Missed the Spring 2023 bulletin? Read it here.

A message from David Rotenberg:

A significant focus of our work this past year has been expanding the reach of the KCNI and leading pan-Canadian data initiatives benefitting people across the country.

The Brain Canada Youth Insight platform, which launched last fall, continues to gain momentum as we recruit for key roles and the procurement process for the underlying data fabric is finalized. In addition, we are expanding our scope to facilitate services provided outside our walls including leading the data and analytics implementation of 9-8-8, Canada’s new suicide prevention line launching in November. We are also developing the data platform for the Hub in Cardio-Neuro-Mind Research, based at the University of Ottawa, set to uncover linkages between brain and heart diseases, which impact over six million Canadians.

Our scientist teams are growing translational impact through their groundbreaking research and offering unique education and development programming. The opportunity to collaborate and learn with them draws the brightest minds from around the world to advance the latest breakthroughs in data-driven mental health research. 

Finally, as you know, Dr. Sean Hill has accepted an exciting new role in Switzerland into which he will transition over the coming year. We deeply appreciate his incredible leadership and contributions to CAMH over the past six highly productive years and wish him all the best. 

Using KCNI Computer Models to Understand the Potential of and Biomarkers for New Treatments

The KCNI laboratories of Drs. Etay Hay and Shreejoy Tripathy are collaborating with Damona Pharmaceuticals (a preclinical pharmaceutical company founded by Dr. Etienne Sibill at CAMH)  to develop electroencephalogram (EEG) (Hay Lab) and genetic (Tripathy Lab) biomarkers for the drugs developed at Damona, using computational models.

In Dr. Hay's project, he is testing the ability of a new drug called α5-PAM, which boosts the connections of certain brain cells that are linked to depression. It is not known howα5-PAM affects the human brain because it currently cannot be tested in the living human brain. 
Working in collaboration with Damona scientists, Dr. Hay used 
detailed computer models to simulate α5-PAM's effects on human brain cells and networks. The simulations showed that α5-PAM can recover function in depression brain networks. The project also identified biomarkers in EEG brain signals that can predict dose response and help measure the drug's efficacy.

Dr. Tripathy is collaborating with Damona to better understand changes in brain cells as people age into late life. Currently, a major challenge limiting the development and application of therapies for brain disorders is the inaccessibility of the human brain for diagnostic biopsies. Unlike in conditions such as cancer where biopsies often guide life-changing treatments, it is challenging to link an individual patient’s brain disorder to its underlying cellular cause. As a result, disorders like major depression with effective treatments can require multiple rounds of trial and error to find fruitful drugs and dosing strategies for each patient.
Dr. Tripathy and his collaborators will apply this knowledge to develop biomarkers that can predict a patient’s degree of neuron-specific vulnerability using simple, routinely-accessible assays, like genetics and brain imaging. They ultimately aim for these approaches to deliver on the promise of personalized medicine for brain disorders by helping guide treatment decisions in the clinic.

Principal Investigators' Block       

The Impact of Cultural Models Of Addiction and Motherhood: A Cross-Cultural Study

This fall, Drs. Laura Sikstrom and Sara Ling, will kick off an international, multi-site study that focuses on how cultural models of addiction and motherhood impact psychological well-being and other recovery indicators in mothers. The project will take place at treatment centres in Canada, the Netherlands and England.
Ultimately, Drs. Sikstrom and Ling’s aim is to reduce the stigma and increase knowledge about drug use in motherhood across the study populations by generating information about the role cultural models of addiction and motherhood have on harm reduction and recovery outcomes. The research will inform cross-national discussions with legislators and other experts that aim to reduce barriers to care for women. 
“Sara and I first started talking about motherhood and addiction when Sara noted barriers to care for mothers,” says Dr. Sikstrom. “I mentioned a service in Alberta—where I am from—that houses mother and their young children during medical withdrawal, since they found that women didn’t access care unless they took a family-centred approach. We thought this was an important area to examine, especially with a prevalent ‘mommy drinks because…’ culture in both North America and Europe.”

This project focuses on these high-income countries because they are similar in terms of gender parity, and opioid and substance  use have reached epidemic proportions in each, including deaths due to drug overdoses and drug-related hospitalizations. All three countries have a mission to reduce illicit drug use and have increased governmental funding to tackle drug-related issues; however, each is taking a slightly different approach (e.g., drug legalization, supervised consumption sites, etc.) It is expected that this study will facilitate cross-national insight into which treatment approaches are working, and how cultural models influence psychological well-being, harm reduction and other indicators among mothers and women of childbearing age.

The information gained from this study will be collated and disseminated through a series of virtual panels and public talks with legislators and other interested parties. In addition, the findings from this study will inform other research initiatives led by Drs. Ling and Sikstrom that are under review from funding agencies, e.g. CIHR, that will explore using digital tools (like mobile apps) to provide more gender responsive substance use services.

Gabrielle Allohverdi obtained a BSc, with a major in biology from the University of Western Ontario in 2020. During her undergraduate years, Gabrielle studied neuroscience, neuroimaging data analysis and the psychology of altered states of consciousness. She spent time as a research assistant under Dr. Elizabeth Hayden studying the effect of maternal psychiatric diagnosis on child affect, and Dr. Graham Reid whose lab focuses on access and use of services for youth with mental health diagnoses.

Currently, Gabrielle is completing a Masters at the Institute for Medical Science at the University of Toronto. Gabrielle is working on a project that investigates the effect of hallucinogens on sensory learning and cognition. She is interested in the application of generative models to non-invasive neuroimaging data to understand the antidepressant effects of drugs like ketamine and psilocybin. Additionally, she is interested in ketamine as a model of prodromal psychosis, looking for patterns between the symptomatology of psychosis and the dissociative state under ketamine.

In her free time, Gabrielle enjoys playing the electric guitar alongside recording covers of classic 60’s folk songs. She also enjoys music trivia and loves attending small shows around Toronto.