Meet the Team
We have teams in Calgary and Edmonton that are able to see patients for the MRgFUS program.
Investigators
Dr Zelma Kiss
Neurosurgeon
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Kiss is a functional and stereotactic neurosurgeon treating movement disorders, psychiatric conditions, epilepsy and pain, including trigeminal neuralgia and headache. She directs the Neuromodulation Program for Alberta Health Services Calgary, and is co-director of the MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Program
Dr Davide Martino
Movement Disorder Neurologist
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Martino is a neurologist and the director of the Movement Disorders Program at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary.
Dr Beverly Adams
Psychiatrist
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Adams is Senior Associate Dean, Education, in the Cumming School of Medicine. She is an Associate Professor and was the Head of the Department of Psychiatry from 2012 to 2018. Her research interests are in OCD and brain imaging.
Dr Bruce Pike
Head of Image Science Division
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Pike is a Professor of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences in the Cumming School of Medicine and a scientist at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. He is also the Campus Alberta Innovates Program (CAIP) Chair in Healthy Brain Aging and Head of the Image Science Division of the Department of Radiology. He is Senior Editor of the journal Imaging Neuroscience, a Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and serves on advisory boards for many international programs and organizations.
Dr Samuel Pichardo
PhD in Imaging and Systems
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Pichardo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology and Clinical Neurosciences. His research concentrates on Focused Ultrasound (FUS) as a non-invasive tool for treating neurological diseases and development of new technique to improve MRI for image-guided interventions.
Dr Laura Curiel
PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Electronic Systems
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Curiel is an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Centre for Bioengineering Research and Education. Her research interests include biomedical device design for research and therapeutic purposes, in particular on high intensity focused ultrasound and its imaging guidance.
Dr Fang Ba
Movement Disorder Neurologist
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Dr Ba is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurology, University of Alberta and the education coordinator for movement disorders program/rotations. She received her MD from University of Calgary in 2007 and her PhD degree in Physiology/Neuroscience from University of Alberta. She completed her residency and CIHR fellowship in Movement Disorders at the University of Alberta and pursued further training in deep brain stimulation (DBS) at the University of Florida.
Dr Tejas Sankar
Neurosurgeon
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Dr Sankar is a Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgeon, Associate Professor and Research Director in the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Alberta. He is the Surgical Lead for the DBS program and his clinical interests include neuromodulation for movement disorders, severe psychiatric illness, and chronic pain. His Functional Neurosurgery Research Laboratory focuses on the use of multimodal imaging and neurophysiological techniques in order to study the impact of brain stimulation on plasticity in the nervous system.
Dr Fady Girgis
Neurosurgeon
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Girgis is a neurosurgeon subspecializing in deep brain stimulation, epilepsy, complex facial pain, brain tumors, and peripheral nerve surgery. As a functional neurosurgeon, he has extensive experience and expertise in neuromodulation, brain mapping, and awake brain surgery. Additionally, he is an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary teaching in the medical school as well as in the residency training programs.
Dr Camila Aquino
Movement Disorder Neurologist
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Aquino is a neurologist with fellowship training in Movement Disorders and Deep Brain Stimulation. She is an Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. Her research interests include neuromodulation strategies and clinical trials in Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.
Dr Darren Clark
PhD in Neuroscience
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Clark is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Radiology. She is a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education and the Movement Disorders Brain and Mental Health Team. Her research interests are in brain imaging and neuromodulation for movement disorders and psychiatric conditions, as well as biomarkers potentially predictive of treatment outcomes.
Staff
Paul Romo
MRI Technologist
Tamara Trainor
MRI Technologist
Marisol Ardila Nino
Research Nurse Coordinator
Courtney Collins
Research Assistant
Dr Conrad Rockel
Research Associate
Siyun Li
Research Associate
Rishi Raghuram
Research Associate
Alan Coreas
Research Assistant
Trainees
Dr Sagid Delgado
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Yuchen He
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Moon Jeong
PhD Candidate in Neuroscience
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Nathan Meulenbroek
MSc Student in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Rasha Noureddine
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Carly Pellow
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Medical Biophysics
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Graham Seasons
Research Assistant
MSc in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Shirshak Shrestha
PhD Student in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Dr Catherine Swytink-Binnema
PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Ali K Zadeh
PhD Candidate in Neuroscience
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Alumni
Dr Pichardo's Lab
Andrew Drainville, PhD in Biotechnology
Maryam Siddiqui, MSc in Biomedical Engineering
Bingbing Cheng, PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Jake Hesselink, MSc Student in Biomedical Engineering
Jak Loree-Spacek, MSc Student in Biomedical Engineering
Dr Pike's Lab
Hannah Cooke, Biomedical Engineering Intern
Dr Ethan MacDonald, Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Calgary
Dr Erin Mazerolle, Assistant Professor at St. Francis Xavier University
Sarah Scott, Research Assistant/Medical Student at University of Calgary
Graham Seasons, Co op Student in Electrical Engineering
Dr Bryce Geeraert, Postdoctoral Researcher
Jacinta Specht, MSc Neuroscience
Matthew Bouchard, MSc Student in Biomedical Engineering