Krembil Research Institute

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Toronto Western Hospital's Krembil Neuroscience Centre Toronto Western Hospital (Krembil Neuroscience Centre).jpg
Toronto Western Hospital's Krembil Neuroscience Centre

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.

Contents

Krembil is one of the principal research institutes of the University Health Network and is the research institute of the Toronto Western Hospital.

Krembil researches treatments for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke, brain tumours, concussions, spinal cord injuries, neuro-ophthalmologic and other ocular disorders, multiple sclerosis and autoimmune disorders.

History

In the early 1980s, Toronto Western took on additional neurological and neurosurgical care responsibilities for the UHN group. In 1980, the Playfair Neuroscience Institute was created. In 1999, it was renamed the Toronto Western Research Institute. The Institute added research areas in ophthalmology, rheumatology and orthopaedics. By 2004, under the founding leadership of neurosurgeon C. Wallace, the Krembil had emerged as one of the largest research institutes in Canada with a neuroscience emphasis. [1]

On November 13, 2015, the Krembil took on its current name from the Krembil family. In 2013, the Krembil Discovery Tower opened at Toronto Western.

Research Activities

Krembil neuroscientists explore the function of the nervous system as they develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, spinal cord injuries, cerebral ischemia (stroke), vascular brain malformations, aneurysms, brain tumours and pain disorders.

The Krembil is also home to the Vision Science Research Program, a joint UHN/University of Toronto Program. This research is directed into the following areas: molecular genetics of blinding eye diseases with brain disorders; treatment and biophysics of glaucoma; eye movement control mechanisms; neuronal damage; retinal degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Arthritis and associated rheumatological degenerative diseases are the focus of the researchers in the musculoskeletal research program at the Krembil as part of the UHN Arthritis and Autoimmunity Research Centre. Their investigations are aimed at revealing the causes of, and generating therapies for, these autoimmune and orthopaedic ailments.[ citation needed ]

In September 2021, Krembil took ownership of the World Community Grid from IBM. [2]

Krembil and UHN Neuroscience achievements

Krembil Directors

Christopher Wallace MD, MSc, FRCSC, a neurosurgeon and neurophysiologist, was the first official director of the Krembil; his research focussed on therapeutic approaches to vascular brain injury. [1] Peter St George-Hyslop MD, PhD, FRCPC, a neurologist and PhD geneticist, was the second full-time director of the Krembil; his research focussed on the genetic basis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's dementia. [21] [22]

Facilities

Krembil occupies 105,000 sq ft (9,800 m2) at Toronto Western Hospital for basic science, clinical, imaging and epidemiological research. In 2011, the Krembil was home to 122 biomedical researchers, 206 technical/support staff and 157 research trainees, who collectively produced 515 peer-reviewed publications supported by more than $43,612,000 of external research funding.

In 2013, Krembil expanded into an additional 325,000 sq ft (30,200 m2) of space, spanning nine floors, in the Krembil Discovery Tower. The Tower space includes 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) of "wet" laboratory bench space for Krembil basic science researchers.

Krembil receives support from the Toronto General/Toronto Western Hospital Foundation which is currently embarked upon a $200 million "Brain Campaign" to support neuroscience research at Krembil. The campaign had raised over $273 million as of January 2016.

Strategic research alliances

The Krembil has many strategic research alliances, nationally and internationally, to facilitate and enhance the delivery of its research mandate. Two of the strategic research alliances are:

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkinsonism</span> Syndrome characterized by tremor, slowed movements, rigidity, and imbalance

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Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world. Apathy can also be defined as a person's lack of goal orientation. Apathy falls in the less extreme spectrum of diminished motivation, with abulia in the middle and akinetic mutism being more extreme than both apathy and abulia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive supranuclear palsy</span> Medical condition

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tauopathy</span> Medical condition

Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the aggregation of abnormal tau protein. Hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins causes them to dissociate from microtubules and form insoluble aggregates called neurofibrillary tangles. Various neuropathologic phenotypes have been described based on the anatomical regions and cell types involved as well as the unique tau isoforms making up these deposits. The designation 'primary tauopathy' is assigned to disorders where the predominant feature is the deposition of tau protein. Alternatively, diseases exhibiting tau pathologies attributed to different and varied underlying causes are termed 'secondary tauopathies'. Some neuropathologic phenotypes involving tau protein are Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neurodegenerative disease</span> Central nervous system disease

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alzheimer's disease</span> Progressive neurodegenerative disease

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkinson's disease</span> Long-term neurodegenerative disease

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.

