Section of Translational Neuroscience

THE SECTION OF TRANSLATIONAL NEUROSCIENCES welcomes Dr. Gerald Zamponi, Senior Associate Dean of Research, who switched into our department in order to increase his opportunities for translational neuroscience. Overall, division members are performing highly in the basic neurosciences, and several have intentions of translational medicine or are actively doing so.

Dr. Hedwich Kuipers is an Assistant Professor of neuroimmunology and has been a member of the HBI MS NeuroTeam since April 2018, holding a membership at the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases as well. She currently is the chair of the HBI’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Dr. Kuipers’s research is aimed at understanding the interaction between immune cells entering the CNS and its resident cells. Her main focus is on astrocytes, whose role in neuroinflammation is often overlooked. She has shown before that these cells, which are highly abundant in the brain, can release factors that help T lymphocytes infiltrate into CNS tissue. She currently investigates how astrocyte functions change over the course of (experimental) MS pathogenesis, and how these changes affect their interaction with T cells, using molecular and cell biology approaches, as well as animal models. In addition, she studies how astrocytes are affected by the oxygen levels they encounter, which can vary in different disease states. Dr. Kuipers’s research is supported by MS Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the HBI. 

Dr. Bin Hu is endowed Professor in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) research whose scholarly work has been focused on digital health, artificial intelligence and wearable technology.  In the evolving landscape of health research, the intersection of artificial intelligence and education is redefining our approach towards research and student training, not the least of which is addressing the challenges in terms of Opportunity, Accessibility, and EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion). During 2022-2023, Professor Hu’s team launched the Open Digital Health (OpenDH) program with the aim of implementing AI and a large language model as a foundational platform for advancing translational neuroscience research and training. Trainees of OpenDH form small research groups on specific research topics. They are given unlimited access to multiple lines of AI tools intended to facilitate the entire process of research training from the proposal conceptualization to data collection to publication. Given the nature of AI-based educational platform, OpenDH substantially diminishes the barriers of access to research and education and reduces the unintended biases embedded in traditional research training environments. The OpenDH model is being implemented in several other Canadian universities and has attracted, thus far, over 300 participants.

Dr. Minh Dang Nguyen successfully transitioned from Associate to full Professor during this reporting period. He is studying brain-body interactions in the context of neurodegenerative disorders. He is a co-recipient with Dr. Gerald Pfeffer of a Rose Family philanthropic award for the study of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis and sexual dimorphism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His other research program focuses on cerebrovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, with fundings from the Krembil Foundation and Alzheimer Association USA. Dr. Nguyen is finishing a three year-term as co-Director of the Graduate Program of Neuroscience.

Dr. Shalina Ousman is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Cell Biology & Anatomy. She is also a member of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Spinal Cord/Nerve Injury and Pain (SCNIP) Brain and Mental Health Teams at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI). She serves as Director of HBI’s International Strategy and co-Leads the SCNIP Neuroteam. Dr. Ousman’s research is focused on investigating endogenous protective mechanisms in MS and peripheral nerve regeneration. She is identifying the mechanisms that contribute to progression of the disease such as the gut microbiome and autophagy. Her peripheral nerve injury studies are focused on understanding why Schwann cells and macrophages become dysfunctional in the injured, aging peripheral nervous system. Her research is currently funded by CIHR and MS Canada. In terms of highlights for the last academic cycle, Dr. Ousman served as Scientific Officer for the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellowships Committee, was Course coordinator and Lecturer for Neuroimmunology (MDSC 755 Lab/Lec 20/03), served as a speaker for the Evren Neurological Association and the 2022 Jayman BUILT MS Walk, and she is a member of MS Canada’s Medical Advisory Council. 

Dr. David Park is Professor and Director of HBI. His research program focuses on the mechanism of neural injury in stroke and Parkinson’s disease (PD). He leads the Brain and Mental Health Strategy for the University of Calgary and he chairs Campus Alberta Neuroscience, which knits together the three major sites of brain research in Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge). His current interests seek to understand how genes associated with PD function or dysfunction to lead to disease progression. In this regard, he has recently shown that the LRRK2 gene may play a critical role in immune function and regulation, and he is currently screening drugs for potential candidates for human trials. His lab is also interested in mechanisms of Pink1 function in Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Wee Yong is a Professor who co-directs the MS Brain and Mental Health Team at the HBI. He also directs the Alberta MS Network and the Global Schools of Neuroimmunology for the International Society of Neuroimmunology. These activities speak to Dr. Yong’s passion for mentoring the next generation. Seven of Dr. Yong’s trainees have taken up Assistant Professorships worldwide in the past seven years. Dr. Yong’s research interests have been guided by MS, intracerebral hemorrhage and glioblastoma, and his findings have been translated into ongoing clinical trials in glioblastoma and MS. During this reporting period, Dr. Yong published close to 30 manuscripts, and his work was cited over 2,000 times. He received the inaugural Scientist Award of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. Dr. Yong’s research activities are supported by CIHR (Foundation grant), MS Canada, and the USA Department of Defense. He is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. 

Dr. Gerald Zamponi is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research. His lab’s research interest has focused on the roles of ion channels in controlling the electrical activities of neurons and how they are compromised in neurological disorders such as chronic pain. His work to date has resulted in >360 career publications that have been cited over 27,500 times, and he has given over 280 invited lectures across the globe. Dr. Zamponi has graduated 20 students and supervised 26 PDFs, with seventeen of his former trainees now holding academic appointments. These contributions were recognized with a Killam Award for Outstanding Graduate Supervision.  Dr. Zamponi co-founded two spinoff companies, including University of Calgary spinoff Zymedyne Therapeutics, which focuses on the development of new pain therapeutics.  
He continues to hold a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors (USA).