Manitoba Neuroscience Network Seminar

Friday, January 31st, 2014 | 9:00 am

Seminar Series

Dr. Soheila Karimi

Assistant Professor in Physiology and Biochemistry & Medical Genetics

Senior Scientist, Regenerative Medicine Program

Principal Investigator, Spinal Cord Research Center

Scientist, Manitoba Institute of Child Health

Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba

Topic: Spinal Cord Injury: Elucidating Injury Mechanisms and Developing Repair Strategies

Location: PX236/238 PsychHealth Bldg.

Biosketch: Dr. Karimi received her PhD degree in Neurosciences from the University of Saskatchewan in 2001. She then

undertook a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Research at the Toronto Western Research Institute.

Dr. Karimi has had a long-term interest in spinal cord regeneration with a special focus on the application of neural stem cells

for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). During her training, she received a number of academic and research awards

including postdoctoral fellowships from the CIHR, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Her postdoctoral work broke a new ground in SCI therapeutic field by showing that transplantation of adult neural stem cells

can be used therapeutically to replace lost oligodendrocytes and functionally restore the damaged myelin sheath around the

injured axons with improved recovery of function. In 2006, she received the prestigious Synthes Award from the American

Association of Neurological Surgeons for this work. Prior to joining the University of Manitoba in 2010, Dr. Karimi was an

adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto from 2007 to 2009.

Research Interests: Current research in Karimi's laboratory has focused on regenerative medicine strategies to therapeutically

optimize the regenerative potential of resident and transplanted neural stem cells for SCI repair. Adult neural stem cells hold

tremendous promise for the repair of injured spinal cord since they have multipotential abilities to replace all damaged neural

cells and the potential to provide a supporting environment for repair and regeneration. Using pre-clinical models of SCI,

Karimi's team strives to understand how the properties NSCs are modulated within the post-SCI niche. The goal is to recruit

NSCs efficiently to replace damaged oligodendrocytes and promote axon remyelination and functional recovery. The team

has recently discovered key factors that seem to play major roles in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of neural

stem cells in SCI condition. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of stem cell functions will aid in identifying potential

therapeutic targets for enhancing cell replacement and tissue reconstruction after SCI.

Dr. Karimi's research has been supported by national, international and local grants from CFI, NSERC, Christopher and Dana

Reeve Foundation, Craig Neilsen Foundation, MHRC, Canadian Paraplegic Association, HSC Foundation, MICH, MMSF,

Thorlakson Foundation, and U of M.

Kelly Jorundson Winnipeg Chapter Society for Neuroscience R4046 - 351 Tache Avenue Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6

Tel: 204.235.3939 Fax: 204.237.4092 Email: kjorund@sbrc.ca OR kjorund@yahoo.ca

Website: www.sfn-manitoba.ca