UNews - Ian Whishaw

Trailblazing ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientists shaped global brain health and education

caroline.zentner — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 22:28:29 +0000

Brainstorm, a documentary that chronicles how ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professors Drs. Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw revolutionized the understanding of the brain, will premiere at the Yates Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. After selling out the Yates theatre, organizers decided to show the film concurrently at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre. For more information and to sign up for seats to view the event from the Sterndale theatre, visit Brainstorm. Those not attending the premiere will be able to watch the film on TELUS TV in early 2025.

Brainstorm was directed by Dr. Jenna Bailey, adjunct assistant professor with the Department of History and Religion, co-produced by Bailey and Dr. Edgar Bermudez Contreras, an adjunct professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), and edited by Bryn Hewko, assistant professor of new media.

“I made this film to showcase the groundbreaking work of two bold neuroscientists whose discoveries have transformed our understanding of the brain and advanced treatments for brain disorders and diseases,” says Bailey. “Their innovative research, fearless exploration of the unknown, and dedication to mentoring generations of scientists are captivating stories that highlight the power of science in making a real impact.”

The 42-minute film delves into the history behind the establishment of the CCBN and its growth through the efforts of Drs. Bryan Kolb, Ian Wishaw, Robert Sutherland and Robbin Gibb. The research results produced by CCBN scientists have provided insight into Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes and early brain development, to name a few. As a result, prevention strategies for brain disorders and programs to improve brain health have been developed. Community programs have sprouted from their findings and have been key to launching such programs as Building Brains Together and the Early Years program through the Martin Family Initiative.

Brainstorm was produced with the support of TELUS STORYHIVE. Additional funding was generously provided by the Alberta Medical Association, Government of Alberta, Alberta Media Fund, CCBN, Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT) and the Historical Society of Alberta.

Watch the trailer.

About TELUS STORYHIVE

Since 2013, TELUS STORYHIVE has been able to support a community of thousands of local content creators across British Columbia and Alberta, providing over $66.9 million in funding and creating a safe space for storytellers to hone their skills and bring the projects they care about to life. Visit TELUS STORYHIVE for more information.

U of L neuroscientist earns election to the Royal Society of Canada

trevor.kenney — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:05:54 +0000

Acknowledging a lifelong career with exceptional contributions to the field of neuroscience, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Robert Sutherland, Board of Governors Research Chair, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).

Dr. Robert Sutherland's work revolutionized the understanding of how the hippocampus is involved in the storage of new memories.

“It’s absolutely thrilling and it’s really gratifying to know there are colleagues who have been working at the highest level in Canada who recognize our contributions and voted to elect me into fellowship,” says Sutherland. “It’s a tremendous honour and I think it’s also an acknowledgement the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is a mature research-intensive institution that can hold its own in many areas. It’s a great tribute to all the people who put in efforts to create a neuroscience program, and that includes undergraduate students.”

Sutherland began studying neuroscience before it was a recognized field and he has watched it grow over the years. In the 1970s when he was starting his post-secondary studies, neuroscience courses were typically found in psychology departments.

“It’s been very exciting to be with the area of neuroscience from its inception all the way to now,” he says. “It’s been fantastic, a really good ride.”

Following the completion of his PhD at Dalhousie ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Halifax, Sutherland joined the U of L as a post-doctoral fellow under Drs. Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw. His key focus was on developing better ways to measure memory in non-human animals. He devised methods that are now used by drug companies and laboratories around the world.

Wanting to expand his skill set and work with students at all levels, Sutherland then took a position at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of New Mexico. There, he was able to work with students from undergraduate to PhD levels and post-doctoral fellows. During that time, he developed a theory of long-term memory that impacted the field and began focusing on understanding the role of the hippocampus in long-term memory. While scientists generally thought the hippocampus was only briefly involved in the storage of new memories, Sutherland’s work has shown the hippocampus continues to be engaged during memory recall.

He returned to the U of L as a senior Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scientist when the CCBN building opened in 2001 and the U of L became home to the first Department of Neuroscience in Canada to offer degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels.

“I also morphed my research from purely normal aging to pathological aging and then to Alzheimer’s disease, bringing along the methods and theoretical perspectives I’d acquired over the years,” he says. “Now, in my lab, I’d say half of the work we’re doing is directly related to understanding Alzheimer’s type dementia.”