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Ali R. Rezai is an Iranian-born American neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. His work and research has focused on neuromodulation treatments for patients with neurological and mental health conditions, including neuromodulation techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) through brain chip implants to treat Parkinson's disease tremors, obsessive–compulsive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and addiction. Recent research since 2020 has focused on deep brain stimulation for addiction treatment, as well as focused ultrasound to treat tremor, addiction and Alzheimer's disease.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation</span> Neurosurgical treatment involving implantation of an adaptive neurostimularot

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Donald F. Weaver is a Canadian chemist and neurologist based at the Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada. He is Senior Scientist of the Krembil Research Institute and Professor of Neurology, Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Canada), Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, and Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

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Andres M. Lozano is a Spanish-Canadian neurosurgeon and scientist known for his work in Deep Brain Stimulation and MR guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery. He holds the Alan & Susan Hudson Cornerstone Chair in Neurosurgery at the University Health Network Toronto and is a University Professor at the University of Toronto. His work has been covered by major international news publications including BBC, Scientific American, The Independent, The Globe and Mail and NPR.

References

  1. 1 2 Rutka, J. T.; Wallace, C (2010). "Excellence in neurosurgery program building: Enhancing the academic mission". Clinical Neurosurgery. 57: 100–11. PMID   21280502.
  2. ↑ "World Community Grid finds a new home at Krembil Research Institute". www.worldcommunitygrid.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  3. ↑ Richardson, J. C.; Steele, J; Olszewski, J (1963). "Supranuclear Ophthalmoplegia, Pseudobulbar Palsy, Nuchal Dystonia and Dementia. A Clinical Report on Eight Cases of 'heterogenous System Degeneration'". Transactions of the American Neurological Association. 88: 25–9. PMID   14272249.
  4. ↑ Carlen, P.; Wortzman, G; Holgate, R.; Wilkinson, D.; Rankin, J. (1978). "Reversible cerebral atrophy in recently abstinent chronic alcoholics measured by computed tomography scans". Science. 200 (4345): 1076–8. Bibcode:1978Sci...200.1076C. doi:10.1126/science.653357. PMID   653357.
  5. ↑ Mailis, A; Wade, J (1994). "Profile of Caucasian women with possible genetic predisposition to reflex sympathetic dystrophy: A pilot study". The Clinical Journal of Pain. 10 (3): 210–7. doi:10.1097/00002508-199409000-00007. PMID   7833579. S2CID   22469520.
  6. ↑ Ponce, F. A.; Lozano, A. M. (2011). "The surgical management of Parkinson's disease". CNS & Neurological Disorders Drug Targets. 10 (6): 685–92. doi:10.2174/187152711797247795. PMID   21838672.
  7. ↑ Castrioto, Anna; Lozano, A. M.; Poon, Y. Y.; Lang, A. E.; Fallis, M; Moro, E (2011). "Ten-Year Outcome of Subthalamic Stimulation in Parkinson Disease". Archives of Neurology. 68 (12): 1550–6. doi: 10.1001/archneurol.2011.182 . PMID   21825213.
  8. ↑ Bernstein, Mark (1996). "Brain tumour surgery in the elderly: A brief reappraisal". Canadian Journal of Surgery. 39 (2): 147–50. PMC   3949854 . PMID   8769926.
  9. ↑ St George-Hyslop, P. H. (2006). "Genetic Factors in the Genesis of Alzheimer's Disease". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 924 (1): 1–7. Bibcode:2000NYASA.924....1S. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb05552.x. PMID   11193785. S2CID   13054535.
