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.

In this special bonus episode of Bold Minds, we’re zooming out from the labs of brain science researchers to take a look at the bigger picture: the philanthropic ecosystem that sustains and supports brain research in Canada.

Central to that ecosystem is the Azrieli Foundation. It is the leading non-governmental funder of brain research in Canada, and a longtime donor and partner to Brain Canada. The Azrieli Foundation is deeply committed to building capacity in Canadian neuroscience, and its anchor gift made the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program possible. But what underpins the Foundation’s commitment to advancing science in such a profound way? And what role does philanthropy play in powering breakthroughs and ultimately improving the health of Canadians?

Host Fiona sits down to answer these questions with Dr. Naomi Azrieli, a strategic and visionary leader whose work is reshaping philanthropy, research, and community impact across Canada and Israel. Naomi has championed transformative initiatives in scientific research, as well as in education, caregiving, Holocaust education, community resilience, and social impact for more than two decades. She is an influential thought leader and convenor, a committed social entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for caregivers, Holocaust survivors, and neurodiverse people - as well as for the field of neuroscience itself. Naomi is also a proud recipient of France’s Legion of Honor, and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Featured guest:

Naomi Azrieli, O.C., Dhil, Chair of 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.