Sutherland’s election will be formally recognized at the Royal Society’s meeting at McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in November. Notably, he’ll become the fourth member of the Department of Neuroscience to receive the honour, along with Drs. Bruce McNaughton, Ian Whishaw and Bryan Kolb.

For more, see this profile.

Neuroscientists create novel assessment toolbox

trevor.kenney — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 20:25:13 +0000

Images of a mouse performing the string pulling task.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientists from the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, Drs. Majid Mohajerani, Ian Whishaw and Samsoon Inayat, together with current (Surjeet Singh) and past (Qandeel) graduate students and two undergraduate students (Arashk Ghasroddashti & Pramuka Egodage) created a new methodology for analyzing one of the most widely used and fundamental tasks in assessing cognitive and movement function, among other markers, in both animals and humans.

Dr. Majid Mohajerani

Their work was recently published in eLife, an online, open-source platform that publishes work of the highest standards and importance in all areas of biology and medicine.

The paper, A Matlab-based toolbox for characterizing behavior of rodents engaged in string-pulling, describes a state-of-the-art method for analyzing mouse string-pulling. In neuroscience, a toolbox is a computerized method that presents a student with a simple set of standard procedures for performing an analysis — in other words an app. Here, the researchers used advanced machine vision methods to automatically extract movement kinematics and whole-body movement.

The string-pulling task requires a subject to reel in a string using hand-over-hand movements in order to obtain a reward at the end of the string. The task has been given to dozens of different species of animals, including bumble bees, adult humans (who pull a rope), and in this case mice. The task simultaneously assesses body posture, skilled hand use by both hands, as well as inter-hand coordination. String pulling is used for purposes from physical exercise to the assessment of cognitive and motor function in neurological disease.

Dr. Ian Whishaw

The main drawback of the string-pulling task is in scoring the many concurrent movements that occur and, deriving a score for that movement and determining whether the behaviour is normal.

“Currently, most of the analysis is carried out with manual scoring of each frame of a video recording and is very tedious,” says Whishaw. “Automated analysis of string-pulling is a useful way for obtaining an objective assessment of movements, for identifying the contributions of different body parts to string advancement and is rapid.”

“The toolbox features a graphical user interface for video data analysis and follows the analysis framework with two major components, a global assessment of whole-body position and speed and fine kinematic assessment of movements of body, ears, nose and hands,” says Inayat.

Dr. Samsoon Inayat

“We demonstrate that with whole-body measures, we can detect overall differences in position and motion patterns of two different strains of mice,” adds Mohajerani. “In the future we will be able use the toolbox to assess humans who have neurological disorder that affects movement (e.g., Multiple sclerosis, Huntington disease, Parkinson's disease) or those recovering from nervous system injury (e.g., spinal cord injury, stroke, concussion), as well as to quickly assess whether a treatment is effective. In principle, the toolbox can be modified as an app for a smart phone, so that a test and its analysis can be done by individuals at home with minimum hardware and software setting.”

“We are overwhelmed with the request of pioneers in the field around the globe in using this tool in their labs. Now, we are looking for funding to add artificial intelligence tools to the current version of the toolbox to be used for different species (e.g., primates, humans) and establish this platform for use in a clinical setting,” says Mohajerani.

For more on the new toolbox, visit eLife to read the full paper.

Artificial intelligence can help diagnose and monitor patients with neurological disorders

caroline.zentner — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 18:09:12 +0000

For someone with a neurological disorder that impairs their movement, such as stroke or Parkinson’s disease, getting to the doctor’s office for a checkup can be difficult. What if a patient could just take a video clip of their movements with a smartphone app that interprets the video and sends the results to their doctor?

Drs. Hardeep Ryait, Ian Whishaw and Artur Luczak, together with their colleagues from the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, propose just that in their paper, Data-driven analyses of motor impairments in animal models of neurological disorders, published today in the prestigious journal, PLOS Biology.

These researchers, from left to right, Drs. Artur Luczak, Hardeep Ryait and Ian Whishaw, have shown deep learning can analyse complex behaviour.

First, they asked people with special training to score the quality of reaches for food made by rats that had suffered a stroke that impaired their movements. They then provided this information to a state-of-the-art deep neural network, a type of machine learning that simulates the brain’s neural network, so that it could learn to score the rats’ reaching movements with human-expert accuracy.

“When the network was subsequently given video from a new group of rats reaching for food, it scored their impairments with human accuracy,” says Ryait, a post-doctoral fellow in Luczak’s lab at that time.

The same program proved able to score other tests given to rats and mice, including tests of their ability to walk across a narrow beam and pull a string to obtain a food reward.

“Intelligent neural networks are being implemented to drive cars, interpret video surveillance and monitor and regulate traffic,” says Luczak. “This revolution in the use of neural networks has encouraged behavioural neuroscientists to use networks to evaluate movement disorders.”

The study shows the potential for neurological disorders to also be assessed automatically and behaviour quantified as part of a checkup or to assess the effects of a drug treatment.

“The delay in the assessments of neurological diseases is often a major roadblock in patient treatment,” says Whishaw. “This research indicates the network can provide a reliable score for neurological assessment and this breakthrough can assist in designing behavioural indexes to diagnose and monitor neurological disorders.”

Interestingly, the results also revealed the network can use a wider range of information than that included by trained humans in a behavioural scoring system. The network was able to identify features of a behaviour that are the most indicative of motor impairments, which, in turn, can improve monitoring of rehabilitation. This method would help standardize diagnosis and monitoring of neurological disorders and could be used by patients at home to monitor daily symptoms.

The application could be used with any disorder that affects movement and would significantly reduce the costs of doing clinical trials for new drugs for disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Beyond the health field, the application could be used in sports to help players perfect their golf swing or score a basket.

“Now, we are looking for funding to create a smartphone app,” says Luczak. “Here we have showed that it works in principle in a big computer cluster. It requires more work to adapt it to a smartphone but it is completely doable and we are interested in pursuing it.”

Skating therapy making significant difference for those living with Parkinson's disease

trevor.kenney — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 17:09:13 +0000

A ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge research group, led by Dr. Jon Doan (PhD '06), is taking a truly Canadian approach to developing symptom management strategies for people living with Parkinson’s disease – using skating and hockey stickhandling skills as forms of therapy.

Their preliminary results are encouraging enough to embark upon a host of parallel activities, including a biomechanically detailed comparison between skating and walking and the development of a skating exercise intervention tailored to people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Jon Doan uses skating, along with other hockey-related skills such as dynamic stickhandling tasks, as therapy for Parkinson's patients.

“When we tested people living with PD, we found that they skated safely and skillfully, at significantly greater velocity than their walking and with significantly bigger arm swing,” says Doan. “Most interestingly, when these patients did some walking locomotion after an episode of skating, they also walked significantly faster than they did before the skating session.”

Doan and his group then added more hockey-related activity to their study, having people complete dynamic stickhandling tasks. They then compared fine motor and gross motor trials of subjects from before and after the tasks to track possible improvement. The discovered improvements in upper extremity motor performance following a period of exercise imply that sport-derived exercise programs may provide neurotherapeutic benefit to PD patients. Their findings have been presented at community patient-oriented events and international conferences, and were recently featured amongst the Hot Topics at the 3rd World Parkinson Congress in Montreal.

The study involves on-campus collaboration with Drs. Ian Whishaw (neuroscience), Lesley Brown (kinesiology & physical education), Claudia Steinke (health sciences) and Natalie de Bruin Nutley (kinesiology & physical education), and has been supported by the Emmy Droog Research Award and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions. A number of undergraduate students have also contributed to the research work that began after Doan and his colleagues saw a television spot with actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

“He did an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, during which he spent some time ice skating with Dr. Oz. He talked about how freeing he found the skating activity, so we decided to begin a pilot study to see if ice skating was safe and feasible amongst people living with PD, and to see how skating locomotion differed from walking locomotion,” says Doan.

The group is currently seeking further funding to test the utility of skating as vigorous exercise neurotherapy amongst Canadians living with early, mild or moderate PD. Reebok has agreed in principle to be in-kind partners on a grant proposal, wherein they would customize some of their BOA recreational skates (by featuring a more manipulable closure system and an embedded motion tracking/movement and music feedback system) for study participants.Specifically, the study proposes a 16-week program combining prescribed skating exercises with personally selected music.

“We’re particularly interested in the possible psychosocial benefits of exercise activity in an arena, which is the social epicentre of many Canadian communities, particularly for those patients who live in rural areas,” says Doan. “If we can get PD patients to the rink for therapy, it puts them in the hub of their community with strong potential to surround them with active family and friends.”

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ celebrates medal winners at Spring 2015 Convocation

trevor.kenney — Thu, 28 May 2015 17:23:21 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge celebrates the achievements of its newest graduates at the 2015 Spring Convocation, May 28 and 29, in the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness gymnasium.

Distinguishing themselves among the many outstanding graduates are the U of L’s medal winners for 2015.

Distinguishing themselves among the many outstanding graduates are the U of L’s medal winners for 2015. They are as follows:

Gold Medal of the Governor General – Jenni Karl
Jenni Karl was born in Lethbridge and raised in the small farming community of Foremost, Alta. After high school she pursued her BSc in Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge where she joined Dr. Ian Whishaw’s laboratory to study motor behaviour in a rodent model of Huntington’s disease. After working for one year as a research assistant in Melbourne Australia, Jenni returned to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Dr. Whishaw’s laboratory to complete her MSc, and PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience. Her research is directed at understanding how the human brain generates the skilled hand and mouth movements that we use to grasp and manipulate objects. She is especially interested in how these movements and their underlying neural substrates arose through evolution, are established during development, and break down in various neurological disorders. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Western ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in London, Ontario.

Silver Medal of the Governor General – Douglas Turnbull

School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit, Master of Science – Mohammad Akbari
Thesis: claVision: Visual Automatic Piano Music Transcription
Mohammad Akbari was born and grew up in Abadeh, Fars, Iran. He began his Masters in Computer Science at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2013 under the supervision of Dr. Howard Cheng. Also a musician, Akbari did research in an interdisciplinary field in computer science and music, which resulted in developing an innovative system named claVision for visual piano music transcription. Winning the 2014 Canadian Microsoft Imagine Cup Innovation Competition, filing a patent application for claVision and incorporating claVision Inc. are other achievements during his master studies. He is currently a PhD student in Engineering Science at Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit, Master of Arts – Ann Holden
Thesis: Home and Native Land: How the Eeyouch in Quebec and the Sami in Norway Used Hydropower Developments to Democratize Legislation

School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit, Master of Fine Arts – Christine Clark
Thesis: Here | Now | Look | See: Information Visualizations of Recent Climate Records in Alberta
Christine Clark grew up in Cochrane, Alta. and came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2012 for the Masters of Fine Arts - New Media program. Her graduate research focused in the design of climate change data visualizations and design/science collaboration. Christine plans to continue collaborating with scientists, artists, research groups and non-profits as a graphic designer, data visualizer and new media strategist.

School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit, Master of Counseling – Bethany Mills
Project: Increasing Adolescent Self-Esteem: A Focus on Wellness and Process
Bethany Mills authored an original group counselling (psychoeducational) program to improve self-esteem in adolescents. Bethany developed a targeted and very implementable program and is noted as an emerging academic with potential publications on the horizon.

School of Graduate Studies Medal of Merit, Doctor of Philosophy – Corinne Sidler
Thesis: A Role for Epigenetics in Aging and the Age-Dependent Response to Ionizing Radiation
Corinne Sidler’s research compares the ability of animal and plant models to repair DNA damage. Her PhD work has resulted in five publications thus far in highly ranked journals, with additional publications in their final stages. Corinne received several distinguished awards and prizes during her tenure as a PhD student. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Biochemistry, in ETH Zürich Switzerland.

Faculty of Arts & Science Gold Medal (Arts) – Maxime Chambers-Dumont
Max Chambers-Dumont's academic performance as a philosophy major with a minor in political science has been outstanding. He has served as a research assistant to two of his philosophy professors on issues of sustainable energy and climate change – an experience which has informed his undergraduate honours thesis on distributive justice and climate change.

Faculty of Arts & Science Gold Medal (Science) – Samuel Woodman
Samuel Woodman completed an honours thesis in conjunction with a degree in environmental science. Since the age of 16, he has worked as a research assistant in four different labs at the U of L. His research interests include plant physiology and adaptation, behavioural toxicology, parasitology and scanning electron microscopy. Following graduation, Sam will be working towards publishing papers associated with his research as well as starting new research projects in advance of beginning his PhD studies abroad.

Faculty of Education Gold Medal - Julia Vandezande
Julia Vandezande completed a double major in biology and earth and atmospheric sciences from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta before deciding to go into teaching and enrolling at the U of L. She completed a Bachelor of Education majoring in Science Education, achieving the highest final academic standing in the Faculty of Education.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association William Aberhart Gold Medal in Education – Emily Hildenbrandt
Emily Hildenbrandt grew up in Calgary and completed her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. Emily decided to pursue an education degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and is commended for her amazing work ethic, strong classroom management skills and an ability to engage in thorough and thoughtful instructional planning. She is currently working at a middle school in Calgary.

Faculty of Fine Arts Gold Medal – Camille Rogers
Camille Rogers has been immersed in music since she was born. After discovering her love of performing while she was in high school at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, she went on to study voice at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. During her studies, Camille has had the privilege of singing leading roles in several operas, including Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, all with the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra. Camille has been accepted to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto Faculty of Music where she will pursue a Master of Music in Opera Performance and is the recipient of the prestigious province of Alberta Heritage Fund Arts Graduate Scholarship valued at $15,000.

Faculty of Health Sciences Gold Medal – Arron Kardolus-Wilson
Arron Kardolus-Wilson is a dedicated and engaged learner who is committed to community projects and marginalized populations. Arron's academic work consistently exceeded expectations, and integrated critical thinking with thoughtfulness and creativity.

Faculty of Management Gold Medal – Carmen Greeff
Carmen Greeff has been an exceptional student, earning a Bachelor of Management with a major in accounting. Due to her outstanding academic achievements she has won several academic scholarships. Along with a rigorous program of studies, Carmen has worked part-time, volunteered and is an accomplished pianist. Carmen is currently studying in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan Master of Professional Accounting program.

Challenge of neuroscience discovery keeps distinguished alumnus energized

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 21:23:13 +0000

Today, Dr. Terry Robinson (BASc ’72) is a leading neuroscience researcher. But in the late 1960s, he wasn’t sure what career to pursue.

Dr. Terry Robinson says the opportunity to do research as a U of L undergraduate student set his career path in motion.

After backpacking through Europe and spending yearlong stints at Wisconsin State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and Montreal's Concordia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the native of Huntsville, Ont. decided to head west. Robinson enrolled in third year at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, where he took the first physiological psychology course taught by renowned neuroscientist Dr. Ian Whishaw. Fascinated, he asked Whishaw how he could learn more about neuroscience and ended up working as a research assistant in the professor's lab. The experience turned out to be transformative.

“I love the continual challenge of neuroscience,” says Robinson, who is now the Elliot S. Valenstein Distinguished ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Michigan (U of M). “Each experiment leads to more and more questions and you never know what roads you're going to go down.”

Under Whishaw's supervision, Robinson conducted experiments that, among other things, tested the brain's visual discrimination abilities. He eventually went on to pursue a colloquium studies option in fourth year, enabling him to do research on a full-time basis. By the time Robinson finished his bachelor’s degree, his work had been published in a handful of peer-reviewed journals.

“The U of L set the stage for my whole career,” says Robinson. “The freedom to do research as an undergraduate student, and to have intensive research experiences, put me at a great advantage.”

Robinson went on to earn a master's degree and PhD in physiological psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan and Western ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, respectively. He completed postdoctoral training at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California at Irvine and then joined U of M in 1978. Over the years, he has served as Chair of the university's Biopsychology Program and as director of the Neuroscience Program.

Robinson has also been a prolific researcher. His 220-plus journal articles have been cited more than 32,000 times, making him one of the highest-cited scientists in the field of neuroscience. He has a long list of accolades to his name, including: the D.O. Hebb Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (2010), the Distinguished Scientist Award from the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society (2013) and the William James Fellow Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association for Psychological Science (2014). He was also named the U of L Alumnus of the Year in 1992.

Robinson's research examines the roots of addiction. Specifically, his lab focuses on the repeated use of psychostimulant drugs, such as amphetamine and cocaine, and the behaviours they produce and the long-term changes they cause in the brain. The findings could have tremendous implications for the treatment of addiction and the management of relapses.

Individuals have different reactions to the cues associated with addictive drugs. For instance, whereas one person may be resistant to potential temptations, such as drugs or drug paraphernalia, another person may relapse simply after seeing those same items. It all comes down to the various ways that the brain processes such cues.

With funding from the United States' National Institutes of Health, Robinson has identified “sign trackers” – animal subjects who are more likely to attribute motivational value to cues, develop impulse control disorders, such as addiction, and relapse when in the presence of cues. Knowing who is genetically predisposed to be a sign tracker may make it easier in the future to predict how an individual will behave in the presence of cues, and his or her risk of relapsing.

