult brain after early-life inflammation
A study by researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) reported early-life inflammation can lead to long-lasting molecular changes and increased excitability in the adult rat brain. Led by Aylin Reid as part of her PhD thesis, the study was conducted jointly in the labs of Dr. Quentin Pittman and Dr. Cam Teskey, Reid’s supervisors, and co-authored by Pittman, Teskey and Dr. Kiarash Riazi.
Study suggests lower-back MRI scans often unnecessary
HBI member Dr. Tom Feasby is part of a team of researchers investigating the appropriateness of lower-back and head MRIs and have concluded many requests for these scans are not needed. In a joint study led by the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, using methodology developed at the RAND Corporation, 2,000 requisitions for magnetic resonance imaging scans placed in Edmonton and Ottawa were examined to determine if they were appropriate.
HBI researcher leads international report on concussions in sports
Leading sports medicine researcher and HBI member Dr. Willem Meeuwisse is the co-author of a just-published international report that offers a consensus view among scientists and doctors about the treatment of concussion. The report was co-published simultaneously in the April 2013 issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.
In 2009, the Hotchkiss Brain Institute recognized a number of
significant milestones, including our fifth anniversary as an
Institute, the creation of an Institute endowment and the launch of a
new strategic framework that will guide us to even greater success over
the next five years. Click here to view the 2009 Report to the Community.
Long-time philanthropist, business leader and well known Calgarian,
Harley Hotchkiss, together with his wife Rebecca, will build upon their
previous generosity and support for the University of Calgary by
committing $39 million towards a major endowment fund.
The HBI is pleased to host the tenth annual Margarete Wuensche Memorial Lecture: Neuroscience and Society on Friday, April 26, 2013. This year's guest speaker is Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, Director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Gazzaniga will present Who's in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain.
Please RSVP by April 12, 2013 to hbieduc [at] ucalgary [dot] ca
Concussions (or mild traumatic brain injuries) are a growing concern, particularly among young athletes. On June 25, 2012 the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute in partnership with the CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction held an interactive Science Café to discuss neurological and mental health as relating to concussions.
As a free public event, the Science Café creates the opportunity for the community to engage with top-level experts in a meaningful and informative way. With the former NHL athlete Mr. Jim Peplinski as the moderator, the two expert researchers, Drs. Sean Dukelow and Carolyn Emery explored questions such as:
What are the signs and symptoms of a concussion?
Can concussions be prevented in youth sport?
When is someone fit to return to play?
What is the public health burden of concussion in youth sport?
More than a year after the doors officially opened, researchers at the
HBI are fully realizing the impact of their new laboratory and office
space in the Boone Pickens Centre for Neurological Science and Advanced
Technologies. The Centre officially opened its doors in June 2008,
thanks to a $2.25 million donation from Texas businessman and
philanthropist Mr. Boone Pickens. Pickens has furthered his support for
the HBI by announcing an additional $25 million bequest to the
Institute.
The HBI was pleased to host the 6th Annual Calgary Brain Bee on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. After 14 rounds of intense competition, a winner was decided: congratulations to Andrew Kim!
Andrew, a grade 11 students from Bishop Carrol High School in Calgary, has won an iPad mini and an expenses-paid trip to the CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee on June 1, 2013 at McMaster University.
Second place and a $100 Chapters gift certificate went to Kate Tan, a grade 10 students from Bishop Grandin.
Thank you to all contestants, judges and spectators for making the 6th Annual Calgary Brain Bee a success. We hope to see you again next year!
Kayla Baker hadn’t even heard of the enteric nervous system when Dr. Keith Sharkey, professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Deputy Director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, came to speak to her Neuroscience 201 class.
Attention Calgary area students! You are invited to participate in the 6th Annual Calgary Brain Bee, presented by the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary.
When: Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 4 pm Where: Health Sciences Centre, Room G 500 University of Calgary, Foothills Campus 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB
The symposium was a first, but organizers hope it won’t be the last of its kind.
Trainees at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) organized a high school neuroscience symposium during UCalgary’s first mental health awareness week earlier this month, tackling basic concepts of neuroscience and hands-on workshops for high school students. About 40 students from 20 different Calgary schools attended.
The unique symposium introduced five basic lectures and science-based activities aimed at igniting an interest in neuroscience at the post secondary level.
The HBI is pleased to host the tenth annual Margarete Wuensche Memorial Lecture: Neuroscience and Society on Friday, April 26, 2013. This year's guest speaker is 
The HBI was pleased to host the 6th Annual Calgary Brain Bee on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. After 14 rounds of intense competition, a winner was decided: congratulations to Andrew Kim!
