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Manitoba Neuroscience Network

2015/2016 Seminar & Visiting Speaker Series

Friday, January 29th, 2016 | 9:00 a.m.

Soheila Karimi, PhD http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~karimis/

Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pathophysiology

Senior Scientist, Regenerative Medicine Program

Principal Investigator, Spinal Cord Research Center

Scientist, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba

Faculty of Health Sciences, College of Medicine

University of Manitoba

Topic: Neuregulin-1 a multifaceted therapeutic target for CNS repair and regeneration

Location: PX236/238 Psych Bldg., Bannatyne Campus

Biosketch: Soheila Karimi has had a long-term interest in spinal cord regeneration with a special focus on developing pharmacological and stem cell therapies for promoting myelin repair following injury. Soheila received

her PhD degree in Neurosciences with David Schreyer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Saskatchewan in 2001. She then undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury and Stem

Cell Research with Michael Fehlings at the Toronto Western Research Institute and the University of Toronto. During her training, Soheila received numerous 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 spinal cord injury therapeutics by showing that transplantation of adult neural stem cells

can be used therapeutically to replace lost oligodendrocytes and functionally restore myelin with improved recovery of function. In 2006, she received the prestigious Synthes Award from the American Association of

Neurological Surgeons in the US for this work. Prior to joining the University of Manitoba in 2010, Soheila was an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto from 2007 to 2009.

Research Interests: Current research in Karimi's laboratory continues to focus on developing regenerative medicine strategies for promoting myelin repair and functional recovery in spinal cord injury and multiple

sclerosis. Using drug delivery, stem cell transplantation and bioengineering approaches in pre-clinical models, Karimi's team has recently discovered key factors that play major roles in regulating the proliferation and

differentiation of neural stem cells in CNS injury. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of stem cell functions is vital in identifying potential therapeutic targets for enhancing cell tissue reconstruction after injury.

For more information, contact the MNN Office at (T) 235.3939 or email: mnn@sbrc.ca

Our Partners:

Winnipeg Chapter Society for Neuroscience

Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre

Neuroscience Research Program, Health Sciences Centre & University of Manitoba

Kelly Jorundson

Administrative Manager

Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders

Albrechtsen Research Centre, St. Boniface Hospital

& Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics

College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Manitoba

Room R4046 - 351 Taché Avenue

Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6 CANADA

Tel: 204.235.3939 | Fax: 204.237.4092

Email: kjorund@sbrc.ca OR Kelly.Jorundson@umanitoba.ca