2021 Events

Tune in on December 1st to find out how music can be utilized to improve health and wellbeing, and to hear some festive music as we wind down for the holidays! We will be joined by Bev Foster from the Room 217 Foundation to speak about the benefits of music and how it fits into healthcare & caregiving, as well as the Vitara Duo (Anican Yu & Kurt Chen) who will play some holiday themed music to boost our mood.

Speakers

Bev Foster, Founding Director & Executive Director

Bev is a co-founder of the Room 217 Foundation and its Executive Director. She is an experienced, performer, songwriter and music educator. Bev has taught music in in the Durham District School Board as well as in her private studio and has been the Executive Director of the Ontario Vocal Festival, and Director of Music in several churches.

The Vitara Duo, Anican Yu & Kurt Chen

Vitara Duo is made up of Kurt Chen (violin) and Anican Yu (piano). They have an innate talent for improvisation and performing by ear, which means that this group can play almost any requested song given fair notice ahead of time to prepare without the need to arrange sheet music! The duo has also received accolades for their numerous videos on social media showcasing improvisation and their arrangements. Their strengths lie in jazz, ballads, and pop songs.

On November 17th at 12pm, exploring how neuroimaging is used in brain health research, November’s Research Seminar Series focuses on how PET imaging is used in research on Parkinson’s Disease.

Join us for a session on how PET imaging is used, how this technology can be beneficial, and opportunities to participate in a research study!

Speakers

Connor Bevington

Connor is a PhD Student with the UBC PET/MRI Imaging Centre in the Department of Physics and Anatomy, UBC. In 2019, Connor completed his MSc in Physics at UBC and in 2017 completed his BSc in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo. Connor conducts research in brain imaging, which lies at the intersection of physics, medicine, mathematics and computer science. His job is to generate, process, model and analyze PET and MRI brain images to extract information that is helpful for diagnosing, treating and understanding diseases of the brain. Connor’s current focus is in developing advanced PET/MRI image processing and analysis algorithms for understanding brain energetics - the ability of our brain to produce and use energy. Brain energetics is likely affected in Parkinson’s disease, but regular aerobic exercise may help counter this deficit. This is currently being investigated in a randomized control trial at the UBC PET/MRI Imaging Centre.

Alexandra Pavel

Alex is a Neuroscience master’s student under the supervision of Dr. Jon Stoessl at UBC. She is currently working on a project with the rest of the team that uses hybrid PET/MR imaging to investigate the functional segregation of the striatum in Parkinson’s Disease. In her spare time, she is a podcast host and editor for the AMiNDR podcast: A Month in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. She previously completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

We are excited to introduce you and your brain health to the digital age! From Virtual Reality to robots, technology continues to evolve towards helping improve brain health. This Wellness Wednesday, we are excited to host experts in science and technology to share how they are transforming brain health using technology, and how we can all benefit from it. Join us on Wednesday, November 3 at noon to dial into your brain!

Speakers

Dr. Trisha Chakrabarty

Dr. Chakrabarty is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research health professional investigator, and consultant psychiatrist at the Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence at UBC Hospital. Her expertise is in cognitive functioning in mood disorders, with a focus on the etiology, contributors and functional implications of cognitive dysfunction in depression and BD. Dr. Chakrabarty is involved in research to develop novel therapeutic strategies to address mood related cognitive deficits, and is currently principal investigator on a collaborative initiative with the National Research Council Canada to develop a virtual reality cognitive remediation program for use in individuals with mood disorders.

Ravneet Mahal

Ravneet Mahal is a clinical research assistant working under Dr. Martin McKeown at the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioural Neuroscience from Simon Fraser University and has worked in the McKeown lab since September of 2019. She is currently running the CAMERA Study which aims to develop a novel monitoring tool for in home use so that people with Parkinson’s can be monitored over time in the comfort of their home. The overarching goal of Dr. McKeown’s research is to investigate novel ways to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease using non-invasive, non-pharmacological technology. Specifically, Dr. McKeown’s team are interested in better understanding brain connectivity and network dynamics and extrapolating work from related disciplines such as Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis to investigate whether tools originally developed for other pathological diseases are also useful in PD. In addition, the team focuses on utilizing portable and wearable technologies to record and collect research data and to ultimately provide a means of home-based symptom management.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Join us on Wednesday, October 20th from 12 - 1 PM for this month’s session of the Research Seminar Series to explore the research being done on treating anxiety symptoms in Parkinson’s disease with a probiotic. Learn more about the gut microbiome and probiotics in Parkinson’s disease and ways to participate in a research study!

