Ontario Brain Institute

Accurately measuring the impact of co-occurring mental health conditions in youth with neurodevelopmental disorders is one of the field’s most pressing clinical challenges. Dr. Clement Ma is taking it on as part of OBI’s latest Centre for Analytics cohort. 📊 Dr. Ma is a researcher at @CAMHnews & @UofT , bringing expertise in biostatistics and mental health measurement to this work. Dr. Ma’s CfA-funded project sets out to develop a new scoring tool that moves beyond counting diagnoses to measuring the severity and functional impact of co-occurring conditions like anxiety and depression in youth with neurodevelopmental disorders. The goal: Equip clinicians with more precise, evidence-based tools to tailor treatment decisions to each young person’s needs. 🔗 Explore OBI’s new Analytics Initiatives cohort: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Research #MentalHealth #Neuroinformatics

⌚ The link between circadian rhythms and brain health is well recognized, but measuring it consistently remains a challenge. Dr. Benicio Frey is working to change that. Dr. Frey holds the Homewood Research Chair in Women’s Mental Health and Depression, serves as Program Director at @CANBIND, and is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at @McMasterU. The project he’s bringing to OBI’s CfA cohort, A Standardized Neuroanalytics Platform for Multi-Modal Wearable Data, is developing a cloud-based pipeline to standardize data from wearable devices, capturing signals like body temperature & light exposure to study how body clocks influence neurological and mental health conditions. The goal: Establish a shared standard for wearable data that deepens our understanding of how internal rhythms shape brain health. Learn more: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Research #WearableTech #Neuroinformatics

Concussion recovery looks different for every patient — but too often, decisions rely on generalized guidelines rather than personalized data. It’s a gap Dr. Michael Cusimano is addressing through OBI’s latest Centre for Analytics cohort. Dr. Cusimano is a neurosurgeon and researcher at St Michael's Hospital and the @UofT, specializing in brain injury prevention and rehabilitation. His CfA project, Predicting Concussion Recovery through Multimodal Neuroinformatics, co-funded with the @BranchOutNF, uses the OBI Brain-CODE's concussion data to build predictive models that generate individualized recovery risk profiles, reducing diagnostic uncertainty and guiding safer, more targeted rehabilitation decisions. 🔗 Learn how OBI’s new Analytics Initiatives cohort is leading neuroanalytic data innovation: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Research #Concussion #Neuroinformatics

🧠 Artificial intelligence holds enormous promise for predicting cognitive decline — but can it be trusted across different datasets and clinical settings? Dr. Erin Dickie and Dr. Jean-Baptiste Poline are building the infrastructure to find out. Dr. Dickie is a staff scientist at the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics at @CAMHnews & Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the @UofT. Dr. Poline is based at @mcgillu & @TheNeuroNetwork. Their CfA project, Federated Learning Testbed for Cognitive Health Prediction in Neurodegenerative Disease, puts that expertise to work, evaluating how privacy-preserving AI models perform and scale across large neuroimaging datasets for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. 🔗Learn more: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Research #FederatedLearning #Neurodegeneration

💡 Meet Dr. Azadeh Kushki — one of eight researchers OBI's Centre for Analytics is proud to support. Dr. Kushki serves as Associate Chief of Data Science at the @HBKidsHospital Research Institute, Associate Professor at the @uoft, and member of the @PONDNetwork Executive Committee. Dr. Kushki's project, Multi-modal Federated Learning for Precision Care in Neurodevelopmental Conditions, takes that mission further: her team is developing a privacy-preserving federated learning pipeline on OBI's NeuroFL platform to study complex data from children with brain-based differences and disabilities. The goal: Move beyond one-size-fits-all care toward more personalized support for children and youth. 🔗 Learn more about the funded projects: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Research #FederatedLearning

What if a routine brain scan could detect neurodegeneration before symptoms appear? Dr. @aprilkhademi is working to make that a reality — and OBI's Centre for Analytics is backing her research 🔬 Dr. Khademi holds a Canada Research Chair in AI for Medical Imaging at @TorontoMet and leads the Image Analysis in Medicine Lab. Through her CfA project, AI-Powered FLAIR MRI Biomarkers for Early Detection of Neurodegeneration, Dr. Khademi's team is detecting early signs of neurodegeneration and vascular disease while ensuring scan results are reliable and comparable across different imaging equipment. The goal: Provide clinicians with actionable data from routine scans to guide better treatment and faster care. 🔗 Learn more about the new CfA cohort: braininstitute.ca/research-data-… #BrainHealth #Neurodegeneration #Research

🧠 The future of brain health research is here — and it's powered by AI. We are proud to announce a $640K investment in eight new projects through OBI's Centre for Analytics (CfA), advancing AI-powered brain health research across Ontario and beyond. These projects will use artificial intelligence, secure data analytics, and OBI's NeuroFL federated learning platform to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in brain health, including neurodevelopmental conditions, concussion, epilepsy, neurodegeneration, and mental health. 🔗 braininstitute.ca/news-events/20… #BrainHealth #FederatedLearning #Neuroscience

Join the @OntarioBrain for their Centre for Analytics Webinar featuring Dr. Roger Zemek! He will be speaking to using AI to better understand autonomic dysfunction in people who have sustained a concussion 🧠⚙️ Register below⬇️

