2010 Capital Equipment Grants

Engineering physicist Dr. Jeremy Brown and his colleague Dr. Rob Adamson work closely with otologist/surgeon Dr. Manohar Bance to develop new technologies for diagnosing and treating hearing problems. This DMRF equipment grant will enable the researchers to develop new approaches to imaging the ear using a technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT). There are currently no technologies capable of producing high-resolution images of the middle and inner ear, making it difficult for clinicians to accurately diagnose and treat the root causes of hearing problems. Drs. Brown, Adamson and Bance aim to revolutionize clinical otology by creating technology that delivers high-resolution images.

A world-renowned autism researcher, Dr. Susan Bryson wants to find ways to reliably detect autism, and to intervene effectively, at the earliest possible ages. She and her team require sophisticated video recording, audio, psychophysiology, and data storage/analysis equipment to efficiently conduct meaningful observational studies of children’s behaviour. This equipment will enable Dr. Bryson and her team to work much more quickly to obtain more useful data about early behaviours that herald autism. This in turn will enhance their productivity, competitiveness, and impact on the field.

Dr. Gail Eskes is leading a five-year, $2.6 million Brain Repair Centre project to develop and test a ‘Cognitive Repair Kit’ for people whose ability to pay attention has been impaired by stroke. She and her collaborators also feel their approach will apply to people with Parkinson’s disease. The DMRF-funded eye-tracking equipment will enable the researchers to assess how people place and maintain their attention, and to measure the effectiveness of computer-based attention-training exercises they are developing and testing. The equipment is critical to the creation of a state-of-the-art Cognitive Repair Laboratory within the Brain Repair Centre.

Developmental neurobiologist Dr. Angelo Iulianella is using DMRF-funded equipment to study how different types of neurons develop in the embryonic nervous system. He is particularly interested in how sensory, motor and interneurons arise, proliferate, and arrange themselves in the spinal cord in a manner that allows for coordinated sensation and movement. By identifying the specific proteins and mechanisms involved, he hopes to shed light on potential means of regenerating neurons to repair spinal cord injuries and treat neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Iulianella is a core scientific member of the Atlantic Mobility Action Project, a research group dedicated to finding solutions for mobility problems.

A promising young researcher in the field of microbial genomics, Dr. Claudio Slamovits is launching a research program to study the structure, function and evolution of the genomes of several key eukaryotic organisms. He is particularly interested in how adopting a parasitic lifestyle influences genomic changes in single-celled eukaryotes, such as Plasmodium falciparum, the organism which causes more than a million malaria deaths each year. The DMRF-funded equipment is essential to day-to-day experiments in his lab. Dr. Slamovits has received prestigious funding from the Tula Foundation and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Dr. Christopher Sinal wants to understand the genetic, metabolic, and behavioral factors behind obesity. He has discovered that a previously mysterious gene called chemerin regulates the formation of fat cells and is investigating chemerin’s role in the genesis and progression of such chronic conditions as obesity, type two diabetes, hardening of the arteries, and osteoporosis. The DMRF equipment grant enables him to advance his obesity research by providing him with specialized equipment to study such factors as energy intake and expenditure, metabolic rate and respiratory quotient in mice. Combined with Dr. Sinal’s other studies, this work will shed light on the pathogenic relationship between obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders and point the way to potential therapeutic strategies. Other researchers will also benefit from this equipment.

As a new member of the Atlantic Research Centre, Dr. Aarnoud van der Spoel is equipping his lab to study a class of lipids known as glycosphingolipids (GSLs). There are many types of these molecules, which are fatty on one end and sugary at the other, inside human cells. Dr. van der Spoel wants to learn how our cells determine which GSLs to make, how they control the levels of various GSLs, how fast they make them, and how long GSLs remain in the cell before breaking down. His findings will shed light on two genetic lipid metabolism diseases which are relatively common in Nova Scotia: Fabry disease and Niemann-Pick type C.

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