Members

Dr. Sandra Black is an internationally renowned cognitive and stroke neurologist who holds the inaugural Brill Chair in Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her 25-year research career has bridged dementia and stroke, exploiting advanced neuroimaging techniques for detection, differential diagnosis, monitoring outcomes and studying brain-behaviour relationships, with a recent focus on interactions of aging, small vessel disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. She has received awards for outstanding mentorship of junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students.

A leading clinical trialist in dementia, she is the Executive Director of the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA), a collaborative network of five memory programs at the University of Toronto. She is the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program Director at the Sunnybrook Research Institute . She is a key founder of the Heart & Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery , a multi-site, Canada-wide, public-private, non-profit research corporation focused on maximizing stroke recovery, including covert stroke and vascular cognitive impairment.

Dr. Black is on the steering committees and provides core lab services to the Canadian Atherosclerosis Imaging Network (CAIN) and the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) through her imaging analysis lab, BrainLab . She is a Theme 2 Co-Lead and executive committee member of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) . She serves on the Executive Committee of Ontario Neurodegeneration Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) of the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) , co-leads the Mild Cognitive Impairment / Alzheimer’s disease cohort, and her lab is the neuroimaging core for structural imaging analysis in ONDRI. She is a member on the Executive and Data Publication Committees of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and is Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research Treatment (ISTAART) , a community of scholars within the Alzheimer Association US. She is also on the Scientific Program Committee of the International Society of Vascular Cognitive and Behavioural Disorders (VASCOG) .

Dr. Black has 400 peer-reviewed publications (Google scholar Index 88, >26,000 citations), and has contributed to a number of published international consensus criteria (e.g. Frontotemporal Degeneration, Primary Progressive Aphasia, Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Small Vessel Disease). She was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2011 and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2012. In 2015, she was appointed Officer in the Order of Canada and also received the Dean’s Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.

Luca joins the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance after having been the Program Manager for the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPTP) at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.  CPTP is Canada’s largest population health cohort, which has recruited over 300,000 Canadians from five regional cohorts to study how lifestyle, environment, and several other factors contribute to the risk of developing cancer and chronic disease.  In this role, he provided operational support to the regional cohorts, and worked to raise the profile of CPTP among the scientific community.  Previously he was a Program Lead in Informatics and Analytics at the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI), where he managed the privacy and data governance initiatives for Brain-CODE, OBI’s informatics platform.  Luca was named an Ambassador of the Privacy by Design program developed by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in 2014.  He received his PhD in biophysics and molecular pharmacology from the Leslie L. Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.

Dr Ljubica Zotovic obtained her degree in medicine from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, in 2010. She is the Project Manager for the SARTAN-AD Trial and the BEAM Study.

Kim holds an Honours BSc from the University of Toronto and a Specialized Honours BA from York University with a Certificate in Law. Prior to her position with the TDRA, Kim worked in the Hospitality industry for over 10 years. She managed and directed multi-million dollar businesses, large-scale renovations, Quality Assurance Inspections, development of Operations Manuals, protocol training and managing teams of 30+ people. Additionally, she has taught sales, business fundamentals and marketing to private clients.

Dr. Fischer is a staff Geriatric Psychiatrist at St. Michael’s Hospital, co-director of Neurodegenerative Research and Adjunct Scientist, Neurosciences Research Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Keenan Research Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital. She is also director of the St. Michael’s Hospital Memory Disorders Clinic and the St. Michael’s Hospital representative on the TDRA Harmonization subgroup where she co-leads the clinical core. Dr. Fischer has an academic appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry. She is also the clinical care coordinator for the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry. Dr. Fischer’s major research interests include the study of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia (specifically psychosis), cognitive reserve, and health systems issues.

Dr. Freedman is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Behavioural Neurology Section, Division of Neurology, at the University of Toronto. He is the Head of the Division of Neurology, Executive Medical Director of the Centre for Memory and Neurotherapeutics. Dr. Freedman’s research has focussed on understanding the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and fronto-temporal dementia.

Dr. Herrmann is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is a Staff Psychiatrist and Head of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is co-director of the Clinical Neuropharmacology Laboratory at Sunnybrook and an Associate Scientist in the Brain Sciences Research Program. The focus of his research is the pharmacological management of cognitive dysfunction and the behavioural and psychological symptoms associated with dementia.

Ron Keren is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He is the Medical Director for the Geriatric Rehabilitation Program at Toronto Rehab, and the Co-Director of the University Health Network Memory Clinic. Dr. Keren is the President of the Canadian Colloquium on Dementia. He has extensive experience as a primary and co-investigator in Alzheimer clinical drug trials. Dr. Keren has an interest in end-of-life issues for patients with advanced dementia.

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar is Clinician Scientist, Staff Psychiatrist and Medical Head of Geriatric Inpatient Services at CAMH. He is also Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on developing novel biomarkers and treatment interventions for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. He is studying novel markers of neuroplasticity and cognition using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). He has been awarded a NARSAD Young Investigator Award by the Brain and Behavior Foundation to carry out research using repetitive TMS (rTMS) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. He is also studying mechanisms and treatment interventions for neuropsychiatric symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. He is the recipient of several local and international honours and awards.

