The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health is a story of innovative ideas, big questions, and persistence. Our researchers and clinicians are leaders in their fields, and from here they are taking on some of society's most urgent health priorities.
Diseases, disorders, and injuries of the brain have a profound influence on our communities; the direct and indirect costs of neurological and mood disorders to the Canadian economy total more than $61 billion per year and place enormous strain on affected individuals and their families. Understanding how a healthy brain works is essential to preventing and treating brain diseases, and both are essential to the health and well-being of British Columbians.
Campus
Vancouver
Open Research Positions
This list of possible research projects is non-exhaustive. It only shows positions that are specifically advertised in the G+PS website.
Affiliated UBC Faculty & Postdocs
| Name | Role | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Austin, Jehannine | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Clinical genetics (except cancer genetics); genetic counseling; genetics services; mental health |
| Bamji, Shernaz | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Medical and biomedical engineering; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; neurodevelopmental disease; primary neuronal cultures; synapse biology; transgenic mouse models |
| Barr, Alasdair | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Mental health and addictions, with a particular emphasis on psychosis and the medications used in its treatment, Anesthesiology |
| Benavente, Oscar | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Acute Stroke Trials, Secondary stroke prevention |
| Blouin, Jean-Sebastien | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Kinesiology; sensorimotor integration; Motor System; robotics and automation; Trauma / Injuries; Physiology; Balance robot; Computational approaches; Head and neck; Sensorimotor physiology; Sensory virtualisation; Standing balance; Whiplash injuries |
| Boyd, Lara | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation medicine; Learning; Learning and Memory; Motor System; Motor learning; Neurophysiology; Physiology; Plasticity / Neuronal Regeneration; stroke |
| Cairns, Brian | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences (except clinical aspects); electrophysiology; headache; Neuropharmacology; Oro-Facial Pain; pain; pain mechanisms; peripheral analgesics; sex-related differences; temporomandibular disorders |
| Cembrowski, Mark Steven | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Molecular neuroscience; Mathematical modelling and simulation; Mechanisms of memory in the brain; Anxiety; Big Data; Bioinformatics; Cell types; Computation; Fear; Genetics; modeling; Neural circuits; neuroscience; Neuroscience of memory; PTSD; RNAseq |
| Chakrabarty, Trisha | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Cognitive dsyfunction; Virtual reality cognitive retraining; Bipolarity; Psychotherapy approaches for mood disorders |
| Christoff Hadjiilieva, Kalina | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | brain, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, prefronal cortex, fMRI, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, executive functions, problem solving, reasoning, thinking, mind-wandering, attention, consciousness, real-time fMRI, trauma and PTSD, Cognitive and neural basis of human thought, reasoning and problem solving |
| Ciernia, Annie | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Biochemistry; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Autism; Brain development; Epigenetics; Gene-Environment Interactions; Neurodevelopmental disorders |
| Clark, Luke | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Gambling, Problem Gambling, Addiction, Decision-Making, Reward, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms involved in gambling behaviour and disordered gambling |
| Craig, Ann Marie | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Excitatory and inhibitory synapses, Synapse development and plasticity, Synapse organizing proteins, Neurotransmitter receptors, Autism and schizophrenia |
| Cresswell, Silke | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Functional imaging (PETand fMRI) in Parkinson |
| Cripton, Peter | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Mechanical engineering; Medical and biomedical engineering; biomechanics; Cranio-Encephalic and Spinal Cord Trauma; hip fracture; injury prevention; Mechanical Systems; neurotrauma; Spinal cord injury; spine biomechanics; Trauma / Injuries; Traumatic Brain Injury; Sex Differences in Seat Belt Performance |
| Cynader, Max | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | eye diseases; glaucoma; dyslexia; stroke; neurotrauma; memory; vision; learning disabilities; hearing development; recovery after brain damage; ischemia; gene therapy, Alzheimer's |
| Diamond, Adele | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | executive functions; prefrontal cortex; dopamine; working memory; self-control; self-regulation; cognition; COMT gene; Sex differences; stress; ACEs (adverse childhood experiences); ELS (early life stress); resilience; social determinants of health; ADHD; depression; PTSD; Physical Activity; the arts; mindfulness |
| Enns, James | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Behavioural neuroscience of reward and motivation; attention; action kinematics; social perception; perceptual development |
| Field, Thalia | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | stroke; Clinical trials; cerebral venous thrombosis; outcomes; cognition; Machine Learning |
| Floresco, Stanley | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neural circuits subserving learning and executive functions, behavioural and electrophysiological analyses of limbic-cortical-striatal interactions involved in decision making and behavioural flexibility, animal models of schizophrenia and drug addiction |
| Frangou, Sophia | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | the study of the human brain in health and disease |
| Garbi, Rafeef | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Bioinformatics; Electrical engineering, computer engineering, and information engineering; Medical and biomedical engineering; Artificial Intelligence; Biomedical Engineering; Biomedical Technologies; Computer Vision; Deep Learning; image analysis; Imaging; Machine Learning; Medical Image Computing |
| Giaschi, Deborah | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; amblyopia; reading; dyslexia; motion perception; binocular vision; visual development |
| Gregory-Evans, Kevin | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | retina, stem cells, gene therapy, retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, Best’s disease, x-linked retinoschisis, electroretinography., Eye, novel molcular approaches in the treatment of retinal disease, cell-based therapeutics ofr age-related macular degenration and retinitis pigmentosa, molecular defects underlying retinal disease |
