When cells in our brain break from the tight control that weaves this complex structure together, they can form a tumour. Across tissue types in the body, we’ve come a long way in advances to treat various cancers. But the complex milieu of the brain poses a unique challenge, and requires a unique lens that brings together new technologies grounded in a fundamental biological understanding of the brain and brain tumours. These tumours are highly variable between patients, diverse within a patient, change over time, evade the immune system, quickly become resistant to front-line therapy, and often recur. Despite decades of efforts, no reliable cure for these glioma brain tumours - including glioblastoma - exists today. These are the most common malignant brain tumours, with the worst prognosis, and they continue to be one of medicine's most stubborn challenges. The science is fascinating, the need is urgent, and researchers across fields and methodologies are using new methods and technologies to try to crack this exceptional problem.

Featured guests:

Hong Han, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University.

Jerome Fortin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University.

Louis Gagnon,  Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Université Laval and a Principal Investigator at the CERVO Brain Research Centre.

Xian Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Queen’s University.

This work is supported by the Hewitt Foundation and the Alvin Segal Family Foundation.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Our host and executive producer is Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at braincanada.ca.

What if we could slow - or even stop - the brain’s decline? Cognitive disorders like dementia affect millions of people worldwide. As Canada faces an increasingly aging population, and more people become caregivers for their elderly loved ones, healthy aging of both brain and body are top of mind for many. Luckily, researchers are revealing a far more hopeful picture as they explore how actions in early life can impact brain aging. They’re learning that cognitive decline has many faces: it's a constellation of biological breakdowns, many of which may be detectable - and even treatable - long before symptoms appear.

Featured guests:

Ina Anreiter, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Peter Zhukovsky, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Scientist at CAMH.

Julie Ottoy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine Neurology at the University of Toronto and Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute.

This work is supported by the Tavares Foundation, GJ Garden of Life, and CIHR’s Institute of Aging.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Our host and executive producer is Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at braincanada.ca.

On the surface, it might not seem like autism spectrum disorder, obesity, and multiple sclerosis have much in common. But despite the fact that these conditions share very little in terms of symptoms, treatments, and even affected populations, the way they're being explored by researchers on the cutting edge of neuroscience is more similar than you might imagine. Some brain disorders hide in the smallest details of our genetic and protein code - so host Fiona sits down with researchers using tools like next generation sequencing and proteomics to unravel these hidden codes, and hopefully open new paths to treatment.

Featured guests:

Shreejoy Tripathy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at CAMH.

Simon Thebault, Clinician Scientist and Assistant Professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University.

Paul Sabatini, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University.

This work is supported by the Azrieli Foundation.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Our host and executive producer is Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at braincanada.ca.