Welcome to our retrospective on a decade of innovation and impact at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH). Since its official opening, the DMCBH has stood at the forefront of neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology, transforming the landscape of brain disorder research and treatment. Fueled by a generous $15 million donation from the late Dr. Djavad Mowafaghian, this partnership between the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health has united world-class research and clinical care under one roof. As we reflect on the past ten years, let’s explore the key milestones and achievements that have shaped our journey toward better understanding and treatment of brain health.
2014
The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health officially opens on February 27, 2024. The building is named after Vancouver philanthropist Djavad Mowafaghian in honour of his $15-million donation to UBC.
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February
A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Neil Cashman uncovers how Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) spreads from cell to cell, opening up exciting possibilities for developing treatments that could potentially block the progression of this disease.
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2015
January
The NeuroImaging and NeuroComputation Core (NINC) is established, providing advanced microscopy and imaging systems as well as support for big data analysis, which are key to accelerating pre-clinical research.
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April
The Borgland Family Brain Tissue and DNA Bank is established as a centralized resource for the collection, storage and distribution of biospecimens that will help advance clinical research studies at the Centre.
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August
Dr. Blair Leavitt and his team develop a revolutionary new test that allows physicians to measure the effects of gene silencing therapy in Huntington disease, which will support the first human clinical trial of a drug that targets the genetic cause of the disease.
The UBC research team found that they could accurately measure the levels of mutant huntingtin protein in the brain by collecting cerebrospinal fluid from a spinal tap. The ultrasensitive test detects small amounts of the toxic protein and can be used to follow changes in brain levels of the protein over time in response to new therapies.
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2016
January
Dr. Robin Hsiung and researchers in the Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders demonstrate that build-up of cerebral amyloid, a protein marker of Alzheimer disease, is more common in those with injury to deeper structures of the brain.
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June
Drs. Anthony Traboulsee, Weihong Song and Carles Vilarino-Guell prove that multiple sclerosis (MS) can be caused by a single genetic mutation – a rare alteration in DNA that makes it very likely a person will develop the more devastating form of the disease.
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2017
February
In a breakthrough study, Dr. Shernaz Bamji’s lab genetically engineered mice to resist the lure of cocaine, providing evidence that genetics and biochemistry play a bigger role in drug addiction than poor decision-making, which could potentially pave the way for better treatments.
The researchers were able to reduce behaviours associated with cocaine addiction by regulating the effect of the drug on the synpases, preventing the drug from making lasting changes to the brain.
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September
The Centre collaborates with UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery to present the first North American exhibition of “The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal.”
Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) was a Spanish pathologist, histologist, and neuroscientist celebrated for discovering neuron cells and their structure, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1906. Recognized as the father of modern neuroscience, Cajal was also a talented artist and studied at the Academy of Arts in Huesca, Spain, during his teenage years.
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2018
February
Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose and her team find that aerobic training boosts brain function in older adults with mild vascular cognitive impairment (a condition caused by reduced blood flow to the brain), improving decision-making and problem-solving skills.
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April
A study led by Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez finds that a newer form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) which only takes three minutes, is just as effective as standard rTMS for people with treatment-resistant depression.
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July
Dr. Helen Tremlett discovers evidence of the MS prodrome, which refers to early symptoms that occur before classical onset of the disease, offering hope for earlier intervention, treatment and care.
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2019
February
The Charles E. Fipke Integrated Neuroimaging Suite opens, housing Canada’s first PET/MRI machine dedicated solely to brain-related research and a first-of-its-kind Philips Elition 3T MRI.
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Learn more about the UBC MRI Research Centre
Learn more about the PET/MRI Imaging Centre
June
Using the Simoa HD-1 Analyzer, the first tool of its kind in Canada, Dr. Cheryl Wellington and her team have identified blood biomarkers to help diagnose and treat traumatic brain injury in children, positioning the Centre’s researchers at the forefront of biomarker research and discovery.
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October
BC Brain Wellness Program is created by Drs. Silke Appel-Cresswell and Jack Taunton, offering evidence-informed lifestyle and wellness programs for individuals living with chronic brain conditions, their care partners and healthy agers.
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2020
January
Research led by Dr. Naznin Virji-Babul is the first to show how information is rerouted in the brain following concussion in adolescents, offering new potential for improving concussion diagnosis and treatment.
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April
Dr. Terry Snutch leads the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network – Virus Sequencing Initiative (CanCOGeN-VirusSeq), a nationwide effort to sequence 150,000 COVID-19 patient samples to provide key data on virus transmission trends and changes in the virus.
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2021
April
Dr. Tim Murphy and his team develop a 3D synthetic animated mouse to train computer models to analyze animal behaviour, which can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy in behavioural research studies.
Synthetic data generates body part labels that are difficult or near impossible to annotate by hand and makes it easier to control variation in datasets. This solution has long been sought after in the neuroscience community—scoring animal movements by hand can be tedious, time consuming and can introduce biases.
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July
Dr. Shannon Kolind receives one of the first Hyperfine portable MRI systems in Canada to investigate possible uses in research and clinical settings.
While the scanner is convenient for patients in hospital operating and emergency rooms, the bigger application will be in remote communities and cultures that do not have access to these tools.
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December
Using cryo-electron microscopy, Dr. Sriram Subramaniam and his team are the first to describe the structure of the original COVID-19 Omicron variant, helping to refine the development of next-generation vaccines.
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2022
April
Using 3D bioprinting technology, Drs. Haakon Nygaard and Brian MacVicar are working to grow tissue models of patients’ own brains, which allows for exploration of the fundamental mechanisms at work in the progression of Alzheimer disease.
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September
The UBC Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience officially welcomes its first cohort of students.
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December 2022
A $33.8 million gift is donated to UBC and VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation (the largest known donation ever for MS research worldwide) and will be used to establish the BC MS Cell Therapies Translational Research Network.
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2023
May
The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health officially becomes an Open Science Institute.
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August
Treatment with modern antidepressants may help prevent patients with bipolar disorder from relapsing into a depressive episode, according to an international clinical trial led by Dr. Lakshmi Yatham.
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2024
February
Dr. Jon Stoessl and a team of international researchers propose a new biological classification system that can define and identify molecular biomarkers of Parkinson disease before motor symptoms appear, which will help in the development of precision-based therapies.
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June
ALS and Related Disorders Clinic opens, joining six other clinics housed at the Centre, all of which provide comprehensive patient care for people living with various neurodegenerative disorders.
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To another decade of excellence…
As we look ahead, our commitment to advancing brain health across the lifespan is unwavering. While the past decade has laid a strong foundation, our vision for the future is ambitious. We will continue to drive innovative research, provide comprehensive training and enhance patient care, working together to improve the quality of life for individuals at every stage. Thank you for being part of this journey as we enter the next chapter of our mission.