Dr. Lanctôt is a Senior Scientist in the Brain Sciences Research Program in the Sunnybrook Research Institute. She is Head of Neuropsychopharmacology and Senior Scientist in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is a full Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology/Toxicology at the University of Toronto. The focus of her research is optimizing pharmacotherapy of cognitive dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with dementia through biomarker identification and clinical trials.

Dr. Lang Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto (U.of.T), holds the Jack Clark Chair for Parkinson’s disease (PD) Research at U. of. T and the Lily Safra Chair in Movement Disorders at the University Health Network. He is also the Director of the Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Clinic and the Edmond J. Safra Program in PD at The Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Lang’s research focuses on PD, movement disorders, neuropharmacology, neuroimaging and functional surgery for movement disorders.

Dr. Larry Leach is a psychologist and researcher at the Glendon centre for cognitive health; He received his PhD in psychology from Arizona State University. He is a course director at Glendon College, York University. Dr. Leach’s primary research interests are assessment of dementia, attention and perceptual disorders, recovery of function, and remediation of attention and memory disorders.

Dr. Masellis has training in four main research areas: Cognitive and Movement Disorders Neurology, Pharmacology, Genomics and Neuroimaging. His current research focus is on the characterization of the genetics, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and pathological features of the atypical neurodegenerative dementias. He is also studying the pharmacogenomics of cholinesterase inhibitors in Parkinson’s disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies and anti-Parkinsonian medications in Parkinson’s disease. He has established an ‘OMICS’ research platform using longitudinal clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging data to define ‘biomarkers’ of drug responses and of neurodegenerative disease. Other research interests include discovery of genomic and epigenomic factors contributing to the complex etiology of neurodegenerative disease including Alzheimer’s, Lewy body disease as well as the fronto-temporal dementia spectrum disorders. He is actively involved in clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents in Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy body disease. Dr. Masellis is a clinician-scientist and assistant professor within the Division of Neurology. Clinically, he is a neurologist with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of early-onset dementias, and dementias associated with movement disorders.

Mary Pat McAndrews is a cognitive neuroscientist and clinical neuropsychologist at the Toronto Western Hospital and Research Institute, University Health Network and in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on memory networks, using functional neuroimaging, studies of patients with medial temporal lobe damage, and brain stimulation techniques to understand how these networks are organized and their plasticity as a function of focal damage or therapies. An essential goal is translating findings from cognitive neuroscience research into clinical practice.

Dr. Randy McIntosh is the Vice-President, Research and the Director of Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest. He is also the Reva James Leeds Chair in Neuroscience and Research Leadership. Dr. McIntosh is leading a multi-million dollar project with an international team of scientists to build the world’s first, functional virtual brain. The massive project – akin to decoding the human genome – has the potential to revolutionize how clinicians assess and treat various brain disorders, including cognitive impairment caused by stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. He is also a world-renowned expert in the use of neuro-imaging methods (fMRI, PET, EEG and MEG) and computational modeling to understand how brain networks change with aging and how the brain recovers from damage or disease. Dr. McIntosh has been ranked by The Globe and Mail as one of the top scientists in Canada’s largest city poised to break new ground in their field of research.

Dr. Roger McIntyre is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Head of the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit at the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada. Dr. McIntyre is also Executive Director of the Brain and Cognition Discovery Foundation in Toronto, Canada.Dr. McIntyre was named by Thomson Reuters in 2014 and 2015, as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds”. This distinction is given by publishing the largest number of articles that rank among those most frequently cited by researchers globally in 21 broad fields of science and social science during the previous decade.

Dr. McIntyre is involved in multiple research endeavours which primarily aim to characterize the association between mood disorders, notably cognitive function and medical comorbidity. His works broadly aims to characterize the underlying causes of cognitive impairment in individuals with mood disorders and their impact on workplace functioning. This body of work has provided a platform for identifying novel molecular targets to treat and prevent mood disorders and accompanying cognitive impairment.

Dr. McIntyre is extensively involved in medical education. He is a highly sought-after speaker at both national and international meetings. He has received several teaching awards from the University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry and has been a recipient of the joint Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) / Council of Psychiatric Continuing Education Award for the Most Outstanding Continuing Education Activity in Psychiatry in Canada.

Dr. McIntyre is a contributor to the Florida Medicaid Drug Therapy Management Program for Behavioral Health Guidelines for the treatment of adults with Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. Dr. McIntyre is also the co-chair of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Task Force on the Treatment of Comorbidity in Adults with Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder and as well a contributor to the CANMAT guidelines for the treatment of Depressive Disorders and Bipolar Disorders. Dr. McIntyre has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and has edited and/or co-edited several textbooks on mood disorders.

Dr. McIntyre completed his medical degree at Dalhousie University. He received his Psychiatry residency training and Fellowship in Psychiatric Pharmacology at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Benoit H. Mulsant, MD, MS, FRCPC, DFAPA, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, and a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto.

