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SRI profiles

Dr. Krista Lanctôt
Krista Lanctôt, PhD

Senior scientist, director of neuropsychopharmacology research group

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
2075 Bayview Ave., Room FG 21
Toronto, ON
M4N 3M5

Phone: 416-480-6100 ext. 62241
Fax: 416-480-6022

Administrative Assistant: Diane Dwarka
Email: diane.dwarka@sunnybrook.ca
Phone: 416-480-4098
Fax: 416-480-6818

Education:

  • PhD, 1998, pharmacology, University of Toronto, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

Research Focus:

  • Neuropsychiatric symptoms secondary to central nervous system pathology
  • Neuroimaging, serum protein, lipid and metabolite biomarkers
  • Medical, dietary and exercise interventions

Research Summary:

Neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with illness include mood changes, apathy, aggression and cognitive changes. These are common sequelae of many central nervous system disorders such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular disease and stroke. Dr. Lanctôt's goal is to optimize treatment of these neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Her research addresses this goal by determining the underlying neurobiology of neuropsychiatric symptoms, examining predictors of treatment response, using novel pharmacological agents and carefully considering adverse drug events. Dr. Lanctôt's early focus was on the neurobiology of behavioural disorders associated with dementia. The goal of this research was to determine if behavioural subtypes can be linked to underlying neurochemical or neuropathologic dysfunction. A variety of tools including neuroimaging, serum biomarkers and pharmacologic challenges are used in combination with pharmacotherapeutic trials. Her group also identifies and assesses novel pharmacologic, exercise and dietary interventions for neuropsychiatric symptoms.

This research will contribute to our understanding of the link between dysfunction in various neurotransmitters, proteins, lipids and metabolites and neuropsychiatric symptoms. As such, it may provide the background for novel therapies and allow Dr. Lanctôt's team to predict response to interventions based on neurobiological subtypes.

A second focus of her research evaluates the impact of pharmacologic treatments at a population level, which includes measuring relevant health outcomes and quality of life, and modelling cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of pharmacotherapies.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

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