People with swallowing disorders must eat pureed or minced texture foods to eat safely. However, the process of pureeing or mincing greatly reduces the food’s appeal, often degrades its nutritional quality and can lead to undernutrition. New reformed modified-texture food products have been developed specifically for people with swallowing disorders. These foods are not only […]

It is well known in Cardiology that chronic right ventricular apex (RVA) pacing (using a pacemaker to regulate heart rhythm by pacing the lower chamber of the heart near the base) might be detrimental to heart function. Right Ventricular Apex (RVA) pacing is the most commonly used for patients. Alternate sites such as right ventricular […]

Providence Healthcare has established a reputation as one of the leading centres for cardiovascular research and treatment in Canada. Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals Canada is a major provider of pharmaceuticals used in cardiovascular treatment, and has an active research agenda aimed at improving the effectiveness of non]invasive diagnosis and treatment in this field. Pfizer and Providence […]

Recently it was shown that cells taken from adult skin could be converted to cells possessing “stem-cell-like” characteristics by a process called cellular reprogramming.  However, the use of these cells is limited by our understanding of how to derive mature and functional cells, such as blood cells that could be used for disease treatment.  We […]

Vaccination is the most effective method for the prevention of a wide range of human illnesses.  Vaccines are currently prepared by growing live virus strains in chicken eggs.  New strategies are very much needed to improve the speed and efficiency of virus production, especially during disease outbreaks.  Recently, Chem Virion has identified new drugs which […]

Salmonella is the second most frequent cause of foodborne illness in Canada and pork is one of sources for human salmonellosis.  Salmonella has also the potential to cause clinical disease in pigs.  Salmonella is commonly found on Ontario swine farms.  Thus control strategies should be implemented.  Vaccination appears to be one of the most promising […]

Many individuals acquire infections each year, yet few progress to critical illness. The current inability to identify the proportion of individuals who will progress to life-threatening illness is a major impediment to effective management of infectious disease. Using malaria as a model, the aim of the project is to identify and validate a panel of […]

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a common blood disorder characterized by low platelet counts and an increased risk of bleeding. Many patients with ITP can be maintained with conventional therapies, but when an invasive procedure or surgery is planned, a short course of treatment is needed to rapidly increase platelet counts preoperatively so that dangerous bleeds […]

Individuals with speech problems face difficulties such as anxiety, poor socialization and poor literacy. Key to effective intervention and therapy is a better understanding of the brain activity associated with speech. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a new brain-imaging technology that, for the first time, allows researchers to monitor the fast-changing brain activity involved with speech. The […]

My goal is to develop new approaches in speech technologies for physically or cognitively disadvantaged users. This includes applying the specialized automatic speech recognition (ASR) algorithms developed during my doctoral research into real-world tools for speakers with speech disorders. For example, I will develop software-assisted human-human interaction in which speech that is unintelligible because of […]

Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation makes it possible to boost the MRI signal of 13C labelled pyruvate 10,000-fold, overcoming the low natural signal of carbon. This makes imaging of metabolic processes possible, and could provide useful insight on changes in cellular metabolism due to cancer. Imaging the metabolic products of pyruvate allows monitoring not only where metabolism […]

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) consists in implanting electrodes delivering electric stimuli in deep brain structures to relieve motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Even if DBS is successful in alleviating symptoms for about 50,000 patients worldwide, it is an invasive neurosurgical technique, and its mechanisms of action remain elusive. This therapy could be greatly improved […]