• Antenatal brain development under normal and stress conditions. Focus on autonomic nervous system responses to inflammation (fetal neuroimmunology). Fetal cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway;
• Monitoring fetal and neonatal well-being using computer-aided EEG and ECG (HRV) analyses;
• Postnatal consequences of prenatal stress (fetal programming of adult diseases). I am also interested in how methods derived from the theory of nonlinear dynamics can be used to estimate neuronal complexity and to improve prediction of the physiological and pathophysiological behavior mentioned above.

Training

Postdoctoral Fellow

• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Children Health Research Institute, Lawson Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2009.

• Research Topics and Interests
  • Effects of chronic hypoxia without progressive acidemia as might be seen in the human fetus antenatally on brain development and inflammatory response;
  • Effects of acute hypoxia with progressive acidemia as might be seen during labor on fetal electrical brain activity (ECoG, EEG) and systemic and brain inflammatory responses;
  • Developmental changes in fetal electrocortical activity (sleep states) due to chronic hypoxia in the last pregnancy trimester.

Residency and Research

• Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. Research on fetal asphyxia and programming of adult diseases (Principal Investigator: Matthias Schwab, Prof. Dr. med. habil.), 2006.

• Research Topics and Interests
  • Acute and chronic effects of hypoxia with and without acute or long-term effects of betamethasone administration on fetal heart rate variability as well as fetal electrical spontaneous (ECoG) and evoked (SEP, AEP) brain activity and cerebral blood flow;
  • Acute and subacute alterations in autonomic nervous system activity in adult patients with ischemic stroke.

Doctorate in Neurosciences (summa cum laude)

• Institute for Pathophysiology (School of Medicine), Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. Advisor: Prof. Ulrich Zwiener, Dr. med. habil., PhD. Thesis: Investigating complex coordination of neurovegetative and brain electrical activities in sleep and anesthesia using nonlinear signal analysis. Awarded October 4, 2004.

• Research Topics and Interests
  • By studying the coupling between heart rate variability and respiratory movements, I was able to retrospectively discriminate human neonates at low and normal risk for adverse outcomes during the first year of life. I also characterized information flow in reticulo-thalamo-cortical communication in an animal model of propofol sedation using analysis of linear and complexity properties of cortical and thalamic electrical activity.

Doctor of Medicine

• Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany, 2001.

Recent Presentations

• Fetal heart rate variability monitoring. Montebello Round Table. Complexity and Variability at the Bedside. Montebello, QC, Canada, October 2010.
• Effects of acute and chronic hypoxia on neuroinflammatory activity. Does gender matter? CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, University of Montreal, February 2009.
• What can we learn about autonomic nervous control in near term foetal sheep from the analysis of heart rate variability? Department of Physiology, University College London, London, UK, April 2006.
• Mechanisms and manipulation of fetal neuroimmune responses to inflammation. NeuroDevNet Brain Development Conference 2011. June 19-21, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Awards and Distinctions

Grants

• NeuroDevNet - MITACS Accelerate Internship Program (MITACS Inc), 04/2011-09/2011.
• Junior 1 Research Scholar, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, 2011-2015.
• Operating grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Reproductive and Child Health (Start-up Grant), 2011-2012.
• Operating Grant, Molly Towell Perinatal Research Foundation, 2010-2012.
• Internal Research Fund, Lawson Health Research Institute. Provided molecular evidence of fetal brain cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, 2009-2011.
• Proof of Principle Phase II Grant, Ontario Research & Commercialization Program (ORCP). Tested the fetal EEG/FHR electrode for intrapartum fetal health monitoring, 2008-2010.
• Proof of Principle Research Grant, Western Innovation Fund. Developed fetal EEG/FHR electrode for intrapartum fetal health monitoring, 2008-2009.

Scholarships

• Post-doctoral Scholarship, Strategic Training Initiative in Research in the Reproductive Health Sciences, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)/Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada, 2008-2009.
• E-Fellows Award, industry-sponsored mentorship program awarded for academic excellence and extracurricular activities (e-fellows.net), 1999-2004.
• Scholarship Award, Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, for academic excellence and social engagement, 1997-2001.

Prizes (selected)

• Travel Award, Child Health Research Institute, Ontario, 2010.
• SGI/Wyeth President’s Presenter Award, 2009.
• Travel Award, CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth, 2009.
• Travel Award, Child Health Research Institute, Ontario, 2007-2008.
• Travel Award, CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth, 2007.
• Young Investigator Travel Award, National Institutes of Health, USA, 2007.
• "The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Young Investigator Award, 2011"

 Most Important Publications Selected by the Researcher