Speakers

Joyce Lam, PhD Student

Joyce is a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell at UBC. She is conducting a clinical trial to study the effect of a probiotic on anxiety symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease. She completed an MSc in Neuroscience at UBC as well, where she used imaging techniques to characterize a new rodent model of Parkinson’s disease. Outside of research, Joyce is the Co-Chair of the Vancouver Walk for Alzheimer’s, the Alzheimer Society of BC’s annual fundraiser for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. In recognition of her work both on- and off-campus, Joyce was nominated in the Young Woman of Distinction category for the 2021 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.

Petra Uzelman, Clinical Research Nurse

Petra is a Clinical Research Nurse with the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre at UBC where she coordinates clinical trials. She is the coordinator for the TAP clinical trial, led by Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell, that aims to assess the effects of a multi strain probiotic on anxiety symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Petra enjoys being a part of novel research projects that have the potential to translate into improved quality of life and is continually amazed at the immense dedication and efforts put forth by patients to contribute to research.

Get your brain and body ready to explore how exercise can improve your falls prevention strategies! October’s Wellness Wednesday will focus on the research and practice of using physical exercise to reduce the chances of falls and fall related injuries. We will be joined by researcher and professor Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, and Naomi Casiro who is a Registered Physiotherapist and founder of NeurofitBC.

Speakers

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT, is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, and Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity, Mobility, and Cognitive Health. She is the Research Director of the Vancouver General Hospital Falls Prevention Clinic and Director of the Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Health Laboratory.

Dr. Liu-Ambrose is known internationally for her work in randomized controlled trials of exercise with cognitive and mobility outcomes in older adults. Her research findings have been implemented in health authorities, translated into a provincial-wide program, and influenced international practice guidelines to promote healthy aging.

Naomi Casiro

Naomi Casiro is a Registered Physiotherapist and Founder of NeuroFit BC. Naomi is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia where she teaches about the treatment of Parkinson's Disease through Exercise and Physiotherapy.

Naomi founded NeuroFit BC to allow her to better serve the Parkinson's population and as a platform on which to educate other health professionals. Naomi now spends her time teaching classes, treating clients and offering courses to health professionals about the incredible impact of exercise and neuroplasticity on those living with Parkinson's Disease.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Join us on Wednesday, September 15th from 12 - 1PM for the first session of our new monthly event, the Research Seminar Series! Learn more about what dementia is, how to protect your brain, why we are interested in assessing risk early, and ways to participate in research!

Speakers

Rannon Cho

Rannon is a research assistant on CANARY and is a Science Co-op student at UBC currently studying neuroscience and physiology. He enjoys his role in clinical research as it allows him the opportunity to develop a healthy relationship with patients and contributes to a unique perspective on approaching neurodegenerative conditions. He hopes to work in the medical field in the future, and is inspired by the potential advancements in medicine arising from the interface between novel machine-learning and standard clinical practice

Caitlin Lewis

Caitlin Lewis comes from an undergraduate background in Linguistics and Psychology from the University of Calgary. Caitlin has worked in academic research labs examining early language development, and the role of physical activity in preventing neurodegeneration with a geriatric population. Following graduation, Caitlin spent a year working in a clinical setting as a cognitive therapist for acquired traumatic brain injury patients. After a recent move to Vancouver, Caitlin started working as a clinical research assistant with the Vancouver Stroke Program, and began working on the CANARY study among other research projects. Caitlin is excited to contribute her linguistic background with her clinical experience to the CANARY research project!

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Join us for our first Wellness Wednesday of the fall season to plan and look ahead at the year! We will be exploring ways to incorporate mindfulness and goal setting into your life for self care & brain wellness.

Speaker

Amanda Cammalleri

Amanda Cammalleri is a Research Assistant with the BC Brain Wellness Program and Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell’s lab. She graduated from McGill University (Montreal, QC, CA) in 2017 with a major in Psychology and minors in Molecular Biology and Behavioural Sciences. After completing her degree, she worked as a technical research assistant in a focused ultrasound lab at Brigham and Women’ Hospital (Boston, MA, USA). In 2021, Amanda completed her Master’s degree in Health, Kinesiology, and Applied Physiology at Concordia University (Montreal, QC, CA), studying the effects of an exercise intervention on objective sleep quality and subjective insomnia symptomology in individuals with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Insomnia.

Amanda’s career as a scientist is ever evolving around her central driving force; the passion to create a positive change in the mental well-being of others through various modalities altering each individual’s perception of life and quality of life. Outside of her career, Amanda privately teaches mindfulness and meditation as a certified IMMA instructor and has had the experience of facilitating “Vision and Goals” seminars.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

The BC Brain Wellness Program invites you to join our annual celebration of World Brain Day on July 22 from 10am to 12pm PST.

We will be taking you on a journey from idea to implementation on how research impacts all of us. Our panel of experts will share their research stories as they discuss the role of inflammation in MS, Alzheimer’s and other brain conditions. These experts will also participate in a moderated group conversation to explore what led them to research, the challenges they have faced and the opportunities for the future. Join us for a short yoga routine led by a BC Brain Wellness Program instructor and listen to the real-life stories of BC Brain Wellness Program participants living with MS and participating in research.

We hope you leave with a better understanding of the research process, why research is an important part of the BC Brain Wellness Program, and how you can participate in this journey towards Brain Wellness, Beyond All Boundaries.

Missed the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Tapping into how the brain reward system functions in response to musical and rhythmical pleasure, June’s Wellness Wednesday will feature Drs. Robert Zatorre and Eve Poudrier to explore what happens in the brain when we express through music. We will also engage in interactive rhythmic patterns led by our own Musical Movements instructor Cynthia Friesen and Dr. Poudrier.

Speakers

Eve Poudrier, Faculty of Music

Dr. Ève Poudrier is an Assistant Professor in Music Theory. Her research interests include rhythm and meter theory and analysis, 20th-century music, and music cognition, with a focus on rhythmic complexity and style-specific expertise. She has presented her research at interdisciplinary conferences in North-America, Europe and the United Arab Emirates and published in Music Perception and Empirical Musicology, among others.

Dr. Poudrier’s talk introduces research on polyrhythmic experience. A special focus of the presentation will be on the variety of musical contexts where polyrhythm is found and potential use of polyrhythmic music to enhance social bonding and personal expression.

Dr. Robert Zatorre, PhD

Robert Zatorre holds a Canada Research Chair in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University. He was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, studied music and psychology at Boston U, and obtained his PhD at Brown University, followed by postdoctoral work with Brenda Milner in Montreal. His laboratory studies the neural substrates of two characteristically human abilities: speech and music. Together with his many students and collaborators he has published over 300 scientific papers on topics including pitch perception, auditory imagery, music production, and brain plasticity; he is perhaps best known for discovering how the brain’s reward system results in musical pleasure. In 2006 he co-founded the international laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound research (BRAMS), a unique multiuniversity consortium dedicated to the cognitive neuroscience of music. His work has been recognized by numerous international prizes: including the neuronal plasticity prize from the IPSEN foundation (Paris), the Knowles prize in hearing research (Northwestern U), and the deCarvalho-Heineken prize in cognitive science (Amsterdam). He tries to keep up his baroque repertoire on the organ whenever he gets a chance.

Professor Zatorre's work has shown that music engages the brain's reward system--a basic biological mechanism to signal stimuli necessary for survival and fitness. In this talk he will show how neuroimaging experiments in his laboratory were able to uncover this phenomenon. He will then discuss new studies relevant to the current COVID-19 worldwide crisis, showing that music is among the topmost activities that promote well-being and coping with the pandemic, and that it is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety.

Cynthia Friesen

Cynthia Friesen pursued her musical education at the conservatory in Toronto, studying both piano and voice. After working professionally in radio and television production, she returned to teaching music, balancing a coaching practice of voice students in her home studio with the directing of choral programs at St. James Music Academy in Vancouver. Ms. Friesen contributes to the broader vision of the BC Brain Wellness Program and within her classes, supports creative aging and life enrichment for adults through choral singing, supported by current research investigating the remarkable impact made through music care.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

From awareness of posture to voice and swallowing functions, May’s Wellness Wednesday will offer a spring refresh on your personal expression. We will be joined by registered speech language pathologists’ Ms. Sherri Zelazny and Dr. Linda Rammage, and Mr. Mark Vasak who is an expert in the Alexander technique. Join us for great session on speech and posture and brain health.