| Gregory-Evans, Cheryl | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Tissue fusion during development, Aniridia, retinal therapeutics |
| Grunau, Ruth V | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Biobehavioural regulation, brain and neurodevelopment in premature infants and children, Long-term effects of neonatal pain on stress regulation, brain, behavior, neurodevelopment, Infant pain and stress, Parenting stress, parent-infant interaction |
| Haas, Kurt | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Medical and biomedical engineering; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Autism; Brain Circuit Development; Dendritogenesis; Epilepsy; Genetics of Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Neurological diseases; Neuronal Communication and Neurotransmission; Neuronal Computation; Neuronal Modeling; Neuronal Systems; Neuronal and Synaptic Activity; Plasticity / Neuronal Regeneration; Synaptic Plasticity |
| Hacihaliloglu, Ilker | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Bio-signal processing and analysis; Medical biotechnology; Biomedical signal processing; Image guided surgery systems; Medical and biomedical engineering, n.e.c.; Data analytics and signal processing, n.e.c.; Artificial intelligence (AI); Extraction of relevant information from 3D medical images; Image Guided Surgery; computer assisted diagnosis; Deep Learning; point of care ultrasound; ultrasound image processing; Brain Health; orthopedic surgery; liver disease; lung disease; traumatic Brian injury; neurosurgery; Biomedical Engineering |
| Hayden, Michael | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Genetic medicine; Health counselling; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Diabetes; Disease progression; Drug development; Gene Therapy; Genetic Diseases; Huntington disease; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurodegenerative disorders |
| Hilton, Brett | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; neuroscience; neuroplasticity; Axon regeneration; Spinal cord injury |
| Honer, William | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Brain disorders, risk factors for disease |
| Huan, Tao | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Bioinformatics, n.e.c.; Analytical spectrometry; Metabolomics; Separation science; Cancer progression and metastasis; Human nutrition and metabolism; Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Machine Learning; Bioinformatics |
| Illes, Judy | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Medical biotechnology; Biomedical Ethics; Aging and dementia; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Brain Injury; Stem Cells; Neurotechnology; Neuroethics |
| Jefferies, Wilfred Arthur | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Iron transport molecules |
| Kobor, Michael | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Biochemistry; Bioinformatics; Genetic medicine; Genomics; Chromatin Biology; Epigenetics; molecular biology; Social Epigenetics |
| Kolind, Shannon | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Medical physics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; brain; Imaging; MRI; medical physics; multiple sclerosis; myelin; Neurological Disease; spinal cord |
| Kumar, Ujendra | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Somatostatin hormone, molecular pharmacology, Somatostatin, , Hormones, somatostatin, locomotor and cognitive function, neurodegenerative diseases, drugs |
| Kwon, Brian | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Spinal cord injury |
| Lam, Raymond | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Psychiatry (including psychotherapy); depression; Biomarkers; light therapy; cognition; digital technologies; bipolar disorder; antidepressants; global mental health |
| Laule, Cornelia | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Medical physics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Pathology (except oral pathology); Auto-Immune Diseases; Axons; brain; Central Nervous System Inflammatory Diseases; Cerebral Atrophy; Histology; image analysis; Imaging; Inflammation; magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; multiple sclerosis; myelin; Nervous System Development; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Neuronal Systems; pain; Pathology; Schizophrenia; Spinal Cord Diseases; spinal cord; Spinal cord injury |
| Leavitt, Blair | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Genetic medicine; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Alzheimer's disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Ataxia; Dementia; Experimental Therapeutics; Frontotemporal Dementia; Gene regulation; Gene Silencing and Gene Editing; Gene Therapy; Huntington disease; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells; Medical Genetics; Mouse models of disease; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurogenetics |
| Liu-Ambrose, Teresa | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation medicine; Healthy Aging; exercise; Fall prevention; Cognitive Aging; Randomized Controlled Trials; Physical Activity; Mobility; Neuroimaging; Sleep |
| Loewen, Christopher | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Genomics; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); Autism; Cancer Cell Metabolism; Cell Biology; Cell polarity; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Genetic Networks; Golgi; Lipid Signalling; Lipid Traffic; Membrane Contact Sites; Membrane Diffusion Barriers; Membranes and Organelles; Super Resolution Microscopy; Systems Biology |
| Mackenzie, Ian | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Alzheimer's Disease |
| MacVicar, Brian | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Brain Research, epilepsy, astrocyte, glia, dendrites, synapse, imaging, two photon laser scanning microscopy, neurophysiology, Role of calcium, regulation of neurons, cell death |
| Madhav, Manu | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Cognitive representations in the brain; Place cells; Spatial navigation; Path planning; Control theory; Alzheimer's disease |
| Matsubara, Joanne Aiko | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Sensory systems, visual; Cellular interactions (including adhesion, matrix and cell wall); Gene and molecular therapy; Cellular neuroscience; neuroscience; vision; cell and development; cell death pathways; innate immune response; eye disease, retinal degenerations; Alzheimer's disease; neurodegeneration |
| Matthews, Benjamin | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Genomics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Zoology; Aedes aeygpti mosquitoes; Arboviral pathogens; Chikungunya; Comparative Physiology; Dengue fever; Genome of mosquitoes; Yellow fever; Zika |
| McKeown, Martin | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | Neurology; novel treatments for Parkinson's; Video Monitoring Parkinson's; Brain Stimulation; Biomedical Engineering; Machine Learning; fMRI; EEG |
| Meneilly, Graydon | Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) | diabetes and carbohydrate metabolism in the elderly |