Dr. Mulsant has authored and co-authored more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles and 50 book chapters and invited publications. Over the past 25 years, he has been an investigator on grants with external funding totaling more than $140M in direct costs (including more than $75M as principal investigator or team leader) funded, among others, by Brain Canada, the Canada Institutes for Health Research, and the US National Institute of Health. The over-arching goal of his research work has been to improve the treatment of older persons with severe mental disorders. He has a small clinical practice focused on older patients with mood disorders and cognitive disorders (dementia). He has been listed in Best Doctors in America and Best Doctors in Canada.

Dr. Mulsant earned his MD from the School of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec; he completed his internship in internal medicine and neurology at Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, and Montreal Neurological Hospital, and his residency in psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; a Diplomate in Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with added qualifications in Geriatric Psychiatry; and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Munoz is a Neuropathologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and a Professor at the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. He is also the Head of the Division of Pathology at St. Michael’s Hospital. Dr. Munoz’ s research is focused on neuropathology, particularly the mechanisms of development and progression of degenerative diseases of the brain, including Alzheimer’s Disease, the non-Alzheimer Dementias, Movement Disorders, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Specific topics have included the fronto-temporal dementias, the effects of anti-inflammatory drugs, education, and infarcts on Dementia, and the link between protein expression in the gut and development of Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Naglie is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist. He is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto and is the Hunt Family Chair in Geriatric Medicine. He is the Interim Vice-President of Medical Services and the Chief of the Department of Medicine at Baycrest Health Sciences and is a Scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University health Network. His research focuses on quality of life and driving issues in persons with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Dr. Pollock is a professor of Psychiatry & Pharmacology and the Director of Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is the Vice President of Research and the Director of Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Pollock is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focus is on neurochemical selectivity, pharmacometrics and effects of conventional or newly derived agents for the treatment of depression and the behavioral disturbances of dementia.

Dr. Tarek Rajji is Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry and a Clinician-Scientist in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He is a Canada Research Chair in Neurostimulation for Cognitive Disorders, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Rajji focuses on restoring brain function in older patients with severe mental illness and Alzheimer’s disease. Towards this goal, he combines brain stimulation, cognitive, functional and pharmacological methods to study and enhance neuroplasticity across the lifespan with a special focus on late life.

Dr. Schweizer is the Director of Neuroscience Research Program and a Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. He is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine (Neurosurgery) and in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Schweizer has an interest in Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosurgery. His research is focused on understanding the neural bases for human cognitive and real-world functioning using experimental cognitive paradigms, neuroimaging and neuropsychology.

Dr. Stokes is a Psychologist in the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health Program at Baycrest. She offers outpatient clinical neuropsychology services in the Ross Memory Clinic, assisting with differential diagnosis of and intervention for cognitive disorders in older adults. She is also is a supervisor in the Neuropsychological Assessment rotation of the Psychology Internship Training Program and supervises other student trainees. Dr. Stokes research interests surround neuropsychological profiles characterizing various psychiatric and neurological disorders, as well as the role of hormones in cognitive aging.

Dr. Strother studied Physics and Mathematics at Auckland University, New Zealand, and received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal in 1986, where he developed early Positron Emission Tomography (PET) techniques at the Montreal Neurological Institute. After a fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in 1989 he joined the VA Medical Center, Minneapolis as senior PET Physicist, and Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Minnesota where he became Professor of Radiology in 2002. In 2004 he moved to Toronto as a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute (RRI), Baycrest where he is Associate Site Leader in the multi-institutional Centre for Stroke Recovery (CSR), and Professor of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. His research interests include neuroinformatics with a focus on big-data data bases and optimization of neuroimaging pipelines using statistical and machine learning techniques for research and clinical applications. Much of his current effort is focused on leading the group building the neuroimaging informatics portion of the BrainCODE data repository for the Ontario Brain Institute.

Dr. Tang-Wai is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, a Staff Neurologist at both the University Health Network (UHN) and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Director of Clinical Services (Neurology) at UHN and Co-Director of the UHN Memory Clinic. He is the chair for the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA) clinical harmonization working group. His research focuses on the atypical presentations of Alzheimer’s disease, progressive aphasias in dementia and DBS for Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Tartaglia is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Staff Neurologist at the University Health Network. She is a Clinician-Investigator at the Tanz Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Her clinical and research interests lie in neurodegenerative diseases with a focus on fronto-temporal dementia. She uses imaging, pathology and genetics to better understand the pathological substrates that cause cognitive, behavioral and motoric dysfunction. The ultimate goal of her research program is to provide early, pathology-specific treatments to her patients. An emerging interest of Dr. Tartaglia is the role of head trauma (concussion) in dementia, both in athletes and in members of the general population. Her interest and growing expertise in this area is being developed in the Canadian Sports Concussion Project.

Aristotle Voineskos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is also a Clinician-Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. His work uses a lifespan approach, and focuses on using sophisticated neuroimaging measures of brain mapping in conjunction with genetic and peripheral measures to discover early identification biomarkers of risk for neuropsychiatric disorders.