Speakers

Sherri K Zelazny, MA RSLP CCC-SLP

Sherri is a Registered Speech-Language Pathologist with more than 30 years of experience. She received her undergraduate degree from Ithaca College, Ithaca NY and her graduate degree from New York University, New York, NY.

Sherri began her career as a general speech pathologist in Laconia, NH where she worked for 15 years. She went on to pursue advanced clinical expertise in voice and laryngeal airway management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Voice and Swallow Clinics. While at the University of Wisconsin, Sherri worked as a member of a dynamic team of Speech-Language Pathologists and Laryngologists. She has presented nationally on a variety of voice and laryngeal airway topics.

Her areas of special interest include voice evaluation and treatment, paradoxical vocal fold motion, voice therapy for Parkinson Disease, Gender Affirming Voice Training, and community education. Sherri holds the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals BC Advanced Competency for Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Voice and Swallowing and is an LSVT® Certified Clinician.

Sherri is a member of the Board of Directors of Parkinson Society British Columbia (PSBC) and Past President of Speech and Hearing BC and is also the owner and directors of the Surrey Voice Clinic www.surreyvoiceclinic.com

Contact:

sherri@surreyvoiceclinic.com

604.785.7357

Dr. Linda Rammage, Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Rammage is a Clinical Professor in UBC Department of Surgery, Adjunct Professor, School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, UBC; private practice owner of "Vocalizing with Ease" and will be presenting on a practical client teaching tool called the ‘ALERT model of voice dysfunction’, which is an overview of all potential factors that can create voice or laryngeal breathing problems.

Mark Vasak, CANSTAT

Mark Vasak is a certified Alexander Technique (AT) teacher, has a Master of Occupational Therapy from the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Capilano University Jazz Studies program. With this unique background in embodied movement, rehabilitation, and music Mark teaches his students to reconnect to and develop their intrinsic poise throughout many stages and challenges of life.

Currently, most of his time is dedicated to teaching AT in the Acting for Stage and Screen program in Capilano University’s Theatre department. He also runs a private practice comprised of select dedicated students working to overcome movement impairments due to injury or illness, and/or optimize their performance in a wide variety of fields requiring mindful movement.

He is a member of a leading international research organization for AT (the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique Research Group) and was executive co-director of Alexander Technique Canada from 2015-2018.

website: alexandertechniquewithmark.com

email: alexanderwithmark@gmail.com

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!!

Resources

Finding an SLP:

College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC: https://onlineservice.cshbc.ca/webs/cshbc/register/#

Speech and Hearing BC Find A Professional: https://speechandhearingbc.ca/#professional-map

Grow your garden and grow your brain! Join us for a discussion about gardening, food science and brain health. We will be joined by the Dean and Associated Dean of Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, Drs. Rickey Yada, and David Kitts, and BC Brain Wellness Gardening instructor, Joanna Wilke.

Speakers

Rickey Y. Yada, PhD

In 2014, Professor Rickey Yada was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. Prior to UBC, Dr. Yada was at the University of Guelph where he held numerous leadership roles, including Assistant Vice President Research, Canada Research Chair in Food Protein Structure, Scientific Director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (Networks of Centres of Excellence), and Founding Member of the Food Institute. He is, currently, the North American Editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology as well as serving on the editorial board of several journals. Dr. Yada is the author of over 230 refereed journal publications, 27 book chapters and 10 books, and has a career h-index of 44 with 7,944 citations (Google Scholar, Nov 2020). His areas of research includes: the structure – function relationships of enzymes (aspartic proteases) and carbohydrate biochemistry as related to nutrition and food quality. Dr. Yada serves in a leadership capacity to several research and industry organizations, some of which include Chair of the Board of Trustees, International Life Science Institute – North America; Board of Bioenterprise Inc.; Advisory Committee Member – Arrell Food Institute and Seeding Food Innovation Grant Program (George Weston Loblaws); Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel – Riddet Institute (New Zealand); and a Member of the Advisory Panel – AgResearch (New Zealand). He is also a Past President and Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology and the International Academy of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and is also a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. Dr. Yada has an honorary DSc from the University of Guelph and was the 2019 Harraways 1867 Visiting Professor, University of Otago, New Zealand.

