Research Assets

UNIVERSITY OF MONTREAL

www.umontreal.ca

 

Founded in 1878, University of Montreal (UoM) is one of Canada’s leading universities. With 13 faculties, it is the largest institution of higher education in Quebec, the second largest in Canada, and among the most active in North America with CAN$ 394 million in re- search funding in 2003.

 

UoM’s health research is divided among various re- search centers, the main one being the Montreal University Hospital (CHUM) Research Center.

 

Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM)

 

Affiliated with the University of Montreal, the IUGM
(www.criugm.qc.ca) hosted 37 principal researchers and 150 students in 2003-2004. It is not only a unique model of a hospital specializing in health care for the elderly, but also a visionary establishment leading the way in interdisciplinary health care. The hospital’s focus on long-term care will soon be increasingly turning towards ambulatory care for elderly patients, offering a unique, innovative approach.

 

The IUGM is the focal point of collaboration between all the health-related faculties and departments of Montreal-area universities. Clinical research is its main distinguishing feature, the intensity of exchanges between clinicians and fundamental researchers bringing unique benefits for both groups. The IUGM houses a Specialized Research Library of works and periodicals in the field of health and aging. Its on-site team of librarians and researchers, available to both public and private users, has also created an advanced search engine for health and aging research (GERMAIN) that serves several thousand French-language users each month.

 

Its research program addresses four thematic areas in health and aging. Many researchers, professors at the University of Montreal, are among the best in their re- search field.

 

 

Leading researchers:

 

Dr. Yves Joanette is Research Director at the IUGM: impact of right-hemisphere injuries on human communication, as well as on the cognitive dimensions of dementia in Alzheimer's disease.

 

Dr. Francine Ducharme, Director of the Desjardins Chair in Nursing Care for Older Persons and Fami- lies: development and assessment of innovative intervention with family members serving as caregivers for older persons living at home or in health care institutions.

 

Dr. Sylvie Belleville: characterization and treatment of memory loss in normal and pathological aging of pre-clinical phases of Alzheimer’s disease that can take the form of mild cognitive impairment.

 

Dr. Bryna Shatenstein: cultural determinants of nutrition and the measurement of food consumption in the elderly population; principal investigator of the NUAGE project, a major, multi-centric clinical research, epidemiological and fundamental study focusing on nutrition as a determinant of successful aging.

 

Dr. Marie-Jeanne Kergoat, physician specializing in geriatrics: cognitive neuroscience around the concept of frailty among elderly persons, health and ser- vices for the elderly and their families, and sensory
(vision) impairment and aging.

 

Dr. Cara Tannenbaum, physician specializing in internal and geriatric medicine: clinical research project to evaluate health care needs of elderly women, the impact of aging on individuals and society, and osteoporosis.

 

University of Montreal Hospital Research Center

 

The University of Montreal Hospital Research Center
(CHUM) is the University’s major health research center. The CHUM research program is dedicated to the neurosciences.

Leading researchers in health and aging:

 

Dr. Gilles Beaudoin: quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fMRI spatial optimization, imaging optimization

 

Dr. Pierrette Gaudreau, neuroendocrinologist: effects of aging on growth hormone and endocrine dis- eases; elderly rat animal model to study nutrition impact on aging.

 

Dr. François Richer: effects of frontal lesions on motor programming and adaptation, on concentration interference effects and brain imaging (fMRI) of frontal cortex.

 

Drs. Sylvain Chouinard & Michel Panisset (McGill University) are co-founders of the Movement Disorder Clinic, employing 20 health specialists. The Clinic was recently created by merging the clinics of University of Montreal and McGill University out of a concern to improve patient health care. The Clinic is part of the Canadian Movement Disorders Group and the Parkinson Study Group (a North American consortium of academic centers specializing in Parkinson's disease) and is subsidized by The Parkinson Foundation of Canada.

 

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

www.mcgill.ca

 

The McGill Centre for Studies in Aging

 

The McGill Centre for Studies in Aging (MCSA; www.aging.mgill.ca) was established in 1985 as a multidisciplinary academic unit dedicated to Health and Aging Research. With its 13 principal researchers lo- cated at the Lady Davis Institute and the Douglas Hospital, over the last few years the MCSA has developed strong expertise in the field of brain aging. It is recognized as one of the world’s leading research centers in the field of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and in the complex field of the neuroendocrinology of aging.