  10. ↑ Sherrington, R; Rogaev, E. I.; Liang, Y; Rogaeva, E. A.; Levesque, G; Ikeda, M; Chi, H; Lin, C; Li, G; Holman, K; Tsuda, T; Mar, L; Foncin, J. F.; Bruni, A. C.; Montesi, M. P.; Sorbi, S; Rainero, I; Pinessi, L; Nee, L; Chumakov, I; Pollen, D; Brookes, A; Sanseau, P; Polinsky, R. J.; Wasco, W; Da Silva, H. A.; Haines, J. L.; Perkicak-Vance, M. A.; Tanzi, R. E.; et al. (1995). "Cloning of a gene bearing missense mutations in early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease". Nature. 375 (6534): 754–60. Bibcode:1995Natur.375..754S. doi:10.1038/375754a0. PMID   7596406. S2CID   4308372.
  11. ↑ St George-Hyslop, P; McLachlan, D. C.; Tsuda, T; Rogaev, E; Karlinsky, H; Lippa, C. F.; Pollen, D (1994). "Alzheimer's disease and possible gene interaction". Science. 263 (5146): 537. Bibcode:1994Sci...263..537S. doi: 10.1126/science.8290965 . PMID   8290965.
  12. ↑ Bernstein, Mark; Al-Anazi, Abdul Rahman; Kucharczyk, Walter; Manninen, Pirjo; Bronskill, Michael; Henkelman, Mark (2000). "Brain tumor surgery with the Toronto open magnetic resonance imaging system: Preliminary results for 36 patients and analysis of advantages, disadvantages, and future prospects". Neurosurgery. 46 (4): 900–7, discussion 907–9. doi:10.1097/00006123-200004000-00023. PMID   10764263.
  13. ↑ Davis, K. D.; Lozano, A. M.; Tasker, R. R.; Dostrovsky, J. O. (1998). "Brain targets for pain control". Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. 71 (4): 173–9. doi:10.1159/000029661. PMID   10461103. S2CID   22329600.
  14. ↑ Winer, Shawn; Astsaturov, Igor; Cheung, Roy; Tsui, Hubert; Song, Aihua; Gaedigk, Roger; Winer, Daniel; Sampson, Anastasia; McKerlie, Colin; Bookman, Arthur; Dosch, H-Michael (2002). "Primary Sjögren's syndrome and deficiency of ICA69". The Lancet. 360 (9339): 1063–9. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11144-5. PMID   12383988. S2CID   22039999.
  15. ↑ Richter, Suzanne; Vandezande, Kirk; Chen, Ning; Zhang, Katherine; Sutherland, Joanne; Anderson, Julie; Han, Liping; Panton, Rachel; Branco, Patricia; Gallie, Brenda (2003). "Sensitive and Efficient Detection of RB1 Gene Mutations Enhances Care for Families with Retinoblastoma". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 72 (2): 253–69. doi:10.1086/345651. PMC   379221 . PMID   12541220.
  16. ↑ Kennedy, Sidney H.; Giacobbe, P; Rizvi, S. J.; Placenza, F. M.; Nishikawa, Y; Mayberg, H. S.; Lozano, A. M. (2011). "Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Follow-Up After 3 to 6 Years". American Journal of Psychiatry. 168 (5): 502–10. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10081187. PMID   21285143.
  17. ↑ Karimi-Abdolrezaee, S.; Eftekharpour, E; Wang, J; Morshead, C. M.; Fehlings, M. G. (29 March 2006). "Delayed Transplantation of Adult Neural Precursor Cells Promotes Remyelination and Functional Neurological Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury". Journal of Neuroscience. 26 (13): 3377–89. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4184-05.2006 . PMC   6673854 . PMID   16571744.
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  19. ↑ Smith, Gwenn S.; Laxton, Adrian W.; Tang-Wai, David F.; McAndrews, Mary Pat; Diaconescu, Andreea Oliviana; Workman, Clifford I.; Lozano, Andres M. (2012). "Increased Cerebral Metabolism After 1 Year of Deep Brain Stimulation in Alzheimer Disease". Archives of Neurology. 69 (9): 1141–8. doi: 10.1001/archneurol.2012.590 . PMID   22566505.
  20. ↑ Kingwell, Katie (2012). "Stroke: Neuroprotection for patients with stroke moves one step closer to the clinic". Nature Reviews Neurology. 8 (4): 178. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2012.44 . PMID   22430113.
  21. ↑ "Peter St George-Hyslop — Cambridge Institute for Medical Research". 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  22. ↑ "Krembil Welcomes New Director | UHN Research".

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