Staff
- Kaz Laird – Lab Manager: 2018 – 2022
- Lina Khayyat – Montreal Site Research Assistant: 2020-2021
- Yael Schwartz – Lab Manager: 2018
- Laurice Karkaby – Lab Manager: 2016 – 2018
- Dana Winton – Lab Manager: 2016
- Hanna Edwards – Project Specialist: 2015 – 2017
Postdoctoral Fellows
Reema Shafi, Ph.D., OT. Reg (Ont.) – reema.shafi@utoronto.ca
Reema’s postdoctoral training focuses on understanding the early neural, cognitive and inflammatory changes in the female brain following natural menopause and prophylactic oophorectomy. The goal of her research is to identify pre-clinical biomarkers of cognitive decline and neurodegeneration linked to dementia. Previously, her research has focused on utilizing various functional neuroimaging techniques to understand the neuropathophysiology of traumatic brain injury as well as explore the sex-specific impact of brain trauma. Her most prominent research contribution has been the identification of a vascular biomarker that holds promise for single-subject level diagnosis of concussion (diagnostic accuracy; AUCs of 0.88-0.94). As an occupational therapist and translational researcher, Reema strives to use an interdisciplinary approach to inform and advance the field of neurorehabilitation; especially as it relates to functional restoration post injury and across the healthy aging trajectory.
Nicole Gervais, PhD
Nicole completed a research fellowship with the Einstein Lab co-funded by the Alzheimer’s Association and Brain Canada Foundation to study early markers of Alzheimer’s disease in middle-aged women with a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and spontaneous menopause. She focused on four themes related to Alzheimer’s disease: 1) memory, 2) brain structure, 3) sleep, and 4) inflammation. She used structural MRI to estimate volumes of the hippocampus, entorhinal, perirhinal, and parahippocampal cortices and relate any changes to differences on memory tests. Nicole measured objective sleep parameters using polysomnography to investigate sleep disturbance. Her training was in behavioural neuroscience, working with rats during her Ph.D. (Concordia University, 2014) and aging common marmosets during her first postdoc (University of Massachusetts – Amherst, 2014-2016). Her primary research interests are to understand how aging, sleep, and hormones influence memory and its neural substrates across species. These interests include: 1) how structures in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) sub serve memory, 2) how sleep and cognition are altered by aging, 3) how chronic inflammation contributes to cognitive aging, and 4) the impact of biological sex and hormones on aging, with a focus on memory.
Anne Almey, PhD
Anne’s research focuses on the role of estrogens in a variety of cognitive processes, diseases, and disorders in women, and the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie these hormonal effects. Her interest in hormones and behavior began during her undergraduate thesis, which examined the role of estrogens in sex differences in social learning and aggression in mice. Anne’s graduate research continued in a similar vein examining the contribution of estrogens to numerous dopamine-dependent cognitive processes, including selective attention, reversal learning, and perseveration in rats. She also examined the ultrastructural distribution of estrogen receptors in dopaminergic brain regions as a mechanism for these effects of estrogens. Following her graduate research she transitioned from animal models to humans, and held the Posluns Postoctoral Fellowship in Women’s Brain Health and Aging and was co-supervised by Dr. Gillian Einstein at the University of Toronto and Dr. Natasha Rajah at McGill University. Anne’s project examined the cognitive and neurobiological effects of early ovarian hormone deprivation in women with BRCA mutations, to clarify the role of estrogens in female cognition, age-related cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Annie Duchesne, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Northern British Columbia
My research interests are centered around the identification and understanding of factors underlying differences in stress processing across men and women. Over the years, I have investigated this question through animal and human models with a variety of behavioural, neurophysiological and neuroimaging experimental approaches. At Dr. Gillian Einstein’s Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Gender and Health studies, I studied the impact of early ovarian hormones deprivation on stress processing and cognition in women at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
- Kelly Evans, PhD, Research Methodologist
Kelly Evans worked in Dr. Einstein’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow, where she was involved in the Estrogens and Cognition Project. In this research, she investigated the effects of hormone deprivation on cognitive function (using neuropsychological tests) and the brain (using magnetic resonance imaging) in women who have had their ovaries removed. She was also involved with research examining the way women, clinicians, and researchers conceptualize menopause. - Michelle Skop, RSW, PhD, Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
Michelle Skop completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Dr. Einstein’s lab, working as co-investigator on a qualitative study about men’s heath and masculinities. Specifically, this study explored how men, who have a BRCA gene mutation and possess an increased risk for prostate and male breast cancer, feel about their bodies and identities. - Xueyan Yang, PhD, Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University
- Maya J. Goldenberg, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Guelph
Graduate Students
- Laurice Karkaby, M.A.