David D. Kitts, Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Dr. David Kitts is a professor in the Food Science group within the Food, Nutrition and Health program and Associate Dean, Research in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. Dr Kitts teaches third year undergraduate course in Food Chemistry and a course in Advances in Food Toxicology and Risk Assessment. His areas of research also specialize in the disciplines of Food Chemistry, Toxicology and Nutrition. His research is focused on the production, or development, of food products that are safe and nutritious. His recent research interests include characterization of antioxidant structure-functional activity of several bioactive plant and animal products and evaluation of potential physiological responses of bioactive components in foods. He is also presently working in collaborations to evaluate the safety and efficacy of novel food processing technologies.

Joanna Wilke, Return to Roots Instructor, BC Brain Wellness Program

My soul has always yearned to be in the garden. Possibly emerging from the genetic roots of my homesteading grandparents who fed their seven children during World War II through foraging, gardening, hunting, canning and preserving, I too grew up with an appreciation for the natural, wholesome, homegrown and handmade.

Always creative in every aspect of my life, I spent most of it in music, receiving a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from UVIC and several other teaching and performance diplomas. Performance and competitions brought with them stress and anxiety and instinctually, my body and mind found respite, healing, and serenity in the garden. Cooking, creating, and gardening offered a place where I could be quiet and calm, and this has lasted throughout my life of being a wife of 24 years, mother of three children, and music instructor for over 30 years.

After homeschooling our children for six years, my combined passion for growing things and cooking led me to develop a gardening program for grade 4 students at a local Vancouver school, which I have been running for 6 years now. It has been a great joy to pass on my skills, exuberance and gardening knowledge to the next generation and to simply explore and wonder with them. I continue to produce hundreds of kilos of fresh homegrown produce from our 33’ x 122’ Vancouver lot and this year, have 46 tomato plants with 22 different varieties all grown from seed.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Resources

Institute of Food Technologists (IFT): www.ift.org/career-development/learn-about-food-science

Why Food Science matters: www.ift.org/career-development/learn-about-food-science/why-food-science-matters#foodisessential

In Defence of Food: http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/in-defense-of-food/

Brain foods for brain health video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa7zGZmiLNk

Foods linked to better brain power: www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower

The Mediterranean Diet: www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

Journal Articles

Eating Behavior in Aging and Dementia: The Need for a Comprehensive Assessment https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2020.604488/full

Functional Foods: an Approach to Modulate Molecular Mechanisms of Alzheimer’s Disease https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/9/11/2347

Join us for a conversation about mental health with a focus on anxiety, depression and mood. Speakers will include clinician-scientist Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez, and occupational therapist and post-doctoral fellow Krista Glowacki.

Speakers:

Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez

A clinician-scientist, with a strong interest in conducting translational research that bridges our understanding on the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders with the clinical applications of this knowledge. His clinical practice is actively focused in those most severely afflicted by such conditions, and my research interests are directed at finding novel therapeutic interventions within Non-Invasive Neurostimulation Therapies (NINETs) that can help mitigate the suffering of those with severe and refractory forms of psychosis and depression. He strongly believe that understanding NINETs’ mechanism(s) of action is a critical step towards translating research knowledge to clinical practice. More important, translating that knowledge to clinical practice will have a direct, immediate, and positive impact on the life’s of those who struggle and suffer the most devastating forms of mental illness and their families.

In the lab they actively investigate on all forms of NINET and we use a varied number of neurophysiological tools to research on biomarkers. The lab is also the only centre in Canada to host both simultaneous TMS-fMRI and tDCS-fMRI capability.

Dr. Krista Glowacki

Dr. Krista Glowacki is an occupational therapist who has worked in the field of mental health for over a decade. She recently completed her doctorate exploring the relationship of mental health and physical activity at the University of British Columbia. She co-developed the Exercise and Depression Toolkit, a resource for health care providers and individuals with depression to collaboratively consider exercise as a treatment option which has had international reach. Most recently, she started work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Dr. Skye Barbic and the community organization Foundry, researching the use of Wellness and physical activity programs in the community for youth with mental health and substance use disorders.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Resources

The Exercise and Depression Tookit: https://www.exerciseanddepression.ca/

How does sleep impact your brain health? Join us for a discussion about sleep, sleep hygiene, and brain function. We will be joined by Dr. Ryan Falck from the Department of Physical Therapy and neurologist Dr. Jason Valerio from the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre.

