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Welcome Dr. Jenny Rabin

February 25, 2019

A warm welcome to Dr. Jenny Rabin, Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program.

Rabin completed a joint clinical and research postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and was recently honoured at the international Human Amyloid Imaging Conference in Florida as the recipient of the 2019 Young Investigator Award.

During her postdoctoral fellowship, Rabin analyzed data from the Harvard Aging Brain Study, an ongoing longitudinal study aimed at determining the factors that best predict resilience or progression in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). At the Human Amyloid Imaging Conference, she presented preliminary data showing that greater engagement in physical activity is associated with a slower rate of brain shrinkage and cognitive decline in older adults with early evidence of AD. Interestingly, these effects were independent of vascular risk factors. The results from her study suggest that increasing physical activity may help to delay the progression to AD dementia (the stage when people are becoming dependent on others for various activities of daily living).

Originally from Toronto, and also a graduate of the MA/PhD Clinical Neuropsychology program at York University, Rabin’s plan was always to come home. She is excited to be at Sunnybrook Research Institute to start her independent research career.

As the Neuropsychology Lead with the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation, Rabin will work in collaboration with Dr. Nir Lipsman and his research team to characterize the cognitive and behavioural changes associated with novel neuromodulation strategies in different brain conditions. This includes: low frequency focused ultrasound (FUS) to open up the blood-brain barrier in patients with AD, high frequency FUS to treat severe psychiatric disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), as well as deep brain stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

She will also build on her prior research to better understand modifiable risk factors for AD with a focus on vascular risk factors and physical activity, correlating cognition with MRI, amyloid and tau PET imaging. This research will be carried out in collaboration with Sandra Black, Brad MacIntosh and other colleagues in the BrainLab and in the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery.