Official site of the Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function

Congratulations to lab member Juliet Rowe who not only made the finals in Dalhousie’s 3MT competition, but came in 2nd! Juliet was one of 11 finalists to compete, and her 3MT ‘Does size really matter’ was a hit with the judges!

Congratulations to lab member David Bowman on the successful defense of his MSc work. David explored whether observing a learning model was more effective for learning a complex motor skill compared to observing a skilled model. While the results were not conclusive in supporting a learning model, his work was a great step to understanding at what stage in skill acquisition a learning model may be more effective than a skilled model. Congrats on the successful defense David!

The lab is seeking a post doctoral fellow (PDF) to join a multidisciplinary team that is part of an academic-industry partnership. The PDF would lead efforts in developing machine learning methods for analyzing data related to post-stroke motor recovery. The position is funded and available immediately. Remote work is supported. A full description of the position, including required skills can be found here.

Congratulations to LBRF member Stephanie Shewchuk who successfully defended her MSc work today. With Stephanie’s lab-based work examining the effect of aerobic exercise on cognitive function shelved owing to the pandemic, she pivoted to complete a scoping review that looked at the effect of high intensity aerobic exercise on executive function. Steph’s findings indicate that there is wide variability in the literature from a methodological perspective, and little evidence to suggest there is an effect. Kudos to you Stephanie on the work and a great defense!

Congratulations to our first PhD grad Dr. Sarah Kraeutner who officially started a faculty position at UBCO July 1. Sarah joins UBCO following her PhD in the LBRF and a post-doctoral fellowship in the Brain & Behaviour Lab with Dr. Lara Boyd at UBC (Vancouver). Check out Sarah’s new website http://www.thenimbl.com to find out more about her research or to join her for graduate training.

Congratulations to MSc student Cassidy Klein who received an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M). This scholarship will provide funding for Cassidy during her MSc that is examining the influence of lactate on brain excitability during moderate intensity aerobic exercise. Congratulations on this success Cassidy – you earned it!

Congratulations to newest lab alumni Dr. Chris Friesen, who successfully defended his PhD work Friday March 19th, 2021. Dr. Friesen’s research focused on the development and validation of a portable function near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) device to aid in recovery of movement lost to neurological disorders such as stroke. Dr. Friesen’s research is part of the R&D initiatives of Axem Neurotechnology (www.axemneuro.com), a company co-founded by Dr. Friesen (alongside Tony Ingram and Mike Lawrence) during his graduate studies. Special thanks to committee members and the external examiner for a thorough and thought-provoking line of questioning. Congratulations Dr. Friesen!

In response to a request for information about setting up a lab, The Brain Repair Centre is excited to welcome back to Dalhousie Dr Sarah Kraeutner, who is a recent LBRF graduate, having completed her Masters and PhD in Psychology & Neuroscience under the supervision of Dr Shaun Boe, Faculty of Health. Sarah is now a postdoc at UBC and will join us to share her story in a talk titled: “Learning, learning, learning: the three stages of my career (to-date) as a neuroscientist“ on Thursday February 11th @ 12.30 p.m. AT. Contact brainrepair@dal.ca for an invite to this virtual event.

There has to be some benefit to working remotely and we found it today – despite horrible weather in Nova Scotia we were able to move forward with Anwaar Hariri’s thesis defense. Anwaar did a wonderful job of presenting her MSc work, which examined the evidence related to the ability of aerobic exercise to increase corticospinal excitability. Anwaar’s work shows that while there is evidence to support the effectiveness of moderate intensity aerobic exercise to achieve this, there is a lot of variability in the research done to date. Anwaar’s thesis highlights this variability and makes suggestions on how we can move this work forward. Anwaar’s thesis will be posted in the ‘Publications’ section of the website as soon as it is submitted. Congratulations Anwaar!