Ivar Mendez | |
---|---|
Born | La Paz, Bolivia |
Alma mater | University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto |
Scientific career | |
Fields | neurosurgery, neuroscience, photography, sculpture, philanthropy |
Institutions | University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Health Region, Dalhousie University, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University Neurosurgery |
Ivar Mendez OC [1] is a Canadian neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who is a professor of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan. He is known for his work in cell transplantation for Parkinson's disease and the use of remote presence robotics in neurosurgery and primary health care. In December 2022, Mendez was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada for his pioneering work in the use of remote telemedicine and robotics to revolutionize the delivery of health and patient care. [2] Dr. Mendez is the Director of the Virtual Health Hub. [3]
Mendez served as the F.H. Wigmore Professor [4] and Provincial Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority from 2013 to 2022 for the Province of Saskatchewan. He also holds an appointment at the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University and he is one of the founders of the Brain Repair Centre. [5] He is also the president and founder of the Ivar Mendez International Foundation [6] that provides health and educational assistance to children in the Bolivian Andes. Mendez is a photographer and sculptor [7] and has published four books of photography.
Mendez was born in La Paz, Bolivia and immigrated with his family to Canada as a teenager. He obtained a BSc degree from the University of Toronto and then an M.D. from the University of Western Ontario (UWO). He did a neurosurgical residency training in London, and was certified in Neurosurgery from the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada in 1994 and from the American Board of Neurological Surgery [8] in 1996. He became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1998 and became a member of the College Board of Governors [9] in 2015. His interest in regenerative medicine led him to obtain a PhD in Anatomy and Neurobiology from the UWO his PhD thesis was on "Neurotransmitter Interactions in Nigral Grafts". [10] He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Lund in Sweden under the supervision of Anders Björklund. [11] In 2014, Saint Mary's University (Halifax) in Nova Scotia awarded Mendez a Doctor of Science (honoris causa) degree for his contribution to Neuroscience and he was inducted a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.[ citation needed ] In 2016, Mendez received the Government of Canada Public Service Award of Excellence for the use of remote presence robotic technology to improve healthcare in the Canadian North.[ citation needed ] In December 2022, Mendez was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada for his pioneering work in the use of remote telemedicine and robotics to revolutionize the delivery of health and patient care in Canada and worldwide. [2] Dr. Mendez is the Director of the Virtual Health Hub. [3]
He pioneered the technique of multiple grafts to restore dopamine input to the parkinsonian mammalian brain. [12] [13] This technique was translated into clinical trials in patients with Parkinson's disease and showed long-term survival of those grafts. [14] [15] [16] [17] He also pioneered the use of Glial Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) in combination with fetal cells in humans. [18] [19] [20] Mendez invented a transplantation delivery system to inject cells into the human brain. [21] With his team, he performed the first long-distance brain surgery robotic telementoring in the world by using a robotic arm to mentor neurosurgeons located 400 km away. [22] He is also pioneering the use of remote presence devices to deliver health care in remote locations. [23] [24] [25] In 2015, Mendez and his team printed the first 3D brain for planning deep brain stimulation surgery. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] Research in 3D brain printing led in 2016 to the development of a virtual reality (VR) brain for medical education and surgical planning applications. [31] [32] [33] In 2020, Dr. Mendez and his remote presence technology team pioneered the use of telerobotic ultrasonography for abdominal and obstetric sonography. [34] [35] This technology was used to provide prenatal ultrasound to pregnant women living in COVID-19 outbreak communities. [36]
Mendez has established a Canadian charitable organization, the Ivar Mendez International Foundation, [6] to provide nutrition, dental care and art program to children in remote locations of the Bolivian Andes. [41]
He has published four books of photography [51] and has had several exhibitions of his photography and sculpture [52] In October 2003 He sculpted a bust of Canadian Neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Drake was installed outside the front entrance of University Hospital in London, Ontario where Drake practiced medicine. The statue was unveiled by American Actress and Singer Della Reese whose life was saved by Drake following an Aneurysm in October 1979. [53]
Central pontine myelinolysis is a neurological condition involving severe damage to the myelin sheath of nerve cells in the pons. It is predominately iatrogenic (treatment-induced), and is characterized by acute paralysis, dysphagia, dysarthria, and other neurological symptoms.
The substantia nigra (SN) is a basal ganglia structure located in the midbrain that plays an important role in reward and movement. Substantia nigra is Latin for "black substance", reflecting the fact that parts of the substantia nigra appear darker than neighboring areas due to high levels of neuromelanin in dopaminergic neurons. Parkinson's disease is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta.
MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) is an organic compound. It is classified as a tetrahydropyridine. It is of interest as a precursor to the monoaminergic neurotoxin MPP+, which causes permanent symptoms of Parkinson's disease by destroying dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. It has been used to study disease models in various animals.
The nigrostriatal pathway is a bilateral dopaminergic pathway in the brain that connects the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in the midbrain with the dorsal striatum in the forebrain. It is one of the four major dopamine pathways in the brain, and is critical in the production of movement as part of a system called the basal ganglia motor loop. Dopaminergic neurons of this pathway release dopamine from axon terminals that synapse onto GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs), also known as spiny projection neurons (SPNs), located in the striatum.
