L-R: Howard Feldman, Executive Associate Dean, Research and the Hon. Alice Wong, Minister of State (Seniors). Photo credit: Brian Kladko
The Hon. Alice Wong, Canada’s Minister of State (Seniors), visited the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health Oct. 3 — the second federal cabinet member in six weeks to view the centre, which unites scientific research and clinical care under one roof.
Minister Wong, a Member of Parliament representing Richmond, B.C., met with Howard Feldman, the Executive Associate Dean, Research and the inaugural Fisher Family and Alzheimer Society of British Columbia Endowed Professor for Research in Alzheimer’s Disease; Brian MacVicar, the Co-Director of the Centre ; and Lara Boyd, a Professor of Physical Therapy and Canada Research Chair in the Neurobiology of Motor Learning.
As Minister of State (Seniors), Minister Wong is playing a pivotal role in developing Canada’s strategy for coping with the expected surge in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias over the coming decades. The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, which opened in February, aims to become an incubator of new ideas and therapies in the treatment of dementia. In August, the Hon. Rona Ambrose, Canada’s Minister of Health, visited with the centre’s leaders and researchers.
Dr. MacVicar brought Minister Wong to his lab, where they viewed his cellular-level videos of astrocytes, a type of brain cell. The videos — produced with a sophisticated imaging technique called two-photon microscopy — show how astrocytes converge on brain lesions caused by stroke, a restriction of blood flow to the brain.
Then Minister Wong visited the lab of Dr. Boyd, who described her work on transcranial magnetic stimulation, in which a magnetic field is targeted at certain regions of the brain, with the goal of restoring motor control in stroke victims. She also demonstrated another project exploring whether a commercially available video game, in which the player must “catch” asteroids from colliding with Earth, can help in the rehabilitation of stroke victims.
Minister Wong concluded the tour by meeting with members of the centre’s Clinic for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, a group that included genetic counsellors, a geriatrician, a social worker, and a neurologist (the recently appointed Haakon Nygaard, the Fipke Professor in Alzheimer’s Research).