Dr. Avery Berman
Dr. Avery Berman is an assistant professor in physics at Carleton University and a scientist at the IMHR. His lab develops MRI acquisition techniques and applies modelling to extract more physiologically meaningful information from the MRI signal. As a new professor, Dr. Berman is excited about recruiting three new grad students and postdocs over the past year. His trainees are pursuing projects to better image the health of small blood vessels at high spatial resolution and to make imaging of brain metabolism more accessible. The lab plans to translate these developments to image brain health in mental health and dementia.
Dr. Clifford Cassidy
Dr. Clifford Cassidy is a neuroimaging researcher who focuses on neuromodulatory brain systems, such as the dopamine system, that are the target of many psychiatric medications. His work is developing biomarkers of imbalance in these systems that may be relevant to schizophrenia, PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease and ADHD and that may ultimately help to better tailor treatments to individual clients. This past year, Dr. Cassidy and an industry partner, Terran Biosciences, generated a software program based on his image analysis algorithm that is currently under review by the FDA for clearance for clinical use.
Dr. Synthia Guimond
Dr. Synthia Guimond is a scientist dedicated to developing evidence-based treatments to address cognitive dysfunctions in psychiatric disorders. Her ultimate goal is to enhance the social and professional lives of our clients. Her research leverages digital technology to deliver remote cognitive assessments and interventions, using tools such as smartphones and virtual reality. Additionally, Dr. Guimond aims to investigate the brain mechanisms underpinning cognitive dysfunctions in psychiatric disorders using multimodal neuroimaging techniques. Over the past year, she has pioneered the development of a Cognitive Health Research Clinic at The Royal. This clinic is designed to provide treatment for cognitive difficulties experienced by individuals who are living with various psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Natalia Jaworska
Dr. Natalia Jaworska studies the brain in the context of mental illness. She does this by looking at brain electrical activity (studying "brain waves" or EEG) as well as brain imaging. She combines these approaches to understand the brain in the most nuanced way possible. Most of her research has focused on understanding the brain in depression and the effects of various types of interventions as well as mood and cognition. In the past year, she has studied the impacts of exercise in depressed youth and the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on people with schizophrenia who hear voices. Finally, in individuals who have no mental illness, she studies brain features that might be the same or different in males and females, and tries to relate these to sex hormones. Such data are important since this could inform treatment for mental illness that is more common in one gender.
Dr. Robyn McQuaid
At The Royal, neuroscientist Dr. Robyn McQuaid examines the impacts of stressors and early-life trauma experiences on the development of mental health disorders such as depression. One aspect of this work measures immune system markers in the blood, which are elevated after stressful experiences and in depression. Interestingly, this past year Dr. McQuaid found that the immune system might be disrupted among individuals who have specific symptoms/features of depression. This could have future implications for tailoring treatments for depression to inform who might benefit from adding anti-inflammatory medications to ongoing treatments.
Dr. Andrew Nicholson
Dr. Andrew Nicholson is an assistant professor within the school of psychology at the University of Ottawa and is the director of clinical research at the Atlas Institute. As a scientist at the IMHR, Dr. Nicholson’s research program focuses on characterizing brain pathways associated with trauma-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, his research aims to better understand the neurobiological basis of mental health burdens that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. In 2023, Dr. Nicholson published a new clinical trial which used brain training fMRI neurofeedback as a tool to help people with PTSD learn to non-invasively self-regulate patterns of brain activity associated with their symptoms. Notably, Dr. Nicholson’s team recently received a CIHR project grant to extend this work. For more information, please see drandrewnicholson.com.
Dr. Jennifer Phillips
Dr. Jennifer Phillips combines magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with blood-based biomarkers to improve our understanding of biological risk for suicide to inform better treatment and prevention strategies. Thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts are common in patients with severe depression, yet little is known about their biological underpinnings and few treatments are available. This past year, Dr. Phillips’ research showed that white matter tracts in the brain involved in regulating emotions and making decisions differ in patients with depression who have had a previous suicide attempt compared to those who have had suicidal thoughts yet have not acted on them. Ongoing work examines these findings alongside clinical and psychosocial data. Dr. Phillips is the interim scientific director of the IMHR and led the creation of the BMO Innovative Clinic for Depression.
Dr. Rébecca Robillard
Dr. Rébecca Robillard directs clinical sleep research at the IMHR and is the co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium. Her research focuses on the interactions between mental illness, the sleeping brain, and the sleeping heart. Through a translational research framework, Dr. Robillard is working in close collaboration with the Sleep Disorders Clinic, the Operational Stress Injury Clinic, and the Youth Program to bridge the gap between research and care. Dr. Robillard’s work also seeks to optimize sleep and chronobiological interventions targeting mental disorders with particular attention to major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. By supplementing standard clinical care with extended assessment and treatment options, her team hopes to improve quality of life, and potentially accelerate recovery in people with mental health disorders and sleep problems.
Dr. Reggie Taylor
Dr. Reggie Taylor is a physicist and scientist with the Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR) who utilizes novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study the brain. As technology improves, it becomes possible to look at the brain in new and exciting ways, far beyond what is routinely available on MRI systems. Using such leading-edge imaging techniques, he is studying excitatory neurotransmission in schizophrenia, and waste clearance pathways in the brains of people with dementia.
Dr. Sara Tremblay
At The Royal, scientist Dr. Sara Tremblay uses repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to stimulate specific brain circuits known to be dysfunctional in people with major depression. This non-drug therapy is safe, non-invasive, has few side effects. What’s even more exciting is rTMS has shown positive outcomes for people who have difficult-to-treat depression. This past year, Dr. Tremblay’s team has launched a new clinical trial in which they combine state-of-the-art brain imaging with rTMS in order to improve and better predict treatment outcomes.
Dr. Lauri Tuominen
Dr. Lauri Tuominen is a neuroscientist at the IMHR. Dr. Tuominen’s research focuses on understanding schizophrenia using multimodal imaging methods, including positron emission tomography (PET) and functional MRI, and exploring how changes in dopamine and acetylcholine neurotransmitter systems underlie learning and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. His research interests also include the use of PET imaging to investigate the impact of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the brain.
For information about areas of research at The Royal, go to theroyal.ca.
See how innovation drives hope
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Team endeavours to bring “miraculous” treatment for PTSD to Canada
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) robbed Cory Taylor of his peace of mind for many years, but a simple treatment he received in connection with a research case study was enough to help restore his quality of life.
Ozerdinc Grimes Family Regional Psychosis Clinic opens its doors
Thanks to a $2.5M donation from the Ozerdinc Grimes family, The Royal launched a clinic to help people living with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Over the next three years the clinic has the potential to help 1,000 additional people in our community.
Using AI to bring personalized treatments to mental health care
Examining the brain using AI takes clinicians beyond understanding what changes are happening in the brain when someone experiences mental illness to understanding why and how those changes are taking place.
Introducing the new BMO Innovative Clinic for Depression
More than two million people in Canada experience major depression every year. One third of these individuals experience treatment-resistant depression, meaning their symptoms do not improve with conventional medications.
On May 30, BMO announced a $2 million donation to go towards the BMO Innovative Clinic for Depression. The clinic will offer increased treatment access, develop additional research opportunities, and link to other available treatments and services at The Royal.
One of these treatments includes esketamine, which experts hail as one of the biggest breakthroughs in the field of depression in the past half century.
“The BMO Innovative Clinic for Depression will give hope to those with difficult-to-treat depression,” says Dr. Jennifer Phillips, interim scientific director of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR) at The Royal.