Happening this Friday! Our next Centre for Analytics (CfA) webinar features Dr. Roger Zemek using AI to study autonomic dysfunction in concussion patients and support better care outcomes. 📅 Mar 20 🕛 12–1 PM ET 💻 Online Register now: eventbrite.ca/e/centre-for-a… #BrainHealth #Concussion #AI

March Break is around the corner! For families, campers, and camp counsellors preparing for a fun and active week, the TRANSCENDENT Concussion Research Program and @360Concussion have developed camp concussion resources to help everyone stay informed and safe.🧠📋⬇️

On March 31, we are hosting the 40th OBI Public Talk — Innovative Treatments for Brain Health — marking the finale of our 2025–26 Breakthroughs in Brain Science series. 📅 March 31, 2026 🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM 📍 St. James Cathedral Centre Event Venue | Online Hear from three leading voices at the frontier of #brainhealth : - Dr. Rudolf Uher on biomarker-based treatment selection for depression (@CANBIND / @DalhousieU) - Dr. Jonathan Downar (@UofT / @CAMHnews) - Anne Wilson (LOFT Community Services) 🔗 Register today: braininstitute.ca/news-events/20… #BrainAwarenessMonth #Neuroscience

🧠Applications are now open for the OBI Event Funding Program — and if you're a community organization working in the brain health space, this one's for you. This #BrainAwarenessMonth, we're offering up to $5,000 to support registered not-for-profits hosting events that connect people across the brain health community. Hospitals, universities, foundations, patient advocacy groups, and charities are all welcome to apply. 👉The first deadline is March 31, for events running April 1 through September 30, 2026. Learn more and apply: braininstitute.ca/programs.../ev…

Congratulations to @vena_medical, an OBI portfolio company, on receiving funding through the @ONgov's Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund (LSSUF)! With nearly $1.5 million, Vena Medical will establish a new cleanroom facility in Kitchener, reshoring production of their AI-powered micro-camera to Ontario and creating 13 new high-skilled jobs — advancing next-generation imaging technology for stroke interventions. By investing in companies like Vena Medical, the Ontario government is reinforcing the province's leadership in life sciences and advancing next-generation technologies across the health-care supply chain. More: braininstitute.ca/news-events/20…

Applications for the NERVE 2026 cohort are now open — and the OBI is looking for bold, early-stage founders ready to turn breakthrough ideas into real solutions for people living with brain disorders. What NERVE program offers: 💰 $100,000 in non-dilutive funding (up to 5 recipients) 🧠 Dedicated industry mentorship and expert training workshops 🤝 Full support from the Ontario Brain Institute throughout a one-year program Applications close April 27, 2026. If you're building in neurotech and ready to accelerate — we want to hear from you. 🔗 Apply now: braininstitute.ca/programs-oppor… #Neurotechnology #BrainHealth #Entrepreneurship

The “brain-gut axis” is a bi-directional communication system between central nervous system, gut, and gut microbiome that influences everything from inflammation to mood and cognition. Recent panel discussions @OntarioBrain highlight how microbes, immune signaling and neural pathways cooperate to shape brain function and behaviour, and how disruptions may impact neurological and psychiatric health. Understanding brain-gut connection helps us improve brain health, mental health and integrated care: ow.ly/vqQO50Yhf5X #BrainHealth #BrainGutAxis #Neuroscience #MentalHealth

Ontario is building a stronger research ecosystem. Today, Minister @nolanmquinn (@ONtrainandstudy) announced $6.4B in new funding over 4 years for Ontario's universities, colleges & Indigenous Institutes. This 30% increase raises annual funding to $7B, the highest in provincial history. The OBI is proud to be part of this ecosystem, partnering with institutions, researchers & communities to translate neuroscience discoveries into better brain health for Ontarians. Read the announcement: news.ontario.ca/en/release/100… #StrongerOntario #ONpoli

Congratulations to @vena_medical, an OBI portfolio company, on publishing groundbreaking first-in-human research in @StrokeAHA_ASA! The Vena MicroAngioscope™ lets physicians see inside brain blood vessels in real-time during complex procedures — a game-changer for neurovascular care. 🧠 Read the full publication: ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ST…

Join our next Centre for Analytics (CfA) webinar with Dr. Frank Rudzicz on AI-driven mental health diagnosis through speech analysis. 📅 March 5, 12-1pm EST Through the OBI's CfA, Dr. Rudzicz's team is developing the Voice for Mental Health tool — analyzing sentiment, tone, word choice, and speech patterns to enable earlier detection, diagnosis, and ongoing monitoring of mental health conditions. Dr. Rudzicz's work could enable earlier detection and monitoring of depression, bipolar disorder & anxiety. Register: tinyurl.com/cfa-frank-rudz…

Now on Brain-CODE: @CANBIND's ENABLE (Enabling Neuroscience research Approaches for Brain, feeLings and Emotions) clinical platform. Developed in partnership with people with lived experience and supported by the OBI and @BrainCanada, this baseline dataset includes data from 400+ participants with depressive disorder and bipolar disorder across 9 Canadian sites. 🧠Explore the dataset at: braincode.ca