“Advancing our understanding of addiction will one day lead to better therapies,” says Robinson. “But from a purely scientific perspective, it's also important to understand how drugs change the brain's ability to process motivational cues.”

Structural changes in the brain have long been one of Robinson's interests. And since the 1970s, he has collaborated with U of L neuroscientists Drs. Robbin Gibb and Bryan Kolb to study how drugs affect the physical makeup of the mind. In addition, long after leaving Lethbridge, Robinson continued to maintain his connection with Whishaw; the pair has examined, for example, how function is maintained after loss of the neurotransmitter dopamine, in an animal model of Parkinson’s Disease.

Those research partnerships, says Robinson, are critical in neuroscience.

“The field is so multidisciplinary. It would be difficult for one person to be a master of all the required skills. Collaborations, therefore, bring together different types of expertise,” he says. “Plus, it's fun to work with old friends.”

Iwaniuk named a Tier II Canada Research Chair

trevor.kenney — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:20:06 +0000

Leading neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk, one of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s emerging young researchers, has been awarded a Tier II Canada Research Chair for a research program aiming to understand how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species.

One of the U of L's emerging young researchers, Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk's research program aims to understand how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species

The Canada Research Chairs program announced a total of 137 new and renewed research Chairs at 34 post-secondary institutions Thursday, committing $118 million to the program, with an additional $7.9 million in infrastructure support provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The Canada Research Chair program awards $500,000 over five years for Tier II awards.

“Since coming to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Dr. Iwaniuk has consistently advanced his research program, all the while providing exceptional training for undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows,” says Dr. Lesley Brown, the U of L’s Interim Vice-President (Research). “His program is an excellent example of the interdisciplinary work conducted on campus and encouraged between faculty members because he combines methods of diverse disciplines, specifically evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology and neuroscience.”

Over the past five years, Iwaniuk, now a Canada Research Chair in Comparative Neuroanatomy, has secured over $1.2 million in funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, CFI and matching funds.

Toronto born, Iwaniuk grew up in Edmonton, Alta. and completed his undergraduate studies at Monash ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Australia. He made his way back to Alberta to study under Drs. Sergio Pellis and Ian Whishaw at the U of L, completing a master’s degree in psychology, before earning his doctorate upon return to Monash. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and Smithsonian Institution before joining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a faculty member in 2008.

Through his research work, Iwaniuk has received international recognition as an expert in evolutionary neurobiology. At over 500 specimens representing 160 species, he boasts the largest comparative brain collection in Canada and the largest collection of bird brains in the world. One of his more recent studies found that a single brain region that processes visual motion is greatly enlarged in hummingbirds, thus allowing them to maintain a stationary position while feeding. This was the first evidence that hummingbird flight involves neural adaptation.

He says that despite decades of intense neuroscience research, how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species remains a mystery.

“My research aims to resolve this mystery by specifically examining how the brain evolves and why, using a series of cutting edge technologies and analytical methods,” says Iwaniuk. “The results of these studies will yield new information on how the brain evolves, what evolutionary changes in brain anatomy have occurred and why these changes are necessary, all of which are fundamental to understanding brain function in all animals, including humans.”

By better understanding how the brain evolves, Iwaniuk will be able to provide new insights into what makes the human brain unique and why.

Faculty members at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge consistently demonstrate that they are among the very best researchers in Canada. Iwaniuk’s appointment as a Canada Research Chair in Comparative Neuroanatomy brings to 33 the number of research Chair appointments at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. More information on U of L researchers is available on the U of L research website.

High school students get a jump on research at the U of L

caroline.zentner — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 15:52:40 +0000

Six local high school students have been learning their way around ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge research labs this summer through the Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) program.

Sally Xu uses a pipette in Dr. Ute Kothe's lab as part of her work in the HYRS program.

The HYRS program gives high school students who are entering Grade 12 an intensive six-week experience conducting scientific research in a university lab. Along with the U of L, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary participate in the program.

For Sally Xu, who will be entering her senior year at Winston Churchill High School this fall, the HYRS program came highly recommended by her older sister.

“I really like biology and chemistry and I thought it would be a great learning experience,” she says.

Xu has been working on a project that involves an enzyme called TrmA.

“It is seen in breast cancer and in future applications we want to see if there’s any effect of the TrmA enzyme in breast cancer and if we can find any connections,” says Xu.

