The Canada Foundation for Innovation has named Jodi Edwards, PhD, of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) a recipient of its John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF).
Edwards and co-principal investigator James Downar, MD, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, will receive upwards of $191,000 to pursue ground-breaking transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) research to improve recovery and quality of life of Canadians who have experienced a stroke or are living with advanced illnesses.
JELF helps exceptional researchers at universities across the country conduct leading-edge research by giving them the tools and equipment they need to become leaders in their field.
About the project
TMS is a new health technology using a coil placed over the scalp to non-invasively stimulate the brain. This stimulation helps restore the balance of activity in groups of cells in the brain. TMS is approved for clinical use in patients with mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, however, the proposed research will create a program to develop and test this technology in new populations of patients, such as those recovering from stroke and individuals coping with stress during advanced illnesses, such as cancer. This program will provide new information for clinical guidelines to get TMS approved as a therapy for these patient populations.
In addition, this research program will use genetic information and information from brain imaging to identify which individuals might respond best to this therapy, to help design personalized treatments for patients with stroke, cancer, and other conditions.
This funding application is a collaboration between the University of Ottawa, the UOHI, and the Bruyère Research Institute. Equipment will be located at Bruyère.
Congratulations, Jodi Edwards.
For more information
Media contact
To coordinate an interview with Jodi Edwards, please contact the liaison below.
Leigh B. Morris
Communications Officer
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
613-316-6409 (cell)
@email