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Co-Investigators

Dr. Lee Cyn Ang, MBBS, FRCPath, FRCPC

Professor

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
Associate Scientist,
SJHC-Lawson Research Institute & LHSC Research

Neuropathologist, LHSC University Hospital and Victoria Hospital, SJHC Parkwood Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada
 

Dr. Ang completed his medical training at the National University of Singapore followed by postgraduate training in histopathology at the Singapore General Hospital, and a subsequent fellowship in neuropathology at the University of Western Ontario. He is a professor in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and was formerly a professor at both the University of Toronto and the University of Saskatchewan. He is also a scientist at SJHC-Lawson Research Institute. & LHSC Research. His research interests are broad within the domains of neuropathology and basic neuroscience. Specifically, Dr. Ang is investigating the molecular basis of CNS tumours, epilepsy, drug addictions, and neurodegenerative disorders including neuromuscular disease and dementia.

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For the most recent updates on Dr. Ang’s work, visit this link.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Elizabeth Finger, MD, FRCPC, FAAN

Professor 

Director of Research, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University

Scientist, SJHC-Lawson Research Institute, LHSC Research, Robarts Research Institute

Neurologist, University Hospital and Parkwood Institute, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Research Centre

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Dr. Elizabeth Finger is a Professor, clinician-scientist and Director of Research in the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at  Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). She is a Neurologist at both the Parkwood Institute and University Hospital, and a Scientist at SJHC-Lawson Research Institute and London Health Sciences Centre Research. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She completed an MD at Cornell University in New York City in 2000. Dr. Finger then completed an internship in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by Neurology residency and a year as chief resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Following residency Dr. Finger completed a 3 year clinical research fellowship in the Unit on Affective and Cognitive Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She is the recipient of  resident teaching awards from Harvard University (2003, 2004), Special Act Awards for Fellows at the NIH (2006, 2007), the Early Researcher Award from the Ministry of Research and Innovation of Ontario (2015-2019) and the Mid-Career Clinical Research Award from the Physicians Services Incorporated Foundation (2020-2024).

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At the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre at Parkwood, her clinic and research is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with neurodegenerative disease including Frontotemporal Dementia and related disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and Lewy Body Dementia. 

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For the most recent updates on Dr. Finger’s work, visit this link.

Dr. Qi Zhang, MBBS, PhD, FRCPC

Associate Professor

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
Associate Scientist, LHSC-Research & SJHC-Lawson Research Institute.

Neuropathologist, LHSC University Hospital and Victoria Hospital, SJHC, London, Ontario, Canada

 

Dr. Zhang received a Bachelor of Medicine from Qingdao University Medical College in China and then went on to complete his Master’s degree in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Fujian Medical University in China. From China, Dr. Zhang travelled to the University of Manitoba, where he completed his PhD in the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science. Dr. Zhang completed his residency training in Anatomical Pathology here at Western University, followed by a clinical fellowship in Neuropathology. Dr. Zhang has a broad interest in basic neuroscience and neuropathological diseases. He is currently involved in 3 areas of research: neuropathological changes in epilepsy, brain metastasis from systemic malignancy and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Most recently, his work has investigated sudden death in epilepsy.

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Dr. Stephen Pasternak, MD, CM, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
Scientist, Molecular Brain Research Group, Robarts Research Institute
Director, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Research Centre
Scientist, SJHC-Lawson Research Institute & LHSC-Research

Neurologist, LHSC University Hospital, SJHC Parkwood Hospital
Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

 

Dr. Stephen Pasternak is a Cognitive Neurologist and Director of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre and a Scientist at the Robarts Research Institute at Western University (The University of Western Ontario) in London, Canada. He obtained degrees in Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He obtained MD and PhD degrees from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, followed by clinical/residency training in Neurology at the University of Toronto, Canada. He then pursued post-doctoral training in cell biology at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada along with clinical training in Behavioural Neurology at Memory clinics at the University of Toronto.


Dr. Pasternak’s basic science laboratory at the Robarts Research Institute at Western University uses live cell imaging with confocal microscopy and biochemical techniques to study Lysosomal function in Alzheimer’s disease.

He has identified several new pathways in which the Amyloid Precursor Protein is delivered directly to Lysosomes for processing into beta Amyloid. He is currently investigating a mechanism for Abeta secretion using Total Internal Reflection Microscopy (TIRFM) live cell imaging to  study vesicle fusion events at the plasma membrane.

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​For the most recent updates on Dr. Pasternak's work, visit this link. 

Dr. Michael J. Strong, MD, FRCP(C), FANN, FCAHS

Professor of Neurology

President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

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Dr. Michael J. Strong is the president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He was formerly the Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and is a Distinguished Professor at this institution within the department of clinical neurological sciences. From 2001-2010, he served as the co-chair of the department of clinical neurological sciences and the chief of neurology. He completed his undergraduate and medical training at Queen’s university in Kingston (1976-1982), residency training at Western University (1982-1987), and postgraduate training at the laboratory of central nervous system studies at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

 

He has published peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters extensively and has given 170 invited lectures nationally and internationally owing to his expertise in ALS research. He has received many awards for his work, most notably the Sheila Essay (2005) and Forbes Norris (2008) international awards for excellence in ALS research. He is the only Canadian ever to receive both awards.

 

His research currently focuses on the clinical course of ALS, specifically the “non-motor” cognitive symptoms of the disease and using neuroimaging to predict which patients are most at risk for developing these features. He is also investigating the neuropathological and molecular basis for ALS, with a focus on proteins which stabilize mRNA molecules and which they have discovered to be abnormal in ALS.

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For the most recent updates on Dr. Strong’s work, visit this link.

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Katrina Szawara BSc, MLT

DECBB Coordinator

 

Senior Medical Laboratory Technologist, Surgical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, London Health Sciences Centre

 

Katrina works part-time to coordinate the laboratory activities at the DECBB including maintaining current biosafety certifications, database management, equipment management, and preparation of tissue samples for research including cutting, labeling and staining and shipping of slides.

 

Katrina brings more than 25 years of experience in laboratory and pathology to the DEBB, where she is committed to infusing her work with a passion for quality and research development.

 

Katrina received her Bachelor of Biochemistry/Nutrition from the University of Ottawa, her Medical Laboratory Technology Diploma from Algonquin College, and Certificate of Quality Laboratory Management from Michener.

Carolyn Shire (she/her), M.S., PA 

Clinical Coordinator, LHSC Ontario Tumour Bank

Research Associate, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry

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Carolyn works part-time sectioning donor specimens, drafting biobanking protocols, and assisting in the development of the database for the DECBB.

 

She is the full-time Pathologists' Assistant at the LHSC Victoria Hospital, Satellite Pathology Laboratory collecting fresh surgical tissue for translational cancer research for the Ontario Tumour Bank (OTB), a program of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR).

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Carolyn received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of New Hampshire, a Master of Science in Biomedical Anthropology from Binghamton University, and a Master of Science, Pathologists' Assistant Program from University of Maryland, Baltimore.

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