Bryce Geeraert
Postdoctoral Fellow (Alumnus)
Contact information
Biography
About me
I’m a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Adam Kirton and Dr. Bruce Pike ( http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/~bruce/). I’m from Saskatoon but completed both my bachelor’s degree in Psychology and PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary.
My research
I have experience researching epilepsy and healthy brain development. My doctoral research applied advanced MRI methods to investigate the development of white matter microstructure in healthy kids, and link this development to reading skill. During my postdoctoral fellowship, I am extending my background in MRI & neuroscience into neuromodulation and perinatal stroke research. I am learning to apply transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to investigate the characteristics of the motor cortex in healthy adolescents, and investigating the characteristics of white matter in perinatal stroke.
BRAIN CREATE Program aspirations
The BRAIN CREATE program prioritizes innovation and development of new technologies, along with collaboration with industry. I hope that through involvement in the BRAIN CREATE program, I am able to interface with companies responsible for production of focused ultrasound transducers, both enhancing my research and providing opportunities for an industrial placement.
Commercialization
Low-intensity focused ultrasound is a new and promising technique for neuromodulation which can provide high special specificity and can target brain regions below the cortical surface. Furthermore, TMS has already been proven to be a very effective tool to aid in motor interventions for kids with perinatal stroke. By conducting research in this new field and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this technique for research, I am well positioned to contribute to the development of focused ultrasound transducers, and the foundational research that will establish low-intensity focused ultrasound as an effective tool for neurological interventions.
Awards
NSERC BRAIN CREATE Postdoctoral Fellowship
T. Chen Fong Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical Imaging Science