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty moving the eyes, and cognitive impairment. PSP may be mistaken for other types of neurodegeneration such as Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The cause of the condition is uncertain, but involves the accumulation of tau protein within the brain. Medications such as levodopa and amantadine may be useful in some cases.
Thalamotomy is a surgical procedure in which a functional lesion is made into the thalamus to improve the overall brain function in patients. First introduced in the 1950s, it is primarily effective for tremors such as those associated with Parkinson's disease, where a selected portion of the thalamus is surgically destroyed (ablated). Neurosurgeons use specialized equipment to precisely locate an area of the thalamus, usually choosing to work on only one side. Bilateral procedures are poorly tolerated because of increased complications and risk, including vision and speech problems. The positive effects on tremors are immediate. Other less destructive procedures are sometimes preferred, such as subthalamic deep brain stimulation, since this procedure can also improve tremors and other symptoms of PD.
Hypokinesia is one of the classifications of movement disorders, and refers to decreased bodily movement. Hypokinesia is characterized by a partial or complete loss of muscle movement due to a disruption in the basal ganglia. Hypokinesia is a symptom of Parkinson's disease shown as muscle rigidity and an inability to produce movement. It is also associated with mental health disorders and prolonged inactivity due to illness, amongst other diseases.
Neural engineering is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, or enhance neural systems. Neural engineers are uniquely qualified to solve design problems at the interface of living neural tissue and non-living constructs.
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery is an incision-less therapeutic technique that uses non-ionizing ultrasonic waves to heat or ablate tissue. HIFU can be used to increase the flow of blood or lymph or to destroy tissue, such as tumors, via thermal and mechanical mechanisms. Given the prevalence and relatively low cost of ultrasound generation mechanisms, the premise of HIFU is that it is expected to be a non-invasive and low-cost therapy that can at least outperform care in the operating room.
In the management of Parkinson's disease, due to the chronic nature of Parkinson's disease (PD), a broad-based program is needed that includes patient and family education, support-group services, general wellness maintenance, exercise, and nutrition. At present, no cure for the disease is known, but medications or surgery can provide relief from the symptoms.
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease of mainly the central nervous system that affects both the motor and non-motor systems of the body. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and, as the disease progresses, non-motor symptoms become more common. Usual symptoms include tremors, slowness of movement, rigidity, and difficulty with balance, collectively known as parkinsonism. Parkinson's disease dementia, falls and neuropsychiatric problems such as sleep abnormalities, psychosis, mood swings, or behavioral changes may also arise in advanced stages.
The research in Parkinson's disease refers to any study intended to help answer questions about etiology, diagnostic approaches or new treatments of Parkinson's disease (PD) by studying their effects on human subjects. Clinical trials are designed and conducted by scientists and medical experts, who invite participants to undergo testing new vaccines, therapies, or treatments.
Parkinsonian gait is the type of gait exhibited by patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). It is often described by people with Parkinson's as feeling like being stuck in place, when initiating a step or turning, and can increase the risk of falling. This disorder is caused by a deficiency of dopamine in the basal ganglia circuit leading to motor deficits. Gait is one of the most affected motor characteristics of this disorder although symptoms of Parkinson's disease are varied.
Gene therapy in Parkinson's disease consists of the creation of new cells that produce a specific neurotransmitter (dopamine), protect the neural system, or the modification of genes that are related to the disease. Then these cells are transplanted to a patient with the disease. There are different kinds of treatments that focus on reducing the symptoms of the disease but currently there is no cure.
The Krembil Research Institute, formerly known as the Toronto Western Research Institute, is an academic medical research institute in Toronto. It is one of the largest research institutes in Canada focusing on human neurological disease.
Cell-based therapies for Parkinson's disease include various investigational procedures which transplant specific populations of cells into the brains of people with Parkinson's disease. The investigation of cell transplantation therapies followed the discovery that the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta resulted in the motor symptoms of the disease. Thus, cell transplantation has focused on various dopamine producing cells throughout the body.
Anders Björklund is a Swedish neuroscientist and pioneer in the study of cell- and gene-based reparative and neuroprotective mechanisms in the brain. He has spent his academic career at Lund University in Sweden, as professor since 1983 and as senior professor at the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center since his formal retirement in 2012.
Focused ultrasound for intracrainial drug delivery is a non-invasive technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to disrupt tight junctions in the blood–brain barrier (BBB), allowing for increased passage of therapeutics into the brain. The BBB normally blocks nearly 98% of drugs from accessing the central nervous system, so FUS has the potential to address a major challenge in intracranial drug delivery by providing targeted and reversible BBB disruption. Using FUS to enhance drug delivery to the brain could significantly improve patient outcomes for a variety of diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and brain cancer.
Isabelle Aubert is a Canadian neuroscientist with expertise in developing regenerative therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. She is a senior scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute, and is a professor in laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto. In 2019, Aubert was appointed as a Canada Research Chair in Brain Repair and Regeneration.
Foetal brain cell graft is a surgical procedure that can be used as a regenerative treatment for various neurological conditions, but was mainly explored and used specifically for treating Parkinson's disease (PD). A standardised procedure is followed: the cells are usually obtained from a 7–8 weeks old foetus and the collected cells undergo testing to examine whether they are free from infectious agents and safe for transplantation. It is found that this procedure results in an overall improvement in motor functions and a reduction in reliance on medication for PD patients.