- Danielle Jacobson, PhD
- Nida Mustafa, PhD
- Arija Birze, PhD
- April Au, MA, PhD
- Sonam Shah, MPH
- Samah Hassan, MSc, MD
- Emily Glazer, MSc
- Deborah Schwartz, MA, PhD
- Ramya Kumar, MD
- Deanna Duplessis, MPH
- Shannon Chiles, Academic Advisor for Southern and Disability Services at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Post-Undergraduates
- Vivian Zhou, MSc Pharmacology student at the University of Toronto
- Candice Dwyer
- Olga Malinowska, Medical student at the University of Toronto
- Elizabeth Shin, Medical student at the University of Toronto
- Allie De Petrillo, MSc
- Duncan Westwood, BSc
- Julia Dimitrova, MSc
- Emily Rowland, MSc
Undergraduate Project and ROP Students
- Kristen Li
- Shelby Davies
- Sophia Zhao
- Simone Rusu
- Shreeyaa Ramana
- Jennifer Xiangning Ge
- Sabrina Sin Wa Chan
- Aanya Bahl
- Angela Wang
- Dylan Guan
- Dorothy Leqi Sun
- Katrina Wugalter
- Sophia Zhao
- Kelsie Cyr
- Regina Nicoll
- Clara McNamee
- Aadhiya Vasudeva
- Edgar Martinez Chavez
- Claire Lauzon
- Keleila Handelman-Kerman
- Sahar Mahmoudian
- Katie Kwang
- Kate Tsiandoulas
- Pascale Tsai
- Leah Velikonja
- Yiwen Li
- Ava Ma Bon De Sousa
- Jessica Scott
- Devon Aitken
- Elizabeth Baker-Sullivan
- Franklin Li
- Janessa Spencer
- Chris Jennings
- Seth Watt
- Alicja Dobrzanski
- Anita Feher
- Kathleen Hughes
- Ailya Jessa, MSc
- Mooney Niu
- Ju-Eun Justina Lee
- David Xiao Li
- Mo Niu
- Wilfrid Chan
Research Assistants & Volunteers
- Manhal Sultana
- Leyla Castro
- Alisa Chun Li
- Hannah Gans
- Mihojana Jhumi
- Vaneeza Moosa
- Eric Yin
- Kevin Huang
- Omer Mustafa
- Sydney Turack
- Leena Johnson
- Brittany Demircan
- Alessandra Scaini
- Amelia Semenak
- Sumana Dhanani
- Leena Johnson
- Nora Kurz
- Kristen Li
- Victoria Silva
- Regan Campbell
- Salima Hackeek
- Hussam Sheikh
- Amelia Zhang
- Jada-Diamond Dunn
- Leanne Mendoza
- Mathura Kugan
- Kayla Persaud
- Ming Wu
- Gopinath Yang
- Hailey Benedict
- Karla Machlab
- Devaki Paalenthera, ROP
- Lindsey Thurston
- Kathy Ecsy
- Ruby Chacko
- Nadine Balmores
- Kim Bloom
- Adnan Javed
- Marina Mikhaelian, MS candidate Human Genetics, University of Minnesota
- Daniella (Dora) Ladowski
- Naila Karim, MD candidate, University of British Columbia
- Amal Yousaf
- Leorra Newman, PhD candidate, Psychology, York University
- Asim Ashraf
- Golda Kanrar, Masters candidate, Public Administration, University of Toronto
- Paula Di Noto, Master’s candidate, York University, Centre for Vision Research
- Monika Janus, PhD candidate, OISE, Human Development and Applied Psychology
- John Hoppe
- Jena Mahdi
- Soumia Meiyappan, Masters student at MacMaster University
- Rhooda Ahmed
- Magdalena Godowska
- Mark Lapinski
- Jennifer Lee
- Mohammed Mahdi
- Mihir Patel
- Alexis Paradis, Undergraduate at Queen’s University
- David de Jong, PhD candidate, University of Rochester, Psychology
- Jason Klemensberg, Masters student at the University of Western Ontario
- Perry Guo, Medical student at McMaster University
- Nicole Pun
- Lubheen Baghat
- Robin Fitzsimons
- Sabrina Trumpour
- Victoria Williams
- Christopher Jones
- Soojin Oh
- Nicole Dordolo
- Abi Muere
- Kerui Huang
- Madli Vahtra
- Yagnesh Ladumor
- Christa Cameron
- Katharine Dotsikas
- Lucy Mcphee
- Aditi Desai
- Nikita Gupta
- Deanne Wah, Masters student at University of Western Ontario
- Gillian Bandey
- Ingita Patel
- Nnenna Asidianya
- Gauri Anand
- Liang Lucy Shao
- Isabella Parks
- Raynae Dumpfrey
- Gabriela Gonzalez
- Adam Almeida, Masters student at the London School of Economics (LSE)
- Stephanie Gosselin