“The HYRS program is really fabulous because it’s not only a research experience, the program really provides a lot of resources behind the scenes,” says Dr. Ute Kothe, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “They get the research experience from us but they also get overall science experience and see the facilities, talk to researchers and get career advice. From my perspective it’s just wonderful to have these young students in the lab because it really shows you that motivation is everything.”

The students also become ambassadors for the program and help demystify the work that’s being done in research labs.

The HYRS program gave Tiffany Dang, another student entering Grade 12 at Winston Churchill High School, the chance to get back into the lab after being part of the Lethbridge high school iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team.

“I love the HYRS program because it allows me to get such great lab experience and I’m with a wonderful group of people. It’s just a great environment to be in,” says Dang.

Dang explains her project in this video, Sixty Second Science, by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.

She’s working in Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden’s lab in the chemistry and biochemistry department. Her project involves testing a group of enzymes called GTPases. These enzymes regulate many cell processes and Dang wants to see how they affect cell fitness in stress conditions.

“We have participated in HYRS for at least five years. It’s a great opportunity to get lab experience in a real lab setting,” says Wieden. “We have had students significantly contributing to the research activity.”

Another four HYRS students are getting experience in neuroscience labs. Emily Milder (Catholic Central High School) is working in Dr. Ian Whishaw’s lab, Shannon Healy (Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) is working in Dr. Robert Sutherland’s lab, Lindsay Amatto (Catholic Central High School) is working in Dr. Robbin Gibb’s lab and Nathaniel Bly (Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) is getting experience in Dr. Bryan Kolb’s lab.

The students will be illustrating their work over the summer at an open house and poster presentation on Friday, Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. in Markin Hall.

The HYRS program is funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, with additional funding from the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Students must have at least an 85 per cent average in biology 20 and mathematics 20, and 85 per cent in one additional science. Of the 211 students who applied, 50 were selected to participate. In addition to hands-on research in the lab, the students attend guest lectures and professional development sessions as part of the HYRS program.

Graduate students honoured with research awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:34:27 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge celebrated the achievements of 21 graduate students last night at the 2012 Graduate Student Research Awards reception.

"These graduate students are exemplars of academic achievement," says Dr. Robert Wood, dean of the School of Graduate Studies. "The exciting academic work that they do is advancing the frontiers of knowledge and creativity, and it cultivates and builds an essential foundation for our growing reputation as a comprehensive university. Indeed, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community is immensely proud of these accomplished graduate student scholars."

Following is a list of the 2012 award winners.

Alberta Innovates Health Solutions
Erin Zelinski
(Robert Sutherland)
Neuroscience

Corinne Sidler
(Olga Kovalchuk)
Biological Sciences

Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures
Aaron Mullin
(Craig Coburn)
Geography

Alberta Cancer Foundation
Lidiya Luzhna
(Olga Kovalchuk)
Biological Sciences

Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (NSERC)
Patrick Barks
(Robert Laird)
Biological Sciences

Andrew Hudson
(Camron Goater & Tony Russell)
Biological Sciences

Jenni Karl
(Ian Whishaw)
Neuroscience

Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship Master (NSERC)
Kathryn Kuchapski
(Joseph Rasmussen)
Biological Sciences

Kirsten Rosler
(Hans-Joachim Wieden)
Chemistry and Biochemistry

Aaron Mullin
(Craig Coburn)
Geography

Natalie Freeman
(Louise Barrett & Peter Henzi)
Psychology

Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship Master's (SSHRC)
Gillian Ayers
(Claudia Malacrida)
Sociology

Leslie Bush
(Robbin Derry)
Management

Stacey Leavitt
(Michelle Helstein & Sean Brayton)
Kinesiology & Physical Education

Daniel Rutledge
(Sameer Deshpande)
Management

Rachel Shields
(Jason Laurendeau)
Sociology

Mark Bruce
(Dawn McBride)
Education

School of Graduate Studies Fellowship
Darcy Best
(Hadi Kharaghani)
Mathmatics & Computer Science

Health Quality Council of Alberta
Shannon Vandenberg
(Judith Kulig)
Health Sciences

endMS
Brietta Gerrard
(Artur Luczak)
Neuroscience

Alberta Gambling Research Institute
Scott Oberg
(Matthew Tata)
Neuroscience

UNews - Ian Whishaw

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