Speakers:

Dr. Ryan Stanley Falck is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physical Therapy at The University of British Columbia. His research examines how physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep can impact the cognitive health of older adults at risk for dementia.

Dr. Jason Valerio is a clinician scientist at Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre and the first neurologist to sub-specialize in sleep and movement disorders in Canada. Dr. Valerio’s talk will discuss the challenges of sleep across different neurological conditions and how to manage and treat these challenges.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!

Resources

American Sleep Association www.sleepassociation.org

www.calm.com

www.headspace.com

Quiet Your Mind & Get to Sleep: Solutions to Insomnia for Those with Depression, Anxiety, Or Chronic Pain by Colleen E. Carney and Rachel Manber

Join us for a delicious discussion about food, nutrition, the microbiome and how they all can change our brains. We will be joined by registered dietician, Suzanne Kaye who will discuss nutrition and diets for brain health; neurologists Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell who will outline recent advancements in nutrition and microbiome research and lastly; chef Darren Clay will lead us through how to implement brain health foods into our diets.

Speakers:

Since Suzanne Kaye’s teen years, she has had a passion for learning about nutrition and how food can help the body thrive. She completed her Master’s of Nutritional Science at the University of Guelph, and her dietetics training in Hamilton Ontario. She has been a Registered Dietitian for 16 years, working in a variety of community and acute care settings. This has included inpatient medicine and surgical units, general outpatient nutritional counseling, a swallowing clinic, long term care, transplant clinics (various organs), chronic kidney disease and hemodialysis clinics, and teleservices for Healthlink BC. In her spare time she enjoys trying new recipes, including trying to perfect recipes that are free from a number of common allergens. She also loves keeping active so she can keep up with her 4 year old son. She has lived in Vancouver since 2009.

Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell is a movement disorder neurologist, trained in Germany, London (UK) and Vancouver, BC. She is an Associate Professor (grant tenure) for Medicine/Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and holds the Marg Meikle Professorship for Research in Parkinson’s disease. Her research focusses on the role of the microbiome in Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders, care delivery in Parkinson’s as well as coping strategies, resilience and neuropsychiatric features of Parkinson’s. She has established iCAPTURE PD, a large registry for Parkinson’s and related disorders which serves as a resource to understand clinical patterns and clinic-genetic correlations. Dr Appel-Cresswell is a founding director of the BC Brain Wellness Foundation to foster wellbeing in chronic brain disease and aging through exercise, arts, nutrition, mind care, and education. She is spearheading the use of ultrasound to guide botulinum toxin injections for dystonia in Canada.

Dr Appel-Cresswell is co-director of the annual National Canadian Neurology Residents Course for Movement Disorders. Her contributions to teaching were recently recognized with the “Department of Medicine (UBC) Master Teacher Award” in 2018. She serves as the secretary of the Canadian Movement Disorder Group, as a scientific advisor for Parkinson Canada and for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Canada as well as a peer reviewer for several scientific journals. She has been a speaker and has served on the organizing committees of several regional, national and international conferences, including the 21st International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in 2017.

Darren Clay’s passion for culinary arts began at an early age. Every morning a loaf of unsliced bologna and unsliced bread was left out for him to saw through and create his own haphazardly shaped meat and mustard sandwich. Fast forward a number of years where he apprenticed with Fairmont Hotels in Vancouver, various establishments in Singapore with Raffles Hotel Group and learned efficiency and systems with Cactus Club Cafe. Darren settled into a role as Executive Culinary Chef at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts on Granville Island.

Wanting to give back to the industry, Darren sits on various ITA advisory committees, was a part of the Joy of Feeding steering committee which raised awareness and funds for the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm. It was here that he was enlightened with the progressive initiatives happening at UBC and joined the team to help make a difference in the future of food.

Darren is currently with UBC Food Services and working on various initiatives to bring local, sustainable and healthy options to students and staff. He can’t remember the last bologna sandwich he ate.

Miss the event or want to share? Check out the recorded video!