 

The MCSA’s research program is designed to examine the fundamental mechanisms controlling the aging process in normal and diseased brains. Areas of inter- est include:

 

 

Douglas Hospital

 

(www.douglasrecherche.qc.ca) The Douglas Hospital is Canada’s most important research facility in the fields of neurosciences and mental health. Scientists and clinician-researchers, who are also McGill University professors, are expanding our knowledge of the causes of mental illness (genetic, environmental, cultural and social) and of diagnostic tools and treat- ments, and working to identify preventive measures. The Douglas Hospital Research Center Brain Bank is one of the two largest depositories of autopsied human brain tissues in Canada. Its research program focuses on four research themes, one of which is aging and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2016, 17% of Canadians will be 65 or over (Statistic Canada, 2001). 75% of elderly (85 and over) dementia is related to Alzheimer’s disease. Early detec- tion of Alzheimer’s disease via biological and psychological markers is the Douglas Hospital Research Center’s priority.

 

The Douglas Hospital is an important clinical trial site involved in the development and testing of novel drug designs to alleviate the symptoms of age- related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson diseases.

 

Leading researchers:

 

Dr. Judes Poirier, Director of the McGill University Center for Studies in Aging, has attained international recognition for his scientific contributions to- wards understanding that drug responsiveness to memory enhancer medication used for Alzheimer’s disease is highly dependent upon specific genes inherited from parents.

 

Dr. Remi Quirion, Scientific Director of the Douglas Hospital Research Center and inaugural Scientific Director of the newly established Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction — part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Dr. Quirion has established a laboratory dedicated to understanding the relationships between key pheno- types of the Alzheimer's brain, molecular and pharmacological features of neuropeptide receptors focusing on NPY and CGRP, and their role in memory, pain and drug addiction.

 

Dr. Sonia J. Lupien is Director of the aging and Alzheimer’s disease research theme at the Douglas Hospital Research Center, and co-director of the McGill Center for Studies on Aging. Her team has recently discovered that high levels of stress hor- mones in the elderly may further increase the prob- ability of memory decline.

 

Dr. Serge Gauthier, Director of the Alzheimer and Cognitive Disorder Clinic, has expertise in early diag- nosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive disorders, including vascular dementia and mild cognitive impairment. The Clinic is recognized internationally as a Phase II-IV clinical trial site (one that tests the efficacy and safety of experimental drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders).

 

Lady Davis Institute

 

Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
(www.jgh.ca/research/ldi) is an integral part of the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital and thus has strong academic links with McGill University. The SOLIDAGE research group is based at the Lady Davis Institute.

 

Dr. Christina Wolfson (CLSA), a neuroepidemiologist, is Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies and Associate Member in the Divi- sion of Geriatrics, at the Lady Davis Institute. Her re- search interests are in the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis and dementia. For the past 10 years much of her research has focused on risk factors, prognosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Dr. Howard Bergman, Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine of McGill University, Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and a researcher at the Centre for Epidemiology and Community Studies at the Lady Davis Institute, is particularly interested in the issue of early diagnosis of dementia, and participates as a researcher in clinical trials testing drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease.

 

LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS

 

The Functional Neuroimaging Unit

 

The Functional Neuroimaging Unit (UNF; www.unfmontreal.ca/siteweb) illustrates the multidisciplinarity of health and aging research and tight collaboration between all Montreal’s universities, 34 principal re- searchers having worked together on this project. The state-of-the-art imaging center entirely dedicated to research was inaugurated in 2004. The main piece of equipment is a Siemens high-field 3.0 Tesla TRIO magnetic resonance imaging system. Other imaging technologies include an optical imaging system for humans and a MR-compatible high-density ERP sys- tem, which will serve to carry out combined EEG/hdERP/fMRI studies. An initiative of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, the purchase of these items of equipment was made possible by a CAN$ 9.5 million financial contribution from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (40%), the Quebec Government (40%) and other partners including Siemens and Sun Micro Systems.

 

SOLIDAGE

 

SOLIDAGE (www.solidage.ca), the McGill University
/ University of Montreal research group on integrated services for the elderly, was set up in 1999 and is based at the Lady Davis Institute. SOLIDAGE is de- voted to research, policy studies and practice development and training in the organization, manage- ment and care of the older population

 

SIPA

 

SIPA, one of the three projects hosted by SOLI- DAGE, is a demonstration and evaluation project based on a model of integrated care for the frail eld- erly living in the community and on the evaluation of the impact on health, utilization of services, cost of services, quality of care and the implementation and organization of services.

 

This document had been prepared by: Montréal International